Category Archives: bass

Little Lutherie Class on the Prairie: Teaching Guitar Making in a Saskatchewan High School

2020
AL#140 p.52               
Glen Friesen                                                                                           

▪ Some public servants take on challenging tasks that many of us would fear to attempt. I’m not talking about fire fighters or the people who change light bulbs on the tops of suspension bridges. I’m talking about high school shop teachers. And here’s a guy who has been teaching guitar making in public school for twenty years. Hats off to you, sir! And respect to the students. These guitars look pretty good.

Meet the Maker: John Jordan

2020
AL#140 p.10               
Paul Schmidt   John Jordan                                                                                       

▪ John Jordan was a young guy happily repairing instruments and making guitars when he got a commission to make an experimental electric violin. It turned out well enough to take his career in a new direction. Read his story and see some of his diverse and beautiful work. Mentions Ervin Somogyi, Shelley Rosen, Rolland Colella, Dave Matthews, Boyd Tinsley, nyckelharpa, D’Angelico, D’Aquisto, Neyveli S. Radhakrishna, Miri Ben Ari.

Delrin Frets

2019
AL#136 p.52               
Harry Fleishman                                                                                           

▪ Many years ago, innovative classical guitar maker Richard Schneider made instruments with frets made of rod stock set in wide saw kerfs. Fleishman updates the idea by having round-bottomed slots cut by CNC and laying in Delrin rod.

Warmoth Guitar Products in the 21st Century

2018
AL#134 p.16               
Tim Olsen                                                                                           

▪ Ken Warmoth is one of the pioneers of the Strat-compatible guitar parts scene, starting small in the 1970s and working up to the sophisticated operation he runs today. He’s a born engineer, constantly refining and rethinking each operation for better accuracy and efficiency. Of course these days that involves CNC machines, and he’s got them. But you may be surprised to see which operations use them and which don’t. Our last visit with Ken was in 1991, so there is some catching up to do.

Let’s Catch up with Harry Fleishman

2018
AL#134 p.42               
Michael Bashkin   Harry Fleishman                                                                                       

▪ Everybody knows Harry Fleishman, right? We first “Met the Maker” in 2001, but by then Harry had already been an active GAL author and convention attendee for some time. Now we are catching up with him. This recent chapter of his story is a doozy, with major moves, businesses opening and closing, fruitful collaborations, international travel, and new beginnings.

Letter to the Editor: Baroque Relief Carving for Electric Bass

2017
AL#132 p.3               
Matias Crom                                                                                           

▪ The Guild has always taken the attitude that all lutherie info is good for all luthiers. Here’s a case in point. A Guild member has specialized in electric guitars and in Baroque instruments at different points in his career. He unites those ideas in an electric bass with relief carving based on rosette designs from our landmark book Historical Lute Construction by Robert Lundberg.

In Memoriam: Jim Mouradian

2017
AL#130 p.62               read this article
R.M. Mottola                                                                                           

▪ Jim Mouradian, shown here with his son Jon, ran a guitar repair shop and made electric basses. He was a generous and happy mentor to many.

Electric Bass Neck Rods

2017
AL#131 p.14               
David King                                                                                           

▪ That great big long thin neck of an electric bass is the ultimate test case for a truss rod. When renowned custom bass maker David King became dissatisfied with the performance of the rod he was using, he took a deep dive on the whole question of how rods work. Spoiler: Leo Fender was right. Mentions Michael Gurian and William Cumpiano.

Compression Neck Rod Installation

2017
AL#131 p.18               
David King                                                                                           

▪ If you are one of those spoiled-rotten kids who has always just dropped an under-over truss rod into a straight slot, you might want to see how a real old-school single curved compression rod is done.

The Soundpost Cannon Incident

2017
AL#131 p.50               
James Condino                                                                                           

▪ Pop goes the soundpost! Can this affordable old Kay bull fiddle be saved? Plywood-doghouse bass specialist James Condino shows us how.

The Monster in the Attic

2017
AL#129 p.20               
C.F. Casey                                                                                           

▪ When a neighbor brought in “Grampa’s old guitar” for Fred Casey to look at, he got a shock. The guitar was a whopper. Or more properly, a monster. That’s what Lyon & Healy called this very wide guitar. It was pretty well smashed, but soon it was back in playing condition. Does this guitar make my hips look big?

