Author: Neil Miller

One of my highlights of the Wintergrass festival was visiting the vintage instrument room. How amazing to be able to pick up and play 100+ year-old guitars and mandolins! One afternoon I listened to Joe Vinikow of Archtop.com, play this 1923 Lloyd Loar-signed Gibson mandolin. When I asked if he’d play my 12-year old Miller Acoustics…

Last week, before heading to the Wintergrass festival, I had a visit from Neal Curran, who bought an F-5 Mandolin from me 12 years ago. Neal has been playing hard, including with his current band, Sugar Rooster, and the instrument was in serious need of a setup and fret levelling, but it has held up…

I’m honored that the Bainbridge Artisan Resource Network (BARN) has asked me to teach a class on guitar building beginning next month. My assignment is to guide six students through the process of building a guitar styled after the style of the iconic Martin D-28 in a mere 14-weeks! I’m excited to combine my passion…

Last week a customer brought me a Washburn acoustic guitar with narrow string spacing that he found difficult to play cleanly. He asked me to widen the string spacing which led me down a luthier’s rabbit hole trying to research the most widely preferred string and nut spacing. It turns out the nut width on…

A customer brought this Ibanez George Benson 10 for fret levelling and asked if I could lower the action at the same time. It was was already VERY low so I was doubtful. After levelling it straightening the neck a bit, I managed to lower the action with just a slight buzz on the G…

An Australian engineer turned luthier is stirring up the guitar-building world these days. Trevor Gore’s somewhat unconventional ideas have been rapidly adopted by boutique builders and a few larger manufacturers. I’m testing his bracing in my latest build. The dreadnought top on the right uses Martin’s scalloped, rear-shifted X-bracing. The top on the left uses…

After returning from Tanzania I launched Miller Acoustics as a way to turn my passion for instrument building and repair into my occupation. So far, it’s been quite an adventure. I discovered that getting a guitar playable can bring together a father and daughter. I experienced the excitement of a son and father playing their…

I’m currently building a dreadnought guitar for a musician in Rwanda. We met and bonded over music while I was living and working in Tanzania. The design for the custom abalone inlay on the top, fingerboard, and pick guard emerged as a collaboration between owner and luthier.