Unfortunately, the link is not to full text (anyone have this?) This is well worth reading though - a profile of one of the world's finest guitar makers. It's

Unfortunately, the link is not to full text (anyone have this?) This is well worth reading though - a profile of one of the world's finest guitar makers. It's got some great discussion that's worthwhile for anyone who is making something. Here's a quote: Stradivari seems to have carved his violins so the tops and bottoms rang with the same note when tapped -- an F below middle C. But Parker had given up on easy prescriptions. "Everyone has a secret recipe," he said. "Everyone is trying to do scratch-for-scratch reproductions of ancient instruments. If you had any guts, you'd make a nice new instrument and let the world beat it up for three hundred years." He lifted the board again, flexed, and tapped. "You don't get there by secrets," he said. "You get there by doing ~everything~ better."