a peek inside the maker's mind
Guitars, Click Here

Here's a letter that came in recently from our guitar maker Todd Mylet. I chose to reprint it in its entirety so you could get a sense of this confident maker with a strong background in repair and restoration. That counts for a lot in the depth of a maker's knowledge and intuitive feel for guitar making. This kind of background keeps a maker thinking about what the consequences of his choices will be in 5, 10, and 20 years after the guitar is completed...how easy is it to adjust and hold those adjustments over time--all the longevity issues around making a fine hand made instrument.

Dear Richard,
I appreciate your enthusiasm about my guitars. As per our conversation, I am forwarding you some biographical information, some construction philosophy, and some specifics about this guitar.
First, the biography. I was born in Seattle, WA in 1969 and grew up in Seattle and Tacoma. Though my parents weren't woodworkers, they did allow me to pursue my early interest in carpentry. My father gave me many of my grandfather's old hand tools and allowed me to purchase somewhat dangerous power tools at an age many thought too young. My mother encouraged my pursuits by engaging me to built cabinets and furniture around the house. When I look at these pieces today this work is rough, but my parents still use much of it daily and for a young kid with no formal training, it ain't bad. Beginning in 1988, I attended Gonzaga University where I dabbled in math and physics while earning a BA in English Literature. Upon graduation, I dedicated a couple years to community service and social justice work, then attended the Red Wing Tech Guitar Building and Repair program in 1995. The guitar building fire was lit for me when I took my 1929 Martin 2-17 into a shop in for a bridge reglue. One look around the shop opened my eyes to the possibilities. Here I saw a pursuit that blended two loves - guitar and fine woodworking. I began to devour any information about lutherie I could find and ended up studying at Red Wing. Upon graduation from Red Wing, I moved to Portland, OR to begin my lutherie career. My first shop was in the basement of a rental house. I did repair work for anyone who would let me, built a few guitars, and continued to devour any and all information about guitars available to me. Slowly, my skills grew and subsequently my reputation for repair and restoration grew as well. My shop moved from the rental house to the basement of a house I purchased. Five years later I moved into my current 1000 sq. ft. retail space and hired my first employee. Currently I have two employees and we all hustle to stay on top of the constant flow of work. I am just finishing the plans for a new shop a little over twice the size of our current space. From the beginning most of my time has been spent doing repair and restoration work, but I have always built guitars as well. Initially I built any custom instrument a client wanted. This included electric guitars and basses, acoustic guitars, and even a five string fretted electric violin (by far the strangest instrument I've built). Beginning two years ago, I limited my building to my first love, acoustic guitars. My construction philosophy is not dogmatic. Like any good builder, I will do whatever it takes to make a guitar sound, play, and look great. To that end, I tend to blend modern and traditional approaches both in technique and materials. For example, I feel hide glue is tonally superior and so use it exclusively to glue braces, bridges, and other areas critical to the instrument's tone. But I use Titebond when gluing binding, kerfing, etc.. I use a wide belt sander to thickness top, back and side plates but I shape neck with a draw knife and spoke shave and carve braces with a chisel. This is why I consider my approach a hybrid approach. The combination of lacquer and French polish I used to finish the guitar I sent you is a good embodiment of this approach. The guitar in your possession is a pretty straight Selmer copy. It has an air dried Sitka spruce top and flamed Big Leaf maple back and sides. Its neck is a three (or five counting the red veneer lines) piece flamed hard maple neck with ebony fingerboard. The binding is flamed maple and the appointments are spalted maple burl. It has no adjustable truss rod but the neck is reinforced with two carbon fiber rods. The top is finished with a very thin French polish of super blonde shellac and the rest of the instrument is finished with nitrocellulose lacquer. All the braces are glued with hide glue; elsewhere, generally instrument makers glue. The nut is bone, the bridge is ebony, and the tuners are made by Gotoh. I sent it strung with John Pearse Nuage strings. Whenever I rattle off the specs of a guitar, it comes off feeling hollow to me. I don't think it really describes the instrument well, since a good guitar is so much more than the sum of its parts. You probably don't recall, Richard, but we had a conversation five or six years ago over lunch at the GAL convention in Tacoma. At that time I explained my position on the use of hand tools over power tools. I said I don't think hand tools necessarily make a better guitar, but they make a better guitar maker. I still feel the same way. A guitar maker who leans toward a hand tool approach will know his materials and instrument more intimately than one who rips through lots of wood with a CNC. I let this belief inform my construction choices and I hope this is evident in the guitar I sent you.

Best regards,
Todd Mylet