MEET THE ONE MAN SHOW

    Call me Raven. For 42 years, very few people have called me by my given name of John. I think of myself as an artist and a craftsman… I was born to dream up and create things. A wide variety of creations come off of my workshop bench, but my best work these last 16 years has been with arch topped stringed musical instruments made in the violin style.

  If you were here to visit my shop in Fayetteville WV, I would say Come in, relax, enjoy the smells of all of this wood. On the bench today is something new… there is always something new, and always something going on. I am happiest in my shop, doing my thing at my own pace. One day it’s bending sides, and another it might be designing a unique headstock for a custom 8 string build. One month to build a new Baritone ukulele, a week to carefully design an octave mandolin that no one has ever seen before.

  I specialize in archtops because I treasure the time it takes to carve the top and back plates, my favorite part of the process. Starting with a solid book matched pair of wedges of the finest woods, and finishing with a supple but strong soundboard that weighs only a half of a pound or so, is extremely gratifying. It takes a few days, and my most used tool is a very simple curved piece of steel with a sharp edge, the scraper. You get to know a soundboard very well after about 20 hours of steady stock reduction, finishing with a scraper. 

  I make several sizes of guitars, mandolins, (including Octave mandolins) and three sizes of archtop ukuleles. Outside of the tuners, frets, and electronic hardware, everything is hand made without the use of computers or CNC technology. I bend the sides using steamed heat, do the inlays by hand, and spray the lacquer finish with a little quart size HVLP sprayer. Experience is the best guide, and after 16 years and several dozen instruments, I am well on my way to mastering my craft.

  I learned the basic steps while living on Maui, in Hawaii, where I chased my lovely wife as she pursued teaching special education there in 2001. We got hitched at last, and stayed for 20 years. My big influences were my mentor Craig Fujii, and his gift of Robert Benedetto’s book, “Making an Archtop Guitar”, where the Master outlines all the necessary steps. I downsized his ideas to corner the market on archtop ukes, but no one seemed to care too much early on, especially on Maui, and initially I felt as if swimming against the tide. Traditional ukulele are small, concert size, made of Koa wood, and flat top. No one had seen archtops. I was often asked by locals… “What is that, Brah? Some kine violin? Nice stand, Cuz… you make some nice stands!”

  Mostly going my own way, I persevered steadily, devoting all of my free time to making instruments and acquiring wood. My outstanding influences were all of the players who took the time to give me honest feedback after enjoying some good demo time. They were my greatest inspiration, and that listening as they played has been my greatest joy… But Steve Grimes (Maui’s famous archtop guitar master builder)  propped me up a time or three, and Jake Shimabukuro was kind enough to play my ukes (on two occasions) and said nice things. I was truly star struck by Jake’s generosity and talent.

The most important thing I have learned is that playability is top priority. The instrument is made for the player. She has to enjoy the experience. I try to make it so that it’s hard to put it back on the stand. It begs to be played again. Ready and waiting for you to explore it’s full potential. And so beautiful you can’t take your eyes off of it or leave it alone. If I can do that, then I have succeeded.

  Now at home in the heart of Appalachia, the local traditions are for  mountain music, so including mandolins, octaves, and guitars gives my imagination free reign to expand and experiment far beyond just archtop ukuleles (my last website). I still can’t quit my day job of being a finish carpenter, but I can use my background in engineering and construction to design and build a wonderful instrument that will take your music to the next level. Thanks for taking the time to visit the site and I hope to hear from you soon.

Raven J. Ravary