02-26-2010
- Weiss Select
Transcripts Volume 1 in Standard Notation is now available.
I'm getting to the TAB version
sometime today if I can finish up other work.
02-25-2010
- I have a mint Jamon Zeiler Humphrey
model coming in to the studio today. Looks like a
sweetie. Update: she is a gorgeous guitar with
Honduran Rosewood, straight grain Spruce and a Humphrey designed
elevated fingerboard. Gorgeous. I'll photo and
update ASAP.
02-24-2010
- I've been busy with numerous repairs, some jobs that are quite
extensive, including a 2008 Bellucci
that requires a full stripping/scraping, new headstock, a neck
set, and well...you name it. This one is so egregious in
its original build that I've decided to take photos of the
process, which will be given its own page and highlights.
I'll post when it's up. Here are some quick photos showing
the scraping of the back (the whole guitar was urethaned and
very heavily) and the headstock, which was poorly carved and
finished by Renato.
Photo 1
and Photo 2
-
Books are on hold for the time being while I catch up with the
other jobs in the studio.
02-20-2010
- Our Lubos Naprstek
Master Concert Level Classical Guitar #0909032 is sold to a
wonderful gent from Westchester NY. He was completely
overtaken by the extreme power of the instrument and its
gorgeous voice. He's very happy.
02-17-2010
- Kenny Hill
Player Series Guitars and
Hill Estudio
Series Guitars are all ready. I have quite a selection
and the prices are a bit lower including hard shell case and
shipping to the 48 US
02-16-2010
- The piece list for the
Weiss Selections Volume
1 is created. The number of pieces comes in at
38, but this may be subject to change if I feel I can add a few
more.
02-15-2010
- Took a few days off, relatively speaking. Back to work,
I'm getting my Silvius L. Weiss Selections
Volume 1 ready for publication. A
TAB version of the same book will
be available.
02-12-2010
- Updated the Lubos
Naprstek Luthier Page ... cleaned it up and organized it.
More updates and organization of the site in general.
She's looking pretty good about now.
-
The new books are a hit with numerous orders going out the past
few days. BWV 998
Standard and TAB and
Bach Select
Transcripts Volume II with TAB have been moving out quickly.
-
I finally got around to finishing all of the pages attached to
the Sheet Music Catalog Pages -
reformatting, organizing and polishing. They look mighty
nice now! Sweet...all the Weiss Pages are complete!
Finally...
02-11-2010
- More site maintenance, cleanup, organization, formatting, info
on Weiss S-C numbering, and other stuff. New books
are out. See our Catalog.
-
New Kenny Hill Player and
Estudio Series Classical Guitars are in the studio.
We're now fully stocked.
02-10-2010
- Big snow in NY! Yikes. Cleanup of the site, fixing
broken links, while updating the various pages associated with
the new books.
02-09-2010
- A new book is in the beginning process, where I'll be offering
the Best of Weiss in standard notation
and another version in Tab Notation. They will
both be pretty sizable books as Weiss has lots of great stuff to offer the guitarist.
02-08-2010
- Doing a mini marathon, I finished both versions of
Prelude
Fugue & Allegro BWV 998 -
Standard Version and
TAB version
02-07-2010
- Updates to BWV 998
include finishing the marking and editing of the Allegro and
updating a midi-mp3 file of the same on the dedicated pages.
-
Looks like I may lose the Photo pages for Bach and
Weiss...thinking it over, seeing what works and what doesn't.
The pages are too big and unwieldy.
-
Updated mp3s of the Prelude and the Fugue on their respective
pages regarding BWV 998
02-06-2010
- Seems I'm breaking all kinds of personal records for web site
hits and views and hey...phone calls too! The past 2 weeks
have been my busiest ever in terms of web activity. Very
cool.
-
OK, finished engraving the Allegro from my latest collection,
BWV 998. Now comes
the unsavory task of marking and editing the
Fugue and Allegro. A few more
days and it should be out, way ahead of schedule. This
entails both the standard and TAB notation editions.
Amazing what I can do when I puts my minds to it. LOL
-
Put up 2 sample PDFs of the above
work. They can be found in the detail page for the
upcoming publication. Working pretty darned good this
morning! :-)
-
Updated the Video Page to
reflect Ken Whisler and
Eduardo Diaz
02-05-2010
- Busy as ever, I'm now well into the Fugue from BWV 998. 1/2
way done... Man, I hates fugues. 3 and 4 voices, this is a
PIA to engrave, never mind mark. Photo snapshots are
updated on their respective pages.
02-04-2010
- Finished the Prelude from
BWV 998, both the Standard and the
TAB version.
Updates to the pages have already happened, including cover
updates and jpeg snapshots.
02-03-2010
- Updates to the site as well as to the
BWV 998 publications,
which are
coming out soon.
02-02-2010
- I've begun work on BWV 998 Prelude
Fugue and Allegro, which will be a Standard Notation and
a Standard/TAB Notation publication, again, at the request of a
few customers. I've engraved the Prelude and have started
editing, fingering and marking the score. I'll update the
pages as more of this collection comes to realization.
