Jay Rosenblatt Guitars

The ASIA Symposium this weekend

Posted on June 7, 2017June 7, 2017 by jayrose22

I have just completed putting together my presentation which includes over 200 photographs and guitar building sequences for my class this Saturday morning at The ASIA Symposium, (The Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans).

The Symposium will commence on Wednesday at The Stroudsberg University in East Stroudsberg, PA, and runs through Sunday with classes Thursday through Saturday.
There will be over 35 builders sharing their knowledge, skills and talents with the attendees plus lectures and informational discussions. I am thrilled to be included as a presenter. There will also be vendors selling woods and materials.

My presentation on Saturday Morning titled “The Basics and Beyond” will highlight many topics on building and show several processes using hand tools and small power tools.

You can still register for this event by going to http://asiartisans.org. Anyone who either has a desire to build or learn repair will benefit from this event.

The ASIA Symposiumt and organization are open to the public to join and to attend. The symposium will cover topics on guitar and stringed instrument building, maintenance, repair, inlay, marquetry, finishing, restoration and creation of acoustic instruments. My presentation will be on the basic tools and forms needed to build acoustic guitars and what they do, Saturday Morning, 6/10 from 9:00 to 10:30AM

A host of great presenters and some of the masters or lutherie will be there sharing their knoweledge including; Linda Manzer (Linda Manzer Guitars), John Monteleone (Monteleone Guitars), Dan Erliwine (Stu-Mac), John Hall (Blues Creek), David Nichols (Custom Pearl Inlay), Michael Gurian (Gurian Guitars), Chris Herrod, (Luthiers Mercantile), Matt Laravee and More. A full schedule of classes and presenters can be found on their website http://asiartisans.org/content/.

Thanks for reading

Jay

The Artisan Guitar Show, looking back.

Posted on April 25, 2017April 25, 2017 by jayrose22

About two weeks ago I had the pleasure to exhibit at The Artisan Guitar Show. This was put on by John Detrick, promoter. It was held in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

The show attracted a great gathering of guitars makers and luthiers in many areas of instrument making including acoustics, arch-tops, basses, lap steels, electrics, and included amp makers, vintage guitar resellers and accessory manufacturers.

Instrument exhibitors included Linda Manzer, John Monteleone, Woody Pfiffer, Roger Sadowski, Ervin Somogyi, Lee Garrett, Benoit Levoie, Ken Parker, Peggy White, Michele Pellirin, John Slobod, Brian Galloup, myself, and many many more. The weekend also included discussions and lectures, workshops and concerts.

For me it was an excellent experience. It is a place where I could see the work of these great builders that I so admire and also learn and share ideas with them, when possible and between talking with the attendees who stopped by my booth. It was a pleasure to meet and see all of you there.

For a first show of this type in the Harrisburg area the attendance was pretty good. I met people from Philadelphia, Western Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey and Maryland, also many locals who attended.

I look forward to doing it again next year. Thanks John for putting this together for all of us.

An now some of the photo memories.

Jay Rosenblatt Guitars at the Artisan Guitar show

Claud Laflamme, harp guitarist gave me a private performance on my Kasha Classical. So good!

Garrett Lee classical guitar maker checking out a my romantic-era, 7 string baroque guitar

Frank Sole working out on a Jay Rosenblatt Cutaway at the Artisan Guitar show

A moment with Roger Sadowski at the Artisan Guitar show. Such a nice guy!

Benoit Levoie showing his unique designs

Sadowski Basses, electrics and Archtops.

“Take A Stand” exhibiting at the Artisan Guitar Show

Beautiful Archtops at the Artisan Guitar show

Classic Fenders and Gibsons at the Artisan Guitar show

John Slobod checking out a Lame Horse guitar at the Artisan Guitar show

The Sign in Board of luthiers and builders. This was raffled off to one of the VIP attendees to the show

The future: In June I will be a speaker at the A.S.I.A. Symposium. The Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans. The A.S.I.A symposium is a bi-yearly gathering of guitar and instrument makers. A place where builders can learn techniques for instrument making. It is a wonderful gathering of great builders sharing their knoweledge. It will be held at The Stroudsburg University in East Stroudsburg, PA, June 7 thru 9th.

My presentation will be called “Basics an beyond”. It will be a photographic presentation on the basic small shop tools that i use to build guitars, the things you will need and the things you can make, forms, jigs, etc, for the beginning builder . Along with that I will show images of my go to tools and various builds including; A basic x-braced guitar, a Weissenborn Lap Steel, the romantic I just built, and the Kasha classical. All geared the new builder to get inspired and try different things.

