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Kathy

Kathy Wingert is an artist that has complete control of her medium. I met her for the first time at the most recent guitar festival in Ft. Lauderdale, at the Hard Rock. Her displays are hugely popular at guitar shows — the lines of her instruments are so elegant, the voices of her guitars are so original, the inlay work is beautiful and so…non derivative.

I have a tremendous amount of respect for Kathy’s skills. She is an exceptional luthier, and consistently builds instruments with supreme voices.

First a little biography please. How long have you been a builder? With whom, if anyone, did you study or do repairs? Please tell me about your “ah-ha” moment when you realized luthiery was to be your chosen path.

A tiny little seed got planted during a trip to a guitar shop, the World of Strings.  One of the employees showed me a billet of Indian rosewood and proudly proclaimed that he was going to learn to build a guitar.  I was very curious about where and how that got done, and he said he would be learning from his boss, Jon Peterson.

My ah-ha came during a moment of soul searching, which I happened to be doing in the library.  I was ready for a new chapter and a new direction, the kids had gotten old enough for me to start thinking that way, and I was wide open to new ideas.  As luck would have it there was a book on guitar making in my library.  (I wish I could say which book it was, I haven’t seen it since.)

Though I knew instantly and deeply that I could be good at guitar making, I also knew it would take a little time to find my path.  I was on the cusp of the internet, and back in those days, kids, you had to leave your house to get information.  I read my way through five libraries and had collected quite a few books, including books about sharpening chisels and the amazing number of ways a router could be used, but I hadn’t found in print the book that made it all make sense.  I really don’t know how long the discovery process went on, but one morning I woke up and I understood how to build a guitar, not from a plan, but from a design of my own.

The next hurdle was finding materials.  A kind employee of a woodworking store told me about a guitar making class at a community college, and after I had been in the class for two months, the instructor told me that Jon Peterson at the World of Strings was looking for someone.  I took in some necks I had carved and an electric drop top that I had completed and got hired in 1995.

Has being a woman, in a field largely dominated by men, been advantageous or disadvantageous in anyway?

It was annoying as heck in the busy repair shop.  If I went to the counter they’d just ask for the “repair guy.”  I think being a woman kept my client list a little leaner than some builders with whom I feel I am well matched, but time has sorted a lot of that out.  I do know that I have had more than my share of wonderful customers with whom I have enjoyed every part of the journey.

On your website, you mention that you are in love with your job, and how deeply you enjoy the creative aspects of being a builder. Can you tell me more about that emotional connection, and how it relates to building guitars for clients, who may have different preferences than your own?

The answer to that probably relates pretty closely to the issue of being a woman in a male dominated business.  I think many times the people I work with are just open to letting me do what I do.  I can tell you for sure guys have let me build some pretty frilly guitars for them while pretending it was my idea!

Look, I’m very invested in what I do, and I am emotionally connected, but I’m also 100 percent pro.  There is almost always a middle ground, and I can catch the vision even if a client’s tastes are different from mine.

Working with your daughter Jimmi must certainly add to the love and meaningfulness of designing and constructing your instruments. How does that collaboration work?  How much free reign do you allow her to incorporate her own ideas?

Jimmi just continues to get better and better busier and busier, so I’m loving what’s going out the door to other builders, and I stare meaningfully in her direction hoping she will have time for me again one day!

Jimmi works with me much the same way as she works with any builder.  A lot of the time she works directly with the client and then construction issues are sorted out with the builder.  When we’re working on one of mine we have the advantage of passing materials back and forth, but she works it out really well by mail too.

When someone calls you to commission a guitar, how does the communication process work? How do you discover what type of guitar to build for a client that has difficulty articulating how they’d like the

instrument to be voiced?

Sometimes it’s a matter of discovering how much a potential buyer might know about the subject of tone and wood differences.  If it’s an experienced collector I ask a few questions about what they like and/or don’t like about guitars that they’ve owned.  I always look for that little area of common experience and we work from there.  If it’s a less experienced guitarist or guitar buyer, I look for the same thing, but perhaps instead of talking about whether they like the punch of sitka or the twinkle of koa, I might ask a lot of questions about voices of singers or instruments in an orchestra.  The point, for me, is to find out whether they are looking for a guitar like mine.  Occasionally I have suggested other builders when I’ve felt there would be a better match up.