01-31-2010
- I recorded some impromptu videos at Lubos's workshop and
decided to upload them to YouTube. I've linked a few to
the site as of today, but if you search for Naprstek or Richard
Sayage on YouTube, I'm sure they'll come up. If not, a
direct link is available (as of right now) to the
Naprstek Cocobolo GFA
candidate #0909032
01-30-2010
- Spending a great weekend with
Lubos Naprstek and
Dana at their home. Me and Lubos are doing fret work, neck
sets, French Polishing, and hey...Saturday night, I got to spend
the evening with Bill Turner who was kind enough to turn me on
to all kinds of Bluegrass technique and playing. Great
guy...great player.
01-28-2010
-
Bach's Select Transcripts Volume II with TAB
has been released and sent to over 12 customers already on
pre-order. Nice book.
-
I've increased my advertising budget significantly over the last
week, including premier ads with Yahoo Search, GFA Web Ads, GFA
convention ads, GFA's SoundBoard magazine ads and GAL ads in
American Lutherie.
01-26-2010
- Among other product representation deals I've cut this
past month, I'm proud to say that we are now an official
Savarez String dealer
serving Long Island New York and the web.
01-24-2010
- While business issues, phone calls and ordering continue
seemingly non-stop (not complaining mind you), I continue work
on the Bach TAB
edition I'm hoping to release in the next week. I just
finished the last Double from Partita I in B Minor. Great
music...should be a great book.
-
New guitars from the Kenny
Hill Player and Estudio Series are on order, being shipped
in the next 2 days.
01-23-2010
- About a week ago, a client called me to thank me for all
of my TAB editions. Always gratifying to hear that someone
has gotten excellent use of my books. But...there's always
a but....he wanted more. Of course he did. :-)
Telling him I would give it some thought, I went thru my various
publications and selected some pieces from my Bach library that
would be well suited to a TAB edition. Thus the creation
of our latest TAB edition,
Select Bach
Transcripts Volume II with TAB. I should be finished
with it some time this week. The page is being updated as
I go thru the 15 or so pieces.
01-22-2010
- Business issues have kept me busy. A few updates and
corrections to some of the recent guitar pages were necessary.
Gods, I dislike making mistakes on the web pages, but hey...it
happens. All fixed. :-)
01-20-2010
- Photos and specs are updated for the
Cocobolo beauty that
Lubos Naprstek left with me...#0909032
01-18-2010
- Recording and writing some new material. A few Kenny
Hill Estudios were sold over the weekend.
Lubos Naprstek and his
wife Dana spent the weekend with me. We had another
fabulous time. He brought me a high end Cocobolo that is
out of sight. I have to photograph and record her,
hopefully tonight.
01-14-2010
- Recorded the Barthell #149
Classical this afternoon. What a smooth mother of a
guitar!
01-13-2010
- Sold the Hippner #572 Torres
to a wonderful and nice gent from Westchester.
01-11-2010
- I recorded the
Kenny Hill
Signature #2885 Spruce & Indian Rosewood baby monster.
Nothing baby about her, but she's a baby :-)
01-09-2010
- The Kenny Hill Signature
#2941 is sold.
01-07-2010
- Updates to the web site including catalog pages for the sheet
music...getting to Weiss now. Updated guitar pages,
processed photos, descriptions, etc. I played the
Robert Vincent
Brazilian yesterday, for myself and a client. I put it
away laughing and smiling. What a honey bunny of a guitar!
-
updated the About Us page....things
were broken...all fixed.
01-06-2010
- Crazy work in the background. Guitars coming in, photos
to take, web pages to create and update. Now recording,
commentaries, etc. Ordering supplies for repairs,
store inventory, you name it.
-
Free USPS Express Shipping is a hit,
so it stays. One day and it's there.
FedEx and USPS Priority are still an
option if you're close, but it will be Express Shipping
for anything over a day to get to you.
01-01-2010
- Happy New Year! Whoo, that went fast. Time with
Lubos was great.
New guitar in from Navarro. Pete
Barthell is sending #149. Updates, photos, recording!
Yikes...
12-31-2009
- Spending the weekend with
Lubos Naprstek and family and
hey...having a blast. Smoke, drink, playing guitars!
Sweet! Cocobolo monsters, Brazilian sweethearts, numerous
repairs, French Polish work, re-stringing, we're having a good
ole time. I'll be back in the studio on Saturday morning.
Back to work....gack...lol
12-29-2009
- Send more work! Jeez...non-stop workie workie.
Taking tonight and tomorrow off! More guitars from more
makers are making their way here. A new guitar from
Pete Barthell is
on the way. Spoke with Robert
Vincent today...nice guy. He's sending me one of
his Brazilian monsters. Francisco
Navarro is sending me a Rodriguez model. And
there's more. Send more space! Yikes.
12-21-2009
- New guitars are starting to flow in, which is nice. I
have an excellent offering by
Francisco Hernandez - a Cedar
Double top with gorgeous Brazilian Rosewood.
-
Another maker is sending me a guitar for evaluation, but I have
no worries. A friend of Tom Blackshear ... I'm sure these
guitars will be fantastic. I'll write more next week when
they come in.
12-20-2009
- New guitars are in from
Lubos Naprstek. New guitars are in from
Kenny Hill - 2 Rodriguez
Models from his Master Series. Nice!
-
The trip to NJ with Lubos and
family was great. We drank, we played, we smoked, and then
we did it all over again. Dana took perfect care of
us...she's an absolute sweetheart of a lady and then there's the
gorgeous Amy. My daughter Dhiana has clearly adopted her
as her 'new' baby sister. Adorable. I came home with
2 beautiful guitars from Lubos...a
Brazilian baby and an Indian Rosewood 640. The
man doesn't know how to do anything bad. He constantly
finds improvements. His workmanship detail is amazing.
