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As part of our ongoing Luthier Interview series, we
present our conversation with Jeff Huss and Mark Dalton.
We will follow with another interview every few weeks
through the next couple of months.
MF: When you first started building guitars,
what innovations or craftsmanship did you feel made
your guitars different? Are those goals the same today?
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Huss & Dalton OM
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Jeff Huss: "Coming out of our background
with Stelling Banjos, we knew the difference between
OK craftsmanship and good craftsmanship. We knew how
to take care of all the little things which add up to
good quality. We didn't have any kind of learning curve
to deal with, we had the skills, we just needed to apply
them to guitar building."
MF: What makes your guitars different from
other guitars of a similar build and value?
Mark Dalton: "Red spruce bracing, Honduran
rosewood bridge plate, 25' radius on all but our traditional
series."
Tim Nelson: "We also use wood bindings
standard on all but our traditional series. Every Huss
& Dalton, except our Singletree banjo, has a bound
fretboard. In addition to keeping the build quality
very high, we try to incorporate a lot of premium design
features into our instruments. Although we do have an
extensive custom options list, our standard models are
a tremendous value when you compare our standard model
features to other standard models on the market."
Note: Tim Nelson is the national sales rep for Huss
and Dalton guitars and helped facilitate this interview.
MF: What is the most common body shape you sell?
Why?
Tim Nelson: "When you look at body shape
only, the dreadnought is our best selling body style.
When you break the sales down by models you begin to
see the sales reflect the diversity in the market. Here
are our top five sellers, starting with a tie for the
number one spot our DS and CM models. These are followed
in order by our D-RH, OM, TD-R, and our OO models."
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Huss & Dalton D-RH
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MF: What are the most common woods sold for
back and sides? Why?
Mark Dalton: "Indian Rosewood. Tradition,
tone, volume, appearance, durability."
Tim Nelson: "Indian rosewood is the best
selling single tone wood we offer followed not too far
behind by Mahogany. Brazilian Rosewood, Honduran Rosewood,
Koa, Australian Blackwood, Maple, and Walnut are also
tone woods that have been selling for us."
MF: When designing a completely new model, what
process do you use to determine the woods used? Bracing
pattern? Etc.
Jeff Huss: "Most of our new models are
based on the result of dealer requests. We have not
been terribly innovative, at times, in terms of design,
models, wood choices, etc. This is mostly due to the
market. For example when we first started we used lots
of different kinds of exotic woods and were pleased
with the results, however it was an uphill battle using
less traditional materials. Eventually we realized that
it was foolish to try and change the the desires of
the buyer. Now we try and build what our customers want.
We try to figure out what there is a market for and
build that instead of trying to create a market."
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