Prohaszka Guitars. Luthier Interview
guitarbench
Balazs Prohaszka is a Hungarian Luthier who had trained with well-
known German bow maker Bernd Etzler as well as George Lowden. His
guitars are unique in their aesthetics and form. Balazs has a special
approach to aesthetics and building- he shared this with me when we
caught up with him.
I can't link pics or mp3s here so for the full presentation, please
check it out here: http://guitarbench.com/index.php/2009/10/14/prohaszka-guitars-luthier-interview/
Warmest regards,
Terence
www.guitarbench.com
TT - Thanks for taking the time to speak to us. I was wondering how
your start in the Hungarian school of lutherie prepared you for
working in Bernd Etzler’s and the Lowden workshop? .
BP - I spent two years in the lutherie school. The education
included: basic knowledge of history and structure of stringed musical
instruments (guitar- , violin- and lute-family), graphic design and
drawing, knowledge of acoustic physics (specified to musical
instruments, other acoustic spaces and amplification), building and
repair methods of musical instuments.
The training started with the process of mastering how to use all the
woodworking tools, and it was only the next step to work with actual
instruments. We spent most of the week in the workshop working with
all sorts of musical instruments and confronting a very wide range of
problems solvable with sophisticated repair methods. We treated
separately the repair and the restoration.
Once a week we had our theory and drawing lessons. I will be always
grateful to my master for his hardheadedness in the proper use of
tools. We developed respect for craftsmanship, for the wood, for the
sound. And we were always forced to achieve the highest quality in our
work. Those were not easy years though… I stayed in my master’s
workshop for a year after finishing the school working mostly with
violin type of instruments.
Then I went to work to a double bass workshop providing the highest
grade of restoration on very old double basses from all over Europe.
Thanks to my school I haven’t had any problem to accommodate to the
new working environment and facing the new challenges double-basses
can pose. It was the same case getting to Lowden guitars where the
only thing I had to learn was the production situation: to provide a
consistently good quality in a given range of time.
Thanks to my well grounded training I had the chance to prove my
abilities very quickly. Bow-making is a different matter though: it is
meticulously precise what was not a surprise after working with
violins but I have never felt I can use any creativity on this field.
After all the school provided the tools how to build or repair any
stringed musical instrument but it is up to anyone’s creativity and
skills where can it develop, what extra can be added, what additional
levels can be achieved.
TT - So how was it like working at Lowden?
BP - I got the experience at Lowden’s how to do a job quickly and
properly. For example: Before that it took me a couple of hours to
carve a neck. Nowadays it takes only half an hour after carving a few
hundred of them. The quality even got better, nor I nor Lowden’s
craftsmen would not compromise with the quality.
Maybe the most useful knowledge I gained how to maximise the use of
basic woodworking machinery, how to make a jig for each job. Every
luthier uses machinery then lets do it properly! Lowden later
separated to Lowden and Avalon guitars.
I stayed at Avalon where I was able to use my creativity designing new
range of guitars, new models, my inlaying skills to create intricate
inlays. I worked in nearly all parts of the workshop and I learnt a
lot from my excellent colleges who are all experts on their own field.
TT - Are there any highlights from your work at Avalon you might like
to share with us?
BP - In 2005 I was responsible for the re-design a range of Zemaitis’s
guitars for Kanda-Shokai in Japan produced by Avalon guitars. I was
able to use only a few poor quality photos and develop intricate inlay
techniques, delicate silver-work building the prototypes. In 2008 I
designed an expensive range of guitars for another brand (Craftine
guitars) built by Avalon again.
I also was designing many features on several Avalon models: different
bevel models, rosettes (celtic rosette, the “green” rosette), even an
inlayed oak leaf, all the custom inlays. I work in many areas of the
workshop (it is rather a workshop than a factory): neckcarving,
neckjoint, bracing, binding, finishing, all the inlay work, etc.
TT - How does all that inlay affect the sound?
BP - The answer: Inlays, unless they are used extensively in the top,
do not have any significant effect on the sound. On the top the
traditional inlay area is around the soundhole (rosette) what has its
structural reinforcement rule in that weakened area but if we use
inlays on the other parts of the top we might disrupt the even
resonating surface and make the top to withstand less to the string
tension.
Any other part on the guitar can be inlayed without any real effect on
the sound although on the back and sides it would have structural
issues again. We always have to consider that wood is not a stable
material: it moves, shrinks… Therefore using any other material with
different charasteristics can be risky. I even do not prefer inlays on
the fingerboard as that part of the guitar definitely will require
repair in the future and it can awkward with inlays. But it is all up
to the customers… Inlays can lift the aesthetics of the guitar, make
it more personal, unique, distinctive.
TT - Speaking of tone, I was wondering what tonewoods you prefer?
BP - I think we can achieve a satisfactory result using different
types of wood. I do not agree with some stereotypes: like the cedar
sound is “darker” than spruce, Brazilian rosewood always sounds
fantastic, maple guitars sound bright. It is not only the wood what
determines the sound: it is the composition of woods used, the
construction, bracing, etc. I have my secret favourite for tops I
would not like to reveal.
