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Blog - Haze Guitars
20 Aug 13:22 • Gerry Hayes

How to String a Classical Guitar

Ahh… Classical guitars. The tricky ones. Classical and flamenco (nylon-string) guitars are the scary ones when you’re starting out with stringing (and they’re still a pain when you’ve been doing it for years). While it’s generally not necessary to ‘tie’ strings on other inst...

A Luthier's Blog
15 Aug 10:59 • Gary Nava, Luthier

Happiness is………

Had a great day! John and his wife (a delightful couple) came over to pick up his new Nava mandolin.

So, for me, happiness is seeing the delight that a client has with their new mandolin and also, hearing it played properly!

And for John, well he is clearly very happy with his new mandolin. I’ve never bothered with customer endorsements but have a read of his wonderful comment on the last YouTube video.

Thank you John!

A Luthier's Blog
08 Aug 11:33 • Gary Nava, Luthier

New Model Mandolin: 8

My "New Model" mandolin (as I'm currently calling it) has now been completed. I'm incredibly happy with the final outcome and looking forward to building the next one! Here is the last video in the series and below that a whole batch of photos for you. Cheers Gary

Pete Brown Guitars
04 Aug 02:12 • Wood With Strings

Claro Walnut/Redwood OM - New Home Required!

This guitar is still looking for a new home. My skills as a player are sadly lacking, perhaps because I spend so much time building guitars at the expense of time I could be practising, but I've uploaded a short clip to YouTube anyway to give some idea of what can be expecte...

The Unique Guitar Blog
27 Jul 23:01 • marcusohara@aol.com

Martin's Six Million Dollar Guitar

Six Million Dollar Man Six Million Dollars for a 1959 Martin guitar! Unbelievable!! But it is true. Kurt Cobain on MTV 1994 In 1959 one could have purchased a brand-new Martin D-18e guitar for $235. A regular Martin D-18 had a retail price of $175. The del...

Pete Brown Guitars
23 Jul 07:00 • Wood With Strings

For Sale: East Indian Rosewood/Engelmann Spruce 00

Despite its relatively small body, this guitar has surprising presence in the bass register, while notes played on the treble strings are round and sweet. The shorter scale length is inherently helpful where playability is concerned, and this instrument is indeed very pleasa...

Pete Brown Guitars
20 Jul 05:42 • Wood With Strings

Complete (Almost!): East Indian Rosewood/Engelmann Spruce 00

It's always a thrill to fit strings to a new guitar for the first time. This one will sit in its case for a week or so before I attend to final action and intonation adjustments. The search for its new home can then begin in earnest.

Glamour shots to follow.

Cheers, Pete.

Pete Brown Guitars
11 Jul 07:41 • Wood With Strings

Archtop Guitar: a Major Rethink

I'm reasonably satisfied with the back and sides of this guitar having carved, bent, and assembled them, even after acknowledging that the outcome is some way short of perfect. It's a prototype, I tell myself! I'd been steeling myself for a struggle as I prepared to carve t...

A Luthier's Blog
04 Jul 15:02 • Gary Nava, Luthier

New Model Mandolin: 7

Well, this is another long video but so, so much to get through!

The bridge is made and I have brief chat about its design, the strings go on and I show you how I set-up my mandolins. And finally……..the New Model Mandolin gets to sing its first notes!

So, cuppa at the ready and off we go.

Cheers Gary

The Unique Guitar Blog
04 Jul 09:31 • marcusohara@aol.com

Fourth Of July Guitars

Declaration of Independence Today is July 4th, 2026. The Declaration of Independence was written on this day, 250 years ago, when the brave men that founded the United States agreed that it was time to quit being subjects of the English King George and begin an adve...

Pete Brown Guitars
02 Jul 04:22 • Wood With Strings

Archtop Guitar: Back and Sides

The wood I've chosen to fabricate the back and sides of this instrument from is something of a mystery. I bought it perhaps 25 years ago, accepting without question at the time that the vendor's labelling of the wood as "Tasmanian Oak" was accurate. I don't recall whether I ...

The Unique Guitar Blog
28 Jun 16:54 • marcusohara@aol.com

Holly Mack, Daughter of Lonnie Mack Passes Away

Facebook I find it amazing and I am honored by the number of friendships I have through social media. A few of these folks are with well-known people, generally musicians, that I had seen in concerts, and purchased their records when I was a much younger man. All ar...

A Luthier's Blog
24 Jun 14:35 • Gary Nava, Luthier

New Model Mandolin: 6

Time now to shape the neck!

Also, I have a brief chat about the tools needed for this process. After running through the shaping process, I start the clean-up in preparation for setting-up the mandolin, “in the white.”

Cheers Gary

The Unique Guitar Blog
24 Jun 11:38 • marcusohara@aol.com

Dean Guitars

Young Dean Zelinsky Dean Guitars are perhaps one of the most interesting guitar stories that I have run across in the past 16 years that I have been writing these articles. The company was started by Dean Zelinsky while he was still a teenager. His father, Rob...

A Luthier's Blog
20 Jun 14:42 • Gary Nava, Luthier

New Model Mandolin: 5

In this episode, I design and make a new jig for routing the neck joint. Then: fit the neck, the fretboard’s supporting wedge, and the fretboard itself. Quite a lot there to take in!

I skim over the fretting process as I’ve demoed this many times before, but if you’re interested in how I fret, have a look at thisvideo-

Although I fret my short scale bass, the actual process is the same, just the scale is different!

Cheers Gary

Pete Brown Guitars
19 Jun 07:13 • Wood With Strings

Archtop Guitar: Bridge

In keeping with the theme of this project, which is to make use of nondescript pieces of wood cluttering up the workshop, the bridge I'll fit to this instrument will be fabricated from a highly figured and seriously dense chunk of red gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) that I wrenched out of our firewood delivery man's hands a few years ago. "I'm not burning that", I told him!

The wood's dramatic figure is very appealing, but although it's well seasoned, it might contribute to some instability over time. The guitar is for my own use, however, and the worst case scenario is that I'll have to replace the bridge at some point - no big deal, and it's much cheaper than ebony!

More to come.

Cheers, Pete.

The Unique Guitar Blog
18 Jun 22:09 • marcusohara@aol.com

Gay Guitars

Gay guitars!!!? Yes, you heard me right. And this article has nothing to do with Pride Month. Although I got to say, these guitars are rather flamboyant. And why isn't there a National Guitar Month? But I digress. We are going to take s...

The Unique Guitar Blog
15 Jun 20:56 • marcusohara@aol.com

Aspen Guitars

Aspen AD18 During the 1980’s my wife decided she wanted to learn to play guitar. We were shopping at a local department store and in their audio department, and I spotted a guitar for only $80. This was odd as it was there among the stereos, and speakers. ...

Pete Brown Guitars
15 Jun 03:03 • Wood With Strings

Archtop Guitar: A Dilemma

As I prepared to begin carving the top of this guitar I found myself facing a dilemma, mainly because I don't know whether I'll repeat the exercise. Ideally, for a project such as this one, I'd own a range of gouges and a convex-bottomed plane or two, but I questioned whethe...

Pete Brown Guitars
08 Jun 06:39 • Wood With Strings

Archtop Guitar: Soundboard

Given the significant investment of time and effort involved in crafting an archtop guitar, there's an argument for using the very best materials I can find. An equally valid point of view is that, for my first attempt at an archtop, there are likely to be mistakes along the...