klath Guitars

Marylhurst

The Northwest Handmade Instrument Show at Marylhurst was a huge success (as always, it seems).  Well-organized, well-attended, and the only possible complaint is that it was too crowded!  Not a bad thing by any means.  I actually missed the cutoff date (I was focused a little too much on the Newport show) but Robert Steinegger very graciously offered to share his table with me.  He’s a long-time builder and restorer who makes beautiful Martin and Gibson inspired instruments.

The exhibitors numbered somewhere near 80, which is huge for that space.  The public came by the hundreds.  There were so many instrument demos that the organizers had to cut the time slots from 20 to 15 minutes.  Jamie Stillway stepped in and played for me at the last minute, when my regular demo guy had to have an unplanned surgery (he’s doing much better now).  Jamie played beautifully.  She’s such a great musician.  I could listen to her all day.

Marylhurst

I’m officially participating in not one, but TWO handmade instrument shows this summer.  In fact, they are back to back.  The third and the fourth weekends in April.  One, Newport, I’ve already mentioned.  The other has been a favorite of mine since the first time I went.  I don’t know if I’ve ever seen so many people who are so passionate about their craft all in one place.  In many ways, going to this show for the first time was probably the single biggest event in my development as a builder.  It is the Northwest Handmade Musical Instrument Exhibit.

Chromatic Marimba Frame, Dean Marimbas

I was there to help Carl Dean with his marimba table.  I figured we’d switch off table duty and wandering around, and since I’d just started building guitars I thought there might be a stringed instrument or two I could look at, or a luthier who might be able to offer a little advice.

I was very wrong–  There were dozens(if not hundreds) of amazing handcrafted instruments, and EVERY SINGLE person I approached to talk to was incredibly supportive of my beginning efforts at lutherie, and they were very open about their techniques, methods, materials, and everything else.  I met people that weekend who have become friends, teachers, and mentors.  It really was my doorway to contemporary lutherie.  I spent every minute I could talking to every person I could, and poor Carl got stuck manning the table all by himself all weekend.

The next year, I got my own table.