ocarolan
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Post by ocarolan on May 4, 2014 11:47:07 GMT
Any comments regarding the interview with Dave White, plus really hard questions for him?
Keith
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Post by Mike Floorstand on May 4, 2014 21:19:30 GMT
Enjoyed reading this thanks both! Quick question to start the ball rolling: while you can make yourself any instrument, what if anything would tempt you to owning an instrument by another luthier?
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Post by scripsit on May 5, 2014 1:39:45 GMT
Great interview, so thanks to both Dave and Keith.
My question is to do with Dave as both a performer and a craftsman. How do you look after your hands, Dave? Do you find that the glue and sanding and occasional slip with an edged tool interferes with your playing?
Kym
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Martin
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Post by Martin on May 5, 2014 7:35:48 GMT
Great piece! Well done both  |
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davewhite
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Post by davewhite on May 5, 2014 8:04:25 GMT
Thanks Joe, Kym Martin and Keith for doing a great interview. Quick question to start the ball rolling: while you can make yourself any instrument, what if anything would tempt you to owning an instrument by another luthier? Joe, Interesting question. The closest I've come is the "builder swap" I did with Colin Symonds when he made me one of his Torres based classical guitars and I made him an acoustic lap slide. I love playing instruments made by other stringed instrument makers but unless it was something I couldn't make myself I'm not sure I would own one. If I can find an Uilleann pipe maker that wants a stringed instrument as a swap I'd be there like a shot. My question is to do with Dave as both a performer and a craftsman. How do you look after your hands, Dave? Do you find that the glue and sanding and occasional slip with an edged tool interferes with your playing? Kym I used to spend a lot of time and care with my right hand nails with acrylic and fibre-glass caps and long hours with nail files but they don't last long at all when you do woodworking and a hard artificial nail can do significant damage to a nice soft spruce or cedar top  As I can't contemplate giving up either making or playing I learned to compromise and basically have learned to play with what nail length I have and if necessary using just my fingertips when the nail has to be cut really short. You don't get as clear and clinical a sound but that's not always a good thing and music is as much about the emotion and communication as it is a technical exercise. That's my excuse  Nails are for wimps anyway  |
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brianr2
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My main instrument is: Fylde Goodfellow
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Post by brianr2 on May 6, 2014 8:52:45 GMT
Superb article - far and away better than anything I have read in the commercial magazines. Great use of "multi-media" to give form to the concepts and ideas. It is a wonderful reminder how human skill, imagination and dedication can translate inanimate pieces of wood into magical sounds with the power to inspire and to move. I still have a lump in my throat from markthomson 's Vatersay Bay. Some questions for Dave: § Do you have any particular favourites among the instruments you have made? If so, why? § If you had the time and money to make any instrument for yourself that you could, what would it be? § Your distinctive "signature sound"and design principles seem to have developed in a relatively short time. How did you advance so far in 10 years? § Who is the source of your Scot's Gaelic names? My thanks to both Dave and Keith for all their time and effort in producing such an informative, entertaining and very well written piece. Brian |
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davewhite
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Post by davewhite on May 6, 2014 16:20:50 GMT
Brian thanks - glad you enjoyed it. Some questions for Dave: § Do you have any particular favourites among the instruments you have made? If so, why? As I said in the interview my instruments are like my "babies" or "children" and as with them you don't have favourites. Some I have a particular "fondness" for though - "Féileacán Iúr" was a bit of a problem child and had a difficult Road Trip but has gone from "ugly dickling" to "swan" and I pick it up to play a lot. “Buachaill Mór” was made in a "tongue in cheek way" given the "fashion" for modified dreadnaughts in the US in recent years but it is my main playing out guitar. § If you had the time and money to make any instrument for yourself that you could, what would it be? Ask me each year and you'll probably get a different answer - currently it would be a half decent Hurdy Gurdy. § Your distinctive "signature sound"and design principles seem to have developed in a relatively short time. How did you advance so far in 10 years? Luck played a large part - my first instruments sounded good. Hunting down structure, stability and ornamentation is fairly straightforward but chasing the sound you have in your head if it doesn't appear is pretty daunting. In developing the sound one “defining moment” came when I had the good fortune to read about the American Scott van Linge’s work and theories about top bracing and had a long exchange of e-mails with him. Scott “annoys” many builders due to the “scientific theory” he has put around his methods. I don’t agree with his theory but this doesn’t matter as his methods work for me and turned on the light for me on to how to “voice” my tops and backs to give the sound I want and changing my bracing profile to “tapered”. For this I am eternally grateful to Scott. § Who is the source of your Scot's Gaelic names? A certain Mr Mark Thomson |
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Post by markthomson on May 6, 2014 17:48:22 GMT
A fantastic feature for my favourite luthier! I truly love my Samhain, I'm very lucky to have it......I played a gig recently in a large-ish room with a great acoustic, and both Samhain and Fangorn completely filled the room without any assistance from amplification, and it was a hugely enjoyable gig from my perspective. In my experience it's uncommon to find an instrument which is equally as rewarding sonically for the player and the listener, but Dave's instruments consistently do this for me. Top Man!  My question - 1) What is the most annoying aspect of building an instrument? I have no patience when it comes to fiddly work, of which there seems to be lots in a guitar build. |
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davewhite
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Post by davewhite on May 7, 2014 7:33:54 GMT
