With minimalism comes mindfulness. There’s an approach to things that I’m slowly learning that is shaping where I’m headed with my guitar building.

I wrote in my last post about tuning up my tool collection and making my processes the same across all my builds. It’s not just about doing more with less - I’ve got a goal in mind, and this is how I’m going to get there.

You see, I have a love/hate relationship with Tasmanian Blackwood. It can be a real bitch to work with, and it makes heavy instruments. My new processes reduce the risk of grain blowout (little or big chunks of grain torn out, which seems to be a regular occurrence with Blackwood and routers) and will help me build lighter frames.

I’m working on a Gideon right now using this new method, and it’s looking like it’ll be about 25-30% lighter than normal. That’s a huge win for me, and means I’ll get close to the 7lb goal. I’m expecting this one will be pretty resonant too, something that I want in all my instruments.

What does this have to do with mindfulness? Not sure. It sounded like a good title.

For now, I’ll keep tweaking the process, weighing and taking notes.