Tom Blackshear -> RE: blanca with cedar top? (Nov. 6 2011 14:13:52)
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quote:
He does not teach by rote in that you have to have to slavishly copy him. He gives the conceptual framework and points out the subtle ways to thinking about every part of the guitar. I took in as much of it as I possibly could and then made it my own. It's what good students do. What you say here, I agree with, in principle. I've made replicas of many of the old masters in my life time of building but I see what they did and then refer to my own feel for the way to communicate it's voice and articulation. I built replicas for the plain and simple reasoning that I'm an analytically minded person and sought to find the codes of each master guitar maker for my own personal satisfaction. In doing this, I have accumulated much knowledge as a self taught builder of over 50 years. I decided to donate my plan of the 2003 Reyes flamenco guitar to the GAL for the specific purpose for this to be a starting point for some builders but what actually happened was that professional builders, along with students, ordered the plan from the GAL and built it with their professional skills to see what it produced. Well, I can tell you now, that every e-mail that I received from builders world-wide had nothing but positive things to say about it. Should we stop here, absolutely not, but this was my small contribution to the builders of this world, with the idea of leveling the playing field for those builders who didn't have the advantage of a teacher like Eugene Clark to help them along the way. All printed patterns of the builders that have gone before us are available for information to those who care to try them out. This was no different for my effort. And I may or may not try something like this again, perhaps with an older Conde model. The essential elements of building are known by this writer with many years of experience but I would be way out of place to think I knew it all. Everyone here has something to share for the benefit of every guitar builder, and I wouldn't doubt, some newer innovation that could benefit us all. I was approached by a well known builder many years ago, and he said, "Tom, you've worked hard to gain knowledge all of these years and why do you want to just give it away?" My answer to him was that he and another well known builder had shown me no information, and that this was my own finding, and if I wanted to give it away, then that was my business. He accepted that graciously. Well, I don't give everything away but I feel this was my small offer of help to those who were struggling to find the answers to build a good guitar. And of course, this is not the only way to build a guitar but it was genuinely offered as a gift to the GAL and to those who felt the need to use it.
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