Speaking of voicing, please take me through the process of voicing a guitar with a contemporary sound, and how that differs from voicing a guitar that is more traditional.

I don’t know if I’m qualified to answer that one.  My work has been toward a sound that I wanted to hear, and I have learned through hard lessons what takes me away from that.  I have all the same anecdotal information about what makes a prewar Martin sound like they do, but I have never pursued that sound.

You have mentioned using a signal generator and Chladni patterns in voicing your guitars? Could you describe what Chladni patterns are and how you use them to help in the process?

When you play a harmonic on a string, you have divided it in segments, but the reason it physically works is because at the mathematical division of the octave or fifth or whatever, there is a nodal point on the string that allows it to vibrate freely around a still point when the conditions are right (meaning when the string is struck and your finger is on that node).  At those naturally occurring places, there is no displacement. When a guitar top is excited with vibrations, there are also nodal points and in those areas of little to no displacement, the glitter piles up.

The arrangement of the glitter patterns at a given frequency range indicates the efficiency of the top, or more instructively, the non-appearance of a pattern at a target frequency means I have work to do.

Chladni patterns are not a recipe for a great guitar, they are an indication of what you just did.  Hopefully, if you stumble on a great recipe, you can do it again.

I am not an expert on Chladni patterns or any other science approach to lutherie, so my use of glitter testing is merely a way to double check that I’m on the right track.  The range of frequency at which I get certain patterns are what I’m interested in, and the rest I do the old fashioned way.

The first Kathy Wingert guitar that I had the pleasure of playing had back and sides of blackwood. It immediately became my favorite tone wood, even passing Brazilian Rosewood as my tone wood of choice. Please tell me about working with blackwood, how you view its tonal characteristics, and when you would recommend it over Brazilian.

I love AB, but I’ve come to hear it very differently from Brazilian, and for a long time I wouldn’t have said that.  What I like and what I hear in the heavy woods, AB and cocobolo is a weightiness and sustain in the mids.  If you try to hold me to a blindfold A/B test, I’ll be happy to tell you that I learned a long time ago it’s darned hard to do!  I believe that 90% of tonewood choice has to do with the feedback the player gets and has very very little effect on the listener 15 feet away, at least not if there is any other noise in the room.

How important are trade shows and guitar festivals for bringing in new clients and expanding the growth of your business?

I think the trade shows and festivals are enormously important for custom lutherie as a whole.  I know I personally benefit from doing them, though many times it is long after the show.  I always see or hear something the kicks my fanny.  I also believe it’s really important for the community as a whole to show up, present well, and let people know that we are accountable to a larger community.  As a community, professional luthiers have built a lot of trust.  We have buyers who write checks for a deposit on something they aren’t going to see for years.  That’s huge.

You seem very environmentally aware. How can the traditions of luthiery evolve to embrace a new “greener” philosophy?

I might be wrong, but I think small builders working on a few instruments are remarkably green.  We waste as little as possible and most of us don’t do a lot clothes or shoe shopping for this career.  Many of us commute only a few steps from the house to the shop.

I am going to guess that the nastiest thing we do is over use abrasives.  I love working with planes and drawknives, but I have power tools and it just goes faster.  If I were to grab for that knife, the dust collector could stay quiet.

As for the protection of exotic hardwoods, it’s important to care, and it’s important to stop asking for woods that are in trouble from places that are over harvested.  The highest and best use of precious exotic woods is in fine instruments, and some of the controls that are in place should go a long way toward stopping the indiscriminate use of fine woods on not so fine factory instruments, or as flooring or lawn furniture.  It’s also important to understand that the trees won’t be protected if they have no commercial value, so it is important as a community that we fight for the woods that we need.  For those who are somewhat new to the subject, please re-read that last line!

Please tell me about your fascination with Harp Guitars?

That was a case of a customer wanting something I didn’t really want to do.  In fact, I refused for more than a year.  But the customer was a friend and he has patience, so he wore me down.  After I built one and had a minute or two to try to play one, I was interested in building more, if only for my own use.   I haven’t been able to hang on to one long enough to learn much, and what I do work out on one is easily forgotten, but harp guitars aren’t meant to make guitar playing harder, they are meant to make it easier once you get a toe hold.  The jumping off place is a lot more difficult on harp guitar, and I’m still there.

