Trevor Gore and I have been offering a modal tuning masterclass at my shop in Colorado for several years now and many from all over the world have attended that course. We are cooking up something really special for August 2026 and have partnered with Pacific Rim Tonewoods to make it happen.

Introducing: Timber to Tunes
A five day event to be held at Maple Hall in La Conner, Washington. August 3-7, 2026

Presenters

Dr. Trevor Gore - Modal Tuning, intonation and all other aspects of Gore guitar building wizardry including wood selection from timber to finished instrument.
Robbie O'Brien - Practical hands on approach to voicing and how he incorporates Gore's techniques while building.
Dr. David Olson - The acoustics of spruce tonewoods - Measuring and gathering properties for Pacific Rim Tonewood's sonically tested wood
Michael Gurian - Guitar making guru - Topic to be announced
Eric Warner - Pacific Rim Tonewoods facility tour
Steve Nall – Collings Guitars
Rick Molloy - ToneLab computational apps for modal tuning

Supporting cast

Miroslav Tadic - Concert - Guitarist, composer, guitar maker
Yvette Holzwarth – Concert - Violinist, vocalist, composer
Paco Chorobo – Video and Sound
Tor Olson – Video and Sound
Miranda Wallen – Logistics

Timber to Tonewood to Tunes

Intermingling of the Pacific Rim Tonewoods story with relevant bits of the Modal Tuning Course to show how they relate in getting from growing timber to picking tunes.

Growing a tree: Tree genetics, structure of wood, what specific structures matter to luthiers; growing locations, “wild wood” vs “farmed wood”, tree husbandry, in-ground testing, log selection.

Tour in the forest

Background in guitar function: How strings work, theory of vibrations, how vibrations pass to the soundboard, mechanical impedance, how soundboards vibrate to radiate sound

Making tonewood: Harvesting, conversion (bucking/splitting/sawing), drying (“cooking”), re-sawing, sonic testing at PRT

Tour of PRT operations

Measuring and using tonewood properties for benefit in the luthier’s workshop: Static and dynamic testing of wood in the workshop; density elastic moduli, damping (discussion).

Comparison of PRT wood testing to luthier workshop testing

How to use those parameters for particular guitar types: Relating vibrational modes to frequency response curves, how to measure frequency response curve (using Visual Analyser and/or REW). Frequency response curves for different guitar types. Selecting wood to best suit the guitar you are building.

Targeting the right modal frequencies and avoiding the wrong ones: What the right frequencies are; how Robbie O'Brien does it on all-wood guitars; how Trevor does it on composite braced guitars. Shifting the resonant frequencies on finished guitars.

Nut and saddle compensation: Trevor doesn’t usually do much on nut and saddle compensation in the standard workshop, and it certainly improves musicality. So, Trevor will include a module explaining what makes nut compensation necessary and how to go about it.

Sound check: Playing the PRT matched classical and steel string guitars

Concert

Here’s a list of the Modal Tuning Course modules:

As you can see, this is a quite thorough and detailed event. We look forward to seeing all those that have reserved a spot in beautiful La Conner, Washington in August.

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What people are saying


I just wanted to thank you for an amazing experience. This was a fantastic event, and I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to participate. I am deeply appreciative for sharing your knowledge and expertise with me. - Eric
I enjoyed the class and learned a lot. Thanks! François - France
I am going to need months to assimilate all this info! What an awesome class!
This class filled in the voids I was missing for making better guitars.
Trevor and Robbie, you hit a home run with this class! Thanks for providing this opportunity.
This class was pure gold! Thanks for all the knowledge you shared.
Trevor and Robbie's knowledge of the subject matter and the ability to share it with us was second to none!
The camaraderie, lectures, demos, Pacific Rim Tonewoods tour, food and music made this THE modal tuning class! Thanks for making this happen.
Dear Robbie, A big thank you for bringing everyone together for an amazing experience. It inspires me to be a part of a beautiful community that shares a love for the guitar. Many blessings to you all.
Let me just say that you knocked it out of the park. I know what it takes to put together something of this magnitude, and all of your hard work showed -- all the way from the instruction to the venue to the smallest details. I can't wait to organize my thoughts and my notes, and I know I will be a better builder as a result of attending. Take a well deserved bow and get some well deserved rest.
Thank you for everything Timber to Tunes. Couldn’t have been better! Kudos to all involved for pulling it off; what a terrific learning experience.
Thank you so much for Timber to Tunes. It was a truly exceptional event in a wonderful place, and I'm so glad I was a part of it. I really appreciated the great energy and community spirit you helped bring together!
Timber to Tunes was so much more than a technical workshop. Way beyond just learning how to make better guitars, it really brought a true learning community together.
Bringing acoustics into the shop and making Trevor's approach easy to use with tools like Rick Malloy's app shows that technology doesn't limit our craft. Instead, it gives us solid ground and the rigor it deserves to stand on so we can better connect with musicians.
Huge thanks to you, Trevor, Paco, Miroslav, Yvette, Rick, PRT, and everyone who attended for sharing so openly and made this event possible.
Thank you and Trevor, and my sincere thanks to everyone who helped organize Timber to Tunes. The workshop was extremely instructive, and the setting in La Conner was simply fantastic. It was a wonderful location, and beyond everything we learned, it was also a very enjoyable experience to share those days with such an interesting group of people. I particularly enjoyed the conversations and the friendly contacts made with several of the participants.
THANK YOU !! I had a great time and my head is exploding, you and Trevor and everyone did an outstanding job putting the event together and the material was fabulous. A pleasure being with so many like minded friendly and giving individuals sharing our love of building. For me the event was just right lots of information but plenty of time for Q&A.
When I returned home, I opened up Trevor's design book again and began reading it. Wow, it makes sense now. I can't say that I understand the math aspects of the book, but, I understand the concepts and Timber to Tunes gave me the foundational understanding I needed to get started. I'm now excited to integrate this knowledge and toolset into my guitar building practice.

Again, thank you for hosting/planning/presenting at the event. Your process of tuning the top was also mind opening. I've seen it in your videos as well. But, seeing it in person was even more helpful.
Thanks for putting on the Timber to Tunes workshop. I really learned a ton and it has motivated me to get back into the shop! Thanks!
Thank you so much for organizing an amazing event. I learned so much and plan to put much of it into practice on my next build.
A big thanks to Trevor and Eric! Every session was on time and full of info. The food was really good and the Pacific Rim Tonewoods tour was great. Thanks also to Rick for the user friendly apps and to Miroslav for the exceptional music.
Thank you and congratulations on your event! I think that you hit a home run. It left me wanting more. I hope that you will put on another event like this again sometime.... if you do please count me in.