Simultaneously finish sanding a Somogyi 00 #524, and my own Silverman #1. The Somogyi will be sent out to be French polished, and I’ve started working on the finish for my #1. I’ll be French polishing the body, and oiling the neck.

I wanted to do something in the Somogyi carved style, but every time I tried to draw some lines for the carving, it ended up looking very similar to what Ervin or another former Somogyi apprentice had already done. It seemed so hard to come up with something a little bit different.

Things don’t always go perfectly...

This Somogyi guitar arrived back at the workshop for final assembly and setup. And just on time, as the customer was flying in, in two weeks to pick it up!

I wanted to do more than a simple wedge for the engraft, but I really wasn’t sure what form it would take.

Sending my guitar out to be finished would be a big time saver, and it is quite tempting. However, as I’m here to learn new skills, I decided I’m going to try to French polish it myself.

I figured out a way of doing it that worked for me, using the tools I had available, and I haven’t yet come across anyone else doing it in this way. That is interesting to contrast with the way I learned recently here at Ervin Somogyi’s workshop.

Working on the binding of my OM build, during my Ervin Somogyi apprenticeship.

The customer is coming from Japan in September to pick it up, and for there to be enough time to do the finish, it had to be ready by the end of June. This ended up as my project, and I had to put in some extra time to meet the deadline.

Ervin Somogyi writing on the inside of my top. I asked for a joke, but he wrote a riddle instead. It’s written backwards DaVinci style, so if you look inside with a mirror you’ll be able to read it.

Voicing is the process of carving the top braces to create the sound of the guitar. Ervin Somogyi is known to be a master of this subtle art, and it’s one of the things I was most excited to learn from him during my time here.

What we’ve been working on here in the Somogyi workshop.

We gradually thinned down the wood, flexing and feeling the stiffness as we went, while Ervin explained his thoughts and I had the opportunity to ask questions.

Chris Morimoto gave some excellent advice, which was something along the lines of - “Don’t look at other guitars for inspiration, instead look at everything else.” With that in mind, I went digging through Ervin’s extensive collection of books in search of an idea.

There were a bunch of guitar tops, numbered and laid out it order. Written instructions guided us between the different pieces of wood, and directed us to interact with them in specific ways. Look at them, feel the texture, flex them in different directions, tap on them and listen to the response.

There are many projects in progress, and this week I’ve been participating in those as I’m able. Ervin is here in the afternoons, and is available to talk with and ask questions. My days have been full, with regular work hours spent learning by working on Ervins projects, and most of the rest of the time taken up by my own projects.

Here is my new home for the next two years. The legendary Ervin Somogyi workshop.

I was sleeping on a couch in one of the spare rooms of the workshop. What a surreal experience, being there, in the epicentre. Having the privilege of meeting Ervin Somogyi, someone I’ve looked up to for a long time, as well as talking to and meeting some of my other guitar building heroes in his former apprentices, was truly special.

On the bottom of the contact page of Ervin Somogyi’s website, he has a section titled Apprenticeship Opportunities. While looking there for a different reason, I saw that and it got me thinking. I decided to write and enquire about it. I heard back from Ervin, the first steps were some references, some photos of my work, and a letter about myself. Here is that letter:

Before starting the apprenticeship with Ervin Somogyi, I was building guitars in New Zealand under the name Hamurana Guitar Works.