Little issues such as heel and joint polish issues....he spends
so much time experimenting and finding the best way to get
superior results. A man after my own heart.
12-18-2009
- Off to Jersey to meet with Lubos Naprstek and family.
Kenny Player Spruce 650mm is sold today. Nice guitars.
12-17-2009
- The sub-title of my latest piece finally came to me, when I
realized it was about remembering my Dad. As a result,
it's sub-titled "A Son Remembers".
12-15-2009
- More guitars are coming in from
various makers. A number of
Lubos Naprstek guitars
will be available next week. Man, I gots to catch up on
recording...I'm gonna be crazy busy next week.
12-12-2009
- 2 new Rodriguez Master
Series Guitars coming in from Kenny Hill within the week.
Also, I have a few other luthiers en route, but I'll wait to
discuss them until I see them.
12-11-2009
- Been workin' my tail off since Sunday night. Goin' away
is a nightmare when you come back. Anyways, I finally had
some time to myself, taking care of supply ordering, phone
calls, etc....slow day finally! Trying to record this
weekend, to make up for the guitars that need sound files.
I'll update as I go, and will definitely
re-record Prelude #13.
Don't like my first version much. Stiff and not
well-played, I have it in my hands a bit better now.
12-09-2009
- Ordered The Original
Bee's Wax furniture polish for resale as I found it the best
stuff on the market for guitar polishing as well as just about
anything else in your house and car you could imagine.
Good good stuff. Bear in mind that I only offer for sale
that which I use myself. That's the best endorsement I can
offer.
12-06-2009
- Back to work after 7 days in the tropics...tough to do.
I ended up writing numerous ragtime and blues pieces while down
in DR. 7 to be exact. I had classical in mind but of
course they can be played on acoustic. Weird to me is how
the music came in a completely foreign environment not conducive
to ragtime?
-
All back orders have been processed and sent. I'll send
emails later this evening. Phone calls are next.
11-29-2009
- Took a business vacation to the Dominican Republic. Warm and wet
baby...sweet. First morning, I wrote a Rambling
Ragtime...don't ask...I have no idea where the music came from
or why. Simple and fun, I'll probably continue in this
vein if I feel up to it. About DR...the sky is way blue,
colors are vibrant, the birds are crazy loud and the water is
warm. The resorts are nice, the rest of the place seems to
suffer typical island poverty. If you go, stay in the
resort. It's rough out there. :-)
11-25-2009
- Happy T Day everyone! I brought in a new
Naprstek Classical
Guitar the other day, Adirondack Spruce and Flamed Maple with
Radial Bracing, one of his high end concert guitars.
Man, is she beautiful. I didn't get to photograph her nor
record her, but maybe I will in the next few weeks.
Gorgeous and Sold.
11-23-2009
- A new piece written by me is uploaded highlighting the
Naprstek Cocobolo
monster guitar. You can find
Prelude #13 in D Major in
the sound file section of the guitar page and the Original
Composition Page.
11-19-2009
- My Teruaki Nakade 1976
Brazilian is repaired and is gorgeous. Master
repair done
by Lubos Naprstek, - She sold instantly.
The Brazilian Rosewood is phenomenal as is the guitar.
11-17-2009
- More cleanup, corrections, and wow, do I have to record.
I just made a list of 7 guitars that need a sound file. I
had no idea I was so behind. The web is more up to date,
sound files have been corrected and heck, I'm still working on
the music pages. I'm only half way thru all that. It
will ALL be done! I swears...LOL
11-14-2009
- A few new luthiers are in touch with me in the past week.
No name dropping yet, but the builds are incredible. I'm
looking forward to new additions in the coming month.
-
Continuing cleanup and maintenance of the site, as well as the
studio. An unfortunate development for my personal playing
is that my joint condition from last year is resurfacing.
It made practice and playing last night unbearable and well...
downright awful. I have to drop the guitar to a lower
position and really lean into it to play. Making
adjustments! :-)
11-12-2009
- Finishing up 2
repair jobs. Trying to record and write today. A
new Maple beauty is coming in from
Lubos Naprstek.
She's gorgeous. Sister to the
Naprstek Cocobolo Radial
braced, she's a simple monster of a guitar.
11-11-2009
- More updates, cleanup, studio work, repairs, lessons,
etc....nothing much else to report. Writing new music,
which will hopefully be engraved in the next few days.
11-04-2009
- Updating more pages, writing new pages such as Classical
Guitar Links - Events pages, writing music, arranging Bach and
being on the phone a lot.
-
I perused the site objectively last night and found a few
errors, misaligned pages, scripts left over, etc. Fixed
them all. No scripts allowed on my site!
11-03-2009
- New classical and flamenco guitars coming in from a very
talented handcrafted builder down South. Updates as soon
as I get some.
-
I also spoke with an icon in the business,
Mr. Tom Blackshear, a few days ago. It's my hope
that I can get one of his awe inspiring instruments into the
studio in the next month.
-
Updates to the guitar music pages
continue. Ack...but they look nicey nice.
11-02-2009
- Slow and steady updates to the Music Catalog Pages. I'm
re-thinking the Samples Page as it is disorganized and fugly!
