TGW is at the one year mark. It’s been a year that has seen many wonderful guitars go across my bench and most all of my clientele from my previous place of work come through our front door. This is a perfect time to thank all the new and old customers and friends for making the first year so memorable.

As we start our second year, Kevin Kinnear, an old friend and fellow escapee from a well known North County asylum has launched his new shop, EPIC GUITARS in Carlsbad.

EPIC handles high end acoustics and is a dealer for R. Taylor and Froggy Bottom among others. I worked with Kevin for many years and can say that there is NO ONE in Southern California more knowledgeable and passionate about high quality small shop instruments. His enthusiasm for the craft and his uncanny ability to match a player with the right instrument make him THE go to guy for anyone looking for a truly special guitar.

EPIC GUITARS is the first and only acoustic guitar dealer specifically recommended by TGW. Give Kevin a call at EPIC GUITARS, 760-730-0022, or check his website.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch here on Morena Blvd. we planning a One Year Anniversary party coming up early in the new year. Stay tuned for details.

2009 will bring some other changes.  Among them will be expanded hours of operation, a new edition of the popular TGW T shirts, an online shopping cart for merchandise and artwork, and a few other ideas we’re tossing around. We are open to suggestions from any of you as to what you’d like us to offer from a standpoint of services or merchandise.

It’s been awhile since my last post, but I want to start blogging more regularly about the gallery and some upcoming workshops, for those of you who not only love your guitars, but love to be creative in other ways!  So, right now the Liz Abbott show is in the gallery, and if you haven’t been in to see it, you are in for a treat!  There are about 80 pieces of her stitched designs on the walls and more in the crates.  Colorful, delightful, and very fun!  Her show will be up through the end of the year, so there is plenty of time to come enjoy her work, and perhaps do a little holiday shopping?

As some of you know, I’m an art therapist (Registered Art Therapist, finally achieved my credential of “ATR” after nearly 30 years!) and workshop facilitator, and the large space in the back of our shop becomes an artsy paradise a few times a month when the shop is closed.

I am leading several workshops in the next few weeks:  “SoulCollage® Open Studio” will take place this Sunday, December 7th  from 12 noon-3pm; “Create a Matchbox Shrine” on Wednesday, December 10th, 6:30-9pm.  For more details check my website . And please join my 2KatStudios mailing list on the Contacts page of that website.

Happy, Healthy and Safe Holidays to all of you, and thanks for being a part of the Tecolote Guitar Works family!

Neck angle and its relation to playability, tone, and adjustability is a critical aspect of any guitar whether it’s a flattop acoustic, a solid body electric, or an archtop.

My intention in this post is to cover flattop acoustic neck angle problems since the vast majority of neck reset jobs are performed on these instruments. I’m not going into any elaborate explanations of guitar “geometry” or how neck resets are performed but I will try to show the reader how to tell if their instrument has a bad neck angle. Whether or not the guitar needs a reset is another matter.

Simple test here; if your guitar has action that you think is too high look at the saddle (that white thingy that the strings rest on, just ahead of the bridge pins). If the amount of the saddle that protrudes above the bridge body is 1/16″ or less where the D and G strings cross, the guitar might need a neck reset to restore adjustability to the action.

Many luthiers think that 1/8″ saddle protrusion is ideal for an instrument with low action at the 12th fret. There are exceptions; Taylor, for instance likes a lower saddle for reasons I’ve never understood. In any event if you have a fairly tall saddle you likely have many years of adjustability to compensate for the nearly inevitable rise in action as the instrument ages.

If your guitar does not pass this test, don’t despair. Now it’s time to ask yourself a couple of questions… Is the guitar still comfortable to play in the first 7 frets? If the answer is yes and you rarely play any higher on the neck, then that you may not have to spend the dough. There is an amazing amount of great music played by some terrific guitarists no higher than the 7th fret…….honest. The so-called Cowboy Chords are all that many of us need.

Players that regularly use the higher reaches of the fretboard will benefit from a well-done reset, but the reality is that many guitarists won’t really notice the improvement. Some guitars will demonstrate a noticeable improvement in tone, but not all do.

On instruments with a traditional glued dovetail neck joint, the job is invasive.  You just don’t want to watch a neck being steamed off, at least on your own guitar. It’s reminiscent of Count Bismarck and his famous comment about politics and sausage……you don’t want to watch either being made.

If a repair tech tells you a reset is necessary but doesn’t seem confident or has trouble explaining any aspect of the job, get a second opinion. If a shop tells you that they won’t do a reset without doing a fret job simultaneously, get a second opinion on this as well. Be prepared to spend money. Most dovetail neck joint resets will cost around $400 at the low end and some go much higher. Bolt-on neck joints generally cost less but they are not all the same and some are surprisingly complex.

A reset performed on a very old, neglected, and/or poorly repaired guitar may actually cause some other problems down the road. On some occasions, the increased stress on the bridge and soundboard brought on by a higher saddle will cause a bridge to lift or crack. Poorly glued braces may come loose and suspect bridge plates may give up the ghost.

Obviously neck resets are not cost effective on low priced guitars. If you have an inexpensive guitar with a neck angle problem there are some alternative repair solutions to keep these guitars in decent playing condition and I’ll talk about that in a future post.