Mark, It's a pleasure to listen to the music you make. Shaping the neck heel to get the correct geometry and a good fit with the body is fiddly beyond measure and fitting the nut and then cutting the slots without the aaargh moment when you just go too far  |
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leoroberts
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My main instrument is: probably needing new strings
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Post by leoroberts on May 7, 2014 8:38:13 GMT
Cracking interview that I'm lucky enough to have been able to commission Mr White to craft two instruments for me (AND I have adopted Celtic Tigger - a travel guitar bouzouki who is a joy to play). I always anticipated emails from Dave telling me that he'd thought about something and how would I feel about.... in my build - these occasionally referenced Debbie who offered aesthetic input. Questions: 1. I wonder, Dave, if (other than chipboard!) there's a wood that you would never use for an instrument (either because of tone, safety issues or some other reason? 2. Has CITES stifled your creativity or has sourcing alternatives increased your understanding of woods? |
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davewhite
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Post by davewhite on May 7, 2014 14:12:26 GMT
Leo - thanks. Questions: 1. I wonder, Dave, if (other than chipboard!) there's a wood that you would never use for an instrument (either because of tone, safety issues or some other reason? Some woods like teak are heavy, oily and hard to glue and probably wouldn't be very suited to a guitar. As I said though each piece of wood should be judged on its merits. 2. Has CITES stifled your creativity or has sourcing alternatives increased your understanding of woods? CITES hasn't stifled anything really - there's a huge variety of woods to use and even if you were restricted to the UK grown species for back, sides and neck woods there's yew, walnut, cherry, pear, maple, oak and beech that work very well indeed. |
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Post by earwighoney on May 7, 2014 17:10:39 GMT
My questions.
1. What do you have in your wood locker? Do you have any 'private stock' sets which you have saved for special projects?
2. Is there any part of the guitar building process you enjoy or dislike more than others?
3. If there was one famous guitarist (dead or alive) you'd wish to play one of your guitars who would it be?
4. What do you think of the future of guitar making will be?
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scotch
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Post by scotch on May 7, 2014 19:55:21 GMT
Hello Dave,
My question is Has your perspective of guitars changed after becoming a successful builder?
If Yes, How has it changed?
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davewhite
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Post by davewhite on May 8, 2014 10:59:55 GMT
Shubbs, My questions. 1. What do you have in your wood locker? Do you have any 'private stock' sets which you have saved for special projects? Not really. My wood stash is pretty small compared to most builders as I don't make that many instruments. Most of what I have is on the "Options" page of my website and I can get a wide variety of woods in from Bob Smith at "Exotic Hard Woods" for commissions. Part of me wishes I had invested more in tonewoods as their price rise has outperformed the Stock Markets and other investment options but I have limited storage space. 2. Is there any part of the guitar building process you enjoy or dislike more than others? I love starting a new instrument - everything fresh and the chance to make things better - and I love stringing up and hearing the first real sounds of an instrument. I also love "voicing" the top. Some tasks such as making batches of reverse kerfed linings are more repetitive and take a chunk of time aren't as exciting but they open up "thinking time" opportunities. Tidying up the workshop is also not high on the favourites list. 3. If there was one famous guitarist (dead or alive) you'd wish to play one of your guitars who would it be? I used to think about that question a lot but over the years have learned that there is a sort of Karma that means an instrument will find its spiritual home. I feel blessed to have people like Mark Thomson, James Daubney, Joe Bardwell and Keith Chesterton amongst others that play my instruments in concert settings and make amazing music with them. Fame isn’t everything. 4. What do you think of the future of guitar making will be? I think the future of guitar making is very bright indeed. By and large the steel stringed instrument building community is a very open and sharing one taking the view that by pooling knowledge everybody gains and you create an innovative and evolutionary environment – this is very liberating indeed. There are lots of paths that this can taken involving both wooden instruments and those made from composite materials. I think that the pressure on conserving wood in the wild may well lead to the debunking of the current obsession with certain tonewoods being “essential” to make great acoustic guitars. Views on what is “traditional” in any craft or art form tends to be very much rooted in fashion and fad rather than logic – stringed instruments have been made for thousands of years not just in some “Golden Age” around the 1920’s to 1940’s. Evolution and a melting pot of different ideas are what keep them “living” – think of Dylan/Fairport Convention and “Folk Music” and Mike McGoldrick and “Traditional Music”. There are lots of new makers following their own muses so the choice for customers is huge. The future for guitar makers is as it has always been – a hard path and if you want to make a living from it alone be single with a very sparse lifestyle, win the lottery or marry a rich wife. |
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davewhite
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Post by davewhite on May 8, 2014 12:18:56 GMT
Hello Dave, My question is Has your perspective of guitars changed after becoming a successful builder? If Yes, How has it changed? Interesting question. I suppose it has. I've realised that in essence an acoustic guitar is a very simple thing - a box with strings. I've also discovered how complex such a simple thing can be as well. It's probably re-enforced my view that its main function is to make music and you can make fabulous music on any guitar no matter how simple and cheap or complex and expensive. |
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As I can't contemplate giving up either making or playing I learned to compromise and basically have learned to play with what nail length I have and if necessary using just my fingertips when the nail has to be cut really short. You don't get as clear and clinical a sound but that's not always a good thing and music is as much about the emotion and communication as it is a technical exercise. That's my excuse 
Nails are for wimps anyway 
Jo whoever he is.
