Crazy Headstock

Great Time, Great Place, Beautiful People at Thomas Lloyd Guitars - School Of Acoustic Guitar Making!

Thanks Chris Wynne,

Summer Student - Sam Digiglio 2008

Sassafras Design

It was a long wait between enroling and starting the 10 day intensive acoustic guitar making course.

When I walked into the Thomas Lloyd Guitar workshop my first instinct was to duck - otherwise I would have been unconscious before I made it to the workbench. Yes, the roof is low. The building is National Trust listed and was used as a stable in the 1930's...and perhaps the large white statue of a horse above the machine shop is a reminder of that past. Luckily, the stable was extended and the workshop opens up into an airy light filled space - only those under 5' 8" are relegated to the low roofed area by the door.

Suffering a bad cold (it was the middle of winter) Chris introduced me to the other students and to the machines. I originally had an idea that I would make my guitar from Tasmanian Fiddleback Blackwood and that was my intention right up until Chris showed me another build in progress utilising Blackheart Sassafras.

I was interested in having a look at it...still thinking the blackwood will be my choice. He then dealt me a bunch of sassafras to have a look through. The sassafras just spoke to me. The figure on the sides meanders like a river and gave a sense of the geography from whence it came.

While the back left me the impression that I had the very heart of the tree. Somehow I forgot about the blackwood, the cold virus and the low roof (ouch).

I wasn't sure that I could finish a guitar in the time allotted and especially from the pace that Chris set. Everything seemed to go very slowly...plenty of tea breaks and a long lunch (something I am not used to in my usual day job). All the techniques for making the guitar were very simple and I was surprised and how easy it was for a guitar to come together so quickly.

However, there are some parts of the build that require experience and guidance...both of which Chris has in spades. And sometimes even a mistake can become a surprise innovation (just as I was finishing my rosette it cut loose and span out - I took a chunk out of it which made it impossible to align with the grain of the soundboard -hence my rosette is at a 45 degree angle to the grain of the soundboard). Although when it counted Chris was there to ensure the best outcome.

As I settled into the relaxed pace I also found time to craft a timber string winder. This little project seemed to cause Chris to smile a lot but I wasn't sure why (and hence my comment on the soundboard on the wall -"stop bloody smiling").

One of my favourite aspects of the build included the shaping of the neck - where I sat on the bench outside the workshop and moulded the Queensland Maple into something that resembled a musical instrument.

When I was deciding on the veneer of the headstock Chris said he had something to show me... a crazy piece of sassafras ....here was the piece that would make a statement. "If you use this you will be in the running for the head stock of year award" said Chris.

I was really unsure what to do for the headstock but as soon as I saw the piece Chris had in mind the sigmoidal design immediately sprung to mind...I mirrored that shape on the fret board over the sound hole.

After we strung the guitar we had a play and there was a bit of buzzing...back to the workbench...add a sliver of wood to the bridge...try again...this time no buzzing...hey, that sounds pretty good...gees, that sounds extremely good...hey Chris, can I play my own guitar?

So what did I get out of the course? Not only did I learn some new skills at the Thomas Lloyd Guitars school I found that the stresses and worries of the work world were forgotten. I can honestly say that I have never been so relaxed. I have found something that can take me out of the hustle and bustle and give me that perfect wave...where you are at one with what you are doing and the extraneous world melts away.

I now have a new guitar, a more relaxed attitude, a timber string winder...and a small bump on the top of my head. I'm still waiting for my headstock-of-the-year award though!

Thanks Chris Wynne - the guitar sounds great!

Grant - Student 2008

Italy 2008 - Acoustic Guitar Making Course

10 Individual Australian Timber Acoustic Guitars all handcrafted in Umbria, Italy in May 2008!

What a wonderful experience. In the Umbrian hills, early morning pheasant and local cuckoo bird calls, mists lifting gently over the landscape as the spring wheat crops start to burst to life.