Hopefully get to some changes sometime today or tomorrow.
-
The seeds of an original piece came to me this morning.
I'm working it during the course of the day, while I take care
of business that actually makes a living! :-)
11-01-2009
- I've been updating various music catalog pages that flow a bit
better. The
Bach
Violin Partita I is a good example of the work. I have
to update the 40 or so remaining pages to fall in line.
10-31-2009
- I've been working on writing my own music, as well as other
books. Still working the Celtic Book, but a few Bach
arrangements have popped up, making me think that another book
of Bach Transcriptions Volume 2 is on the way. Pulling a
few things from various of my 2 decade old Cello Suite
arrangements, I finished engraving and further harmonic work on
the Courante from Cello Suite 3 this morning...a great piece of
music. I'll see how things progress over the winter
months, which is my hay time for music work.
10-30-2009
- Kenny Hill
Player Series Guitars in Spruce and various scale lengths (650 - 640
-628) are in the studio. And no, I didn't play golf
yesterday. Doh...
10-29-2009
- Updated and corrected the About Page. Got all my work
done, pages updated, legal stuff, checks, you name it.
Going to play some golf...finally. Wheee
10-28-2009
- Made some updates to the site, to the sidebar and to the index
page. Added back my Samples Page
and About Us.
-
Still working on my drop down menus for the top links.
<this is me scratching my head> LOL
10-25-2009
- I think I updated all the major guitar pages. Any
mistakes...hey...let me know.
-
The Nakade '76 Brazilian is already sold. I'm not even
having enough time to photograph it and put it on the site.
Looks like the Yamaha GC 3D is out the door too.
10-24-2009
- Working on re-formatting the Guitar Pages now to be in line
with my new presentation and design scheme. Starting from
the Top with the
Avalon
Classical Jazz Guitars - this is a lot of work.
10-23-2009
- Updating, fixing, and formatting all of the
Music Catalog Pages. They got a
bit messed up since I added the left sidebar. I've got to
get around to updating the Guitar Pages
with the format I'm using for the
Ken Whisler
Cedar and Brazilian Classical Guitar page. A bit of
work, eh? LOL
10-22-2009
- Quite a few guitars are out the door this week. A few
new ones are in including a Yamaha GC
from the 1970s signed by the luthier and a
1976 Japanese master luthier guitar with
Spruce and Brazilian Rosewood. I'll update the
pages tonight or tomorrow.
10-20-2009
- Preparing for the Guitar Festival at Five Towns College. Make sure to come by and meet me by the DownBeat Cafe.
-
The absolutely gorgeous acoustic guitar built by
Jack Spira of Australia
is sold.
10-19-2009
- Ordered a set of
Spruce Estudio
Classical Guitars from Kenny Hill - 2 650mm scale - a 640mm
scale - and a 628mm scale - all Spruce Tops w/Indian
Rosewood Back and Sides. Nice guitars, perfect for the
student who wants a superior guitar at a lower price point.
10-18-2009
- Broke my site there for an hour or so. Trying to update CSS dropdown menus and everything went kablooie LOL
Back to normal, I'll have to work it a bit more before I upload.
hehehe....silly, I know, but man, it was really broken..
10-17-2009
- Numerous updates and a general clean up of the site is on
going. The left sidebar threw a few things out of skew,
forcing me to look at each page and update accordingly.
Turns out, from the 1 or 2 pages I started out with just a few
years ago, I'm at 150+ pages, not including archives and Sold
guitars, and other minor pages. I need a web admin and in
a hurry, baby LOL
-
Given the rainy day here in NY I'm looking at cleanup of the
studio - workshop and my upstairs office. I'm also going
to try to record a few of the new guitars that came in ... what
a chore...I get to play and record some of the most gorgeous
guitars you ever done seen :-)
10-16-2009
- The latest and greatest
Kenny Hill
Signature is here...Double Top Cedar/Spruce with Lattice Bracing.
-
You'll notice that there is a slightly different look to our
highlight pages, whether guitar or music. Sidebar on the
left, for easy scrolling and navigation. The guitar pages
now have picture links and photos running down the left side of
the overall description. My thanks to Dan Bouza and Steve
Schram for some great ideas regarding all of this. I like
the newer look and there is a ton of positive feedback. My
job is to now bring ALL of the pages in line with this format.
10-15-2009
- I'm working on updating pages, photos and such. I'm also
removing all scripts, advertising and whatever else that
detracts from the site. I'm slowly going thru the myriad
150+ pages, cleaning things up.
-
I'm also experimenting with a different format for the guitar
pages as can be seen here for
Lubos Naprstek's
gorgeous Cocobolo Classical Guitar. It's still up in
the air, but I like the better feel and look. A couple of
tweaks here and there and I'll bring all the highlight pages for
the music and guitars in line with this page. That should
take me a week or so.
10-13-2009
- So much work today, I didn't get to my "other" work, which is
updating guitar pages, photos and recording.
10-11-2009
- Spent the day with
Lubos Naprstek
and his lovely wife in their NJ home. Working with him,
touring his workshop and witnessing the most astonishing array
of guitars, mandolins, arch-tops and banjos, built by him.
It was an eye opening day and evening to say the least.
His latest innovation is a radial bracing in his classical
guitars that is simply superior in its results. World
Class.
