[Eric Reesor]

This is a web site that I have created for my brother Chris.
Christopher Reesor Luthier
I am currently doing documentary style videos of his latest builds. Comments and suggestions about the work I am doing on his site are more than welcomed either on this forum or by email directly to [email protected]
This is a picture of a classical after the great builder Antonio de Torres he built me in 2006 with some modern update modifications for improved playing comfort and sound done in 2018.
I am also keen to discuss guitar techniques on this forum and have been playing and studying classical guitar technique for over 45 years.

 

[John Reilly]

Welcome Eric , nice web site ,looking forward to seeing some future builds .

 

[Eric Reesor]

Thank you John. I will link up the youtube videos as I complete them. I guess that you just use the camera or media icon in the web interface and post the youtube url inside... HMM lets see if it works...cooool great forum software setup you guys!!! Oh I forgot to mention to see the closed caption descriptions in the video just click on the cc tab right in the video. I briefly describe the sequence of processes used creating the guitars from the stages in the sequence of pictures.

 

[greco]

Welcome to the forum. I look forward to seeing more of your videos.

I'm assuming that you have seen this?

 

[Eric Reesor]

Thanks for putting me on to that video.. Indeed all of today's guitarists and luthiers owe a great debt of gratitude to Antonio de Torres for expanding the sound of the guitar. One forgets that even C F Martin was still making only cross braced antiquated nylon parlor style guitars until he developed x bracing for steel strings and even his descendants did not introduce a Torres style guitar until not very long ago... The best know of which now has a Willy Hole in it LOL. Trigger (guitar) - Wikipedia

If not for the musicians, teachers and composers that were inspired by his instruments we would all be wanging away on steel strings just to have enough sound to be heard. The only exception is the incredible Agustin Barrios who somehow managed to play with nails very effectively on steel strings for all his storied carrier! He must of had nails that could break a window and not crack! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agustín_Barrios
I hope to record a few of his wonderful pieces soon. I will post them as I get them down.

 

[greco]

Is your brother Chris able to source high quality Spanish cypress or Mediterranean cypress wood for his builds?

It was mentioned so frequently in the video and I was not aware of it as being such a sought after wood for building guitars.

 

[Eric Reesor]

Unfortunately sourcing much of the woods most coveted is far too expensive. And even impossible. Even the best luthiers on the planet can no longer source many these woods. I am of the opinion that the design of an instrument and the integrity of the preparation of the wood is far more important. Torres himself went to great lengths to prove this point by constructing a guitar made with with laminated paper. https://classicalguitarmagazine.com/6-noteworthy-antonio-de-torres-guitars/
Today many luthiers are using a variety of woods and producing instruments that can be spectacular. Englemann, and Lutz spruce are a great examples of fine tone wood for a top. Figured Big leaf Maple is another great tone wood for back and sides. Cuban Mahogany when available is wonderful for back and sides as well as necks. Even decent ebony is getting scarce and hard to find correctly prepared for fingerboards. Unfortunately there is still far too much prejudice and down right snobbery against these choices.

In my personal opinion the most overlooked truly great tone wood is English Walnut for the back of a guitar. There is something about the tap tone of Walnut that is slightly brighter than mahogany when used for a back on a Torres style classical or a 12 fret to the body 00 style steel string or even an OM that can make a well built guitar so sweet that I don't want to stop playing it!

But like all things guitar it comes down to personal choice, if you can afford a Brazilian Rosewood or a full Spanish Cypress build flamenco then I a sure there are luthiers who still have some and will gladly drain your bank account for you. Over the years I have heard and played guitars that sound just as good and even better made with Yellow cedar for the back and sides if a flamenco style instrument or other hard woods if in a in true Torres style classical design.

 

[greco]

Unfortunately sourcing much of the woods most coveted is far too expensive. ......

Thank you for your long and detailed response. Much appreciated.
I learned a lot from it.

 

[sambonee]

Great to have you. Make sure you at least own a strat or LP. to be cool of course !LOL.

WELCOME. please post some of your playing. I request your fav flamenco piece. My wife is from Spain. ¡Olé!

 

[Eric Reesor]

Great to have you. Make sure you at least own a strat or LP. to be cool of course !LOL.

