Once upon a time in a land near a lake and a river and an ocean, a child was born - but that has nothing to do with this story.  I started early in all things construction, woodwork and general repair.  As a child and teen I was always "asked" to assist my dad on whatever project was in the offing.  It might be moving cinder blocks for a chimney, or it might be catching wood on the off-cut of the table saw.  Sometimes, it was merely to provide first aid assistance.  Wood shop was one of four favourite courses through middle school and high school (the others obviously being Band, Concert Band, and Jazz Band)  The point is that I was always involved in wood, wood craft and music.  

 

As a consequence of my handy skills, as a young adult, I was always the one my buddies asked to help build the shed or fix the deck.  Generally the pay involved alcohol.  Sometimes it even included pizza.  We lived simple then.

 

As a young man I learned the finer points of trim carpentry and general renovations - it was the only way to afford to upgrade the run-down townhouse that my new wife and I could afford.  And then the house after.  And the house after that.  After some years of this, I started as a home handyman and eventually became an "unticketed" carpenter working on higher end homes and running my own construction company.  I could perform any part of the project, but my love was finish work - hanging the perfectly plumb door, laying the laser straight trim, making the perfect moulding or cap, laying beautiful wood flooring.  Years of standing in rain and mud wore thin, however.  

 

In the meantime, music came back to my life after a twenty-ish year hiatus.  Since I couldn't afford the instruments I lusted for, I had to upgrade and scrounge to acquire and play great sounding guitars and basses.  Over time, the upgrades became more complex - to the point where the new instrument contained none of the original instrument.  Where does an upgrade end - a little soldering for new electronics?  A different neck?  How about a new body?  

 

The next logical step was to just start creating guitar and bass bodies, and purchase necks as required.  Cutting, shaping and sanding a guitar body are pretty straight forward, but routing a neck pocket is another story entirely.  Through trial and error, I learned methods to create tight, fitted neck pockets, smooth pickup routes, tidy control cavities, etc.  Everything is logical given time and patience.  

 

The next challenge was to create necks - with frets (!), and a slick playable profile.  I wanted always to have a smooth string path and great action.  Again, trial and error was the method used.  The frets on the neck and the action of the strings is the first thing I observe when I pick up a new instrument, so these are the things that have to be perfect.  The right tools and lots of practice makes for a sweet neck.

 

In the last few months I've moved more and more towards using environmentally friendly products - from local and regionally sourced lumber to less toxic and harmful finishing chemicals.  The continuing evolution of methodologies and production will continue.