As mentioned in a previous post, Leonardo Buendia, one of Ervin Somogyi’s current apprentices and an amazing up and coming builder, is wrapping up his 3 year apprenticeship with Ervin and is moving to his own shop in Oakland, California. We caught up with Leo and asked him a few questions regarding his new shop.… Read more »
“The guitar itself has always been my best teacher. She has always revealed herself to me bit by bit, taking her own sweet time. I’ve been the student.” – Ervin Somogyi We are extremely fortunate to have three Somogyi Guitars in-stock at the moment so we decided to record all three for another special video… Read more »
Our own Paul Heumiller recently sat down in front of the cameras to talk about one of Dream Guitars’ favorite builders, Jordan McConnell of McConnell Guitars (and the Grammy-award winning band, The Duhks) for a video interview. You see, Paul is not only has a savvy eye when it comes to great luthiers and their… Read more »
Recently Doug Young dropped by Dream Guitars and taught this great 3 part guitar lesson on arranging Amazing Grace for fingerstyle guitar. To follow along with the tablature, please click here. From Doug’s website: Doug Young is a fingerstyle instrumental guitarist based in the San Francisco South Bay area. An active perfomer in the local… Read more »
One of our favorite builders is the brilliant Jordan McConnell from Winnipeg, Canada. His guitars are impeccably crafted, and they offer stunning design and rich, articulate tones. Recently, Jordan informed us that he has developed a new model with the following dimensions. Length: 19.5″ Lower bout: 15″ Upper bout: 11.25″ Standard scale length 25.25″ In… Read more »
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… Read more »
Clearly, luthiery requires a diverse set of finely honed skills, but it also requires a deep aesthetic understanding. Do you consider yourself more of an artist or a craftsman? I definitely consider myself a craftsman with a very strong artistic sense. I had always been fond of arts of all kinds — decorative, interpretive, pre-modern,… Read more »
Ervin Somogyi is not your average person. When speaking with him, or when reading the things he has written, it is immediately obvious that he is keenly insightful, full of equal parts of knowledge and good humor — both a scientist and an artist. He is a lovely man with uncommon patience, and sincerity. Viewed… Read more »
Click here to read part 1. PART 2: ERVIN SOMOGYI You seem to be one of, if not the most, scientifically informed builders. Did you find that you needed to learn things from a scientific perspective to fully understand the full potential of the steel string guitar? No. I am, in fact, an essentially intuitive… Read more »
Somogyi Book Review, by David Lang Title: The Responsive Guitar Author: Ervin Somogyi ISBN 978-0-9823207-0-9 Title: Making the Responsive Guitar Author: Ervin Somogyi ISBN 978-0-9823207-1-6 THE RESPONSIVE GUITAR “It is with books as with men: a very small number play a great part.” — Voltaire When the idea of building a guitar first dawned on… Read more »
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to travel back in time, to observe Shakespeare writing by candlelight, giving voice to his tortured Hamlet — or to sit in the corner of a cold Dutch room watching Vincent Van Gogh turn a lifeless canvas into a post-impressionist masterwork? Given the power to travel… Read more »
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Players Say: "What a staggering collection."
I just witnessed Dream Guitars in Asheville NC. What a staggering collection. Vintage instruments I’d always wanted to try – guitars by contemporary luthiers we read about – exotic masterpieces – they had the lot. I soon realised that manager, Paul Heumiller knew every detail of every guitar right down to the bridge pins, he is an authority on historical instruments and he plays himself. All presented in a friendly atmosphere, and after about 5 cups of tea, I was forced to leave the showroom thanks to Asheville airport. I may have to change my flight details next time!