About
David Schiff
Luthier
My Philosophy
My design philosophy and aesthetic is inspired by the Shaker approach to furniture building. Rather than adding embellishments, the Shakers found beauty in pleasing proportion, lovely wood and expertly executed joinery. They strove to create objects that were simple, graceful and, above all else, useful.
This philosophy allows me to create beautiful, great-sounding guitars that a working musician can afford. You won’t find inlays in my guitars except for position markers, end wedges and rosettes. Inlays can be lovely but are time-consuming and thus costly to create without contributing to the sound. Eschewing elaborate inlays helps keep cost down, but the main reason I don’t do them is that I prefer to celebrate the natural beauty of woods chosen for their particular role as well as how they harmonize visually and sonically with other woods in a particular guitar.
The Truth About Tonewoods
I favor readily available North American woods, another way of saving cost without sacrificing tone or beauty. I’m not fanatical about this: I do appreciate the denseness of ebony and rosewood for fretboards and bridges and sometimes leftovers for headplates, wedges and heel caps. And, I’ll build you a guitar with a rosewood body if you like. But I have found that a guitar built of good ol’ Pennsylvania cherry, for example, can sound just as good and be just as beautiful as rosewood.
The reality is that the wood chosen for the top and how that top is voiced, are far more important to the sound than the woods selected for the sides and back. Fortunately you can’t beat North American spruce, cedar, and redwood when it comes to guitar tops. Every piece of wood is unique; different even from pieces from the same tree. This is why luthiers voice a top by tapping and flexing it as we bring it to final thickness and as we carve the braces. We are looking for a certain level of flexibility and a certain tone rather than a pre-determined thickness.
Why Buy From Me?
My guitars cost about the same as a mid-range guitar from top factories such as Martin or Taylor. The latest in machine technology, such as computer numerical controlled (CNC) cutting machines, allows these companies to create a fit and finish that rivals any hand builder. So why not just buy a mid-range Martin or Taylor?
Two reasons: First, big factories don’t voice guitars—tops are built to the average best thickness of a given species. Second, I can build a guitar to your specifications and needs. Are you predominately a fingerstylist, a strummer or a bluegrass flatpicker? How tall are you and how big are your hands? What neck profile do you prefer? Traditional heel or Somogyi-style flat heel? What woods do you like? Together we’ll choose the perfect specifications for you. We’ll be in touch throughout the build process and I’ll send you photos of the work in progress or call you if I have a mid-build idea that might deviate from our original plan.
It’s a true collaboration and a major source of satisfaction in my guitar building. It should be a lot of fun for both of us.