Arnold M. J. Hennig, Luthier

03/07/2024

03/07/2024

I recently took in a guitar that I made in 1981 for repair of some pretty typical things that happen with age. They also wanted the action lower, thinking that it had come up with time, as is so typical. Turns out the action was exactly the way I had originally made it.
The inherent problem was that at the time I made that guitar, most classical guitarists were using a very high action, copying Andrés Segovia, who, in the days before good sounding amplification was available, was typically playing in large concert halls without amplification. Nowadays, players want their action about half as high as in those days. That is a rather difficult change to make without doing harm to the inherent qualities of the instrument, but I was able to, and the guitar now plays quite nicely at a modern action. It is gratifying to occasionally see one's work from 40 years previous holding up well and still in use.

12/20/2021

Name that future instrument!

12/18/2021

Finished product!

12/10/2021

I've been taking pictures as I went on the charango that I'm just finishing up, and figuring that they'd be more entertaining all put together than as scattered posts, so here we go:

11/29/2021

I've been making charangos and other smaller instruments for a while now, and always having to invent something when it comes time to glue the bridge on. I have a bunch of Swedish bridge/brace clamps that I bought back in the day when they were made, and actually have enough that I could sacrifice three of them to make a smaller set. Drilling these is a real challenge, though, because they were made really thin, in order to fit into small spaces. Fortunately, they fit in my low profile drill press vise, so if I mount it on the edge of the table...

11/20/2021

A charango almost ready to go!

11/08/2021

If you need a guitar set up for a Christmas gift, let me know and we can get that taken care of.

11/04/2021

With the heat on in our Michigan homes, don’t let your instrument dry out!

06/19/2021

Current state of the shop.
My usual mess and clutter.

03/24/2021

My friends donated a tree to future instruments.

11/16/2020

The bridges are now done and at home on their dulcimer with a fresh set of strings.