Tag Archives: Buckland¸ James

James Buckland

Presbyterian College

Thirty year GAL member James Buckland began building as a kid to get the left handed guitars he couldn’t find. His doctoral research on the terz guitar, which included building his first terz guitar, earned him first prize in the Dean’s Award for Distinguished Graduate Endeavors from the University of South Carolina. Today, his research involving the early 19th century guitar is the central focus of his performance, lutherie, and teaching activities. Jim and his wife Karen are kept busy with their family of ten rescue cats.

▪ bio current as of 2022

Seven Fine Books About the Romantic Guitar, in English

2023
AL#148 p.44               
James Buckland                                                                                           

▪ Beautiful books about the pre-classical guitar, with lush and informative photography, are being published in Europe. Don’t worry; they include English text for the benefit of us new-worlders. Mentions Mauro Giuliani, Gennaro Fabricatore, Joseph Pons, Johann Stauffer, Rene Lacote, Wappengitarre.

Guitar Evolution’s Missing Link: The Early 5-String

2022
AL#147 p.28               
James Buckland                                                                                           

▪ Baroque guitars were 5-course instruments. That is, they had ten strings in five pairs. Then suddenly here comes the 19th century and guitars had six single strings. Yadda yadda, now it’s today and everything is normal. The real story is a lot more interesting than that and it actually involves a “missing link;” the 5-string guitar. Luthier, guitarist, and scholar Buckland lays it all out for us.

GAL Instrument Plan #82: 1785 G.B. Fabricatore Guitar

2022
AL#147 p.36               
James Buckland                                                                                           

▪ This plan may authentically be built either as an early 6-string guitar, or as the “missing link” 5-string guitar.

Letter: Meeting Julian Bream

2021
AL#143 p.2               
James Buckland                                                                                           

▪ Jim talks about meeting famous guitarists through his teacher Eli Kassner. Mentions John Williams, Leo Brouwer, and the Toronto Guitar Society.

The Terz Guitar

2021
AL#142 p.30               
James Buckland                                                                                           

▪ The terz guitar was a smaller Romantic-era guitar, which played in a higher range and was written in a different key. Knowing this history helps us understand several otherwise-puzzling old instruments.

GAL Instrument Plan #80 – Terz Guitar

2021
AL#142 p.36               
James Buckland                                                                                           

▪ This plan drawing of an anonymous instrument from the early 19th century includes the authentic adjustable neck joint and the rule-of-18 fret spacing.

Questions: Quarter-Step Fretting

2019
AL#137 p.69               
James Buckland                                                                                           

▪ What’s the best way to calculate the extra freets for a quarter-step fretting scheme? And how accurately do they need to be placed?

A Review of Three Old Lutherie Books With An Emphasis on Their Guitar Sections

2010
AL#104 p.26               read this article
Jan Tulacek   Alain Bieber   James Buckland                                                                                   

▪ An overview of three 19th century lutherie texts, by G.A. Wettengei in 1828, J.C. Maugin in 1834, and Paul Hasiuck in 1907.

1825 Pons Aine Guitar, Paris

2010
AL#104 p.35      ALA3 p.37         
James Buckland                                                                                           

▪ The Pons brothers (Joseph and Louis) were known for their many one-of-a-kind guitars with elaborate ornamentation and technical innovations. This guitar could be considered their standard model.

19th Century Guitar Making Techniques

2010
AL#103 p.16      ALA3 p.28         
James Buckland                                                                                           

▪ Buckland on constructing replicas of 19th century guitars. From his 2008 GAL convention workshop. Includes good info on making flat-bottomed fret slots, like for bone frets or metal bar frets.

Meet the Maker: James Buckland

2009
AL#98 p.36      ALA3 p.18         
John Calkin   James Buckland                                                                                       

▪ Buckland is a classical performer and teacher who also builds guitars, not and unheard of combination but a rare one. He is especially knowledgeable about guitar history and the little known Terz guitar, of which he is an authority. If that sounds dull you should also know that he started as a Canadian lefty who was initially inspired by Jimi Hendrix, among other rockers. He’s still a lefty, but now we have him in America. Canada has probably been sulking ever since. With 10 photos.