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Not long ago, I visited Tim's shop to talk about instrument construction. What follows is an edited excerpt from our conversation.

BRISTOL: Tim, though luthiers build many types of instruments, I know that the guitar is your favorite. When did you first encounter one?

OLSEN: When I was in third grade, my older brother got an Epiphone arch-top guitar. It was an inexpensive instrument, but I thought it was terrific! So I started messing around with pieces of plywood, trying to build my own guitar. My initial efforts were, as you can imagine, dismal failures . . . but I kept on trying.

I began work on my first solid-body electric instrument when I was in the fifth grade, and finished it three years later. That project was followed by the building of several acoustic, guitars, and — by the time I was 17 — I was able to start making instruments for money!

BRISTOL: Were you building only electric and flat-top guitars back then?

OLSEN: Yes . . . a friend did commission me to build an arch-top — which, as you know, is my favorite type of guitar — in 1971. I sold it to him for $160, and he was satisfied, but the experience taught me that I had absolutely no idea about how to build an arch-top . . . and there wasn't any information available for me to learn from, either.

Then, in late 1977, I got the chance to acquire the skill I needed. At that time, a customer brought a treasured arch-top (Jimmy D'Aquisto, who is today's foremost guitarmaker, had built it!) into my shop and asked me to do setup work on the instrument. I ended up telephoning D'Aquisto . . . to talk over the job before I started in on it.

The craftsman was a super, helpful guy, too . . . but I finally had to say, "Jimmy, this is a pretty sophisticated instrument . . . I don't want to take a chance on messing up your work." He answered, "Well, then come out and see me, and we'll go over it together." So although his shop was some 3,200 miles away...

BRISTOL:. . . you couldn't pass up the opportunity. Tell me, did meeting with D'Aquisto increase your understanding of the arch-top design?

OLSEN: Not only that . . . it changed my whole sphere of knowledge! As a result of the trip, I not only sold an article to Guitar Player magazine about Jimmy's techniques, but I've also recently been able to accept commissions to build a couple of arch-tops myself!

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