LOCALadk Magazine

LOCALadk 45 Jump forward a hundred and fiy years or so and meet Eric Bright and BassRock Guitars on the shore of Schroon Lake. Eric, a retired teacher and luthier (guitar maker) knew that Adirondack red spruce had always been one of the prized woods for guitar tops. He also knew that all of the usable, old growth, red spruce had been harvested long. But that didn't mean it wasn't available. It was. In fact, it was right in front of him, under water, buried in mud and silt. If you've spent much time walking on Adirondack lake or river bottoms you know what silt is. You sink into it, sometimes up to your knees, and when you finally do break free you find that the silt has sucked your sandals right off of your feet and you'll never see them again. Freeing the logs from the muddy grip of the lake was the first challenge that Eric faced. Working with his daughter, Kate, from a fourteen foot aluminum boat, Eric donned a mask and snorkel and slipped into the lake. Working mostly by feel in the murky water, he secured a rope around one end of a submerged log. Back in the boat, the two of them hauled on the rope until they broke the suction and the lake let the log go free. With a tractor, the log was pulled to shore, loaded onto a truck and taken to a local sawmill where it was cut to Eric's specifications. Next, the boards were brought back to the shop and stacked to dry for a year or two before they could be used. And that was the easy part. As simple and ubiquitous as they seem, guitars – that is, really good guitars – are a complicated amalgam of science and art. While it appears to be nothing more than a fancy shaped box with strings stretched across it, that box has to resonate with deep basses while letting the high notes sing. It has to respond to the musician's touch, and blend with other instruments and voices. If the top is too thick the sound will be dull. Too thin and it could break under the

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