I believe either system  of government (Democrat or Republican) would work just fine if not for one small detail; and that would be greed. Now greed or ambition is a good thing as long as everybody plays by the same rules and no one gets hurt. I also believe that if you are too lazy to work then you should starve to death ( the ant and the grasshopper type of thing ) problem is how much wealth is enough? I’d say about 99% of the people here in the states and the world can’t seem to figure that one out. For example Bill Gates of Microsoft  etc. etc. and all those CEOs making more than they are worth ( and you’ll get an argument about that from them on that subject). See here’s the thing; say you’re the head of a big business and a millionaire  and you have everything you need to be happy in this life including a big yacht, but in the back of your mind you think,  who knows I might need a bigger yacht, so I’ll cut my overhead and make more money. Let’s see ……I know I’ll fire my help a few at a time and replace them with these people who will work for almost nothing and not say a word because they can’t and then I’ll just add more deductions on my tax’s even though it’s  illegal and if I get caught I’ll pay the fine and say I’m sorry and I won’t do it again. That’s better odds than I would get in Vegas and that’s why I make the big bucks….. I’m smarter than these little people, besides I deserve it…..  Now lets say if you hire some one and you have to pay them at least a living wage for their family of four, and there are no deductions of any kind and you pay a graduated tax from a low of 5% to a high of 30%  flat rate. You can still make as much as you want and still have plenty to live on, and we could pay off the national debt and have free health care for everyone because the government would save a lot of money, (no more tax system that don’t work) aunt Betty could go ahead and buy food and still have plenty for the meds she needs and maybe get a nurse to help so she don’t have to move in with the kids. So why don’t we just do it? well my friends because that CEO could not afford that bigger yacht he would have to settle for the smaller one……

On April the 24 th  The Stranger Creek Band and I volunteered our time and talents to the gold Star Mothers organization. There was a nice turnout for the event with a few tears and a lot of happy memories for the children of the mothers who lost their lives fighting in wars on foreign soil. The food was great and a lot of people enjoyed the freedom that these young people fought and died for. We were proud to be a part of it and if they ever need us again we will be there no charge; because we are in their debt. God bless these mothers and all mothers who have to go through the sorrow of losing a child for any cause.

Here are a few shots of the Steel String Classical with the back glued on and ready for the binding. For those who didn’t see the first installment this is a classical design that I turned into a steel string that will have a Bags pickup w/volume control. I’m using Hide Glue so when I was sure the back fit perfectly, I brought in an electric heater to warm up the room to about 80 degrees and moistened the head and tail block along with the lining just before applying the glue to slow down the set time. Then quickly clamped the back on before the glue cools and jells so it bonds to the wood properly and I think it went very well the box is tight and musical. On the flat board is a 2×4 cut to the right curve for the back braces of a classical on one side and a steel string on the other. This is used to do final shaping of the back braces and the lining around the back to a nice curve in all directions. The knife on the guitar body is an antique scalpel blade that had an ivory handle I removed the handle and set the blade in a piece of Rose wood. The Ivory handle will become a nut for a stringed instrument.

There is a web site on the internet called OurStage where you enter your music in a contest. I entered our song “The Winner” by The Stranger Creek Band  in the country music category and the last I looked it was in ninth place in the top 100. Check out the site and join up to vote, it’s free and a lot of fun to hear all the great music that you don’t get on the payola media. They won’t bother you with trash emails and you might find a song you love. The Winner has had over 4500 plays has been Favorited 31 times and has about 20 comments so check it out and join up to vote   http://www.ourstage.com/register_user,     of coarse I hope you vote for “The Winner”……and a great big Thank You to all our fans……

I’ve had a few request to see what I’ve been working on in the shop so I decided to put up a few pics. and write a few lines about the project. The guitar I’m working on is a design that I worked up some years ago and it has always been a nylon string Classical type with on-board sound. This time I thought I would use steel strings so I changed the bracing to accommodate the added stress and used some different wood for the top and the neck with American Walnut body. The top is Port Orford Cedar and the neck is Catalpa wood. I made the rosette from a piece of Brazilian Rose wood that I acquired many years ago for some guitar repairs. The board was bought before the moratorium and was about 1 by4 by 48 inches long and now only a few inches left. Also you can see my work stand that I originally made for wood carving that evolved into guitar making. I’m using Animal hide glue to see if I get a better response and I don’t put anymore  for decoration then is necessary and no more glue joints that I have to, I believe the more joints you have the less the sound transfer, that’s why I always try to make the neck from one piece instead of scarf joints and a stacked heel. If you like to build guitars let me hear from you and than

Guitar back

ks for the visit.

