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Steve Dennison AKA: "Charles Bogle" (WC Fields fans will know) or affectionately as "Bogle" to his friends, had been my close friend of over 50 years, about 35 of which as bandmates in at least 3...

Just after the 1st of the year (2022) we packed up lock, stock and barrel and moved from central California to Loudon, Tennessee just a little south of the Knoxville area. The move proved to be...

Or easier yet, just click on the link below my signature!

Just heard from Doyle Lawson that his 40th annual Bluegrass festival in Denton, NC will proceed as scheduled September 24,26 and 27. Here is a l;ink to the festival flyer;...

I have built over a half dozen "Griffith Loar" copies and started initially with the Siminoff plans. I discovered early on that his peghead footprint wasn't true to the original snakehead pattern,...

Well, it just could be one of life's little mysteries! But, there are some clues here: 1. it happened when they were young "her mother said she just stepped out" 2. no particular peril suspected "and...

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=ol%27+pals++footprints+in+the+snow+youtube&view=detail&mid=1C92F2451B631F0E27CA1C92F2451B631F0E27CA&FORM=VIRE
The Ol' Pals is a band I was able to assemble from...

I use the "Silver Wipes" by Connoisseurs that can be obtained at home interior stores like Bed, Bath and Beyond. They are soft, paper thin cloths treated with a mild cleanser and polish. Very simple...

And Michael will be celebrating his 75th trip around the sun a week from Wednesday, October 16. I know that well, since we were both born on the same day but about 150 miles apart and I have referred...

Brought two-point mandolin and mandola along with a dreadnaught guitar to Wintergrass. If you are attending the event stop by for a shake and howdy at the Music Caravan booth on the 1st floor.

Got the finish cured and buffed for the most part with a few pending touchups. Here are some shots of the front, back, and peghead. The abbreviated pick guard and the truss rod cover are out of...

I was the director of the event for a few years and remain on the committee as an advisor. It has gotten to be a huge Bluegrass jamming event held indoors at one of the area's biggest and nicest...

I just learned from my friend, Leroy McNees an original member of the iconic west coast Bluegrass group, the Kentucky Colonels that his old band mate Billy Ray Lathum passed away this morning. Billy...

Here is a link demoing the guitar:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/yudenGW7HWKQZJc99

I thought should add some shots of the adjustable neck assembly prior to and after the glueup. The player can adjust the guitar's action when needed "on the fly" by removing the threaded strap button...

I'm adding a couple of shots that show the guitar after adding the pickguard and of the birdseye binding. This has a somewhat unusual neck joint. It's a bolt-on with a floating action adjustment bolt...

After building 23 mandolin family instruments I was able to build my 1st Dreadnaught guitar last year and just followed up with #2 dred, stringing up for the 1st time this afternoon. This one has a...

This is my latest mando family build, Wilson WH-5 #23 mandola ready to be shipped tomorrow to a client in Georgia. This took a lot longer than I anticipated due to a lot of travelling last year and...

In March of last year Doyle Lawson purchased a WTP-5 mandola from me at the Wintergrass indoor festival in Bellevue, WA where he was headlining. This past June Doyle was performing (also a headliner)...

The finish process was completed a few weeks ago and buffed out a few days ago. Over the last week I made what I believe to be an accurate Loar era replica pickguard and fitted it today. All I have...

Here is my latest WF5, #021 that I strung up last night "in the white". It got delayed along the way and is numerically out of sequence due an issue that required building and retrofitting a new...

Nope, I try to stick to the blueprint by and large. There are some cosmetic subtleties like the scooped fb extension (after insertion of curly maple slivers that act as faux frets). I've tried silver...

I forgot to add that the frets are in .80" EVO gold that are extremely durable and easy to work with. They also don't impart the ringy overtones that I believe SS frets have.

Today I was able to buff out the finish, attach the hardware and string up my latest Wilson WA-5 "Griffith Loar" copy mandolin. The top is from a Sitka spruce billet I had laying around for a few...

On a cross country trip 3-4 years ago we hung out with Hans Brentrup in Minneapolis for a weekend. He had backed way off on mandolin building and I was able to procure from him some nice wood sets,...