About

The sound and beauty of a Spanish classical guitar is something I’ve always loved and is what inspired me to begin building guitars. I began by studying drawings and plans from the great luthiers of the past, Jose Romanillos, Antonio Torres, and Herman Hauser, gathering tools and building a workshop.

I started building classical guitars using traditional methods that have been in place for more than a century. In this way, I became familiar with the subtle but complex geometry and expression of the traditional classical guitar. After completing my first guitar, then playing and hearing it for the first time, I was hooked. I loved the journey of starting with a few pieces of rough wood and ending with a guitar -- enduring, beautiful to hear and play.

Self-taught is a slow but great way to learn. Without guidance you’re forced to visualize and understand the joinery between the curving sides and the doming of guitar tops and backs, the gentle angles and tapers of the necks and headstocks and how they affect and contribute to the sound. I discovered all these features can be varied, but only within acceptable unwritten limits. To retain the historical beauty of sound and form of a classical guitar it's important to stay within the boundaries of tradition.

After building my first guitars in the method and style of time-honored techniques I began incorporating my own ideas. I settled on my preferred structural features for sound, then turned my attention to precision and creative aesthetic. My passion for astronomy and astrophotography is my primary influence for creative inspiration. In the aesthetic elements: rosette, purflings, headstock, I strive to blend the beauty of the cosmos with the classical guitar. I discovered that building guitars with an emphasis on precision and less guesswork is a powerful tool for improvement. It allows building with repeatability which highlights the influence of small but discernable changes. This heuristic method keeps me on a path of continual improvement. Perhaps never arriving at the destination but always converging on a better guitar.

My science background, M.Sc. Colorado School of Mines and a Ph.D. in Physics from Texas Christian University and my interest in astronomy, contributes to my understanding of the acoustical, mechanical and beauty of the guitar.

I live in Ardmore, Oklahoma. If you want to know more about my guitars, please contact me.