various
The Blue-Bird Bass
Phil's only requirement when he commissioned this bass was that it sounded good.
My choices were to give him quality tuners with large enough buttons to make turning them easy, an electric bass bridge to enable him to make his own adjustments and something to make it a bit special for the Cardiff City fan that he is.
Before handing it over to Phil I asked a bass player I had worked with to comment on it. He said that he'd had two acoustic basses and both had made him want to plug them in. This one didn't.
Travel Cello
This started with someone commenting on how convenient an electric cello would be but they were a bit expensive. I did some research and found Ernest Nussbaum (Link)
I wasn't able to get his plans so started from scratch. I made it more streamlined, added a piezo pickup and used the adjustable neck joint that is in the guitars and ukes.
Mine is shown without the knee brace that bolts on. The person I made it for felt more comfortable without the extras at the neck end of the body. I've included a sound clip (recorded on ipad in the kitchen)
Larivée Repair
A video showing the stages of the repair
This is the repair mentioned on the 'About' page. A local repairer had told the owner that he could fix the guitar but the cost would be such that he would be better off buying a new guitar. Afterwards, the same man told me that I had done a very good job. That's what convinced me that I could do this guitar stuff.