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Text • Stefan Karlsson

Audio Kitchen finally releases its Moof Filter - a killer take on the Mutronics Mutator, featuring equally rarefied parts

All of us who attended Doug Tolley’s 4th Witney Pedal Party event last November witnessed the final prototype of the then code-named ’Mu-Filter’ - which has mow picked up the ’Moof’ moniker! That device was unadorned - but had all the same controls fully in place.

 

Steve demonstrated that pedal to fine effect and announced a likely early 2026 / Spring launch. While with Steve being the perfectionist that he is - he evidently found further areas to improve - which has brought us up to this point. I think he advised me that the pedal would be around the £300-£350 mark at the time, but the extra work has evidently brought further costs!

 

This is how the pedal looked back then - per the Witney visuals :

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Text • marcusohara@aol.com

Fender Guitars I Wish They Would Reissue

  Tom Morello Strat$1800 Fender seems to be stuck selling tribute “artist” model guitars for folks that once were notable but no longer seem relevant. There are 20 or more of these available, ranging in price from $850 to well over $3,000.  Fender Playe...

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Text • Gary Nava, Luthier

New Model Mandolin: Epilogue

 The last word! The Nava New Model mandolin and its happy owner!

Cheers Gary



Blog - Haze Guitars
Text • 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...

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Text • 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!

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Text • 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

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Text • 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...

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Text • 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...

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Text • 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...

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Text • 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.

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Text • 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...

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Text • 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



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Text • 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...

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Text • 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 ...

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Text • 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...

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Text • 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

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Text • 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...

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Text • 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




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Text • 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.


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Text • 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...