flattop

On today's Fretboard Journal Podcast, we introduce you to a young guitarmaker at the very beginning of his career, Asheville, North Carolina-based luthier Judson Riviere. Fresh out of high school, Judson enrolled himself in the Minnesota State College Southeast's Guitar Repair and Building program (aka simply as Red Wing). He then dove deep into guitar repair work for Steve Mason in Kansas and, for the last two years, has apprenticed under acoustic guitarmaker Jason Kostal in Arizona.

Judson is finally ready to start building guitars under his name. We talk about the skills he's learned along this journey, how Red Wing turned him into an acoustic guitar fanatic, what the apprenticeship for Jason Kostal looked like, his own guitars, and much more.

The Fretboard Summit, our three-day gathering for guitar fanatics, takes place in Chicago August 25-27, 2022. fretboardsummit.org

Get our 50th issue of the Fretboard Journal by subscribing here.

This episode is sponsored by Peghead Nation (use the promo code FRETBOARD and get your first month free or $20 off any annual subscription); Izotope (use the coupon code FRET10 to save 10% off their plug-ins); Retrofret Vintage Guitars; Izotope (use the discount code FRET10 to save 10% off your Izotope purchase); and Calton Cases.

After finishing degrees in Theology and Fine Arts, Beau Hannam  learned to make guitars in Gerard Gillet's shop in Australia. Beau then went onto teach and build guitars alongside Gerard for the next 10 years, before moving to the US in 2010.

For Episode 57, Beau fills us in on his time as a luthier in Australia and his reasons for leaving. He also tells us why he started making ukes, and we also learn about his novel inlay techniques and his YouTube instructional videos.  Finally, we go through a long list of people who should not listen to this interview. 

https://www.beauhannamguitars.com

This episode is sponsored by Acoustic Coffee Company, Allied Lutherie and Dream Guitars.

Jack Tarlinton's story is unlike any you've heard before. The Australian tinkerer and music lover started out in publishing (he co-founded the Skateboarder's Journal, a magazine not unlike our own, but for skateboarding); found himself doing carpentry and eventually worked in the prop department of a big budget Hollywood movie. He then caught the lutherie bug, thanks in part to the Fretboard Journal.

Over the last few years, Tarlinton has honed his craft as Wandering Boy Guitars, where he builds ladded-braced instruments inspired by the old Stella / Oscar Schmidt guitars of the '20s and '30s. His instruments look like time capsules, available in six, nine, and twelve-string versions, just like the originals. He then ages them using time-period correct relics like belt buckles and handcuffs, employing techniques he learned on the set of Ridley Scott's Alien: Covenant.

Like we said, you definitely haven't heard a story like this before... we hope you love it.

wanderingboyguitars.com

https://www.instagram.com/wandering_boy_guitars/

Don't forget, the FJ now hosts an entire family of podcasts, about everything from lutherie to home recording: Luthier on Luthier; The Truth About Vintage Amps; The Truth About Recording & Mixing; Acoustic Voices; and Sweep the Floor.

This episode is sponsored by Mono Cases, Folkway Music and Retrofret Vintage Guitars.

Our 47th issue features James Taylor, Chuck Prophet, Ben Harper, John Monteleone, Bahamas, Flip Scipio, luthier David Wren and much more. Read about it here and subscribe to the Fretboard Journal magazine to support independent guitar journalism and this podcast. 

Jordan Tice and Kenneth Pattengale of the Milk Carton Kids join us on this week’s Fretboard Journal Podcast to talk about the making of Tice’s 2020 album, Motivational Speakeasy. The Pattengale-produced solo album is noteworthy not just for  Tice’s always-exceptional playing and vocals, but also for its stripped-down beauty. It’s one of our favorite albums of 2020.

During the call, we hear about the songs on the album, Pattengale’s recording process and Tice’s latest guitar acquisition (yes, he's doubled his guitar collection). Pattengale  - at the time hunkered down in a cabin in Eastern Canada - also hilariously describes the pandemic project he picked up in 2020, plus a lot more. It's a fun chat about the making of a great acoustic album.

Note: We've included a track from Motivational Speakeasy on our new Thirty for 2020 Spotify playlist, filled with some of our favorite songs from the year.

