So after 10 years of working factory jobs save for a precious few at Huss and Dalton, I had a long wait list and was building guitars full time.  The wait list grew to 80 in two years, and even though I have a real shop and...

A guitar we just finished up.  Tasty looking fingerboard.   -Matt ...

I wrote a post a few weeks ago about The First Equation.  The idea being that if you want to go venture out and do something you need to find the math equation that tells the story.  We want to hide our heads in the sand and...

If you work with other people or have people who work for you or work on your own - so everyone- remember: there are things only you can do. Why spend your time doing things everyone else can do? You have a skill set,...

Courtesy of James Mann....

Brass resonator guitar start to finish ...

... and tune down. Standard is now a half step or full step down. Tune down to Open C# or C. Strings do the most moving and the more mass you get can moving the more that other parts of the instrument will move. This equals...

All Mule headstocks are slotted these days. I don’t know much about classical guitars but there’s some misconception carried over from them when it comes to stringing up your steel string Resonator guitar . There’s no need...

https://youtu.be/WspUxDSoDu0?t=1126 Click to watch Joey Landreth play his steel Mulecaster and explain the Hipshot Bender.  I'll have 10 of them for sale on mulestuff.com tonight at 9 pm est.    Matt...

What finish do we use on our guitar necks and why? Matt...

Things might get a little bit spicy. 10 years ago when I was at Huss and Dalton as an eager 20 year old I wanted to build guitars all the time.  I did many operations during the day but not the whole deal.  I wanted to keep...

"Most precise...exacting...perfect....unwavering quality"  We hear a lot of words and phrases like that used when being referred to what makers make don't we?  Whether those words or true and honest or not is a subject for...

Answer the big questions first.  The main problem I encountered as a beginning luthier, and the mistake I see being made over and over again by beginning luthiers, is they forget to answer the big questions first. The...

I'm not a huge fan of guitar voodoo- you won't find me filing away the nut in between the string slots, or clamping things to head stocks.  All these things can change the tone of a guitar in theory.  Does they contribute to...

Jeffrey Foucault playing Rainier Ptacek on his Mule resonator guitar, and then I died. https://vimeo.com/176494839...

https://youtu.be/L_UugWZ_G-8...

Generally speaking if you wanted a resonator guitar you bought it from one place or you bought an import. Three guys in Saginaw, MI give another alternative. An argument can be made what "handmade" actually means. If...

THE NEW SOUND- Built in inspiration is a new sound. When you hear things you haven't heard in an instrument you go someplace new. It's uncomfortable at first because it's unexpected. You settle in a bit and start fishing...