WELCOME. please post some of your playing. I request your fav flamenco piece. My wife is from Spain. ¡Olé!

I do improvise around flamenco modes and frameworks on occasion when the muse strikes me. However I do not have golpeador plates so I will have to brush up on rasquadoes or risk creating a Willy Nelson special out of all my guitars! LOL

Pieces that I have studied in the past that have a distinct flamenco bent are not exactly something one can pull our their hat, even if it is a Three Cornered one. El sombrero de tres picos - Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre

The above reference is a little obtuse but music written by Manuel de Falla certainly is a really great start to find a muse to improvise in the style of a flamenco guitarist. IMO He manages to make an orchestra sound like a guitar more effectively than any other Spanish composer has. He blends austerity of melody within the phrygian and contrasting aeolean mode to very great effect. Every time I listen to his works I rush to pick up my guitar and improvise around his magic!

Thank all of you for the encouraging and kind welcome!

 

[mawmow]

Welcome !

 

[FlyingFred]

Nice to see other builders joining the forum! Welcome!

 

[Eric Reesor]

Nice to see other builders joining the forum! Welcome!

My brother Chris is the luthier. I am the one who does his web work and help him navigate the WILD WILD WEB. lol
What I am working on is documenting his skills and techniques as well as recording what I play on the instruments he builds. YOU do not want to hear me playing on his electric builds or his mondolin builds for that matter. He also is very skilled at restoring electronics on instruments and knows all the ins and outs of building, designing and setting up electrics on fretted instruments.

Along with another local luthier I am trying to convince one of them to try building a modern take on an Orpherion The very first steel string instrument to be built with fanned frets. They are incredible instruments and if the production of steel strings was not interrupted during the early 1600s I have no doubt that they would have been more popular than the Lute became during that time in history. They are getting popular in ancient music circles and some builders in England have started reproducing them and for good reason. They can sound like a combination of a lute and a seriously loud mandolin in the hands of a skilled musician.

 

[Genderqueer Guitarist]

I am very much interested in classical technique and composition. Also new to the forum. I don't know any builders but my Goya Gc-20 was handcrafted in 1983.

 

[Eric Reesor]

I am very much interested in classical technique and composition. Also new to the forum. I don't know any builders but my Goya Gc-20 was handcrafted in 1983.

I could post some recordings of half a duo for you if you like. I have not tried just over dubbing to do ensemble play like the way Julian Bream did

Or this gifted guitarist does.

But I might eventually post some half pieces to youtube and scroll the entire score when I get a little better at editing the audio and video timing of youtube ready recordings. Soundcloud is not my cup of tea it is far too choked down in bandwidth. Besides I would much rather get axed on Youtube for doing takes of music that is technically in the public domain but is still under some obscure and ridiculous print copyright so that it is being slowly but surely consigned to oblivion by the music industry of today! I do have an axe to grind with some of the publishers that think they own music that is in the public domain.

Don't sell me a freaking 20 page long POS of a Miguel Llobet duo in an anthology that has unusable page turns, stupid redundant and oft times inaccurate "tablature" in line just so you can charge me 70 or 80 dollars for the paper!!
Either Mel Bay and the other garbage paper pushers that do that kind of crap smarten up or soon real guitarists will just replace them with electronic e-ink music stands and pirated copies of the material that they have bought the rights to from Schott and everywhere else on the planet!!
Well enough a rant about the dismal state of music publishing.

But if you can read effectively let me know if you want to try out playing some really great music to a second or first guitar half duo recording.

 

[Stephenlouis]

Enjoyed the posts, welcome to the forum, I see we are not too far apart!

 

[Genderqueer Guitarist]

But if you can read effectively let me know if you want to try out playing some really great music to a second or first guitar half duo recording.
I would need to brush up on my reading to be honest. Maybe something on the easier to read side? It's been a while since my old music classes so even something relatively simple I might have to study for some hours. I also have a brain injury so it's hard for Me to afford conservatory lessons. You seem like quite the afficionado my friend; Kudos! Thanks for the reply.

 

[Eric Reesor]

Maybe something on the easier to read side?

Certainly that is what I have in mind. I am not a snob. With the exception of not using crappy inaccurate tablature to notate music. Tablature has a place but is far too restrictive to convey a great many things that conventional notation does very easily.