Fretboard Summit

Converted guitars have gotten a lot of buzz in recent years in guitar shops and on the internet forums. A conversion is a guitar that has been altered to a significantly different style from the one in which it was originally built. Among the common conversions are nylon to steel string, archtop to flattop, Hawaiian to Spanish, and ladder to X-braced.

Bay Area luthier Howard Klepper will talk about what is involved in converting a guitar, which models are worth converting, and what some of the options are when doing a conversion. He'll bring a recently converted Martin classical or archtop guitar that attendees can play. Klepper will touch on the modern history of guitar conversions, conversion costs and market values for converted guitars. Questions and discussion will be welcomed.