I am very proud to announce the latest guitar model, The Aztec/Serrano Concert Classical Guitar. This guitar was commissioned by Jesus Serrano a very good friend of mine. Jesus Serrano is a guitar virtuoso from Mexico City and has won 1^st place at many international guitar competitions. When Jesus approached me with the idea of a new guitar model, I became very eager to hear his ideas. This turned into a months-long enjoyable collaboration to design one of the best guitars I have ever built thus far.

Read the entire article here!

Last year it was pretty evident that the old Wood Ring Guitars work shop had outlived its usefulness.  Housed in a one car garage, the shop was cozy but getting more crowded as time went on.  More new guitar orders stressed the working conditions and limited the amount of work that needed to get done in a reasonable time. If a shop is too small it can be unsafe as well. So we decided to design and build a new shop, one that would not only meet ideal wood working conditions (like constant temperature and humidity requirements) but would also provide needed office space and a place for testing, showing and playing guitars.

Read more here.

On Friday, January 11, 2019, Wood Ring Guitars was proud to host a master class given by Adam Holzman, Classical Guitarist.  Adam Holzman is founder of the Guitar Department at the University of Texas at Austin where, in addition to his active performing career, he heads a thriving guitar studio.  To learn more about Mr. Holzman visit his website here.   Mr. Holzman gave each student who participated his undivided attention and masterful teaching skills. There were lessons in fingering, exercises, and details in technique tailored to each specific student’s level and skills. 

The event lasted from 2 to 5 pm.  We had several wonderful students perform in class and a full attentive audience of spectators and auditors as well.  Will Douglas organized the event.  Will is currently an Adjunct Professor of Instrumental Studies in Guitar at Tarrant County College Northwest, Weatherford College, and Arlington Baptist College.  Mr. Douglas is also an Artist in Residence at Scarborough College at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.  We want to thank all those who attended the event and helped support classical guitar in our area.

NIck Hurt of Marfa Public Radio came to the wood shop to interviewed me (orignially published June, 2019) and a client picking up his new guitar.  Here is a quote from the article on the Marfa Public Radio web site. 

It took Hurt’s friend, Aaron Ringo, six months to build his first guitar. Now, he’s a self-taught luthier and owner of Wood Ring Guitars in Weatherford.

Hurt talks with him about his love for making things with hand tools as a kid, and how he transitioned from playing music to making instruments in his adult life.

Hurt also interviews Alton Chan, a professional pianist and teacher who arrived at the shop to pick up a new guitar during his visit. He captures the first notes Chan plays on his new instrument, which happen to belong to a song composed by Johann Sebastian Bach.

“Guitar is really great because it’s intimate. It’s like singing,” Chan told Hurt.

In comparison, playing the piano seems like an artificial process to Chan — because of the mechanisms between the player and the sound. “With a guitar, it’s very direct,” he said. “Because the tone production is strictly on your fingers.”

To read the article, or listen to the broadcast from Marfa Public Radio, click here.