Robbie O’Brien

If anybody has ever flipped around YouTube looking for guitar building tutorials you probably came across videos by Robbie O’Brien of O’Brien Guitars. He has a great collection of videos on guitar building all different aspects of building guitars. I spoke to Robbie in his shop in Colorado. He is best known for his classical guitars and instructional videos and in the last ten years or so has been building steel string guitars as well. He is a well-respected Luthiery instructor and has taught hundreds of students. A classically trained guitarist and acupuncturist, he learned his trade mostly in Brazil and some back here in the states. Here is what we talked about.
A: Hi Robbie, I noticed that you learned to build guitars in Brazil?
R: Yeah, I am a woodworker as supplement out of necessity. I married the girl from Ipanema and moved back to the states to study music and I needed a place to live. So I got a chain saw and started cutting trees out back and built a log cabin and over the years my woodworking skills had improved significantly. So by then I already had my music degree and about finished-up the house. I moved back to Brazil with my wife and went to a guitar event in São Paolo and afterwards they opened it up to questions. I asked if anyone knew anyone who could teach guitar building. So, I learned about Antonio Tessarin; One of the best classical guitar makers in Brazil. I called him on the phone and I said hey I would like to learn to learn guitar building. He started to ask some questions and after a while he said I am teaching a course here at a school here and not having a good experience with it. He turned me down. About six months later a friend of mine said that he was going to see Antonio and I asked if I could tag along. I met Antonio for the first time and we got to talking and he asked about what I did. At that time in São Paulo I was working as an acupuncturist and we got to talking and he eventually got around to saying Oh you called me about six month ago about learning guitar building and are you still interested. To make a long story short, he and I ended up exchanging services. I was able to treat his wife (acupuncture) and he taught me to build guitars. We did this for a couple of years and he has become one of my best friends.
A: I bet your Portuguese is probably pretty good right now.
R: My Portuguese is pretty good; some people mistake me for being Brazilian
A: I kind of pictured you in my mind as a South-Western type of guy and I don’t picture you as an acupuncturist in Brazil
R: I actually grew up in Atlanta I am not from Colorado. How I ended up in Colorado is I used to come up here every year for skiing and one year I said I think I will just move up here.
A: So you have been building for some 15 years now?
R: So I did my first one in 1997 so yeah about 15 years now.
A: Do you have a philosophy or an esthetic you have?
R: Well that is kind of interesting. I started building classical guitars in Brazil and I am a classically trained musician so that it is where my interest lie(s). But while I was living in Brazil I used to come back to Atlanta to see my family. In a couple of internet searches I found Kent Everett and I took a few classes with him. Then when I moved back to the states I went on to study with Kent Everett and he wound up coming and teaching my students. Well my philosophy was to build the best damn guitars I could and better than the previous one. Your first lessons in guitars are basically how to build a box and the joinery and the details get better as you move along. But I was trying to prevent… and I already had woodworking skills to begin with so I feel for these guys, you have to learn the mindset and the tools first. They you get into the guitar and stuff like that… and these days,(some students) they want to to right- out- of- the- box a 24 carat gold taraplins and a tudor back.
But I always say guys let (us) just start with the basics, and this is when my philosophy began to develop. Fortunately in my case I started with a classical guitar. So I had a huge ear as to what I wanted. I knew exactly what I wanted for sound because I am a classically trained musician. I knew exactly what I wanted for sound and for tone. I eventually got these with the hand tools and the wood working skills I was able to bring that up to the skill I wanted to match that tonal quality… So I learned with classical building and I got into steel string and that is a totally different ball game. By then I learned how to build the box and the knowledge and the skill set for the steel string … so I just went right into the steel string.
A: So what was that sound that you were looking for?
R: Well I am not actually sure that you actually get there. Like most people I am an artist… so the sound is never good enough. But how do you describe sound? In the English language we are really lacking in the vocabulary to do that. You can read books on it… but how do you explain the color and the sound? So this is what I do with my students. I first explain with a hand gesture. It is impossible to do over the phone. I will give you an image. Let’s say you are sitting in China somewhere. And across the valley a monk comes out with this huge gong. And he gives that sucker a whack. What are you gonna’ hear? That is the sound I am looking for on my guitar. This is what I hear; a strong attack and a strong a strong fundamental. And when that sucker starts to carry it starts to diminish a bit but there is a secondary bump you get and that is the overtone of the harmonics kicking in and you have a little more sustain. There is a little secondary thing going on. That’s what I want to hear on my guitar. Well how do you explain that?
A: That was a great analogy. I guess there are not a lot of words (in the English language) to describe that sound.
R: You may play a hundred guitars and one of them will really just stand out and you say that’s it. That’s what I want. You even buy that guitar and play it for a number of years; when all of a sudden it’s not good enough anymore. That’s what I strive for in my building.
A: do you find it harder to get Brazilian rosewood in Brazil?
R: Actually it is much harder than it is here. I get more of it in the States than I get in Brazil. Everyone here is like Brazilian Rosewood, Brazilian Rosewood; well there is some great sounding Indian Rosewood and Mahogany Guitars and some really bad Brazilian Rosewood guitars out there. In my opinion there is a lot more going on than just the tonewood. If that was all there was then every Brazilian Rosewood guitar would sound great and they don’t. When I was in Brazil I had the opportunity to work with a lot of Brazilian Rosewood. I have been moving in and out of Brazil since the early eighties. But the Brazilian Rosewood I was able to work with… one time I was working in a shop and some old timers came around and said we used to throw away that kind of stuff (Brazilian Rosewood) that you are working with. And that just gives you an idea what has happened to Brazilian Rosewood over the years. The Luthiers I know in Brazil will not touch it because of all the environmental stuff you have to deal with. Second of all it cracks. It is not stable enough. It’s not quarter sawn anymore. So I prefer not to work with it for those reasons.
A: I did notice you still sell some (guitars made with Brazilian Rosewood)
R: Oh yeah sure. I have been in and out of Brazil since the eighties so I have my little stash of it here. And if somebody is willing to pay for the top shelf Brazilian Rosewood I have some it for them. It is not my favorite lumber to work with.
A: Do you kind of find you specialize in the Classical guitar or since you are in the US now do you find you are making more steel string guitars now.
R: Well it is actually 50/50. Out all the commissioned guitars I make a year… maybe one year it is 75% classical and the next year it is 75% steel string. It just depends. Right now I am working on a dreadnaught guitar for a gentleman in DC. So it varies. So I feel I am 50/50 on what I do.
A: And what are your favorite woods you are working with today?
R: There is a wood called Dalberghia Spruceana . In Brazil they call it Jacarandá do Pará after the (Brazilian) state. It’s too bad it’s readily available here in the States but now very popular. It’s a great wood. I like it for classical and steel string guitars. Brazilian Rosewood in appearance. But again it works. Indian Rosewood is one my favorite woods to work with and you still can get some sustainable growth… plantation grown stuff… but I like to work with sustainable wood. Indian Rosewood is a good wood to work with and mahogany is good to work with but because of the environmental aspects of it, it is just harder to get now.
A: I see you don’t list solid body’s a guitar you will build?
R: Well yeah I do some solid bodies. I don’t consider myself a solid body maker I consider myself a classical and acoustic maker. So I am also an instructor and I have videos out there and that is part of guitar building.
A: So you have been teaching for a while now. Have any of your students gone on the make anything great yet?
R: Yes and some of my students have come on to study in my private shop. I teach privately in my personal shop and I have for ten years or almost ten years taught at a college in Colorado and I basically pretty recently stopped doing that and I am only teaching in my private shop and a school here in Colorado called the Colorado School of Luthiery. Nine years ago I started a college level course in Colorado with eleven students and in nine years I took it to 80-100 students per semester. Just in the classes I taught we built over 500 guitars, classicals and steel strings. We added electric guitar building…mandolin and violin building …set up and repair and finishing and French Polishing. We were the place to go study. I am not longer affiliated with them… I forgot your original question?