10-09-2009
- Bringing in 4 new
Kenny Hill Player
Series Guitars - Spruce and Cedar - 650mm and 640mm scale -
one of each
-
Also ordered one of Kenny's
new Signature Models with Double Top and Lattice Bracing -
very loud :-)
10-08-2009
- Orders to OASIS Guitar
Humidifiers will set us up as the only NY authorized dealer
of this great product.
10-06-2009
- Small updates to the site, corrections, pictures, etc.
A few guitars out the door, time to re-stock. I need
luthiers callin' me baby LOL
10-04-2009
- Working on many recordings to fill in Sample files for
the various guitars that are missing them, such as the
Hill Signature
2885 Spruce.
10-02-2009
- Fixed numerous little issues the site had with links,
clarity, jpegs, etc. Busy day with clients and students
too.
-
Put up a recording of the
Pat Caruso Brazilian
that I have for sale.
10-01-2009
- Seems I had a problem with numerous sheet music pages
being missing! Yikes. My thanks to Adam for the
heads up. All fixed and my apologies to those
inconvenienced.
09-29-2009
- Numerous recordings and photos have been updated across most
of the guitar pages. Check it
out baby. :-)
09-28-2009
- More updated photos for the Kenny Hill Signatures Pat Caruso,
Avalons, etc. Now I record for a spell.
09-27-2009
- More photos today and recording. Pictures of the
Whisler
Brazilian are up.
- Five Towns College Fall Guitar Festival runs from
October 22 - 25, 2009....make a point to go and check out the
great performers scheduled.
09-26-2009
- Ken Whisler
just sent me a Brazilian Monster. Hehe....suh-weet
guitar.
09-25-2009
- I brought in a
vintage Manuel Contreras 1972 with Cedar top and a gorgeous
ruddy Brazilian Rosewood Back and Sides. She's a beauty
with the sound and playability to match.
- Spent time last
night and this morning updating photos for the various
pages...many more to do....DOH..
09-24-2009
- Numerous repairs and sales have gone out the door.
Finished work on
2 Bellucci Guitars. A travesty is what this guy's
business is about. Finishes had to be taken down, he
sprays the INSIDE of the guitars to inhibit drying of "green" or
immature woods, bowing necks, improper frets, poor setups,
buzzes like a hornets nest, you name it. <shaking my head>
Avoid doing business with Renato. You're getting what you
pay for if you think you can buy Brazilian RW construction for
under $3K. Then...when you call him on his poor judgment
and inexperience, he calls you rude and dishonest? LMAO
-
I've worked on 8 of his guitars now. All the same
scenario. I know exactly what to expect. It's only a
matter of will it be worse or a bit better than the last one.
2 more are incoming. Believe me when I tell you to avoid
his guitars unless I or one of my luthiers worked on them.
Then they're great! :-)
09-17-2009
- Recordings are going up one at a time. First up is the
Hill Signature
#2931 - Mist Covered Mountains of Home. - look under
Sound files on the dedicated page for this and all guitars.
-
2nd sound file is for the
Hill Signature
#2834
09-16-2009
- Working on the photos, lighting and such....very difficult.
I'll be recording many guitars today...finally.
09-15-2009
- Updated
page and photos for the Kenny Hill Signature #2931.
Can't say I'm too happy with the backdrops but the photographs
are improving. I still have to work on it.
09-11-2009
- A
new Signature is in from
Kenny Hill ... #2931 another monster.
09-07-2009
- A whole mess of
Kenny Hill
Estudios are in the studio, all Cedar tops, 650 - 640 -
628mm scale lengths...nice guitars!
09-04-2009
- Sound files are up for the
Hippner 574 and Hippner
572 and the Steven Howlett
classical.
09-03-2009
- Photography equipment has been ordered. I'm pretty much
fed up struggling with various aspects of photographing these
beautiful guitars properly. Backdrops and lighting
equipment was necessary. I'll be spending a good amount of
time taking pictures of everything (again) and recording
everything this month. My thanks to my good friend Rich
Fernandez for his advice and photographic expertise.
09-01-2009
- A 1972 Manuel Contreras 1A is coming in...vintage...in pretty much
perfect condition.
08-31-2009
- Another Kenny Hill Signature
is on the way. Also a
Hill '37 Hauser
model and a pair of Hill
Rodriguez models from the Master Series are coming in to the
studio.
08-28-2009
- I've just put up a listing for a
rare vintage
Manuel Velazquez circa 1956 - Brazilian RW - German
Spruce - Lansdorfer machines - monster of a guitar!
08-26-2009
-
4 New Kenny Hill Estudio Guitars are coming in to the
Studio. 650mm - 640mm - 628mm Scale Lengths - All Cedar
Tops
08-25-2009
- Updated the site with some new information and links.
Spent the day with Lubos Naprstek and his lovely family.
Great day!
-
Lubos left a Hauser with me, priced reasonably and
gorgeous....Spruce and Indian Rosewood, his guitars surprise you
with their dynamic volume and projection towards the audience.
I have to take a photo set of the guitar and update a
Specification page.
08-24-2009
- Setting up a battery of advertising for a full blown campaign
across the country and major web sites. I'll be spending
the rest of this month on ad strategy, supporting my luthiers
and the business as a whole.
08-20-2009
- Our Kenny Hill Ruck model is sold to a good guy from upstate
NY.
