Home grown music... and musical instruments

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BRISTOL: I'm fascinated with such guitars, too, although I admit that my interest has always seemed amusing to me . . . because they're so feminine in form.

OLSEN: Well, the reason for such "delicacy" is that the "rounded" guitar actually evolved from the violin, whereas flattop instruments are descendants of the original "classic" guitar.

Unfortunately, arch-top players today tend to fall into one of two categories: Either they use an electric instrument — with a lot of hardware and flat wound strings that spoil the arch-top's wonderful acoustics — or they're flat-top pickers who're just looking for a different sound. I call the latter group "searchers" . . . more often than not, they end up playing the arch-top as they would their "usual" guitars, and then judging its sound on that basis.

There actually is a niche — most often found in jazz — that the arch-top acoustic fills better than any other instrument . . . and if a player is willing to let the guitar do what it does best, he'll soon see why I think it's the king of guitars. It's really an evolutionary step above the flat-top . . . especially from the builder's point of view.

BRISTOL: Why do you say that?

OLSEN: Well, when you're finished constructing one, you've got the same advantages that you'd have with a violin: a sound chamber that's unimpeded, a fret board that lies above it, a tailpiece that hovers overhead, and a pick guard-if you choose to add one-that attaches to the fret so it doesn't interfere with the sound.

BRISTOL: That sort of construction provides a great tonal advantage, doesn't it?

OLSEN: Yes, because not only is it good to have the instrument's sound unhindered, but — once you've built an arch-top guitar — you can change the tailpiece's angle and length, or the bridge's weight and height . . . you can do all kinds of amazing things that actually tailor the instrument to its player!

Of course, I'm just getting started at building arch-tops myself . . . other instruments still account for most of my orders.

BRISTOL: Do you wait for a commission before building an instrument?

OLSEN: Right. I don't design anything till somebody makes a down payment. Then I work up a drawing and — after the customer approves the design — I build the instrument. Once it's done, I collect the rest of my money.

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