Recorded November 11, 2020.

http://jordantice.net/

This episode is sponsored by Mono Cases and Folkway Music.

Get a gift subscription to the Fretboard Journal magazine and  support independent publishing (and the occasionally hilarious podcast).

In 1969, Frank Ford and Richard Johnston started the legendary Gryphon Stringed Instruments in Palo Alto, California. On episode 47 of the podcast, Ford tells us what it is like to run one of the world's premiere repair shops for over 50 years.

We hear about the early days of Gryphon (including their initial attempts to build and sell handmade instruments). Ford also talks about the store today, his philosophy on communicating with customers, his favorite repairs, and how, thanks to Dan Erlewine, he got started in teaching.

Links:
https://www.gryphonstrings.com/
http://frets.com/
http://www.frets.com/HomeShopTech/

If you've read any guitar magazines over the last several years, you've probably seen the bylines of today's guests: Teja Gerken and Doug Young. The two Bay Area fingerstyle guitarists have written extensively about gear and technique for a variety of publications and today Teja is a partner at online music instruction portal Peghead Nation. On this week's podcast, they talk about their beautiful new instrumental album, simply titled Duets. They tell us about some of the unique guitars they used on the recording, give us tips for recording remotely via Zoom/Skype, and much more.

Check out Duets here: https://tejaanddougguitar.bandcamp.com

Order the Fretboard Journal's new Electric Guitar Annual here: https://shop.fretboardjournal.com/collections/all/products/2019-electric-annual-pre-order

This episode is sponsored by Mono Cases and Retrofret Vintage Guitars. 

This episode is sponsored by Dream Guitars. 

Relic’d guitars are nothing new in the world of electric instruments, but they’re relatively unheard of when it comes to acoustics. Pre-War Guitars – the duo of Wes Lambe and Ben Maschal – hopes to change that. The pair of veteran luthiers are creating guitars that tap into the vintage sound and feel of Martins and Gibsons of the 1930s and ‘40s with hide glue, ultra-thin finishes and torrefied top woods. But they’re also adding scratches, dents and play wear to each of their new guitars (they offer a variety of distress levels based on a customer's preference). On this week’s podcast, you can hear about how this company came together, how they're constructing these instruments and why sometimes a little wear can result in a better sounding guitar. 

This week’s episode is sponsored by Dying Breed Music. Check out their Gbase page here: https://www.gbase.com/stores/dying-breed-music

https://www.fretboardjournal.com
https://www.pre-warguitars.com

Don't forget to subscribe to us via iTunes and please leave us a review if you can. Our 38th issue of the Fretboard Journal is now mailing... with features on Daniel Lanois, Leo Kottke, the first "Loar" mandolin and a lot more. 

Oscar Wilde said, “When good Americans die, they go to Paris”.  Not long after, many Americans came to Europe and died in the first World War.  When the war ended many Americans stayed in Europe, often the more intellectual set of writers and artists including Hemingway, Fitzgerald and Dos Passos.  At the time they were discovering the art and culture of their ancestors and a way of life devoted to experiencing the world’s richness, the United States was collapsing in on itself in a schizophrenic panic over loose morals and Communist/anarchist immigrants.  No, the Americans, who had just survived the horrors of war, didn’t want to go home to that.  In this way, they also died as “good” Americans.  Instead, they stayed in Paris and created cocktails.

This episode features another Campari drink with one of the fancier cocktail names: The Boulevardier. This cocktail led us down in an interesting historical path, or maybe a boulevard as it were (Thank you, I will be here all night!). Common consensus points to this originating from one of our oft-mentioned bartenders, Harry McElhone from Harry's New York Bar in Paris. Harry's book Barflies and Cocktails (1927) connects the drink to Erskine Gwynne: journalist, novelist, American socialite with ties to the Vanderbilts, and temporary ex-pat in Paris who created a magazine, titled: Boulevardier.

Join us as we discuss the Boulevardier and its Paris origins. We also dive into the semi-strange life of Erskine Gwynne, and Harry McElhone's military past that may explain why so many of the Lost Generation ended up as denizens of his bar.

The recipe is:

• 1 1/2 oz. bourbon


• 1 oz. Campari


• 1 oz. sweet vermouth