Summer is past, TGW is coming up on one year in business and we feel like taking a few “deep cleansing breaths.”

Fall is a gorgeous time here in the southwest and Kat is taking full advantage of it by heading over to New Mexico for a week long painting workshop at Ghost Ranch, the fabled residence of Georgia O’Keeffe.

Another fixture of fall in San Diego are the Vintage Sports Car Races at North Island. I’m taking a rare Saturday off to attend the event with my fellow gearhead and customer Jim Branch.

We had friends from Philly here last month and they remarked on how there are no seasons in California……I beg to differ. We natives notice how after the middle of August everything starts to change. The angle of the light, the feel of the air, everything changes. I guess subtlety is lost on east coasters. Oh, I almost forgot….GO PHILLIES!!!!

September saw our first concert performance. Splendid guitarist and raconteur Wayne Riker played two fabulous sets of his fingerstyle compositions to a nice little gathering in our front gallery. Thanks to Wayne for his easygoing approach and help in getting TGW started as an intimate concert venue. Stay tuned for information on our next concert night.

Well known San Diego performer and teacher Jerry McCann has recovered from a back injury and is up, around, and recently had his first student here at TGW. We are looking forward to featuring Jerry in a concert in our gallery in the near future. If you’re not familiar with Jerry’s playing and songwriting craft you’ll be in for a real treat.

If you missed our most recent gallery reception for Coleen Brown please stop by soon for a look at her wonderful artwork as the show won’t be up much longer. Just don’t buy the painting I want, ok?

That’s it for now. Since I have Saturday off I need to hit the rack so I can get an early start in the morning for the first practice session at the Coronado Speed Festival.

August has turned out to be our new “best month” and has seen some great people and terrific guitars come in.

My old customer and friend John Zucca came by and brought his Jack Straw 000 short scale I built for him 8 or 9 years ago. John and I had lost contact but he noticed one of our ads and dropped in. His guitar is one of my favorites. All mahogany, with a pyramid bridge, Waverly tuners, 14 fret neck with a late 60’s Martin profile.

There is always some apprehension as you open the case of a guitar you built but haven’t seen in years. After a quick look see I was very happy. No cracks, good neck angle, the bridge is tight……all the stuff I hoped would stay put stayed put.

John graciously allowed me to keep the guitar for a week so I gave it a good buff out and a set up. It was hard to give it back to him but great fun to show it to a few new customers who were not aware that I had built quite a few flat tops in the 90’s. Thanks John.

Another client of long standing, Ray Morisaki, came by with a guitar he’d been searching for over several years: a drop dead gorgeous early 60’s 00-21 Martin with stunning Brazilian rosewood. Joshua Blatchley, our talented “intern”, played 4 notes on it and promptly declared it “perfect”…..or something close. Congratulations on your patience Ray.

New customer Butch Thompson has been in with a couple of splendid Santa Cruz instruments with terrific Brazilian backs and sides. Butch seems to be on the trail of yet another Santa Cruz OM in, yep, Brazilian rosewood………If you start to waver Butch, remember…..”if it makes you smile, it’s worth it.”

Stephen C. Jones, a serious Goodall fancier brought in his beautiful 12 fret “long body” dreadnought which had suffered a tumble at home. If you read this Stephen, the patient is doing well and should be home soon.

Peter Goulart showed up with a “pointy headstock” ESP with a Floyd…….he claims it’s his kid’s guitar. Sure Peter…..

Wayne Riker brought a Breedlove in for a Baggs Element pickup installation. I’ve had the privilege of installing pickups and setting up the 5 or 6 guitars Wayne uses in his solo show. If you aren’t familiar with Wayne’s music, come to his concert in the TGW gallery on September 20th…you’ll be in for a treat. The esteemed Mr. Riker had some questions about a “marble shipment from Milan” but I don’t have a clue what he’s talking about.

Pat Chin and Bernardo Rodriguez, old pals from the B.B. days, came in and jammed a little on what they claimed was a Doobie Bros. tune…….at least they brought their workmate John Davidson who left a tidy 60’s D28 here for a little work.

Alex Shester and his wife Judy came to see the shop and pick up the J-200 that Alex brought down from Carlsbad the previous week. Alex was very excited about finishing up his first CD which we’ll have available at TGW.

Nick Jackson who inherited his dad’s J45 brought it in for frets, a reset, and a new bridge. Ron Jackson, Nick’s dad, passed away unexpectedly last October. Ron was a fabulous musician and well-known teacher who I met many years ago at Traditional Music in Leucadia. It’s an honor to have his old guitar on my bench. Thanks, Nick.

Bob Colosi posted a couple of pictures of a job I did and had some nice words for our shop. Check out Bob’s terrific saddle and bridge pin line at www.guitarsaddles.com.

There was a mention of TGW once again on the Acoustic Guitar Forum. I’m pretty sure the person responsible was Russ Brown…thanks for the compliments.

Space won’t allow me to mention all the people who’ve been in this month but I want to thank everybody for your patronage and compliments on our shop. In particular I’m very gratified by the growing number of clients I met when I was up at the big store in Carlsbad who drive the 30+ miles south to TGW. Your loyalty and trust is humbling.