Morgan Stringed Instruments

We'll be gathering to celebrate Scott at a memorial service Saturday, February 4th, 2017. 10701 St Mark Church North Bethesda, Maryland The service begins at 3:00 pm followed by hor d'oeuvres and visiting.

In celebration of our beloved Scott Morgan, the following Memorial Gatherings will take place. We’d love to see you at any or all of them.

Tennessee – Wednesday, December 28th 2:00 pm
Memorial Service
Morgan Springs Cemetery
Rt 30 Morgan Springs, TN
(8 miles west of Dayton)
Immediately followed by a gathering at
Walden’s Ridge Community Center
Rt 30 Morgan Springs, TN

Georgia – Friday, December 30th 4:00
“Memorial Jam”
The Goat Farm
Warhorse Coffee Shop
1200 Foster St. N.W.
Atlanta, GA

Maryland – Saturday, February 4th 3:00 pm
Memorial Service
St. Mark Presbyterian Church
10701 Old Georgetown Rd.
North Bethesda, MD 20852

Here are some pictures of the "Compass Rose" built for my friend Andy Wilson. East Indian Rosewood back and sides, Sitka Spruce top, advanced X bracing, matte finish, and custom inlay. A lot of new things going on around the shop lately. I'll try to do better about updates. Stay tuned...

Restoring a Vega "trundle back" mandolin. Somebody thought it would be a good idea to put a couple of coats of shellac over the top. What a mess... More to come.

Many thanks to the House of Musical Traditions for coaxing me into previously uncharted reaches of the learning curve (once again!). Starting on my first restoration of a sitar. Should be fun and interesting! I'll post more pictures as the lotus unfolds...

Nice old Gibson A Model back together and sounding good!

Nice old Gibson A Model with the back coming loose. A little glue, a few clamps and it should be good for another 100 years! Stay tuned...

And now it's done!

Somebody sanded through the inlays on this banjo neck while refretting it. So, I get to replace the missing pieces. Fun!

A little SSP (shameless self promotion). It makes you feel good to get an email like this...

Mr. Morgan,

Thanks ever so much for repairing and restoring my guitar. It is an excellent job and I appreciate the expertise involved. I am reading the Oxford Junior Companion to Music, practicing my piano and will eventually try my guitar. Have a great day. A happy customer.

Dr. A. O. Shaw, Ph.D.

Just scooped up my new banjo! Handcrafted by Scott Morgan of Morgan Stringed Instruments 🎶

Finishing up an open back, nylon string banjo for Shannon Carey. Check out her band, Luray. Cool stuff!

You might remember my recent post about this guitar. It is currently being offered for sale at a drastically reduced price. It's a Washburn R312 Presentation Model guitar crafted by Dana Bourgeois and his team in 1995. One of only five produced, it is a uniquely valuable instrument. Workmanship, materials and appointments are all of excellent quality. The tone of this instrument is complex and warm with plenty of volume for any style of music. After set up and adjustment in my shop it is very playable, with low action, and no buzzing anywhere on the neck. Overall it is in very good condition with the exception of one scratch in the finish on the top. It would be a great piece for any collector or serious player. A comparable instrument might cost $7,500 - $8,000 today. The asking price for this guitar is $3,750.
All reasonable offers will be given due consideration.

Details are as follows;

WASHBURN PRESENTATION GUITAR MODEL R312

Crafted In The USA

Serial # 95122616

solid Englemann spruce top
solid East Indian rosewood back & sides
ivoroid bound body with herringbone top binding and back strip
round sound-hole with pearl and abalone floral rosette inlay
mahogany neck with ivoroid binding
12/19-fret ebony fingerboard
pearl and abalone acanthus vine fingerboard inlay
pearl and abalone inlaid, rosewood veneered, bound, slotted peg- head

Waverly three-per-side, die-cast, engraved brass tuners with ivoroid buttons
carved ebony bridge with ebony bridge-pins with abalone dots
bone nut and saddle
natural finish

Feel free to contact me with any questions you might have, or to make an appointment to see this instrument. Pictures available on request.

Just put a new top on this MacArthur Harp. It's ready to re-string so it can sing again!

Repair du jour... One of the most ornate ouds I've ever seen. It was made in Egypt. A lot of shellfish gave their all for this instrument. It's a thing of beauty and it sounds good too!

Building a table to hold the mixing console in a recording studio. It's got to be sturdy!

Always something strange and unusual around here... This is called a gusli. It's a Russian folk instrument with characteristics similar to a piano, an autoharp and an accordion or concertina. Just had to figure out how to adjust the keys and pads, and change a few strings. And, of course, tune the thing. The fun never stops!