Carving Stand and Addjustable Form

Let me start by saying The Stranger Creek Band would like to apologize to those who came to the show last night and couldn’t find a seat or couldn’t get their meal in a timely manner. The restaurant was just over whellemed…….that being said we want to thank everyone for being so nice and understanding and we were thrilled at the turn out for the show we hope to do it again soon… we had a blast. Rekindled sounded great and was a nice contrast to our music ….thank you Rekindled. for those not in the loop we did a show at the Bichelemeyers Stake House in Tonganoxie KS and the place was rockin’ with standing room only; my wife Rosie had to help serve along with others who jumped in to volunteer. A big thank you goes out to them sorry I don’t know who all helped. Anyway thanks  and let’s do it again soon. We have some shows coming up so go to the Stranger Creek Band web site or here at my site to get all the details. One show I’m looking forward to is The DeSoto Opry at the DeSoto Multipopurse  centre June 9 ( they have a huge auditorium; we don’t anticipate a seating problem there) With the Stranger Creek Band, Judy Coder, Dave Purcell, and Maggie Marks a 14-year-old girl who could win the Idol Contest if she was old enough, come and see for your self; we are very excited about her. See you at one of the shows….

The Stranger Creek Band has a show at the Bichelmeyers Stake House this Fri. Jan. 27…..The show starts at 6:30 with Julie Hof and Rodger Little of Rekindled followed at 7 PM with The Stranger Creek Band. No cover charge and Special Menu Items.

I’m no Rodger Ebert not even close but I do have my own ideas about what a good movie should be like. I went to see Red Tails and I  will say it had great special effects, it might even get nominated for an award in that categories. But it could have been so much more. I think it’s target audience is for the younger crowd and that’s fine, the story needs to be told to them in a way that will keep their attention, Lucas is very good at that we all know. But you never get to know the correctors; what makes them tick, why did they want to do the things they did. Where did they come from and what was their family life before the war? These men were the best of the best and brightest, they had to be, and yet they still used the accent that we have all heard before. Maybe they did; they were very young and full of life but it didn’t seem likely to me. ( just my opinion I wasn’t there ) when looking up the history of the P40 Warhawk (the older and slower plane that the movie indicated they were left  to fly in before they got the faster P 51 Mustang) there was no mention of the European war front. While further research would be called for I think that in short it could have been a little more accurate in its portral. There is no doubt that they were not treated fairly and that they were very well-trained and wanted to prove themselves under fire and they did that without a doubt. They flew 200 escorts for the B29 and never lost a single bomber, a record that still stands and there medals for valor is a story in of its self but was only touched on. In short the movie fell short of my expectations…………………

I decided a while back that I would build another guitar. It will have some unusual woods that I have on hand, and one that I know produce’s a good sound. The neck will be made of Catalpa, the sides and back of American Walnut ( from a log harvested in the area that I live) and the top will be made of Tupelo grown in the swamps of Louisiana. but this time instead of PVA ( carpenters glue) I’m using hide glue. Hide glue is a little harder to work with but worth the effort because of the sound quality it produces. I may be wrong but I don’t think you can buy a guitar off the rack made with Hide Glue these days, because of the extra effort that is required. Hide glue is thousands of years old known to have been used in ancient Egypt. It was used to make every musical instrument or furniture and anything organic in nature from then until some time after World War II. It ranges from the strongest (Ox Hide) to the Weakest (Rabbit). There is lots of info on the Internet ( Frets.com and many others). So why don’t all guitar manufacturers use it? Well because it has to be done with a few rules in mind. The joint must be clean and not oxidized, the glue must be kept hot to be a liquid and clamped before it cools. But if it was good enough for violins made in the 17th century that are still in fine condition today it should be fine for what I’m doing. So if you are into gluing furniture or any thing made of wood nothing is stronger and still reversible than Hide Glue. If a joint made with PVA fails it must be cleaned off completely because it won’t make a good joint if you don’t. Hide glue will reconstitute with heat and moisture and will adhere to its self because of it. Hide Glue breaks down at about 140 degrees and PVA at about 120. Other rules apply but you can look it up on the net………….

Last night the band (Stranger Creek) played at the American Legion. There was a good crowed (inspite of the Cotton Bowl Game) with lots of dancing and a good time was had by all. Before the festivities started they had a moment of silence for all the troops who were in harms way. I started thinking about how many times we’ve had to send young men out to fight for freedom during just my life time. How many times old men stood  in silence for young men in harms way. I never had to serve and I consider that just dumb luck. I had two kids and a wife when the Veitnam war broke out so I guess I didn’t make the cut and I’m not sad about that. I’ve seen news footage of war and it looked bad but you don’t see the reality of war on TV they can’t show that. What we see is the cleaned up version. But you can read about it; there are books that try to tell it for what it is, but unless you’ve been there I susect you can’t know. I got a book at Christmas called Fly Boys by James Bradley. It’s about eight Navy and Marine pilots that were shot down and held prisoner on a small island called Chichi Jima not far from Iwo Jima in the Pacific in WW II. The mental state of the Japanese soldier at that time was that they had a divine right to treat the enemy any way they saw fit to advance their cause. I always wandered how humans could act the way they did (and i’m shure there were attrocaties on both sides) and I guess I understand it better now, but I think first place would have to go to the Japanese soldiers of WWII, and these young Fly Boys were right in the middle of them with no way out but death by torture. But after all this time after all the wars and all the people that think they have the divine right to do as they see fit……..well you know the rest of the story.