08-18-2009
- Been busy with various business projects, web site, guitars,
equipment and supply re-ordering and repairs. I'm getting
to the point where I may need help! Help me help me help
me! Inside joke.....another time.
08-13-2009
- The Hippner #163 is sold.
08-12-2009
- My last Adalid 9C/B Cedar is sold
08-11-2009
- The
Frank Haselbacher #38 is sold as of today. What a
gorgeous guitar!
08-10-2009
- Sound files are up for the
Whisler #21 - Cedar/E Indian RW...what a baby!
08-09-2009
- Spent the day with write-ups, photographs and updating the
site. Numerous photos have been uploaded to dedicated
guitar pages, including
Lubos Naprstek -
Kenny Hill Signatures and the Fleta - the new (used)
Ken Whisler and the
Pat Caruso 1984.
08-06-2009
- Met with
Lubos Naprstek today. A wonderful guy, quick wit
and great luthier. He left 2 beauties with me, which can
be found on the
Guitar Page.
08-05-2009
- The
Hippner #521 is SOLD. A
Kenny Hill Custom Signature #2916 is also sold as of
today.
08-03-2009
- A
Kenny Hill Fleta and another Cedar Signature are
in....gorgeous!
07-26-2009
- Cleaning up the
Guitar Page
for easy navigation. A
Whisler is on the way and I'm
waiting on a Manuel Velasquez Brazilian from the
1950's....sweet!
07-25-2009
- A
Pat Caruso Classical Guitar with Spruce and Brazilian just came
in....gorgeous. A custom
Kenny Hill Signature is on the way. Also, a
Hill Fleta and another
Signature are
incoming....sweet!
07-18-2009
-
A used Hippner Classical just came in - #521 Hauser model with
Gorgeous white Spruce and Brazilian Rosewood Back and Sides.
07-13-2009
-
New Guitars coming in from Hill Guitars - Barthell - Whisler
- maybe even Hippner! Keep checking back in with me.
07-10-2009
-
A New Cedar Signature is in from
Kenny Hill #2902
07-08-2009
- The
1993 Nicholas Ioannou Classical Guitar is sold.
07-04-2009 -
Working on restoring a Juan
Orozco Classical Guitar from 1976 -
beautiful instrument that needs a bridge reset and a complete
refinishing of the top.
07-02-2009 -
Our Hippner Torres #573
Spruce/Brazilian is sold
07-01-2009 -
Pete Barthell #142 is sold as of today.
06-29-2009 - Cruising thru updates to my site, it should
look a lot better.
06-20-2009 - Working thru my site, I have to say, I don't
like a lot of it. Way too much information, scrolling,
blah blah blah....keyriste, it gets worse as I look at it.
- So...I changed
the top, cleaning up links, spacing, logo, the way things are
presented.
- I'm trying to
cut the wordiness down. This is difficult.
- I guess it's an
on-going nightmare, but I'll figure a way. I swears it
:-)
06-19-2009 - Busy with business and updates, I've not had
a chance to update this page. Web design issues have been
taking my time as well as on-going repairs and lessons.
I'm finishing up a restoration job on an Argentinian Cabral
Classical Guitar. This is a guitar where fairly large pieces of
wood were literally missing from the top, scratched and banged
up, the poor baby needed help. She looks pretty darned
good now :-)
- You'll notice
changes to the web design, but this is not really what's been
going on. There's a complete revamp in the background that
is not yet on line. Still in testing, I'm stream-lining
the site in a big way, incorporating java script for directory
navigation, CSS for simpler back end modifications, where
guitars and services will be our highlight areas. A new
color scheme, less wordiness, easier navigation, and
well...simply a better way to visit Savage Classical Guitar on
the web. My thanks to Dan Bouza for the web help and to
Steve Schram for the help with our new logo.
06-10-2009
- Mail Order is off line.
You'll need to contact me if you wish to snail mail an order.
06-09-2009
- The Sarabande from
Bach's Violin Partita I is now completed. I've
updated the jpeg on the dedicated page. Bear in mind
this book will also contain a full Urtext
version.
06-08-2009
- The
Allemande from Bach's Violin Partita I is completed.
I've updated a jpeg on the dedicated page. The
Sarabande is next and I can release
the book.
06-06-2009
- Pete Barthell
has sent me #142 - a Spruce and East Indian Rosewood
monster of a classical. Man, this guy knows how build.
06-04-2009
- A special day for my house as it is my youngest
daughter's birthday. SamSam (also known as BamBam) is my
baby. I love her way too much :-)
-
Pete Barthell has sent me a new
guitar. Can't wait to see it. The man is a
superb builder of guitars, one of the best workmanship guys out
there. The guitars aren't too bad either LOL.
05-30-2009
- I'm releasing a TAB
version of Richard F. Sayage Solo Works Volume I
- I'm also
releasing Bach's Violin Partita I in B Minor BWV 1002 for solo
classical guitar, in its complete form, including URTEXT
05-27-2009
- New guitars will be here soon...1 from Pete Barthell -
a new Kenny Hill Master Series - and a new Ken Whisler
05-20-2009
- The Barthell #139
Classical is sold to fine young gentleman player from Long
Island.
05-17-2009
- Updated photos for the
'93 Ioannou Classical Guitar
05-16-2009
- Updated photos for the
new '37 Hauser
from Kenny Hill and the
Avalon A32J (barely used)
Classical Jazz. Nice guitars.