You can get the full schedule here. http://asiartisans.org/content/education/symposium-2017/220-symposium-2017-now.html

In about three weeks I will be exhibiting my guitars in La Conner, Washington at the La Conner Guitar Festival, May 12th., thru 14th., This will be my last showing for a while.

See you there or check back later for an update on those events.

laconner-banner2

Thanks for reading. Jay..

Rosenblatt Guitars at The Artisan Guitar Show.

Posted on April 6, 2017 by jayrose22

This weekend is the Artisan Guitar Show in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, at the Central Hotel and Conference Center.

This will be a gathering of luthiers, guitar and instrument builders, musicians, lecturers, pickers and players. The best of the best will be there exhibiting their instruments.

I am pleased to have been invited to exhibit at this event.

At the top of this page you will find some links to some of the instruments I will be showing this weekend. I will have other instruments not featured on this page. Click on the links above to read more detail about the guitars featured this weekend.

In May, 12, 13 & 14,, The LaConner Guitar Festival will take place in La Conner, Washington. I am looking forward to that as well and will be exhibiting there.

Thanks for reading.

Please scroll to may past posts to see more work and read more about the my instruments. I hope you can make the show. If you do please stop by my table. Thanks!!

Jay Rosenblatt Guitars workbench update

Posted on February 21, 2017March 16, 2017 by jayrose22

It has been over 5 months since my last post. It has been a busy 5 months though.

Jay Rosenblatt Guitars displayed at The Woodstock Invitational 2016

In october of 2016, I exhibited my guitars at the Woodstock Luthiers invitational. It is an an honor to be included in the show. As always, I was surrounded by a great gathering of excellent makers and luthiers and the instruments they create. Fine instrument makers such as Linda Manzer, Tom Ribbeke, Ken Parker, Randy Muth, John Monteleone and too many others to mention were displaying their handmade instruments. I was fortunate to have my table between John Monteleone’s, a master builder who creates beautiful arch top guitars and an up and coming builder, Meagan Wells who also builds beautiful instruments.

Woodstock Luthiers Showcase — The Woodstock Lutheirs Invitational. Main room early Saturday morning.

One of the two Kasha Guitars built in my shop in 2016 found a new home. I was very pleased to find someone who knows guitars who truly appreciate the amount of work that went into this instrument and its craftsmanship and decided it had to be theirs. I also found a new home for the PF in Moonwood and maple.

But the most fun at the show comes from meeting old friends and making new ones, meeting all the people who stop at my table who share stories, information and ideas. The weekend was capped with music during the event and in the evening at local Venues in the Woodstock area.

Posing with a great guitar maker, Linda Manzer

Frank Sole and Henry Nerenberg performing on Jay Rosenblatt guitars.

Just after the Woodstock show two guitars started a new life on my workbench. A new Kasha Classical and a PF in Moonwood. The new Kasha has a salvaged Western Red Cedar soundboard and Rosewood back and sides. The interior braces are laminated spruce and mahogany. The neck is spanish cedar with a Madagascar Rosewood fingerboard and Cocobolo head plate. It has lacewood bindings, a walnut and maple bridge and will be finished with French polish. This will be complete for the upcoming Artisan Guitar show in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, April 7, 8, 9, 2017.

Kasha cocobolo headstock

Soundboard bracing

laminated Back bracing

Balance brace

Lacewood binding

French polish finish

Kasha Classical by Jay Rosenblatt

What a shine

UPDATE: The Kasha Classical is complete and available for purchase;

The other guitar that is on the workbench now and is nearing completion is a new PF Model steel string acoustic in Maple and Swiss Alpine “Moonwood”spruce. This is the third of this design and is replacing the one that sold at Woodstock. This instrument features a AAA Alpine Swiss Spruce soundboard, AAAA maple curly maple back and sides, Ebony binding, a Mahogany neck with Ebony fingerboard, Ebony head plate and bridge. The interior features a mahogany neck and heel block, spruce and mahogany laminated back bracing and Alpine spruce soundboard bracing. This also features an original design sine wave inlay in the back and my signature geometric rosette in ebony and maple. All the bindings are shop made and the finish is amber shellac on the entire body and neck with light blond shellac on the soundboard. It will be available with a custom Ameritage case.

PF Maple w:french polish — AAAA Curly Hard Maple PF with Amber shellac finish

Many repairs have come through the workshop in the past few months. From arch-top soundboard crack repairs and snapped acoustic necks to bridges coming off, re-frets, setups and restoration of collectable mandolin. I’ve see many fall and repaired all.

I will be exhibiting at these fine acoustic guitar shows very soon. Please come test drive one my instruments.

