even the case is exciting.

Walter, yes, insured by Winchester, the kind of insurance that people understand. That reminds me of a sign that a buddy has on his workshop door. It reads, "Is there life after death? Tresspass here and find out"

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Brad's Page of Steel
A web site devoted to acoustic & electric lap steel guitars

Kenny, you are right about amplification. It has the Mc Intyre feather pick up.

Mike D.....yes, certainly inspired by the D'Angelico teardrop. Another inspiration is the 8 string classical guitar and external resonance box set up that is employed by classical guitar phenom Paul Galbraith.

When I first saw photos of the Teardrop, I was amazed and it left quite an impression on me. I suppose that I always had it in the back of my mind. About two or three years ago, I did attempt to have something like this made. I realize that to build something like this, that there's a lot involved...a lot of time, a lot of thought,a lot of experimenting, and a lot of problems venturing into new and uncharted territory, not to mention the jigs and homemade machines to accomplish this. So when I was told that it would be next to impossible, I understood and went on my way thinking that it would never happen.
Last January I attended an all day guitar marathon in NYC. I got to see Greg Leisz and Bill Frissel but I was overly impressed by The Brazilian Guitar Quartet led by renowned classical guitarist Paul Galbraith. Paul Galbraith played an 8 string classical guitar upright in his lap like a cello. There was a metal tube that ran from the guitar's end pin down to a wooden sound box, called an external resonance box.

The box that he used in concert is different than the one in the photo, as it was an oval shape. This external box made a difference in tone and volume as compared to the other guitarists, one of whom also played an 8 string classical, but without the box.

I'm going to have to take a break here, but I'll be back to continue......

[This message was edited by HowardR on 22 August 2002 at 05:48 PM.]

Meeting Carroll and Anita Benoit was such a pleasure. Very warm and friendly people. After speaking to them for fifteen minutes, it's like you've known them for ten years. Carroll, a master luthier and craftsman, who originally for many years built Spanish guitars, has a quiet elegance about him. He knows so much yet does not try to impress you with his vast knowledge and experience, but you realize his expertise in a very casual manner.

I discussed with Carroll the concept of the external resonance box and he was intrigued. He wanted to know as much as possible about this and I realized that Carroll would be willing to try something different with regard to resonators. Anyhow, I left the Dallas show not empty handed and much happier for it.

I contacted a luthier that I know in England who builds Selmer/Macafferri style guitars and mandolins. He offered me some good information about sound boxes, how sound travels, and what affects sound. I still needed info on Paul Galbraith's set up but nobody seemed to know anything, not on the classical guitar websites, or anywhere for that matter. I tried to find information everywhere. I learned that Paul's guitar was one of two made by David Rubio. I learned that David Rubio had a website. When I went to the site, I learned that David Rubio passed away in 2000, yet there was an email address for him. I sent an email to the late David Rubio. Never got a reply. Paul Galbraith lives in Brazil and I could not find an email address for him, but on the back of one of his CD's, there's an address for his booking agent. I emailed the booking agent asking if she would contact him in Brazil and if he would be willing to divulge information on his resonance box. She wrote back "Why don't you ask him yourself?, he's playing in NY next week. Fortunately I was able to get tickets to his solo recital. He played classical lute pieces by French composers. It was beautiful. After the concert I got to converse with him and when I asked about the secret of his external resonance box, he told me that it was also his guitar case! It's a hollow case. No baffling, no sound posts, no tone rings, perhaps a ham sandwich and a pickle, but no secret construction....now I sound like Jody.

Seriously, the tube is hollow and the box is a sound chamber. He gets better volume and tone, especially on the lower end.

Carroll and I spoke in great lengths with regard to the external soundbox and tried to devise ways in which this concept could be applied to a resophonic guitar. I also sent photos of the D'Angelico Teardrop that I had so much admired.

We went a little crazy discussing how the external resonance box would be built. The idea of a sound ring with a cone and cover plate, sound screens and the tube being connected to it seemed like a winner...the problem was, where to connect it on the guitar. On the Spanish guitar, the tube is connect to the strongest part of the guitar, the bottom, where the heel block is. Since a reso is flat on the lap, the tube would have be affixed to the back, but the back is too weak to support this as is the sides. If we were to have the tube affixed to the bottom, it would have to protrude in a horizontal manner and then go into a 90 degree angle down into the box, and there would be a great loss of transference. Not to mention that the fixed position of all this on one's lap would be quite uncomfortable. So we had a beautiful idea for an external resonance box, but no way to feasably connect it. It was like India thirty years ago.....they developed and were able to manufacture an atomic bomb, but they only had elephants to transport them....

We concluded that no matter what we came up with, a stand to relieve the weight and pressure, or a stand with a hollow tube and the base of the stand being a resonance box, it was getting to be too cumbersome and that we were heading towards never never land. We agreed to not persue this, however, Carroll was interested and willing to take on the "Phoenix" project much to my delight.
Carroll grew up in Louisianna where his first language was French. It was not until he went to school that he learned to speak English. Whoever taught Carroll English, neglected to teach him the word "no".

The Phoenix presented it's own set of problems, one of which was the lower bout. The D'Angelico Teardrop's lower bout, is pointed. Not a problem. The lower bout of The Phoenix is tightly rounded, big problem to bend wood like that. Of course there were problems to be solved every step of the way, but this was a love of labor, and what they say is true.."where there's a will...there's a relative"....

The back and sides are California walnut, the top and neck is maple, the headstock and fret markers are redwood burl, and there is redwood burl inlay along the upper bout and lower teardrop bout. The sound grilles are redwood burl veneer over maple, I believe. I didn't want the standard round sound screens and having them fabricated into teardrop shapes would have been another endeavor. I also wasn't crazy about having a lot of metal on this beautiful combination of woods, so we came up with the wood sound grilles. Originally there were going to be two. Carroll felt that the extra area of the extended lower bout, acting as a sound chamber would require a third sound grill to relieve the air, sound, and pressure, thus adding to the volume and tone...our answer to the Paul Galbraith resonance box.

The Phoenix will be in St. Louis next week, displayed at Carroll's booth along with his 6, 8, & 10 string resophonic guitars.

Well, I'm tired now and since I don't have the writing endurance that Jody has, I think I'll call it a night.

[This message was edited by HowardR on 23 August 2002 at 08:38 PM.]