Product Reviews: Kahler 2415-CX Tremolo Bass Bridge

2013
AL#114 p.64               
Eron Harding                                                                                           

▪ Eron Harding reviews one of Kahler’s latest bass bridge models, a 5 string trem for P-bass bodies; a solid and well made bridge.

Three Flattop Acoustic Basses

2013
AL#113 p.54               
Graham McDonald                                                                                           

▪ Gerard Gilet, Jim Williams, and Graham McDonald each built acoustic basses simultaneously in Sydney, Australia using the limited information that was readily available in the late 1980s.

Reviews: Electric Guitar and Electric Bass Design by Leo Lospennato

2012
AL#109 p.61               
Veronica Merryfield                                                                                           

▪ A book aimed at the musician, the hobbyist, and luthier who is open to new ideas; divided into 6 sections on beauty, playability, sound, parts, materials, finishes, and completion.

Reviews: Electric Guitar and Electric Bass Design by Leo Lospennato

2012
AL#109 p.62               
Melanie Heizer                                                                                           

▪ A book aimed at the musician, the hobbyist, and luthier who is open to new ideas; divided into 6 sections on beauty, playability, sound, parts, materials, finishes, and completion.

Constructing a Double Bass Part 2- Inspired by a 1760 Giovanni Baptiste Gabrielli

2011
AL#107 p.22               
Geza Burghardt                                                                                           

▪ Exhaustive pictorial building of a double bass. From 2004 and 2006 GAL convention workshops.

Constructing a Double Bass Inspired by a 1760 Giovanni Baptiste Gabrielli

2011
AL#106 p.16               
Geza Burghardt                                                                                           

▪ Burghardt shares his experience of fulfilling his dream of constructing a double bass. From his 2004 and 2006 GAL convention workshop.

Electric Bass Design Considerations

2009
AL#99 p.38               
Veronica Merryfield   David Minnieweather   Harry Fleishman                                                                                   

▪ As a panel discussion at the 2008 GAL convention this must have been the one not to miss. As an article it is engaging and intriguing. Why do electric bass makers get to have all this freedom and the rest of us have to make copies of stuff that appeared before we were born? Bass players seem to always have had more open minds than other musicians, and these three authors have certainly pushed the envelope. With 47 photos.

Building for Playability

2009
AL#99 p.7      ALA4 p.52         
David Freeman                                                                                           

▪ Some features of guitar construction make the instrument functional for normal humans and tuneful music making, and getting them wrong can/will destroy the guitars usefulness. Other features aren’t necessary but may make the instrument more comfortable to play or offer extended musical capabilities. Freeman addresses both aspects in this article taken from his 2008 GAL convention workshop. He’s not the least bit shy about reconfiguring the guitar’s shape or features to make musicians better and happier. Whether or not you wish to make such alterations, much of this stuff you better know if you wish to make musical instruments rather than guitar-shaped objects. With 5 photos, 3 charts, and a drawing.

Questions: Double Bass External Linings

2009
AL#97 p.68               read this article
Arnold Schnitzer                                                                                           

▪ Strips of wood on the ribs at the top and bottom edges of a double bass are called ‘external linings’ and can be found on many commercial basses from Germany and China.

Restoring a Church Bass

2009
AL#98 p.34               
Frederick C. Lyman Jr.                                                                                           

▪ There’s not a lot of detail to this piece, but there’s nice story telling and some philosophy to live by. Lyman has been involved in the bass world since before the GAL, and whatever he has to say about it is important (and usually fun). With 3 photos.

Aluminum Sonatas

2007
AL#89 p.48               
James Condino                                                                                           

▪ Musical instruments made of aluminum didn’t catch on. This doesn’t mean that a number of companies didn’t go into manufacture, or that the instruments weren’t good. Every luthier knows how fickle and finicky the market is, so it’s no wonder that metal stringed instruments weren’t welcomed by the playing public. Examined here are a violin, a mandolin, and a pair of bass viols. The bass viol stories are the most fun since the author has personal experience with them. Fun stuff! With 25 photos.

Meet the Maker: David King

2006
AL#85 p.20               
Jonathon Peterson   David King                                                                                       

▪ King is a perfectionist who even machines his own bridges. The finish he uses is a catalyzed polyurethane. He uses some interesting equipment to arch his fingerboards and install his frets. After reading this you may not be eager to set up next to him at an instrument show. With 15 photos.