We arrived in mid April in time to watch the transition from Winter into Spring...local crops varied from broad beans, wheat, canola and cattle feeds. Umbria is a farming region, where still today the whole family is involved in the farming process. Even by hand they plough the smaller fields and sow their seasonal crop. Trees are all trimmed down at the start of spring to get the maximum use of wood for their household fires for the coming winter.

The Villas stand out in the landscape, showing an importance to the land mass for farming and the efficiency of living in one home. The villas are all quite large, housing on average, 6-10 rooms including room for some stock during winter and store rooms for equipment on the ground floor.

Our villa dates back about 200 years, and has been used over a period of years for the encouragement and studies of various art forms. Tony our Italian/Australian over has run art classes in printing and canvas works, and other occupants have held yoga classes, used the villa as a recording studio, and held various painting classes.

Now he is very pleased to have hosted "The Thomas Lloyd Guitars School of Acoustic Guitar Making".

10 students from all over Australia spent 2 weeks each handcrafting their acoustic guitars.

Christine, Ted, Bob, Tim and Lindsay then Alan, Ian, Richard, Marcus and Mark.

They all worked hard on completing an individual look. We completed 2 x 12 Stings, 2 x Cutaways, and the rest were various acoustic sized guitars all using Australian Tonewoods.

We got to know the local pizza restaurant, supermarket and Internet cafe owners. The Italian lifestyle is at a very casual pace, apart from their driving! They open their shops early about 7.30am and close 12.30pm then open again 4.30pm and close late. Some of our students took time in the early morning, before class, to visit the local cafe/bar to get a coffee, fresh made pastries and try out their Italian on the locals.

The Italians love their coffee. It took a while for us to understand that a cafe latte is only hot milk. A macchiato latte is our version of a cafe latte! Latte means milk.

The first two weeks in Pietrafitta were busy getting the workshop up and running. We had plenty of space with a machine room, and a large student workshop. We found the Italian version of Bunnings Warehouse - OBI Hardware stores. They are just as large and just as good. We found everything that we needed right down to sanding papers.

We took several fun filled trips to the store, as most Italians don't speak English and we don't speak Italian....we had to constantly ask in our very basic Italian do you speak Inglese? (English). Only one guy in the store spoke good English so we reverted to grabbing the catalogue and pointing to the products... then there was the question of do you have 50, 100 or 5 boxes of these!

At one stage the girl on the checkout could do nothing but smile at us as we had visited about 6 times and with no real language skills we could do nothing but smile...she had the great task of counting loads of clamps and bits and pieces... the only thing we understood her to say was "Is that on the credit card? In Italian of course! She was often amazed at the volumes we bought and am sure wondering what we were up to... so we started handing out our business cards and all became quite clear just by one picture of an Aussie Guitar Maker standing at this workbench.

Once the workshop benches, and machine room were set up I got into making a guitar before the students came. A small bodied acoustic - Back and Sides - Walnut, Soundboard - King Billy Pine, Neck - Queensland Red Cedar, Fretboard - Mulga. (pic on its way soon!)

A couple of nights during the week we would go to our favourite pizza restaurant and indulge in the local cuisine. Usually about 9 of us. We hired a large van so we could all get about to do local food shopping and see some of the tourist sites on the last weekend of the course.

The students worked from about 8am to 6pm most nights, and at the end of the day all come together to have an Italian Feast.

The final nights of the course, once guitars were oiled, dried and strung, we had a relaxed jamm session of blues, folk and various well known tunes. The students all had varying degrees of playing ability so for those that could not crank out a full tune one of the other students obligingly would play their guitar.

I would like to thank all the students and their partners for making the first year in Umbria a memorable experience. A lot of laughs bellowed out through the workshop doors and over the hills of Umbria. A time well spent.

Want to join us on our Next Tour  Thomas Lloyd Guitars Italy Acoustic Guitar Making, Lucca Italy