FRETS.COM
Contributors



Michael Dresdner
I first met Michael Dresdner when he worked for the Martin Guitar Co. designing the D-1 line of instruments. Later on, he became the head man at Tacoma Guitar Company, setting up production of their line of acoustic guitars. He knows a lot about a lot, visit url and has offered to share his technical expertise in this column.

Michael is the author of "The Woodfinishing Book," published by Taunton Press, and has had decades of experience formulating and working with finishes.

"I am a contributing editor with American Woodworker magazine, I have been authoring the regular "Just Finishing" column for the past 6 years as well as writing articles for the body of the magazine, proctoring the message boards on our web site, and hosting the Sunday night online real-time finish chat.

I am also author of a repair manual called Restoration Clinic, author of The Woodfinishing Video (a companion to the book) and have written sections for at least half a dozen other books on woodworking and finishing by Taunton Press, Time-Life Books, Reader's Digest Books, the GAL books, and others. In years past I was a columnist for the old Vintage Guitar Bulletin, String Instrument Craftsman, and even Guitarmaker magazine. I've taught at Seattle Central College and Renton Technical College and currently sit on the advisory committee of the Renton Tech Musical Instrument Repair department."

Dan Erlewine
Dan's the best known guitar repairman in the world, thanks to his years of working on instruments, writing the repair column for Guitar Player Magazine, his books, his videos and "Trade Secrets" in the Stewart MacDonald catalog. Dan's a regular at all the major instrument and luthier conventions. Dan knows just about everybody in this field!


Frank Ford
I'm your host here at FRETS.COM On other pages you'll find a little bio about me and a brief resume of my instructional excursions.

Charlie Hoffman
Charlie has his own website, www.hoffmanguitars.com, where you can read all about him and his work.

"To date, I have built 359 guitars, and have 8 more in production. I have also started a project for a customer who wants a harp guitar modeled on the old Dyer harp guitars. One of my guitars is in the Minnesota Historical Society Museum (apparently I am an icon of the 70's folk boom).

I wrote a column on Lutherie for Frets magazine in the late 70's and early 80's -- covering both repair issues and building. I have traded ideas with Jim Olson since he began -- he says that he got the idea for his laminated necks from me --I can't begin to number the ideas I have stolen from him.

Hoffman Guitars has been a Martin repair shop since about 1976 and Gibson for about the same period, and to the best of my knowledge, neither has ever had a complaint about our work."



Richard Johnston
Besides having the dubious distinction of being my partner in Gryphon Stringed Instruments since 1969. (That's taken real stamina!) Richard is one of the most knowledgeable acoustic instrument scholars around. He wrote "Martin Guitars" published by Rodale Press, and is currently revising the Martin history book published by the C. F. Martin Guitar Co. He's published countless articles in magazines such as Acoustic Guitar, and lectured at luthier conventions and guitar shows.


Don MacRostie
Don has been the major tool designer for Stewart MacDonald for a long time now, and is responsible for the development of a lot of the little gizmos we all use. He's also the builder of the Red Diamond Mandolins you are hearing so much about.

Ask Don where to find some obscure tool or part, and you'll find he's a very resourceful fellow indeed. Ask him a about mandolin building and you'll find he's done a lot of thinking about that, too.

Michael Simmons
Author of a number of articles for Acoustic Guitar Magazine and other publications, Michael has the widest range of eclectic tastes of anyone I know. He's a great resource for all kinds of musical information.

Bob Taylor
You all know his guitars. Bob is one of the problem solving-est guys I know. He's proven that an individual luthier can grow to be a small factory, and that a small factory can grow to be a large factory while learning, improving, and sharing along the way. He's agreed to share some of his knowledge through our Q & A column. Check out the Taylor Guitar website.




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