An excursion to Oshawa ,and an introduction to Lattice Bracings and Vegitarian Cusine.

It must be in the cards....Fade back in time to the 1998 Guild of American Luthier's Convention in Tacoma , Washington on the campus of Pacific Lutheran University. Once more the most attended session was in progress...the guitar sound test in acoustically friendly Lagerquist Hall. In this event any and all Luthiers are invited to leave their instruments for a test drive in a concert type venue. The instrument is tendered a mini performance by an established classical guitarist to an audience of builders , music lovers and players. The instrument is given a proper introduction , a short biography of it's creation, its birth date and or any special features or construction techniques. After this brief introduction the guitar is played for a few precious minutes and the audience is then free to offer comments on his or her experiences of that particular instrument....what follows is rather interesting to say the least.

Out of this rather large body of beautifully crafted guitars ; there are a few guitars that speak volumnes for themselves. These guitars exhibit a clarity , resonance and power that separate them from the others. In my mind the instruments that stood out in the Tacoma Convention of 1998 were the kASHA/SCHNEIDER GUITARS made by luthiers Boaz Elkayam and Jay Hargreaves ; and once more luthier Jeff Elliot produced a majestic and beautiful classical guitar....ahhhh (by the way, I have elevated Jeff Elliot to God-like status for his consistently amazing guitars of impeccable artistry and craftsmanship).

The toast of Tacoma 98 I give to Luthier Joshia de Jonge and her latticed braced classical guitar with Zircote backs and sides. Joshia is the daughter of a Lutherie family headed by Sensei Sergei de Jonge and includes brothers Alan, Rubin, and Sagen...should I mention that ages range from 11 year old Alan to 19 year old Joshia ? I remember succinctly my immediate reaction to Joshia's guitar ...two words ....oh wow !....and we slowly fade to black.

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