SIMSCal Annual Meeting Highlights

(First Quarter Meeting was held on Saturday, March 21, 2015)

ELECTIONS

• Election of new Officers
  (all offices were filled by volunteers)

• Larry McCutcheon, …………………… President
• Sheri Peterson, ………………………… Secretary / Treasurer
• Dan Greene, …………………………….. Director of Communications
• Eric Nichols,……………………………… Director of Guitar Operations

and, in a non-elected role

• Bill Gourlay……………………………….. Returning Volunteer Webmaster

FEATURED SPEAKERS

• Featured speakers from the Orange County Fair invited all SIMSCal members to enter the Musical Instruments Division of the Fine Woodworking competition at this summer’s OC Fair.
  • On-line entries are currently being accepted for pre-judging
  • Entries for pre-judging are $10 and close on June 1^st
  • Read the rest on-line:
    http://www.ocfair.com/competitions/docs/2015/guides/02Wood.pdf

Encouraging information:

• Besides swell ribbons for 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd place, there are cash money awards; check out page 10 of the Competitions Guide
• LAST YEAR THERE WERE ONLY 13 MUSICAL INSTRUMENT ENTRIES. Good odds, don’t you think?

SIMSCAL LIBRARY
 

• Bill Gourlay has added the SIMSCal library to the Resources section of our website. https://www.simscal.com/resources.html
  • The feature attraction is the two-volume set of books by master guitarmaker Ervin Somogyi, The Responsive Guitar and Making the Responsive Guitar. – a theory, and practice set. Many ideas there will make you a better guitarmaker.

          

• There are also a couple of good books on the art of inlay.
• Anybody seen this one? It seems to be missing.

SHOW AND TELL

• Larry McCutcheon, brought a couple of items to the attention of the members.
  • There is a new(ish) shellac product out there: Royal Lac a polymerized shellac product from ShellacFinishes.com in San Diego. They also have a shellac-based wood sealer and pore filler called Seal Lac.

    Robbie O’Brien has a Luthier Tips du Jour Mailbag 35 minute YouTube demonstrating his finishing schedule for brushing and padding-on Seal Lac and Royal Lac. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnYD1n41ix0&list=LL84vH1CTQc-D6o2ck5Mf4lA&index=3

    As Royal Lac can also be sprayed on, the following is a discussion of that process from the Official Luthiers Forum. http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=45065&hilit=royal+lac

    The Shellac Finishes website has a couple more videos of guitarmakers using Royal Lac. http://www.shellacfinishes.com/

    Anyone interested in having ViJay come make a presentation to us? Anyone still reading this?

    •  LMI’s house-brand instrument makers glue has a new formula. Its new and improved features include: Discreet florescent dye additive allows you to clearly see (in black light) “invisible” glue residue that can ruin a finish, saving untold hours spent repairing finishes.

    •  Hibdon Hardwood in St. Louis is having a March promotion with 15% off T’zalam, a Koa / Acacia cousin, from the look of it. http://www.hibdonhardwood.com/collections/luthiersspecial 
    Be sure to include the promo code: LS2015MAR

• Bill Gourlay shared some new favorite tools:

• Carl Bernhardt shared a couple of small banjo restoration projects that he has been working on (small banjos, not necessarily small projects).
• John Fitzgerald shared a recently completed 00 steel string cut-away guitar that he plans to ship to his customer this week. Sinker redwood top, flamed and figured walnut back and sides, cocobolo binding. At his customer’s request there were a couple of Christian symbol inlays, one on the headstock, and one on the fretboard. Finish was ReRanch (http://www.reranch.com ) nitrocellulose in spray can; five cans of nitro, one can of sealer. John said building only one or two instruments a year, rattle cans are the way to go, even if they seem a little pricey. Convenience trumps price. The key is the fan-spray nozzle – “as good as any gun” that he has used. And the results were excellent. Another understated, elegant guitar from John. I think Bill Gourlay got some photos, which will likely be on the website soon.