Guitarist turns talents to making guitars
The luthier – or guitar-maker – replied that he has nothing of the sort.
“How in the world did you learn this stuff?” the customer inquired.
Tony chuckles as he relates his response: “Don’t get too impressed, because what I really do is I turn exotic wood into firewood.”
If you’ve heard of the longtime North Franklin Township resident, it’s probably because of his guitar playing. Tony has been a fixture of the Pittsburgh-area music scene for half a century, and he tells riveting stories of meeting and performing with a long list of legendary artists.
Talk with him these days, and he’s likely to focus on how he builds his instrument of choice. He spent decades repairing and customizing guitars, and finally he decided to take it to the next level.
Venturing into computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing might be unexpected for a veteran musician like Tony, but he’s done yeoman’s work teaching himself the technological aspects.
As for the machining aspect … well, he also can tell stories of his work in the automotive realm, such as helping to prepare Porsches for racing. He’s adapted those skills to the instrument-making realm.
And combining CAD and CAM abilities helps him get the results he wants.
“In most cases, people will do the design,” he explains, “and then the manufacturing software guy says, ‘Boy, what in the world’s he thinking when he designed this?’ So I kind of have an idea as I design about how I’m going to make it work.
“Then when you go to the machine, you take your program; it may not be quite what you think. It’s a real learning experience.”
Taking a look at how much goes into making a guitar can be a real learning experience.
As Tony sits at his computer, he discusses the wide variety of components and procedures that are integral to the process.
Sure, you might be familiar with the basics of the neck and body, the frets and tuning pegs. But all the other considerations, the tiniest details, can be difficult to grasp, even for folks who think they’re knowledgeable about the guitar.
Tony starts with a basic design, then goes to work with the software. The CAD three-dimensional displays not only afford him tremendous degrees of precision, but also show him how the manufacturing end of the process is intended to take place.
For example, say he programs a design for a guitar body. The software shows him a tool path that simulates exactly how the machining is intended to proceed.
“We want to know if we’ve done everything right,” he explains.
And the software will clarify matters if something isn’t quite right, helping to reduce the margin for error when it comes to Tony fashioning his “exotic wood.”
“I never thought of getting into any kind of woodworking like this, but I find it’s really fun, and it’s very enjoyable,” he says.
“I’ve been doing this for about two years now.”
He would like to share the knowledge he’s gained, and the pleasure he’s taken, with younger people.
“They always talk about, well, we have this place where they can go play basketball or football or baseball,” he says, standing by his CAM setup. “But no one’s willing to teach this to kids. What I want to be able to do is show them how to do all the steps, and then they can apply it to whatever they want.”
And who knows? They might want to become luthiers.
Even if they don’t end up with engineering degrees.
