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Luthier Sugiyama
http://mowrystrings.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10102&t=13142		 Page 1 of 2
Author:  Kim [ Thu Aug 09, 2007 12:08 am ]
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Saw THIS on another fine forum and just thought I would share with my friends here. I don't understand to much of what ever language it is their speaking but I sure know what Jacaranda is another name for

There is some very interesting tapping techniques going on here as well, as was stated by Lefty, the original poster over at the forum without the "s". And those weight things which are stuck on the outside of the soundboard, what do you make of those??? Could this be a way to identifying those deceiving little bits of wood that only think they are guitar but in reality should be removed??

Cheers

Kim
Author:  Robbie O'Brien [ Thu Aug 09, 2007 12:27 am ]
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Kim,

That is Sugiyama. He is a luthier working out of Sao Paulo Brazil and his Portuguese has a very heavy Japanese accent.
Many famous Brazilian players have his guitars. he is known for tapping everything while building. He tries to match necks, bodies, braces, tops etc. that have similar frequencies when building. The interview says he makes only six guitars a year. Looks like he is slowing down a bit since I knew him. Like a few other Brazilian builders he dehumidifies only where he keeps his would supply instead of the entire shop. The BRW they showed in the shop was 25 year old stuff according to him.
Author:  WaddyThomson [ Thu Aug 09, 2007 1:04 am ]
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Good post, Kim.  Very interesting.  Videos are worth 10,000 words, even in Portuguese!   His stash of cut out tops, braced backs, etc., look like he builds more than any 6 per year to me.
Author:  Kim [ Thu Aug 09, 2007 1:11 am ]
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[QUOTE=WaddyT]   His stash of cut out tops, braced backs, etc., look like he builds more than any 6 per year to me.
[/QUOTE]

The body language and way in which he handles those braced backs allmost suggest that they are rejects and not to his standard. At least that is how it looks to me.

I'll have'em    

Cheers

Kim
Author:  Kim [ Thu Aug 09, 2007 1:24 am ]
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I just had another look, when he is handling those braced backs, he is tossing them from one rough stack into another and it sounds like he's saying

"Oh yeah dude, and I really buggered up this one, and that one, and I screwed up this one over here as well, boy, I gotta tell ya man, it's been one hell of a day and this lut'in stuff is turning out to be one heck of an expensive freak'in hobby, sheesh"

Or something like that anyway, but as I said, I don't speak the lingo so maybe I'm reading too much into it

Cheers

Kim
Author:  KenH [ Thu Aug 09, 2007 1:29 am ]
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WOW what a good find Kim!!!


I am amazed at the stack of braced backs that he was throwing around as though they were junk.


 From his facial expressions and body language (as mentioned above) it appears that those backs are no good for him. Can you believe the stacks of neck blanks and mountains of backs sides and tops ?


Thats a SERIOUS case of WAS if I have ever seen one!  I made sure to let the wife see that part so she wouldnt think that I had gone crazy buying woods.  I guess that the bottom line is that no matter how bad you are affected by WAS, there is always someone who has it worse than you do

Author:  Kevin Gallagher [ Thu Aug 09, 2007 1:36 am ]
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Thanks Kim,
   I'd seen this video before and liked the fact that he taps every
component of the guitar and not just the top and back.

   I've always separated my woods....from brace wood to bridge blanks to
tops and backs and sides....accordingtotheir resonant frequency. The
difference is that I do;t match the frequencies of the components for a
guitar, but instead, choose them according to the resonant frequencies of
the components that they will collaborate with in creating the tone of the
instrument.

There are very disticnt and immediately obvious tonal differences
between a top with a very high resonant frequency that is braced with
wood that has a very high resonant frequency and the same top that is
braced with wood of a lower resonant frequency. These indiviual resonant
qualities need to be noted and considered when choosing the bracing for
any particular top or back in order to create the desired tone and to
achieve results that are a close to the tonal potential of the individual
components as well as the guitar as a compilation of them.

   Even though some builders belive the neck to be a "non-tonal"
component of the guitar as a system, there are also notable differences
between guitars with necks constructed or fabricated from woods of
various resonant frequencies. They need to be considered during the
build process as well.

    The only way to become familiar with what happens when woods of
different resonant groups are matched with one another is to build as
many guitars, whether for sale or as prototypes, as possible. I've built
prototypes in a matter of a few days just to be able to record some of the
more obvious tonal characteristics of specific woods working with others.
Is that the way i like to build a guitar for a customer, never, but it serves a
purpose in the R&D situation of a small shop.

    The prototypes always quickly as i offer them at deeply discounted
prices and with no warranty. The oldest is about 15 years old and I've
never seen it back for service or repair sothey do stay together ad the
owners have all been happy with their tone, appearance and playability.
The reason that I include this is simply to encourag others that their R&D
efforts can pay for themselves as the prototypes are sold.

    I have about a dozen prototype models in my shop that need finish
before they'll be offered for sale.....after I get a chance to play them and
record some things that I built them to show me.

   Knowing the resonance chracteristics of each component and
understanding what they will yield when joined to other pieces of wood
whose resonant characteristics are also known is a valuable tool and can
steer the builder down a much clearer path as they construct their
guitars.

    You can easily hear in early part of this video that that bridge blanks he
is dropping onto the concrete floor exhibit a very wide variety in resonant
frequency from one to another. A desired tone is what we strive for and it
would be foolish to think that we can just grab whatever piece is closest
to match it with what is on our bench and then get the result we're
looking for.

Just my opinions arrived at through my experience while paying attention
to every part of every one of the nearly 500 acoustic guitars that i've built.

