John will be returning to the Montreal Guitar Show this summer. The show is a good time and Montreal is a blast

John is very excited to have his guitars with Jeff of Acoustic Vibes Music in Tempe, Arizona. John said, "It is great to finally have representation in that part of the country and I am glad to be working with Jeff. They have many wonderful instruments at Acoustic Vibes, so I know my guitars will be in good company."

John has been working on some more subtle refinement in design and the build process. Here are some examples of the new standard features that are now included on an Osthoff guitar.

John is now tilting his saddle back toward the pins to give a better downward pressure on the saddle slot and as a side benefit it also addresses some intonation issues when making action adjustments/.

Some players have asked John to give them access to the trussrod from the headstock, so that they can gain access to it with the strings up to tension. In the past, John accommodated this with a "custom" build, but decided to make it a standard feature this year. While trussrod adjustments should be left to the "professionals" this does allow for better and easier access for adjustments.

With the addition of the trussrod access at the headstock, John wanted a little more "meat" in that area. He did that by adding a diamond volute to the back of the headstock. The diamond volute and rear headstock veneer are now standard features on John's guitars. While the diamond volute has been around for many years, the idea of adding the veneer with the diamond is not that common. James Olson does something similar on his guitars. John spoke with Jim before implementing this design. "James encouraged me to go with these features and although he does not take credit for this idea, he may be the first to add a purfling around the diamond volute. I have not use the purfling scheme yet, but with Jim's blessing may offer it as an option. Thanks Jim for your help and inspiration."

John returned to The Healdsburg Guitar Festival in the summer of 2007. Keith Knightdemonstrated John's Guitars in a "mini-concert" at the show. Keith brought along his Osthoff Long scale 27" AS to the show and used it in some of his performances.

A Gallery page has been added under the Miscellaneous menu. There are shots of some of the guitars that have come out the shop recently

SoundSeats with the Osthoff logo are now available, see The Merchandise Page for ordering information.

Last year John started to place his guitars for sale at with Steve at Glades Fine Acoustic Guitars in Pembroke Pines Florida. In addition John's guitars are still available in the fine shops of Fine Acoustics of Westminster Maryland and Cathedral Music in Troy, NY. Steve at Glades Guitars, Ed at Fine Acoustics, and Klem at Cathedral Music are great guys and are easy to deal with. Give them a call or better yet stop by.

Keith Knight demonstrated John's Guitars in a "mini-concert" performance at the 2006 The Newport Guitar Festival. Keith debuted his Osthoff Long scale 27" AS at the show. In addition Keith recently took delivery of his Osthoff OM, and added it to his arsenal for use in his shows. Keith commented " ... In all situations, there was great response from this instrument. It is a true pleasure to play. The balance is superb...better than I originally thought. The lows are so incredibly sweet and most importantly, it is effortless to get superior tone out of that box. What a triumph, man. This OM is a superior instrument. AND, the crowds love it more than all others I played..."

John also attended the The Healdsburg Guitar Festival in the summer of 2005. It was a great show. One of the highlights for John at the Healdsburg show was to have Kevin Ansberry working as his assistant. Kevin and John have collaborated on many projects for the past 4 or 5 years but had never met in person. "I knew Kevin was not only a great graphic artist and designer, but a great guy as well. It was a blast to finally meet and hang-out with him." Check out the illustration that Kevin whipped up below. It depicts one of John's Custom Series guitars a SD (Slope dread) that was introduced at the show. Although the SD at the show was a lefty, it got great reviews from the few players that got to play it, and the handful of listeners who heard it.

John has just recently got a some really special Brazilian Rosewood in. John will only buy the rosewood from reputable sources who re-salvage wood and have the proper CITES paperwork. For example, some wood comes from stumps, or under water. A bunch of the sets that John has came from a 200 year old house in Rio de Janerio that was being torn down. The ridge beam for the roof and another beam from the what used to be slaves quarters were salvaged and sliced into guitar size pieces. Certainly this is old growth Brazilian that has been really well seasoned.

Ken Totushek has completed his double CD, Sweet Devotion. John was honored that Ken used his Osthoff OM on quite a few of the tracks for the CD. Ken has also challenged John to "step out of the box" and create a cutaway version of the 00-12. See Ken's Review here.

We have added another Digital recording to the Music Clips page. Please visit that page for details on "Jeff King pickin' on his Osthoff AS-C"

A Rosette page has been added under the options menu.

As a standard feature, John is now including a 5 piece laminated neck with different wood selections running down the center. While mahogany makes a great neck, the addition of the laminates along with the dual action truss rod offer even more stability. Many different combinations are available, including the one shown above. (Mahogany surrounding the 2 strips of maple around a Madagascar rosewood center piece.

The 13thfret CD, Luthiers and Players has been released. This CD features players and builders that visit the 13thfret.com Acoustic Guitar Forum. John is thrilled that one of his guitars is featured on this CD along with all those great builders and players.