News & Notes
Updates from the bench, the shop, and the woods.
The website is currently being updated and refined. Thanks for your patience as we continue bringing everything up to the standard of the work itself.
A quick look at what’s happening in the shop: I’ve been focusing on new tooling and reorganizing the workspace to create a smoother, more efficient flow. Several builds are moving through the benches at once, and I’ve been finishing up the guitars headed to shows. It’s been a full stretch of work, but things are coming together nicely.
April 2-4, 2027
John O will be returning to the Artisan Guitar Show. I hope to have 3 or 4 guitars that will be available to audition.
The Truss Rod access used to be in the soundhole
When I added truss rod access at the headstock, I wanted a little more substance in that area — something that felt structurally confident and visually refined. The solution was a diamond volute carved into the back of the headstock. This subtle sculptural detail adds...
Describing Tone
Describing tone is hard. What does dry mean? I have no idea and if I did define dry to mean something does that mean that you hear the same thing. I do see lots of guys use the “wine” adjective to describe tone and although I do think I understand, truthfully I may...
Compensation
John O’s explanation of compensation Compensation allows the string to play in tune when the string is fretted. As a player frets the string it will be stretched a small amount which is dependent on the action (height of the string above the fingerboard.) This...