Songs from the wood

SANDPOINT - Michelangelo could see statues trapped inside blocks of marble. His task, he said, was simply to chisel away the excess stone until they were released.

Vance Bergeson can hear guitars inside pieces on tone wood. He carves away the extra layers until their sound comes to life.

Bergeson built his first hand-made creation about four years ago. Sixteen instruments later, his arch-top guitars have begun to develop a following among practitioners of classical, jazz and traditional music around the Pacific Northwest.

"They're very sensuous instruments," the luthier said of his guitars, whose tops and backs feature graceful lines and sweeping contours that have been carved, sanded and finished by hand. "There's substance to them. I like the curves on an arch-top and I like that, musically, they're directly related to jazz, blues and old-time music."

The first Bergeson guitar was built over the course of a year, during the same time that he was constructing the home where he lives with his wife and stepdaughter north of Sandpoint.

"I made one for myself because guitars are expensive," he said. "At first it was slow, but that changed as I started getting the correct tools - chisels and gouges and curved-bottom planers. I also built jigs so I could repeat the process without having to take half a day to set up in order to do one little thing."

The first few guitars were built very much in the traditional style, with standard body sizes and classic "F" holes in the top. Later models experimented with a slightly smaller body and original sound hole designs, including ovals placed in the upper and lower bouts and decorative patterns that resemble spreading leaves and flower petals.

Bergeson also pushed the boundaries of traditional guitar building by incorporating native woods and a wider variety of other species for his tops, necks, sides and backs. His most recent instruments have included tops made from Englemann spruce harvested in the Priest River area, as well as bodies of English Walnut, cedar or birch - the latter wood having become one of his favorites for both its grain pattern and tonal qualities, according to Bergeson.

Even non-players can appreciate the artistry that goes into one of these guitars, which reward the eye with a continuous, meticulously carved flow that rises and falls as it follows the wood grain across the top to where it joins the sides and back. But these arched pieces - as carefully shaped on the inside as they are on the surface of the guitar - are hewn more for sound than for sight lines, the luthier explained.

"The carving process takes quite a while," he said. "You tap the wood for tone, listening for a good, sweet sound."

In the same way that the sound of two plucked strings will compete with one another until the correct pitch sets their overtones into sympathetic vibration, Bergeson taps, listens and shaves away wood until his tops and backs resonate with the strong fundamental tone his ear is seeking.

"It's feel," he said. "I carve until it sounds right."

Unlike the shiny finish on mass-produced guitars that receive a factory lacquer spray in assembly line fashion, Bergeson Guitars seem to have more of a soft glow, the end result of a work-intensive but visually elegant process called a French polish.

"And you get a real thin finish with the French polish, which lets the guitar breathe a lot more," the builder said.

As the different elements of look, playability and tone continued to come together, Bergeson's tiny home-based workshop began to turn out guitars that attracted attention. He now has a number of them being played by Sandpoint-area musicians, along with a growing cadre of Seattle players, including classical and flamenco artist Andre Feriante, and singer/songwriter Jeff Abbott.

"It's been nice to start getting some instruments into bigger cities, just to get some more exposure," Bergeson said, acknowledging that the explosion of "boutique" guitar builders has raised the bar when it comes to getting noticed in music circles. "In some ways that's cool, but it also means there's a lot of competition.

"But when people see my guitars, they draw attention because they're different," he added.

Hearing them takes things a step further. Bergeson's nylon-stringed guitars, with an under-the-saddle pickup system, have a lute-like quality when played acoustically or plugged in. His steel-stringed models, when equipped with an external, single-coil pickup, deliver a Wes Montgomery-esque smooth jazz sound at lower volumes and carry all the bark and bite of a '59 Les Paul Junior when cranked up. In every case, musicians have commented favorably about how the instruments perform in live situations, the luthier said.

Locally, Bergeson Guitars have fallen into the hands of musicians who specialize in styles ranging from straight-ahead jazz to folk, blues and old-time bluegrass music. The pre-eminent player is classical performing and recording artist and public radio host Leon Atkinson, who has described the nylon-stringed Bergeson he owns as having a sound reminiscent of the early instruments that pre-dated the modern-day classical guitar.

According to Bergeson, Atkinson's initial constructive critique of his guitars led to innovations in sound and playability.

"Leon is stark, man," the builder said. "He's completely honest. And I think it's fun to say that, in a way, my work has a little bit of a connection with Andres Segovia through Leon, because he studied with him. He plays the guitar I made for him in concert and he likes it.

To learn more about locally made Bergeson Guitars, visit: www.bergesonguitars.com.