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10/26/2016 08:30 AMPaul Neri’s prized possession is something that he made himself: a flamenco guitar. It’s a work of art, built by someone with an intimate knowledge of every square inch of the instrument. But it’s the only guitar he’s ever built.
So how does someone who’s only built one guitar get it right—not just right, but good enough that he’s had multiple offers made on it?
Paul is a luthier, someone who repairs stringed instruments, and as such he knows almost all there is to know about guitars. The niche profession was a natural choice for a musician who enjoys working on repair projects of all sorts.
“I just like fixing things,” Paul says. “I don’t like to buy new things if I can help it.”
In 1980, Paul began an apprenticeship with master luthier George Youngblood, who he worked with for nine years before striking out on his own. Today, he operates his business, Neri Lutherie, out of the lower level of his home on Ironworks Road in Clinton, where he lives with his wife Eileen O’Donnell.
The couple has twins in college and an older son in Oregon. A couple of cats welcome visitors to the property. And guitars—pieces of guitars, entire guitars, books on guitars, tools for working on guitars—fill the workshop. This fascination with stringed instruments started back in 1972 with some money Paul won from a high school art project.
“I entered an art poster contest for the state and got enough money to buy my first banjo,” recalls Paul, who started out playing drums at age 10. “That’s where I started tinkering, and I liked it: taking it apart, putting it back together, changing things.”
Today, some of Paul’s toughest projects are on guitars that have already been repaired, but badly. One valuable guitar was destroyed after being shipped by a moving company.
“It was in pieces. The neck was snapped in two places,” Paul says. “The company decided to fix it themselves—they just jammed glue in to make it look good. It’s always hard to re-repair something.”
Paul doesn’t just repair instruments; he’s an accomplished musician as well. He’s played gigs at Su Casa in Branford with his duo Las Guitarras, which also performed a Spanish guitar program at local schools and libraries. Before that, he played the banjo with bluegrass band Space Grass, which performed a bluegrass version of the Beatles’ “Ticket to Ride” at the Middlebury College Bluegrass Festival in Vermont. Today, he plays the banjo at local concerts with Irish band The Kerry Boys. He’s also performed at numerous fundraisers including one that supported the Henry Carter Hull Library’s move from the center of town to its current building.
To help educate people about how and why things go wrong with guitars, Paul has written a book on the topic. The Acoustic Guitar Repair Detective, which came out in August, describes common problems and their causes, and includes tips on caring for your guitar. It was illustrated by his friend and neighbor, Scott Baldwin.
“I call it the little book with a lot of info,” Paul says. “Don’t put a guitar any place you wouldn’t put your dog or your infant. Store it in the case, and keep it humidified in the winter.”
When the damage is repaired, Paul’s work isn’t over. As a final step, he carefully calibrates each instrument so that it plays at its best.
“Seventy-five percent of what I do is set up: adjustments of the saddle, truss rod, leveling the frets and making sure everything is even,” he says. “I like having the person pick it up and go: ‘It’s never played like this from the day I bought it.’ That makes me feel good. It’s all about that—getting the music going again.”
Meet Paul at a book signing and free fretted instrument appraisal day (both for value and repair) on Saturday, Nov. 5 from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Henry Carter Hull Library, 10 Killingworth Turnpike, Clinton. A second book signing takes place on Saturday, Nov. 12 from 1 to 3 p.m. at Bank Square Books, 53 West Main Street, Mystic. Neri Lutherie is located at 146 Ironworks Road in Clinton. For info, call 860-669-3351.