- The
Guitar Page
is just about done. A bit cleaner to navigate, I'm
getting a little happier with it.
05-15-2009
- Updated photos for the
1975 Haselbacher #38
and the
Hauser' 37 from Kenny Hill. Wow for both guitars!
05-11-2009
-
Revamping the Guitar Page -
making it a bit easier to navigate, smoother, etc...it was getting out
of hand.
05-11-2009
-
Updated Hi-Res Photos for the
2 Kenny Hill
Signatures and the Ruck.
05-10-2009
-
Kenny Hill Signature #2834 Cedar Double Top is in and
Whooooooo, she's pretty sweet. Hauser '37 model is next
up. Sweet again.
05-09-2009
-
Send more rain, please. We really really like it.
Really really....ACK....more setup jobs and a finish job on a
few nice guitars today. Maybe some more photography.
Then an on-line lesson on how to not kill yourself over Sun
Deprivation. Hmmm, I may have coined a new term? :-)
05-07-2009
-
Slow day doing little jobs, setups, photos, and waiting for
guitars to be delivered. Waiting on a
Signature from Kenny
Hill.
05-05-2009
-
4 Estudio
Guitars from Kenny Hill
will be here next week. 3 Cedar 650mm and 1 Spruce
628mm.
04-29-2009
-
A Kenny Hill Hauser '37 and a Cedar Signature
will be here next week.
04-28-2009
-
The Kenny Hill New
World Guitar Estudios and Player Series are in....these
are beautiful guitars for the money. They come with
Kenny's Custom Hard Shell Case. Very
impressive....the 628mm Estudio Cedar model sold the same day.
04-25-2009
- Kenny Hill
Signature #2885 is in and Kenny is right...she's
incredible. Beautiful White Spruce, exquisite workmanship
and a piercing sound and ease of playability to satisfy the most
discriminating player.
04-20-2009
- In a bid to move inventory to make room for the new, I've
lowered prices on all
Avalon Guitars and
Hippner Guitars.
04-19-2009
- I'm bringing in a whole batch of Kenny
Hill Guitars including some from his Player Series as well
as his Estudio Series.
- I'm also
bringing in a Reyes
Flamenco from Kenny Hill Master Series
- I also have a
Kenny Hill Spruce Signature coming
which is a supposed to be an absolute knockout
- Another
Kenny Hill Cedar Signature model
will be sent to me within 2 weeks. Can't wait...
04-17-2009
- Updated our customer
feedback page with a couple of nice notes. It's the
best making people happy.
- I actually
worked on manuscripts today regarding Celtic work, Well Tempered
1B (Preludes & Fugues 9-16) which are all engraved and have been
for over 2 years, they just need fingerings and markings, as
well as Sor work. Back to work on cabinetry. Just
have to finish some doors, hang them and then get to those
desktops. Oh yeah, then electric, lights, moldings,
picture framing and hanging, and who the heck knows what
else....christ, kill me now.
04-16-2009
- Happy Post Tax Day! Yikes.! Uploaded a new PDF
exercise to my
Lesson Page.
This one focuses on RH speed development using i-m and m-a
alternations.
04-13-2009
- A new Signature
Guitar from Kenny Hill is coming in to the studio in the
next 2 weeks as the
KH
Signature #2864 was sold so fast I didn't have time to
photograph or record it.
04-11-2009
- The Ruck
and the
Signature are in from Kenny Hill. They were worth
the wait. The Signature is one of the finest, loudest and
sweetest sounding guitars I've ever heard. So much so that
it took all of 1 day to sell. The Ruck is no slouch by any
means. Loud and sweet, both guitars are amazingly easy to
play. Kenny continues to impress on every level.
04-08-2009
- Entering the final stages of guitar cabinetry builds for the
studio. Once I finish this up, I'll get to the tops and
mouldings and I'll be done. New guitars will be here
tomorrow. Can't wait.
04-05-2009
- Vacation time is over and I'm back to work. Cabinets
and hardware are installed. Just have to get to the
countertops. Next is the guitar cabinet.
- A new
Kenny Hill Signature is en route as
well as a Kenny Hill Master Series Ruck Model. I
hope to hear from Ken Whisler on his latest finish.
03-31-2009
- I did some work on Sor's Opus
35 regarding engraving and editing. I might
have this teacher - student publication out some time this year.
Just cruising along with it. I'm doing this because the
many editions I've seen are awful, working on the original or
facsimile, which by Sor's editor, was a terrible job. Hard
to read, with mistakes, offset print in the score, etc.
This edition will be a welcome improvement.
03-27-2009
- The Hippner 570 was sold to
a nice gent from Connecticut.
03-26-2009
- Going back to some old work, I'll be working on PARTS for the
Bach Violin Concertos as well as the
Bach Sinfonia for Duet while
I'm away on vacation. hmmmm....some vacation, huh?
:-) The Guitar part for the Violin Concertos is
already available.
03-25-2009
- After a year straight of hard work, I needs some time
off. I will be out of the studio for a week starting
Saturday. All orders will be satisfied upon my return
April 3.
- BTW, a new
Whisler is in finishing....I'll look forward to that as well as
a new Rodriguez from Kenny Hill in the next 2 weeks or so.
03-21-2009
- Both Kenny Hill's went out the door on Sunday.
The Hauser
and the
Rodriguez were sold to two nice gents from Long Island.
More are on the way.