Some of your larger harp guitars have sycamore back and sides. Why sycamore? Tonally, what does this wood offer?

Some of my harp guitars are sycamore because I had it!  Harp guitar sets are hard to come by and I thought it would look cool.  It was very successful for harp guitar because it didn’t add a lot of clutter to the bass.  The bass was clear and strong, but not ringy.  The first thing you have to learn is to find the sub basses on a harp guitar, the second thing you have to do is shut them up.  I haven’t built a standard six out of sycamore, so my experience with it is limited to the outcome of those two harp guitars.

When I play your guitars, I am always impressed with the strength of the treble frequencies all the way up the neck, and how well balanced they are with the lows and mids. What is the secret to building an acoustic guitar that has such strong treble fundamentals?

Thank you!  Again, I can only tell you that my recipe has been added to over time.  I tease that it used to take me 120 hours to build a guitar and now I’m pretty sure it takes me twice that long.  There are all the added steps that I have acquired over the years.

I think one of the big secrets in guitar building, and one that gets talked about very little has to do with how well the neck tunes to the body.  I’m really lucky that my steel string headstock seems to be about the right size and weight.  I have nodal points that fall pretty much where I need them to be, and that little extra adds to consistency up the neck – or so my violin making mentor taught me.

In the next 5-10 years, what do you envision for Wingert Guitars? Will there be a continuing evolution in your designs? Will you branch off in new directions?

I have been working on something old rather than something new.  I love classical guitar and I have started taking time to pursue that.  I’ve built some passable classicals and have sold them at fair prices for their abilities, but I am ready to take commissions on classical guitars now for the right buyers.  By the time this goes to print, I will probably have had time to prototype the last couple of things I want to iron out.

I’ve learned over the last couple of years that I really enjoy teaching, but my personal evolution isn’t complete yet.  So much of what I do is intuitive or ingrained, it is hard for me to break it down for someone else, so in the next few years, I would like to get better at that kind of communication.  I think it might be so appealing because it is at a completely different pace from the daily madness of wearing all the hats.   To explain the steps to someone else simply requires taking a deep breath, and that’s kinda nice.

Finally Kathy, do you have any additional thoughts that you’d like to share with our readers, i.e., thoughts about guitars, information about you, thoughts about creativity, life lessons… anything?

Well, all of your readers need a Wingert guitar because they know lots of songs, will entice your creative muse to show up,  and will even improve your singing voice in just 14 days!

My great thanks to Kathy for her participation in this interview. Dream Guitars is proud to carry her uniquely voiced one of a kind creations.

 

Steven Dembroski

 

 

 

 

 

The seat takes shape.

Brian Boggs is one of the most highly respected furniture makers in America. Known for his creative passion and attention to detail, Brian now brings his considerable talents to the world of music, giving us the ultimate Guitar Chair!

As soon as I sat in the Guitar Chair I noticed an immediate improvement in my playing posture. Long rehearsals and performances are definitely made easier when you are comfortable. I find that the Guitar Chair lessens back fatigue, and helps break the bad habit of slumping over the guitar. Paul and I both highly recommend the Guitar Chair by Brian Boggs. It is the ultimate guitar accessory!

What makes your guitar chair more appropriate for players than a standard kitchen chair?

The Bogg's Guitar Chair

The Bogg's Guitar Chair

What is different about the guitar chair is that the whole chair is designed around how guitar players move, hold their guitar, and position their hands. Beginning with the seat, I sculpted it to support the player comfortably, but it’s round shape and forward slant address the guitarist’s forward lean as well as leg movements. It provides comfort while rocking out on the blues or meditating on a classical number. The rolling downward of the front of the seat allows either knee to drop down or move to the side comfortably. No edges to catch you under the thigh so your legs don’t fall asleep.

The back is narrower and shorter than a typical kitchen chair. It also has a pitch designed for the position of a guitarist in performance. The lower portion of the back is carved back to so that when leaning forward there is still some support in the lumbar area.
A kitchen chair, on the other hand is designed for single position sitting, is tilted slightly backward, and usually has a trapezoidal seat shape. Having said all this about the differences, this design will make a great kitchen chair with a simple change to the pitch. I am working on that version now.

Hand crafted perfection!

Hand crafted perfection!

If someone wants to order a Guitar chair, and have it customized to match their décor, what is the process?

