- Body(s):
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- Back & Sides:
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- Top:
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Schwartz, Sheldon Learn More +
When I was in high school back in the 70s, I set up my Strat with the tremolo down on the body to keep it from going out of tune so much (this is done all the time these days). This threw the intonation off, and not knowing how to fix it myself, I took my guitar to the local music shop to have that done. I explained to the repairman what I wanted, but he was not happy with my tremolo adjustment. He set the tremolo back up off the body and tweaked the intonation. When I picked up the guitar he told me, "that's not the way you set up the tremolo". I was a little frustrated to find he didn't do what I asked. I took the guitar and walked out without paying, vowing never to let another person work on my guitar again.
That's how it all started. I did my own research and learned how to set up my guitar. Things just progressed from there. I was always interested in working on guitars and how they were constructed. At the same time, I was never satisfied with any acoustic guitar I saw in a music store. Even though I wanted to have a good wooden acoustic guitar, what I saw was so abysmal (at least to me) I wound up getting an Ovation to tide me over until I could find an acoustic guitar that I liked. I never did.
In 1992 I decided to pursue a full-time career in guitarbuilding. Not having any real training, I enrolled in David Freeman'sguitarbuilding course at Timeless Instruments. That's where I built my first acoustic guitar.
