Building a Better Guitar

[Queequeg]

Great story in the May 14th issue of The New Yorker entitled, "Building a Better Guitar" about Ken Parker of (somewhat infamous) carbon graphite & fibreglass Parker Fly fame.

("Nice guitar, but why does it have to look like a bleeding assault rifle?" asks Keith Richards)

But he's building and experimenting with acoustic guitars these days and some archtops. He talks about the pre-war Martins, old growth timber, synthetics.

Read about African black limba- "the holy grail of tone woods", his association with electronics engineer Larry Fishman, and archtop luminaries John D'Angelico & Jimmy D'Aquisto. He goes to Hyvinkaa, Finland to meet Juha Ruokangas, a luthier who uses a patented thermo-treated process to mimic the curing effects of time, and who insists that the shinbone of a wild moose is the best material for a guitar's nut. Parker tries lots of materials. Carving a nut from 5000 year-old fossilized walrus bone, Parker says, "And you know what? It's just a bone. Changing this is like a girl thinking that if she changes her fingernail polish she'll be beautiful."

Try to get your hands on this issue. Your library probably has it if you don't subscribe.