Side Effect will be performing at the World Folk Music Association Showcase this coming Sunday, March 8th. Music starts at 7:00. The showcase is held at El Golfo Restaurant in Silver Spring. For details go to http://wfma.net/EGshowcase.htm. WFMA has supported folk music in the Washington area, and around the world, for decades now.

Hope you'll come out and support them!

Cheers,
Scott

WFMA Showcase Series at El Golfo In December of 1983, The World Folk Music Association, in order to provide opportunities for up-and-coming folk artists to perform for folk-friendly audiences, began a series of monthly Music Americana Showcases. As a result, the Washington, DC area has become one of the best areas in the country f…

John Relph and I (Side Effect) will be performing at Seibel's Restaurant in Burtonsville, MD this Thursday evening. We will split the evening with Michelle Murray and Dell Potter. Music will go from 7 to 10 pm. Seibel's has great food, beer, wine and cocktails, and is located at 15540 Old Columbia Pike, Burtonsville, MD 20866. Contact them at (301) 421-1897 or seibelsrestaurant.com

Hope to see you there.

Cheers!
Scott

I hope you're doing well as we move into the 2014 holiday season. You might remember my recent post about this guitar. It is currently being offered for sale, and I thought you, or someone you know, might be interested in a collectible instrument. It's a Washburn R312 Presentation Model guitar crafted by Dana Bourgeois and his team in 1995. One of only five produced, it is a uniquely valuable instrument. Workmanship, materials and appointments are all of excellent quality. The tone of this instrument is complex and warm with plenty of volume for any style of music. After set up and adjustment in my shop it is very playable, with low action, and no buzzing anywhere on the neck. Overall it is in very good condition with the exception of one scratch in the finish on the top. It would be a great piece for any collector or serious player. A comparable instrument might cost $7,500 - $8,000 today. The asking price for this guitar is $7,500. All reasonable offers will be given due consideration.

Details are as follows;

WASHBURN PRESENTATION GUITAR MODEL R312

Crafted In The USA

Serial # 95122616

solid Englemann spruce top
solid East Indian rosewood back & sides
ivoroid bound body with herringbone top binding and back strip
round sound-hole with pearl and abalone floral rosette inlay
mahogany neck with ivoroid binding
12/19-fret ebony fingerboard
pearl and abalone acanthus vine fingerboard inlay
pearl and abalone inlaid, rosewood veneered, bound, slotted peg-head

Waverly three-per-side, die-cast, engraved brass tuners with ivoroid buttons
carved ebony bridge with ebony bridge-pins with abalone dots
bone nut and saddle

natural finish



Feel free to contact me with any questions you might have, or to make an appointment to see this instrument. Pictures available on request.

Happy Thanksgiving from Morgan Stringed Instruments! Hoping it's a peaceful day full of good things for all.

I have a Washburn R-312 Presentation Model guitar in the shop for a set up. There were only 3 to 5 built, depending on who you talk to. It's almost flawless except for a scratch in the finish on the top. A beautiful example of luthiery by anyone's standards. The owner may be looking to sell it in the near future. It's exactly like the one in the attached photo.

Just finished installing tuners and pickups on these three ngoni's for Grammy nominated musician Cheick Hamala Diabate.

Newgrass Effect with Tom Gray is playing for the town of Greenbelt's Labor Day Festival Today, August 30th. The festival will be at 2 Centerway, Greenbelt MD. The stage area is behind the Co-op, in front of the Aquatic Center. We'll play from 12:30 to 1:30 pm. Come on out, it will be great to see you!
https://www.facebook.com/events/797651516932107

Side Effect (John Relph and Scott Morgan) has been invited back to play the Silver Spring Maker Faire on Sunday, September 14th. The event is held at the Silver Spring Civic Center located at 1 Veterans Plaza, Silver Spring, MD. Show time to be announced.

Hope to see you soon!

Finally, the Regal is back together and singing again. It plays and sounds great! Here are some before and after shots. Hope you've enjoyed the process as much as I have. Stay tuned for photos of a similar project. It's a vintage Gibson arch top guitar belonging to my friend, Durward Potter!

Here's the Regal stained and ready to start finishing when the rain moves out. Happy 4th of July, y'all!

Ok, all back together. Now let's spruce it up a bit. Wait for it....

And here it is ready to go back together! All parts, missing and otherwise, accounted for. More soon!

Took the back off of the Regal and started cleaning it up. Now it's time to put the pieces back together. It's going to need some new linings and 3 new braces for starters. Let the fun begin!

Flooded basements and old guitars don't mix. Lots of time and TLC and this one will play again. Stay tuned...