A: I asked about your students and what they have gone on to do?
R: I have had students come in here and not know what a chisel is and they have hit home runs with their guitars. I like to think that some of that is due to my teaching ability. But other students who had woodworking skills have made mediocre guitars. But there have been a few over the years that have really stood out. Some who have come here to learn guitars have just gone on with life. While others have said I just hit a home run I need to continue doing this… and they have opened up their own shops. Some of my students have sold guitars to players in Nashville and set up their own websites and done really quite well.
Well you can see my online videos and see just what it would be like to work in my shop. If you want to build your own guitars you can these days. When I started out the only information available was very scarce. The pioneers back in the 60’s and 70’s they had to write their own manuals. But today you can just dial it up on the internet and it is in living color.
A: And what can we see in your online videos? What tools are you working with? Are the tools today making it easier to build?
R: All hand tools. You could build a guitar with a pocket knife but I don’t recommend it… But I focus on hand tools; chisels and hand planes
A: who are your influences?
R: Well that is an interesting question. My first few guitars were cedar top because I was a classical musician and that is what I played with and I was familiar with the sound. I would not say I follow the Ramirez school but I like the cedar top. It was not really a Ramirez guitar. But after I got the tone I wanted in Cedar I learned how to build in Spruce. So I started all over again in Spruce and I followed more of the Hauser line. My guitars are a fan bracing type design but… people say well then you are building the Hauser/ well over the years we all take what we learned from others and make it our own. I have achieved the sound I want in spruce for a classical guitar.
A: So what is next for guitar building?
R: Well I am a little uncertain of where things are going; first of all from the environmental aspect. I don’t know if you have had the opportunity to interview anyone about the Lacy Act. And what has been happening there? We had to sign this treaty that banned Brazilian Rosewood back in 92’. We thought that was the about to start controlling this deforestation but now they have this Lacy Act (2008 revisions) which has basically made criminals of all the Luthiers. And we say wait a minute where is this going to go. It is extremely difficult to cross borders with your instruments. It is very difficult to acquire the materials to build the instruments. So I really don’t know where this is going. Then you have all these $50 and $100 dollar guitars coming in from China with inferior materials … composites. For crying out loud I had a guy show up at my class the other day guitar…. from across the room it looked like a great playing guitar but I asked the guy what happened. It cracked. What do they make a (throw away guitar). It almost seems that the new generation does not know what a good quality guitar is. I have guys come up to me on road shows who say man I paid $350.00 for my guitar and it is great. They don’t even know what a good sounding instrument is.
We concluded our interview and I was glad to talk with a very passionate musician and Luthier. I am sure he many more great guitars to build and more student to turn onto building high quality guitars. Guitar building will evolve more. Robbie will help train and build some these new inspirations. He guitars will be passed down for decades to come.

You can reach Robbie and check out his guitars at www.obrienguitars.com or check is great YouTube videos at http://www.youtube.com/OBrienGuitars