Welcome to 2023!! The shop has been cleaned. The tools have been sharpened and we are hitting the ground running in 2023! First on the agenda is my web developer, Cesar Tessarin and his fiancé, Manoela are getting married this month! Cesar has been doing the O'Brien Guitars website for over 10 years now and more recently the Lutherie Academy website as well. He has done a fantastic job keeping those sites up to date, providing the best experience possible for visitors to the sites. Cesar and Manoela are also regulars on my SHOP TALK LIVE STREAMS handling the giveaways of online courses during the streams. A link has been setup for anyone wishing to contribute to their "Happily Ever After" and help them get off to a good start. Donations are greatly appreciated and everyone who contributes any amount will receive a copy of my Audio Book, My Life as a Luthier and Instructor.,

VIRTUAL CLASSES:  I offer two virtual classes every year, French polish and Steel String Voicing. These classes are interactive and hosted using the Zoom platform. All you need is a computer with a camera and mic to participate. This year my Voicing class is being offered March 5, 12 and 19 and the French polish class will be April 16, 23 and 30. Each class session will be approximately 2 hours.  Visit the Lutherie Academy Teaching Page for more info or feel free to contact me with your questions and to enroll. 

ONLINE COURSES: Myself and others have been working on new online courses that will be launched on the Lutherie Academy website this year. Launching soon is a course about refinishing an instrument. Learn how to decide if a refinish is a viable option and if so, how to remove the old finish and apply the new one.
I also will be launching Luthier Tips du Jour videos -  Season 2. It will contain 50 unreleased videos from my popular Luthier Tips du Jour video series. Watch them before they are released to the public. Speaking of Luthier Tips du Jour videos, I just released my most recent one a few days ago. See the link below.
One more course in the works is the classical version of my 6 Day Guitar Building Course. Just like the Acoustic version, it will show you how I build a classical guitar in only 6 days with students. I am currently editing this course and hope to be able to make it available soon.
Many other courses are also in the works and will be announced as launch dates get closer. 

TREVOR GORE MODAL TUNING MASTERCLASS: The year has just begun and I have already had several people contact me asking if Trevor Gore will be offering his 3 day modal tuning masterclass at O'Brien Guitars this year. We have not scheduled dates for this class this year, but if there is enough interest, perhaps Trevor can come give the class again. It has been a very popular class every time we have offered it. If you are interested in attending this class, please contact me to get your name on the list of participants. 

HIGH GLOSS SPRAY FINISHING CLASS - Last year finishing expert, Jeff Jewitt and I, offered a high gloss instrument finishing class at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking in Indiana. We will be offering this class again this year in July. Sign up online at www.marcadams.com or call at 317-535-4013. 

Here's to wishing everyone a healthy and happy new year with lot's of lutherie related projects on your benches throughout the year. Happy Building!