Otherwise I like the good old european spruce combined with Mexican
woods: cocobolo or ziricote. These are really amazing woods: their
grain structure, hardness, oil contents: always sound nice. But it
depends on the requirements: musicians have their own choices. My
other favourite is Latin-american mahogany ( honduran, cuban…) for
back and sides: very rich, powerful sound with fantastic bass… Even
the neck material has a big effect on the tone and sometimes mahogany
is not the best choice… But sound is always very subjective. I try
achieve the best result whatever timber I use.
TT - Would you like to describe to us how you think the various neck
materials alter the tone?
BP - The neck material can improve the sustain and compensate some of
the typical sound characteristics of certain tonewoods. I do not like
maple as a neck material especially for maple guitars, I prefer
mahogany for archtops, the sound is richer. It works to eliminate the
“spongyness” of the maple. For softer woods I like to use hardwood
necks. Walnut can produce surprising dark tones but it has to be
properly reinforced for a steel-string.
I think fantastic sounding guitars with very quick response, long
sustain, good balance could be built using harder coniferous species
(some pine, larch) but it is difficult to find a market for such
experiments so I stay on the beaten track at least in this matter.
Although you can find classical guitars built using spruce necks: try
them! Mostly cheap guitars but they sound good. It is a very obscure
thing to describe a sound: it is absolutely subjective and everyone
judges it differently. Therefore I would not like to go there…
TT - Well I know of a couple of guys who use Port Orford Cedar for
necks….
BP - I did not encounter that particular timber. It should work very
well. I used cedar neck on classical guitar because of its weight and
for fuller sound… I will check it out.
TT - I notice that your guitars are very individual- am I right in
saying that you have few “standard” models- like how Martin has the
d28 line?
BP - Well I tried to stick to a few standard models but somehow it
does not want to happen. Luckily my customers always ask for new
things, even shapes or it is me who is too adventorous. And whenever I
start to make a “standard” guitar using one of my old shapes the final
result is usually something absolutely new. What is the point to make
the same all the time after all? The guitars are personalised,
customised this way. Maybe my only standard model would be the more
traditional archtop what I used to call LA model, as I had to make
quite a few of them. But I gave up naming my shapes or styles as I
have so many models now and more to come. Maybe in the future…
TT - So do you hand bend your sides and work as inspiration takes you?
BP - Yes, I hand bend my sides but I do not build my instruments
freely. I prepare molds for all my shapes. Most of my guitars are
completely designed before I start to build them. I am only struggling
with the intended simple ones. I always try to find a way to put
something interesting on them and often ideas come during the working
process. And yes, work can be inspiring. I am not afraid to try new
approaches even if it means a lot of extra work. In some cases I have
a picture what I want to achieve but a few final details will be
finalised when I sit with the actual piece of wood in my hand.
TT - Could you give us an example of when that has happened? When
something new hit you during a build?
BP - Sometimes I change some details during the building process, I
can do some changes on the bracing even if I feel it looks better than
on the drawing. It happened that I designed a new headstock instead of
using an old design because it would suit better the guitar. On the
“mickey mouse” guitar I could not resist to make the headstock “three
dimensional” with the tuners sitting slightly tilted.
Occasionally I encounter some problems how to inlay something and it
can lead to some changes in the inlay and then in other aspects too.
(for example it happened with guitar with the celtic dog as I had to
find a solution how to make the soundhole binding running around the
inlay too…)
But small details can be changed if I find a nice piece of wood with
the proper figure and colour and use it rather than what I originally
imagined. (this is how the guitar with faces got a ziricote
fingerboard, etc).
It was a real challenge to work out how to realise the soundhole on
the guitar with that strange celtic style soundhole running into the
fingerboard and the solutions came during the building. (I also
designed a similar one for Avalon guitars) Bindings can add to the
appeareance of the guitar and it was a sudden idea to use different
bindings on the back and the top on one my guitars… And the list could
go on.
TT - What would you say the single luthier can offer the player that
the bigger factories can’t- considering even Taylor have opened a
custom shop?
BP - Bigger factories do not have a real flexibilty to adapt to
individual needs regarding sound, playability, looks. It is possible
to produce good quality guitars in a factory environment but I haven’t
ever seen checking tap tones of braces picking the best bracing
material… An individual luthier have a greater quality control,
freedom, flexibilty. I believe a guitar will reflect the attitude used
to build it and will be grateful if we approach it with care and
attention.
TT - Thanks for speaking to us, I was wondering if there was anything
you would like to add before we go?
BP - Well, I do not like to talk much about guitarmaking, I prefer to
make them. I hope I could enlighten the my approach on this field and
that I could bring some alternative views in this topic which is
regarded highly traditionally what is far from me. “the only tradition
in guitarmaking is inventiveness…”- but this is not my thought. Thank
you for the opportunity.
©2009 Terence Tan.
Pictures courtesy of Prohaszka Brothers ©2009