The Artisan Guitar Show. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, April 7 – 9, 2017. http://www.artisanguitarshow.com

The La Conner Guitar Festival, La Conner, Washington, May, 12 – 14, 2017. http://laconnerguitarfestival.com LaConner banner2.png

Well thats it for now. Thank you for reading!!

Jay Rosenblatt

Jay Rosenblatt Guitars. Hand-built acoustic guitars for sale

Posted on October 19, 2016October 24, 2016 by jayrose22

Hello, This page highlights hand built instruments that are currently available for sale.

These are new instruments. For a more detailed description scroll to following page. If you are interested in purchasing one of these fine guitars please contact me at 973-445-0015.

Email; jayrose2@earthlink.net.

Prices quoted upon request.

Thank you,

Jay Rosenblatt

If you are interested in purchasing one of these fine guitars please contact me at 973-445-0015.

Guitars at the Woodstock Invitational Luthiers Showcase 2016

Posted on October 3, 2016October 19, 2016 by jayrose22

On October 21, 22, and 23, 2016, The “Woodstock Invitational Luthiers Showcase” will commence again in Woodstock, New York. The dates are October 21, 22, and 23, 2016. The event is held at The Bearsville Theater and Utopia Sounstage on Tinker Street.

This will be a three day exhibition of hand-built acoustic guitars and instruments exhibited by by their makers.

This show is always an amazing opportunity to see, hear and play some of the finest instruments on this planet. The show has exhibitors from around the globe. Daily and half hourly performances by some of the finest musicians playing these hand made instruments happen on the main stage. There are lectures workshops and demonstrations. I suggest that you make this a go-to event if you love guitars and can make the trip. Find out more at The Woodstock Invitational Website Page http://www.woodstockinvitational.com.

I am excited to be exhibiting there and am pleased to be included as an exhibitor with all the other fine builders. This year I will be in the main room rubbing shoulders and hob knobbing with other masters of this craft who’s work I admire greatly.

The instruments below have been built over the past year and will be on display; A Kasha Classical, an experimental guitar design of mine I call “The Arches”, A 7-string Baroque transitional guitar built to the exact measurements of a the original created over 200 years ago, and my PF model in Quilted maple with a Moonwood soundboard and Mahogany neck.

I hope to see you in Woodstock. This will be an excellent to own a Jay Rosenblatt Original guitar if that is your fancy. Please stop in to say hello.

Thank you,

Jay Rosenblatt

The "Arches Experimantal" Guitar by Jay Rosenblatt — The “Arches Experimantal” Guitar by Jay Rosenblatt

The sister Kasha Classical guitar project

Posted on July 20, 2016October 17, 2016 by jayrose22

In January, 2016 I bagan a project to build Two Kasha Classical “sister” Guitars. They are being built built with my friend Frank Sole, musician and student Luthier. This project was inspired by Frank. This instrument differs greatly in the bracing design of typical classical guitars and was developed by Dr. Michael Kasha in cooperation with luthier Richard Schneider. The instrument features a bracing design by Dr.Richard Kasha which is star patterned rather than ladder braced and the back braces are arched allowing the back to float independently and act more like a from that moves with the vibrations and air movement in the guitar ,rather that being fixed by rigid cross bracing. The soundboard is designed to increase the energy of the strings as they affect the soundboard and provide an increased bass response.

It began with a paper plan from Luthiers Mercantile, the construction of a Solera ( the building form) is based on a design by John Bogdonavitch, luthier. (see his book “Building the Concert Classical Guitar”) The set up on the solera allowed a 2 mm forward tilt in the neck and a ramp of 3 mm built up from the bridge location to the end of the guitar to create the proper string geometry. (now that one guitar is fully complete, that set-up worked perfectly. The strings are at the proper height and has excellent playability.

Both guitars are rosewood with rosewood sides, western red cedar tops, Spanish Cedar necks with Mahogany neck blocks. One instrument was constructed with cedar bracing and the other spruce. (these are the only two principal differences between theses instruments. The end port is constructed to allow access to the inside of the instrument for stringing as this guitar uses a through the soundboard string design which differs from traditional classical guitars where the strings on the bridge on the top of the soundboard.

The saddle design here is a three part configuration of American Walnut, Figured maple and bone. It has a bone nut and medium fret wire. The back “floating brace design” is constructed of maple and mahogany laminations.

Both instruments were hand finished with French polish. These instruments will be on display and for sale at the Woodstock Luthiers Invitational October 21, 22, & 23, 2016. Inquiries about pre-purchase can be discussed.

Kasha Classical Guitar by Jay Rosenblatt Luthier