Review: The Setup and Repair of the Double Bass for Optimum Sound by Chuck Traeger

2005
AL#84 p.58   BRB7 p.534            read this article
James Condino                                                                                           

▪ The reviewer finds this book to be a treasure well worth the high cost to anyone serious about the standup bass.

Meet the Maker: Jay Hargreaves

2005
AL#83 p.44   BRB7 p.380            
Todd Rose   Jay Hargreaves                                                                                       

▪ Bass maker Hargreaves is hardly a stranger to AL readers. Here he stands on the other end of the interview as he discusses his work as well as his affiliations with Michael Kasha and Richard Schneider.

A Savart-Style Upright Bass

2004
AL#80 p.22   BRB7 p.248            
R.M. Mottola                                                                                           

▪ Savart built a simplified violin that apparently sounded very good. This was long ago. The author uses Savart’s general principles to build a much simplified upright bass that compares to the traditional design in sound. But the scale length is 34″, and it can use electric bass guitar strings if desired. An interesting concept and a cool looking instrument. With 14 photos. Included is a one-page version of GAL Plan #50 of Mottola’s bass.

A Lightweight Electric Bass

2004
AL#78 p.51   BRB7 p.220            
R.M. Mottola                                                                                           

▪ A couple decades ago electric musicians believed that the only way to get good sustain and tone was by playing a heavy guitar or bass. Guitarists gave up on this a few years ago, but bass players have been slower to go light. The author specializes in bass instruments, and the design he includes here weighs less than six pounds while surrendering precious little to much heavier bass guitars With 4 photos and 2 diagrams.

Plywood

2003
AL#73 p.57   BRB7 p.20            
R.M. Mottola                                                                                           

▪ Does plywood have a place in the luthier’s bag of tricks? The author thinks it may, and gives us some examples to think about. With 2 photos.

A Contrabass for the Pugo Brothers

2003
AL#73 p.34               read this article
Juan Carlos Morales   John L. Walker                                                                                       

▪ The struggle toward lutherie can be really difficult in countries where the people honor the old ways and mistrust anything new. The Pugos in this little story the fought indifference and fear of their Ecuadorian countrymen to become makers of violins and other instruments.

Review: So You Want to Make a Double Bass; To Make a Double Bass; Double Bass Making

2002
AL#71 p.66   BRB6 p.540            read this article
David Riggs                                                                                           

▪ The reviewer turned his pages into a gathering of all the chief sources of useful bass making information, finding that in the end “there is a very deep well of information not in print.”

Audio Spectroscopy

2002
AL#70 p.44   BRB6 p.365            
R.M. Mottola                                                                                           

▪ With digital recording and spectrographic analysis software a computer can print out a diagram of an instrument’s tone spectrum, reducing the complicated issue of tone comparison to easy-to-read graphs. The scientifically inclined luthier may find that this helps him build better instruments, while others may decide that it’s another case of too much information. If you’ve found that intuition has carried you as far as it can you might check out the usefulness of “tone pictures”. With 5 bass guitar spectrographs.

Meet the Maker: David Minnieweather

2001
AL#67 p.34   BRB6 p.206            
Jonathon Peterson   David Minnieweather                                                                                       

▪ Minnieweather lives in Oregon and makes some fine-looking electric basses, including a stunning electric upright. With 9 photos.

Letter to the Editor: Sloane Bass Tuners

2001
AL#66 p.3               read this article
Frederick C. Lyman Jr.                                                                                           

▪ Longtime GAL member Fred Lyman tells of the conversation that got Irving Sloane interested in making bass machines. Fred also gives a quick overview of his life in lutherie and wishes more lutherie info had been available to him in his youth.

Meet the Maker: Harry Fleishman

2001
AL#66 p.6   BRB6 p.186            
Ken Goodwin   Harry Fleishman                                                                                       

▪ Fleishman has been a guitar and bass designer/builder, a teacher of lutherie and writing, a longtime member of the GAL, a frequent contributor to AL and its current product reviewer. Harry is as well-known for his outrageous sense of humor as for the outrageous instruments he creates. With 10 photos.