That will depend on just how much is needed to make the accommodation. They will need to call the shop and we will take it from there. If it is simply a wood choice matter, we can do that easily enough. Harder woods for the seat or back will cost more in labor, and the chair price will also have to reflect any additional wood cost if more expensive woods are chosen. Any changes to the design will add cost just because the chair can’t follow the usual well honed process we work with. It will need extra time and attention. That is always done on an individual basis.

Do we have plans to develop any other products especially aimed at musicians and guitarists in particular?

Brian Boggs -- sculpting the Guitar Chair.

Brian Boggs -- sculpting the Guitar Chair.

I don’t have new designs up and going right now, but a music stand and drawer unit for music storage are on my mind. We have the craftsmen to build them beautifully. It’s just a matter of getting the designs worked out.


What is the typical wait time for a custom order?

Right now we are looking at about 10 weeks. Production of the chairs is fairly constant. Orders arrive in a more erratic pattern, so our backlog will fluctuate from 4-12 weeks for a while. We will know when we get an order what the delivery time will be on that chair.

Can you tell us more about the mission of your company?

The Boggs Collective represents a new business vision that fosters the highest levels of design, craftsmanship and sustainability in studio furniture making. Our model integrates four key components: materials, workspace, training and visibility creating opportunities for landowners, loggers, sawyers and craftspeople to work collaboratively. With this full cycle collaboration fine craftsmanship, sustainable forest management and our clients’ needs are integrated into a mutually supportive and sustainable partnership.

The seat takes shape.

The seat takes shape.

For landowners, loggers and sawyers who practice sustainable forestry there is an assurance that their efforts are helping create value-added wood products that stimulate the regional economy. For craftspeople involved, it offers an infrastructure that allows woodworkers to focus on their passion. For our clients, it represents the chance to own timeless, handcrafted furniture produced in a reliable and sustainable manner. For all of us, it presents a new way of looking at the items we live with, an awareness of the labor and materials that go into each piece and a conscious choice to hold these values at the heart of our philosophy and practice.

THE BOGGS COLLECTIVE — MISSION

Our Mission – Design and produce exquisite furniture in a reliable and sustainable manner
Our Vision – To provide a model that supports furniture makers and forests sustainably
Our Core values – Excellence – creating conditions that promote our highest level of engagement in all facets of our work.
Innovation – creativity drive development of processes and products designed to support and inspire us.
Integrity – holding our values and beliefs present in both our individual and collective actions and products
Social and Environmental Responsibility – honoring our responsibility to the health and well being of our forests, communities and craftsmen.

THE BOGG’S GUITAR CHAIR — the Ultimate Accessory

Brian Bogg's Dream Guitars Guitar Chair

Brian Bogg's Dream Guitars Guitar Chair

If you are lucky enough to live in or around Asheville, North Carolina, you already know it is a special place to be. Not only does the area boast a vibrant and eclectic music scene, but it is also a powerful magnet for many other art forms as well.  Artist from all walks of life seem magnetically pulled into the friendly spirit of the place, knowing they’ve found a home where they can expressive themselves creatively, amongst a vivacious, multifarious community.

Brian Bogg’s, is one such artist. Hailing from Kentucky, he brought his lifelong fascination with chair making to the heart of Asheville, where he now operates the Bogg’s Collective. The mission of the Collective is to produce exquisite furniture, in a reliable and sustainable manner.

A perpetual innovator, Brian always had it in his mind to design the ultimate guitarists chair. A chair that reinforced excellent playing posture and supportive comfort, while removing non-ergonomic features found in typical chairs. His goal was to create a chair with beautiful aesthetics, that maximized player comfort for long sessions.

Brian Bogg's Dream Guitars Guitar Chair

Brian Bogg's Dream Guitars Guitar Chair

Naturally, when fate brought the Bogg’s Collective and Dream Guitars together, we all realized that that the time had come to design the ultimate guitar chair.

Paul and I met with Brian and his team several times. We discussed the needs of the player, keeping what was essential and discarding what was superfluous. In the end, we collectively came up with a design that surpasses any other offering on the market.

We are proud to unveil the fruit of all our labors, the Brian Bogg’s Dream Guitars Guitar Chair.

Check out the link below for a video of the whole story!

THE BRIAN BOGGS/DREAM GUITARS GUITAR CHAIR- VIDEO

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