ROB WARMOWSKI: Hey everybody. How are you doing? This is Rob Warmowski for Gearwire.Com, and I'm here at the Chicago Guitar Show, which for some reason is taking place in the DuPage County expo center. I can't figure that out. Can you?

BILL HOLLENBACK: That's the way it is [LAUGHING].

ROB WARMOWSKI: That is the way it is. I'm here with Bill Hollenback. Bill is the owner and chief luthier for Hollenback Guitars. Welcome, Bill.

BILL HOLLENBACK: Yeah. I'm the only luthier, so.

ROB WARMOWSKI: Well, that makes you chief.

BILL HOLLENBACK: Right.

ROB WARMOWSKI: There's no Indian luthier is there? You're the chief luthier.

BILL HOLLENBACK: Yes. That's true.

ROB WARMOWSKI: So, Bill, let me ask you this. How many years have you been coming to the Chicago Area Show?

BILL HOLLENBACK: About 10 years.

ROB WARMOWSKI: Ten years? Yeah. And you've been a luthier for how long?

BILL HOLLENBACK: Since '69.

ROB WARMOWSKI: Terrific. Terrific. And we wanted to check out some of the recent Hollenback models that you got out here. Is there -- Let's talk about some of these hollow bodies.

BILL HOLLENBACK: Well, I have a 16 and a 17 that sets the lower bout that I'm showing right now, and I'm carving an 18 for a new 18 right now. I kind of take pieces around the shows and demonstrate a little bit, but I don't have an 18 right now.

ROB WARMOWSKI: Okay.

BILL HOLLENBACK: so, but that's what I -- But I am -- Last year, we were up at Villa Park, and I was carving a top, and that's on the red one that's sitting here right now. So, I try and little do some demonstration but have a finished product or make a product while I'm around, and people enjoy it. I get a lot of questions off of it and --

ROB WARMOWSKI: And I'm noticing that you use a PAF-style pickup. Is that a single pickup? Is that correct?

BILL HOLLENBACK: Yeah. It's a Gibson Johnny Smith. Seymour Duncan makes one that's really close to it. I'm not so sure what's not to say manufacture but I don't know for sure.

ROB WARMOWSKI: Now, just looking at it, and I haven't heard any the tone, but just looking at it, I'm going to guess that a jazz player might favor your guitar. Is that correct?

BILL HOLLENBACK: Yes, but I have a lot of Chet-style players that play my instruments too, but it's basically a jazz box.

ROB WARMOWSKI: Can you tell us a few of the players?

BILL HOLLENBACK: Well, Jim Nichols from California, he plays one of my signature semi-hollow bodies, and most of the other guys that have them are they're personal. I mean they're not professionals, and so that's -- I made about 50 guitars.

ROB WARMOWSKI: So, as a luthier, day in and day out, you're kind of constantly working with wood and working with the instruments. How often are ou making a new guitar in a year? How many in a year do you make?

BILL HOLLENBACK: I make four a year.

ROB WARMOWSKI: So, about -- Is it fair to say about three months or so for a complete guitar or is different for each one.

BILL HOLLENBACK: Well, it's not too much difference. It depends on what the customer wants but it'll take me 253 hours to make a guitar, and they don't control my life so I about four is what I can get out and still have a normal life.

ROB WARMOWSKI: I hear you. And do you pay -- How much of that time is spent picking materials. I mean have you settled on Sitka Spruce for most of the guitars is there a different wood for different models?

BILL HOLLENBACK: No. I usually use Sitka. It's a very stable tough wood, and I know how to handle it, to tune it and use it, but most of my materials I buy 10 years ahead.

ROB WARMOWSKI: Ten years?

BILL HOLLENBACK: Yeah.

ROB WARMOWSKI: What's the thinking behind that?

BILL HOLLENBACK: Well, it's I don't like to use the green wood. I want it to have some age on it, and I don't want to come back some time to say, "Oh, I got a big crack in this", or something like that.

ROB WARMOWSKI: So, and also about Sitka, what are its properties for humidity control and breathing. Does it tend to be stable? Does it tend to dry out over time or?

BILL HOLLENBACK: Well, it is any worse than some of the other woods. I mean there's a lot of wood that can be used for tops but it's usually if you get it from a luthier's supply, you can depend on it, the thing being each halfway decent and it's you pretty much it’s the quality of the wood itself is usually mostly the same, I guess, is what I'm saying, and I can, you know, I can have an idea of what I'm going to head for and require to get the thing done.

ROB WARMOWSKI: Well thank you so much for stopping to speak with us.

BILL HOLLENBACK: Okay. Thanks.

ROB WARMOWSKI: This is Gearwire.Com.