03-20-2009
- Building for the studio continues as the guitar cabinet
panels are completely ripped and labeled. Spraying and
finish spray will start on Monday. I may go with granite
tops for the desk area...still deciding.
03-17-2009
- Not too much going on in the business side of things.
As I've mentioned, I'm taking a bit of a slow down period to
work on construction for the studio area. All pedestals
are built for the desk area, which is 5 foot x 11.5 foot L
shaped desktop. There are 5 pedestals built and that
should do it. While I was in the ripping and building
stage, I decided to start the guitar cabinets. This will
be a series of 3 and 4 foot boxes all 4 feet long, with 16" deep
shelving to accommodate guitars and cases in a horizontal
fashion. The total cabinetry will be 8 feet high by 12
feet long, with an approximate depth of 18". There will be
drawer and shelf capacity, as well as humidification spacing
throughout the entirety of this massive wall unit.
- I do this
in between the 20 or so lessons a week, the guitar showings,
repairs and other myriad sales issues day to day. It's all
tough to work around, but I'm having a ball with every bit of
it.
- I should
mention that all the
Kenny Hill Guitars are spectacular. I've locked in 4
more including another Hauser and Rodriguez, as well as a Ruck
and a Fleta model. Can't wait to see them. They will
come in sporadically over the next 4 months.
- I should also
mention that I hope to see another
Whisler guitar in
the next month or 2! I hope...Ken is a fantastic builder
and I think it scary (in a good way) that he is getting better.
03-13-2009
- The latest Whisler Classical should be here in a few.
I'll post pics as soon as possible. The studio is still a
wreck, but I might manage it and some recording.
- The guitar came
in today and was sold within 15 minutes. Didn't even have
time to take pictures. Client was here testing other
guitars out with a mind to buy. He saw this one played it,
and bought it on the spot. Sweet. Ken is making some
fine guitars...no doubt about it.
03-12-2009
- All basic work is done in the studio area. Now
I'm in the middle of ripping woods for cabinet and table top
construction. It'll be a process, but nice when done.
I thought maybe to take pictures of before and after and some
progress pictures. I'll post to a special page if I do so.
03-08-2009
- A new Whisler Classical is
coming in the next week.
03-07-2009
- The
Kenny Hill Rodriguez #2801 is in and she's a beauty.
02-28-2009
- A Kenny Hill Rodriguez is
coming to the shop in the next 3 days.
02-26-2009
- A Kenny Hill '37 Hauser
is in the shop. She's gorgeous! That's
all I have to say :-)
02-25-2009
- Few updates since I decided to rip my studio area apart
and start again. I'm in the middle of tape, spackle and
now painting the entire area. Next up is cabinet
construction for guitars and workspace....lot of work.
02-19-2009
- Sound file is up for the
Barthell Classical Guitar
#138. Excerpt taken from Bach's Violin Partita 1
Double III
02-17-2009
- It's official as we have become Authorized Dealers of
Kenny Hill
Guitars for the Long Island region. Our first offering
from the Hill Guitar company will be a
Hauser '37 Model from their
Master Series.
02-16-2009
- Looks like the Whisler #25
is sold. Spent time with a John Price for compensation
issues, intonation and general setup...nice guitar.
02-12-2009
- Regardless of my ailments within my joints, I'm
managing to play a bit and get a decent result. Don't get
me wrong, I ain't happy, but at least something decent is coming
out of the recordings. I just uploaded a sound file for
the Barthell #139
- A Day in November
by Leo Brouwer.
02-11-2009
- The Hippner Original #567
is sold to a nice gent from Westchester.
- I'm sitting down
to record now that repair work is done for the day. I'll
post the various pieces for the guitars as I go. I'm
focusing on Sor - Tarrega - and even a bit of Brouwer
- Sound files are
up for the Hippner #566
and the Whisler
#25 - tired now after trouble with the recording setup,
never mind the pain in my arms and elbows.
It ate up 2 hours of my time. Suffice to say I'm angry at
the delay when I'm all ready to go...I'll record more tomorrow.
My plan is to at least record the 2
Barthell guitars.
02-10-2009
- Photos and updated page for the
Ken Whisler #25
are on the site.
02-09-2009
- I took off a few days to teach my girls to ski...they did
great. Unfortunately, I came back with some problems
unrelated to skiing. My left eye has closed up with a
serious infection, making it impossible for me to concentrate
and/or pretty much do anything constructive.
- I did spend the
time in PA scoring Fernando Sor's Opus 35
and updating various pages. A new project for me in
between writing original music and the Celtic book I've been
promising.
- In addition,
I've brought more equipment on line including peg winders,
tuners, strings, guitar stands, and a few other things.
- I am also trying
like all get out to do some recording. By last count, I
have 13 recordings of various guitars to attend to in the next
few days. Time to get to work...no time to be ill
:-)
02-05-2009
- Ken Whisler #25
is here and she is a beauty. I'll get the photos up as
soon as possible. I played her for a spell and she is a
warm earthy monster with singing trebles and sustained basses.
02-03-2009
- Photos are up for the
Barthell #139...sweet sweet guitar.
- More
accessories
are being added...pages should be updated.
02-02-2009
- A new Whisler is on the way.
Should be here by Thursday. Can't wait to see this honey
bunny.
02-01-2009
- The John Peter
Barthell #139 is on the site. Have to get the
photos into the web.
