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Study Guitar Building With Fred |
WHAT'S NEW AT BEYOND THE TREES?
(click to find out more)
One pre-owned 18-string Sympitar still available !!
Two new videos on youtube feature Jeff Titus on The Oracle Harp-Sympitar:
Chava's Song (Michael Hedges)/Silent Return and Wood Dragon (with Gregg Miner on guzheng!!)
New album from Harp Guitar Music features Alex de Grassi on The New Dream, Jeff Titus on Oracle
Video on youtube features Alex de Grassi playing The New Dream Harp-Sympitar
Fred Carlson, co-founder of Beyond the Trees, has been hand-building original and traditional guitars and other stringed instruments for over 30 years. If you like beautiful, unusual instruments and you're not familiar with Fred's work, you're in for a treat. A unique combination of discipline, skill, whimsy and innovation, along with an intuition finely honed by years of experimenting, makes Fred's work stand apart from that of other luthiers.
Rather than viewing the guitar as a collection of separate components, i.e. body, neck, bridge etc., each of Fred's instruments is conceived of, from the design stage on, as a coherent piece of sculpture. This attention to how details combine to make the whole is carried through in the sculpting of the instrument's voice as well.
An important focus for Fred is that of insuring that the unusual design features add to, rather than detract from, the instrument's function. In the end, all these factors- tone, playability, visual and tactile effect- are intertwined in the creation one of Fred's guitars.
In the case of custom orders, Fred enjoys working closely with the customer to help them realize their instrument dream. And he's a nice guy to work with, to boot!
