full restoration ?

[Sam Sherry]

Originally Posted by Adrian Levi

It may just be hunch but it seems that luthiers like to keep their techniques pretty much to themselves , understandable I guess.....

I've worked for and with luthiers, lived with luthiers, represented luthiers, some of my best friends (living and gone) are luthiers, my sister and her husband are luthiers . . .

My observation is that luthiery attracts an above-average proportion of hermetically-oriented people. For every regular fella or gal who likes interacting with people pretty well -- think Ken Smith -- there are a bunch of folks who are much more inclined toward a solitary existence. It's not so much that they are purposefully guarded about their Deep Luthiery Secrets but that they're somewhat guarded in their interactions with people generally.

On top of that, much of what matters most in luthiery is experiential. When I worked as a bad luthier I learned a detailed method for milling frets. If I set it out on a page I guaranty you would still not consistently produce fret-ends which were factory-spec for a while. As Ronnie Bolduc, my maestro from those days used to say, "The first two hundred are the toughest."