Not just pretty to look at but also pretty to play with.
Gary was restringing this for the meeting.
Gary’s original Ruby Prototype. circa 1991.
a builder in his own right.
The lone guitarist. Tom plays the Ruby beast before
the meeting.
and so after about 15 minutes of the what, how, why and when of the Southern California Association of Luthiers
organization, we were off and running with guitar geometry, break angles, and witness points.
Joey contemplates the lecture on guitar geometry. At least
he doesn’t look bored!
dirty job but somebody has to do it.
Gary's lecture also explained what optimal
angles
should be and how string energy could be lost at
crucial points on the vibrational path.
should be and how string energy could be lost at
crucial points on the vibrational path.
Proper neck bow adjustment was discussed as
well as tail piece height and tuner angles. It was
discovered that to make a better head stock
would require a very weird shape.
and radial displacement modes, saddle shape, tuneomatic
saddles, break angle created by tuner posts, and magnetic
pickup strength, as it pertains to effecting the strings
uniform vibrations.
“Hey Mo, Paul’s trying to think but nothing’s happening!”
problem with understanding why there was an
additional cut behind the body joint and why the
truss rod was not adjustable. Need
more research on this one.
usual heckling, but this time Gary beats Paul to the
punch line! It was all in good fun.
Erickson Design Associates is the outfit that makes
and markets Gary’s new guitar parts. Gary brought
a few instruments in with his parts on them. Because
he was talking about the witness points, nuts, and
bridges, Gary showed off his new patented ruby and
sapphire embedded bridges. They are marketed
under the name Theory “Z” Components.
Eric changes the bridge on the Hammer to one of the
Theory “Z” Sapphire ZX Tuneomatic
saddles. They really worked well. I never heard an acoustic
guitar have so much sustain and resonance. He showed
them to Eric Hartman, the owner of Mercy Music.
Eric took a few minutes, before the
meeting, to replace a standard tuneomatic on one of his store’s Hamer Archtops,
with one of the Gary’s sapphire embedded tuneomatics. Eric was instantly impressed.
In fact everyone was impressed.
Eric is now going to stock them at the store. He already sells Gary’s Tone
Hound Acoustic Sensor acoustic pickups.
Tom seemed to like the rubies on the acoustic
bridge. The balance, punch and volume were
impressive.
simple change could make such a huge difference in sound.
It made this hammer really sweet.
Next Joi Yui of LA Guitar Works, showed us some
of his new guitar parts marketed under the name
Q-Parts.
He comes from the early Schecter Company
before they split up in
the late eighties. His company
distributes parts to the music retailers.
Joi showed us
his pickguards with inlayed shell and metal alloys.
He
also brought his new guitar and amp knobs, with
inlayed gemstones, shell
and embossed castings.
Good stuff to accentuate your favorite equipment.
Gary said this would definitely be his next pickguard for his
custom black strat.
Q-Part Knobs Joey brought!
and variety.
Abalone inlaid Knobs. I wonder if, he is really the toon
with the crazy eyes?
wanted to know if there was a fix for the sharp break
angle at the nut to the low “E” tuner.
prettycool guitar but the strings have to steep
of a break angle on the low and hi “E” strings.
The difference in the angles give an uneven
output between strings and the hi “E” can
eel very stiff compared to the “b” string
when bending.
artist, Billy Bragg, and it is reported to still be his favorite guitar today. This guitar has a unique construction,
a solid Alder body routed out on both sides of the pickup cavity to lighten guitar, creating a more airy
and earthy sound. It is has a solid top, which is
fitted with a Burns split humbucker pickup at the bridge and a single coil rhythm pickup at the neck.
The humbucker is fitted with a series-split-parallel switch. With this pickup configuration, and the body
acoustic chambers, the Steer becomes a unique, multiple personality guitar. At the flip of a switch the Steer
transforms from a melodic rhythm guitar into a punchy blues guitar, a moody jazz guitar, or even
a twangy country-picking guitar. Eric’s store carries the reissues in stock.
of an angle. Sperzel tuners were mentioned as selling different height sized posts.
Sometimes, even one mans garbage can become useful treasure.
repairing acoustic tops with weak braces.
If you want to know about this one you
will have to attend the next meeting. We
used all of out allotted time for the room
and then some. We had to vacate the room
pretty fast because another organization rented
the room for their meeting. Everyone pitched in
and made quick work of the cleanup. At our
next meeting we are planning to pull apart a
ew of Gary’s old instruments and see what
makes them tick. Proper top removal and
bracing structures as well as tricks for clamping
and repairing warped tops will be discussed
and demonstrated.
Gary's persuasion tool for stubborn top removal...
experience from each repair solution. Thanks once again for attending. If you were one of the people that
missed the meeting, all I can say is, you should have seen the one that got away. No fish stories, just the facts.
Hope to see you next time, MB - SCALe Archival staff