Ouren Instruments

10/23/2024

Using a design derived from the McNally Strumstick, I made a mandola from a 2x4, some paneling scraps and a piece of engineered flooring.

09/22/2024

Live from the St. Peter Art Stroll! 12-4 today!
art-stroll.org!

07/04/2024

03/28/2024

Always trying to keep things interesting in the shop. I conjoined the dragon-headed pegbox from a Chinese lute with a French Guillmont violin. Why? Because sometimes it's good to move the furniture around and see the room with fresh eyes.

03/09/2024

I have had this 1960's student grade Gibson mahogany LGO for several years. Initially I removed the ladder bracing and replaced it with an x-brace system, which was too heavy for the top. I had it apart another time a few years later, but lightening the bracing still didn't work. This time I replaced the back along with the back bracing, stripped the ugly finish, filled in screw holes from the old pickguard, repainted it with colored lacquer, and lightened the bracing and bridge plate again. This succeeded in opening up the sound and making the guitar look better. It may not be "original," but it sounds miles better than it did, has a very playable neck and cost me very little compared to what Gibsons are currently going for these days. I am keeping this one!

02/23/2024

I built a fretless banjo with an 18" skin head, used a piece of driftwood for the peghead, neck, and dowel stick, and used a section of drum shell for the rim. Pretty simple.
I am calling this "The Lake Hanska Driftwood Banjo." I will bring it along to the Midwinter Bluegrass Festival next weekend in Plymouth, MN if anyone would like to play or purchase it.

02/03/2024

The banjo Kenan plays is an Ouren banjo!

01/31/2024

I am working on an old Washburn parlor guitar; took the back off to do some crack repair. The back and sides are Brazilian rosewood, which was common in guitars until 1992 when it was banned for exportation because of over- harvesting in Brazil. It is beautiful wood, long admired for its tonal properties. Can't wait to get this one restored and back to playable condition!

12/01/2023

I put a parts banjo together recently; all from parts hanging round the shop. I will probably keep this one for myself. I did not have a Nylgut- stringed banjo yet.

11/22/2023

This is what you don't want as a bridge plate under your bridge: a plywood bridge plate. Worse, two plywood bridge plates. If you want your guitar to sound like a brick, stick with stacks of plywood. If you want to have a fully functional, nice sounding guitar, opt for a spruce bridge plate. It is the same material as the top and will enable the top to resonate. Since this is a 90 year-old guitar, it works nicely to put in a bridge plate of the same approximate age. I have spruce from the soundboard of an old upright piano that I used for this repair. Now, this old Gibson L-OO guitar is back to sounding great!