In concert: Instrument makers show craft

Great historic instruments get a lot of attention in musical circles, and rightly so — but sometimes there are newer (and more affordable) treasures right beneath our noses.

The Seattle Luthiers, a friendly and informal organization of local makers of stringed instruments, are hoping to draw some of those instruments to the attention of Seattle music lovers with their first show of handmade guitars, violins, mandolins, harps, and such international instruments as the oud and the Irish bouzouki.

You'll find them all at the Puget Sound Stringed Instrument Exhibit this weekend at Renton Technical College. And before that, you'll find most of the luthiers working at top speed in their shops, polishing a selection of instruments to a fare-thee-well. That's what organizer David Haxton is doing in his Seattle shop, putting finishing touches on the exquisite guitar rosettes for which his instruments are known.

"We think there's some interest in how these are made, as well as in the instruments themselves," says Haxton, "so here's a chance to find out what goes into an instrument before the music comes out."

Haxton says upward of 20 luthiers from Washington, and surrounding states and provinces, will bring a total of 80-100 instruments to the display. There's "a strong emphasis on guitar," but also a wide representation of other stringed instruments. Most of them are available for purchase, at prices that start around $1,500 and ascend to around $4,000.

Haxton says he wouldn't describe the Northwest as a mecca for luthiers, but "there are many more of them than we thought before we formed the Seattle Luthiers group, and more are emerging all the time. I think it has to do with the fact that Seattle and Puget Sound are a hotbed for all kinds of music, every type imaginable. There's also a strong tradition here in the Seattle area of fine woodworking. Many woods used in instrument making come from the Northwest, especially the spruces and cedars, and we're a mecca for the world in that respect."

Labor of love

Luthiers aren't in business because they expect to become millionaires. Their instruments literally are labors of love, handmade from the original design to the final coat of varnish. Some of the guitars and other instruments are traditional in concept; others explore new designs, computer technology and newly available materials. What all the luthiers have in common is a passion for what they do.

A luthier's career trajectory is not always easy to plot. Haxton, whose college training is in art and sculpture, has loved woodworking ever since he started playing with wood in his dad's Southern California shop as a kid. By the age of 10, he was already selling handmade wooden surfboards to his friends. Intrigued with the guitar, Haxton made one and played it for several years. His art training at Humboldt State University later led him into jewelry making, with gold, silver and semiprecious stones, and then finally into woodworking.

Haxton was employed by a yacht builder when a knee injury sidelined him — and turned him back toward his first love, the guitar-making he had first tried in the 1970s. A little more than a year ago, he decided to open his own guitar shop — right before the economy took a nosedive in the wake of Sept. 11. It was a tough time to start a business, but Haxton is persisting.

Other luthiers also have interesting backgrounds. Ken Savage was a builder of fine furniture, until he found that his handmade guitar got more attention than the surrounding pieces at a furniture maker's show; he decided to expand into the new direction. Dave Krause, educated as an electrical engineer, turned to hammered dulcimers, guitars and then violin-making, coming up with an innovative design for violin construction.

Haxton attended a few meetings of the Tacoma Guild of American Luthiers, in existence for more than 30 years. He realized the benefits of starting up something similar in Seattle. In September 1998, five luthiers met in Haxton's living room to share ideas.

The result: a bi-monthly meeting that includes Puget Sound area instrument makers, plus another group that holds dinner meetings on alternate months. They draw from a mailing list of around 50, ranging from beginning amateurs to such well-established makers as Michael Gurian and Michael Dresner.

The group is informal; there aren't any dues or rules or bylaws. They've gotten together an exhibition booth at the Northwest Folklife Festival ever since 1999; last spring, a Vermont guitar-maker named Rick Davis also sent in some instruments with tilted-oval sound holes for the booth, and one of them was played at a benefit concert by the French-Canadian band Matapat.

Feast for eyes and ears

Fetching to the eye as well as the ear, the array of instruments on display this weekend will include such items as Mike Doolin's intriguing double-cutaway acoustic guitars (which look like someone took two semicircular bites out of the top of the instrument); J.T. Hargreaves' futuristic-looking asymmetrical bass guitars with Kasha/Schneider bracing; Ray Mooers' graceful harps and hammered dulcimers (from the Dusty Strings shop); and Larry Stamm's curvaceous Irish bouzoukis.

At the exhibition, guitar aficionados will want to catch tomorrow's 2 p.m. miniconcert on-site by Andre Feriante, who will play the same pieces of music on two very different guitars. One is a traditional classic guitar; the other was made by exhibitor Hargreaves in the Kasha/Schneider method (a design that results in unusual-looking, asymmetrical guitar tops).

If any of this intrigues you, hit the Web site www.seattleluthiers.org. Every designer has a story; every picture opens a new window of curiosity. Some exhibitors have great notes on instrument making; the Dusty Strings link has a fun "virtual studio tour."

The real fun will be seeing and touching the instruments on display in Renton this weekend. The exhibition space includes an area for small concerts and informal playing, where the instruments may be tried out. You can hear — and try out — everything from the absolutely traditional to the innovative and new. See and hear the strings, with no strings attached.

Melinda Bargreen: mbargreen@seattletimes.com.