Regards and thanks again for the post,
Kevin Gallagher/Omega Guitars
Author:  Robbie O'Brien [ Thu Aug 09, 2007 1:45 am ]
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You are correct. Those backs are rejects.
Author:  WaddyThomson [ Thu Aug 09, 2007 1:54 am ]
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Man, that is a real waste of nice tonewood if you ask me! (And you didn't!)  No wonder there is a shortage, if we got people just throwing it away because the braces they chose in that particular case didn't work with the wood they picked. Seems like a place for a redeaux!   Maybe I'm just too anal!  
Author:  Kevin Gallagher [ Thu Aug 09, 2007 3:35 am ]
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Waddy,
   I agree, that is an inexcuseable waste of wood. I've never thrown away a
single piece of wood...for ny reason. Braces can be removed from a back
or top or top vey easily and cleanly to make the piece ready for us
again....in case lesst tha stellar results are reached.

   I was always amazed and completely appalled at the amount of wood
that is discarded at the big guitar factories. I've watched as dumpsters
were filled with a day's scrap which included braced backs and tops, bent
sides, and all manner of blocks and kerfing and necks.

    They discard more wood in a day than I've ever used in an entire
year....even in years that I've produced more than fifty guitars so this
guy's scrap heap was nothing in comparison.

    I've even watched as fully completed guitars with finish applied and
strings tuned to pitch were thrown by the cartful in a chipper that shoots
them into a sealed dumpster as little more than dust. You know how
harful it would be to have those guitars that don't meet quality control
standards to be donated to schools or charitable organizations with some
sort of designation that they are seconds or sub standard so they get
ground up into small wood chips.

   Don't get me started on that waste of not only valuable materials, but
the workers' time and effort and the time to chip them up to be hauled off
to a nearby landfill.

    I take great pains to ensure that nothing is wasted in my shop. Just
wanted to clarify that.

Regards,
Kevin Gallagher/Omega Guitars



   
Author:  WaddyThomson [ Thu Aug 09, 2007 5:10 am ]
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More likely, he is like me and never throws anything away, even though he may never use it again.  It's a bad habit.  However, I think I could get a set of braces off a back with a reasonable amount of success, and find some braces that would work.  It just shows differences in the level of respect for a disappearing resource.  Not vs me, but vs people like Kevin who actually build some guitars.
Author:  old man [ Thu Aug 09, 2007 5:25 am ]
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Doesn't seem, to me, like he knows how to get the sound he wants. It looks like he just builds 100 tops and hopes one of them rises to the occasion.

When I first got into photography (35mm) most folks I knew would shoot 300 frames and hope to get 2 or 3 really great photos. When I got into "serious" large format photography that approach changed abruptly. It all became seeing the finished creation and understanding how to process the film and print the photo before you ever snapped the shutter. I was fortunate in 1981 to attend a two week workshop in Carmel with Ansel Adams and the first exercise we did was a great learning experience. We spent an afternoon with only one negative at our disposal and had to find and make as fine a photograph as we could. We certainly learned to be contemplative before the fact.   There is actually a lot of similarity in the approach to "fine art" photography and guitar building, I think.           Sorry if this analogy doesn't make sense to some of you guys, but it did to me.

Ron
Author:  Kim [ Thu Aug 09, 2007 8:37 am ]
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Yes wasteful indeed, but it is stacked. Could be a job for the apprentice down the track. But those little blocks on the soundboard of the instrument that is being played, do they not spark some intrigued??? No one has said anything, what is your take on that??

Cheers

Kim
Author:  WaddyThomson [ Thu Aug 09, 2007 8:42 am ]
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I would assume those are like experimental braces to see how they effect the sound of the guitar.  Like dampers placed in strategic spots to change the vibration patterns.  That's just a guess though.
Author:  Martin Turner [ Thu Aug 09, 2007 8:40 pm ]
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Interesting looking back bracing visible through the soundhole of the classical Sugiyama plays towards the end of the clip.

Author:  Martin Turner [ Thu Aug 09, 2007 8:44 pm ]
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[QUOTE=larkim] And those weight things which are stuck on the outside of the soundboard, what do you make of those??? Could this be a way to identifying those deceiving little bits of wood that only think they are guitar but in reality should be removed??

Cheers

Kim [/QUOTE]

I recall someone here in Australia (Smallman?) temporarily bluetacks weights to the underside of his soundboards to track down and subdue wolf tones. Maybe Sugiyama-san was trying somehthing similar but tacking the weights to the top of the soundboards
Author:  Arnt Rian [ Thu Aug 09, 2007 9:58 pm ]
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Al Carruth has talked about a similar technique where he will place small temporary weights in form or lumps of clay on the plates to hunt down wolf notes. I can't remember what he does once these spots are identified of the science behind it, perhaps we can get him to chime in...
Author:  Arnt Rian [ Thu Aug 09, 2007 10:41 pm ]
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<edit>
...or the science behind it...
Author:  Sam Price [ Fri Aug 10, 2007 1:25 am ]
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Good vid.
Author:  Rick Turner [ Fri Aug 10, 2007 2:38 am ]
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For him, Jacaranda (Brazilian rosewood) is no big deal; he's got tons of it and it's still very available in Brazil. We see that wood through a very different lens. I didn't see anything particularly upsetting in anything he was doing, though it would be nice to have him as a uncle!
Author:  Robbie O'Brien [ Fri Aug 10, 2007 3:07 am ]
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I see more of it here in the States than I do in Brazil. And the quality here is much better too.
Author:  Don Williams [ Fri Aug 10, 2007 3:18 am ]
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That's because you bring the good stuff back with you!
Author:  Kim [ Fri Aug 10, 2007 3:27 am ]
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[QUOTE=Don Williams] That's because you bring the good stuff back with you!
[/QUOTE]

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