Owl Designer Fair update

This years Owl Designer Fair was (insert hyperbole here)!

The vendors were top-notch, the organization was great and the folks coming through the door were amazing (and seemingly never-ending).

Thanks to Emmy for working her butt off organizing and promoting the event.

 

 

I received lots of great feedback and managed to send some fine instruments out to good and loving homes. I know that some of you will be getting a really cool Christmas gift.

 

I have a few modifications to make to some guitars and then off they go.

 

For those of you who wanted amplifiers and were disappointed at the lack thereof, I assure you there will be more on the workbench shortly. I have four pre-wired waiting for some miscellaneous  hardware bits (en-route via the US Postal Service) and a hot soldering iron at the ready. I am on the search for some more sweet-looking boxes so keep your eyes open. If you find a box you like, get it to me and I can build yours custom-like.

 

And for you amp-heads out there, the word on the street is that a new amplifier circuit will be available through scrapwerks in the new year. It will allow for more power source options, and greater control over the shaping of the sound. STAY TUNED!

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Look for my new Etsy shop coming soon!

After the Christmas Craft Show craziness I will be offering items for sale on my new Etsy shop.

Stay tuned for more details.

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New amps for sale!

Here are some of the new amps. Prices range from $70 to $100. The catch is they’re only available at the table. You will need to come down to either of the two shows this upcoming weekend!

 

One Holiday Bazaar  Friday, November 30, 2012  from 12:00pm until 7:00pm at Selkirk Montessori 2970 Jutland Rd.

and

The Owl Designer Fair Friday, November 30, 2012   at 6:00pm until December 1 at 6:00pm

1240 Gladstone Ave Fernwood NRG Community Centre

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The Mo Sho

1st Annual MoSho

Please join me and my fellow purveyors of hand-made goods and outstanding music for this fine event:

1st Annual MoSho

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Summer update…and a new camera!

Here are some shots of my current selection of instruments. I finally broke down and got a real camera.

Details of each one soon…

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An Assembly of Amplifiers

New and Improved!

These fine little portable practice amps now have the option of a 9v wall-adapter. I have wired in a 2.1mm power jack and have a shipment of adapters due to arrive any time.

They still have the 9V battery clip for those camping trips and downtown busking excursions, but can be switched to wall-power when in a “homier” environment.

Prices vary (usually $65 to $100)

A 9V adapter with a 2.1mm positive-center plug is available as well. My stock varies, but most electronics stores will have these.

New Amps New Amps

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4 String Maple Guitar – SOLD

This minimalist guitar has a sweet tone and decent volume. A fully-fretted maple neck gives you an octave and a half  worth of frets (such a deal!). A piezo pickup allows for amplification and its neck-through-body design makes this a backpackers dream.  There’s just enough height in the action for slide playing as well.

Maple 4 String Body Maple 4 string

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3 String “Tea Box” Slide Guitar – SOLD

This was the only guitar to make it back alive from the pre-christmas feeding frenzy that was the Owl Designer Fair. It is truly a survivor. Over 20 of its companions were taken prisoner, to be played in basements, at BBQ’s, and put on display like display-things…

This fine little instrument weighs in at around 10 lbs! A zombie-clubbing axe with a walnut neck, oak fingerboard and various bits and bobs of metal including the one-of-a-kind aluminum truss & ring bridge (guaranteed to transfer AT LEAST 45% of the string vibrations to the body. But what the hell, it’s an electric!).

 

It was purchased this past weekend to be shipped overseas on a clandestine mission to some undisclosed nordic country, to woo fair-haired Scandinavian blues-lovers.

 

Tea Box Axe Tea Box Axe

 

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3 String Whiskey Box Dulcimer

I found this old Alberta Springs “Oldtime Canadian Sipping Whiskey” box at a thrift store.  It was well worn: a bit rough around the edges. I also had in my possession a fine old bottle opener with the stamped lettering of “T.S.F.M. Caswell’s Saskatoon” which seems to be a clothing retailer (possibly defunct) in that fine city.  They were a perfect fit.  A bit foothills, a bit prairie, a bit provincial, but all business.

I originally made this one a 2-string thing, but added an extra string and it made a hufge difference in sound and playability. It’s fretted up like a dulcimer. It has a little bit of purpleheart wood for a bridge and an old square nail from my turn-on-the-century house for a nut. The neck is oak, rife with tool marks and treated with my home-brewed oxidized iron dip, finished with a couple of coats of oil.

 

This is a great conversation piece, and when the conversation goes flat you can play some old-timey mountain tunes on this prairie-born instrument.

Canadian SpringsCaswell'sPrairie Mountain DulcimerOak Neck

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New guitars! Yay!

Here are some photos of the projects I’ve been working on since Christmas. If any of you were at the February Fox Fair you may have seen these on my table.  I will follow up with posts and a description of each one in the “For Sale” category on the right.

Tea Box Axe

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