The Bassola

2000
AL#64 p.44   BRB6 p.136            
R.M. Mottola                                                                                           

▪ The author’s invention is an attempt to create the tone of the upright bass in a more portable instrument. The Bassola is a carved-plate instrument very much like a huge F-model mandolin, though not as large as a bass mandolin. It utilizes standard bass guitar strings and “fits in any car.” With 9 photos.

Product Reviews: Hipshot Ultralight Bass Tuners

2000
AL#64 p.61   BRB6 p.476            
Harry Fleishman                                                                                           

▪ Fleishman returns to this column after a long absence, and finds that he has a strong admiration for Hipshot Ultralight Bass Tuners. He also examines the Earvana intonated nut intended for Fender electric guitars and finds that they do improve intonation, though the installation is not a piece of cake. With 3 photos.

Letter to the Editor: Oversize Bass

1998
AL#56 p.3               
Derrick McCandless                                                                                           

▪ McCandless built a functioning P/J bass that is 8′ long and otherwise to scale. With 1 photo of the finished instrument.

Review: Easy Guitar Maintenance and Repair by Harvey Citron

1998
AL#54 p.55   BRB5 p.476            
John Calkin                                                                                           

▪ The reviewer finds that this video is a good learning device for anyone wishing to learn how to set up their electric guitar or bass, perhaps less so for acoustic players.

Meet the Maker: Bishop Cochran

1996
AL#48 p.14   BRB4 p.386            
Jonathon Peterson   Bishop Cochran                                                                                       

▪ Cochran is a player/maker of electric and acoustic/electric guitars who uses machine shop equipment and supplies to create his instruments. The emphasis is on precision work, duplicable procedures, and practical designs. With 26 photos.

Review: Electric Guitars and Basses, a Photographic History by George Gruhn and Walter Carter

1995
AL#42 p.56   BRB4 p.465            
John Calkin                                                                                           

▪ The reviewer is enthusiastic about this picture book but decides that it may have no relevance to the life of a typical luthier.

Review: The Physics of Musical Instruments by Neville H. Fletcher and Tom Rossing

1995
AL#42 p.57   BRB4 p.466            
Don Bradley                                                                                           

▪ The reviewer finds that the authors have made an invaluable reference for studying the vibration of all types of musical instruments.

Electronic Answer Man

1994
AL#40 p.54   BRB4 p.416            
Rick Turner                                                                                           

▪ Have you got a new idea about wiring a guitar or bass? Turner helps you decide if it may be worth the effort of trying it out. The fact that a new wiring system will work doesn’t mean anyone will want to hear it. Or buy it. Or care at all.

Electronic Answer Man

1994
AL#37 p.56   BRB4 p.416            
Rick Turner                                                                                           

▪ Turner’s column is all about the essential electronic measuring instruments for the guitar shop.

Electronic Answer Man

1993
AL#36 p.56   BRB3 p.426            read this article
Rick Turner                                                                                           

▪ Turner warns repairmen not to get in over their heads with custom electronics work, and describes two elaborate jobs that came out right for all concerned.

In Memoriam: Hammond Ashley

1993
AL#34 p.61   BRB3 p.499            read this article
David Wilson   Peggy Warren                                                                                       

▪ Remembering Hammond Ashley, aged 91, advocate of fine music and fine musical instrument making.

Taking the Guitar Beyond Equal Temperament

1992
AL#30 p.56   BRB3 p.469            
Curt Carpenter                                                                                           

▪ The reviewer is disappointed in the chapters about pickup making. The rest of the book is hard to follow and perhaps too deep for beginning luthiers. The book does offer food for thought, but should be used in conjunction with other references.

Electronic Answer Man

1992
AL#29 p.54   BRB3 p.426            read this article
Rick Turner                                                                                           

▪ A new column is born. What is pickup phase and polarity? Why do positions 2 and 4 on a 5-way Strat switch sound funky? Turner knows and tells all.

Using Your Work Space from the 1990 GAL Convention panel

1991
AL#27 p.4   BRB3 p.80            
Chris Brandt   R.E. Brune   Jeffrey R. Elliott   Richard Schneider   Ervin Somogyi   David Wilson                                                                       

▪ A look inside the shops of six professional luthiers, featuring floor plans, tooling descriptions, notes on lighting and specialized machinery, and ideas about how work space can help (or hurt) your lifestyle. With a good Q&A segment and 63 photos.

This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.

Inside Warmoth Guitar Products

1991
AL#26 p.26   BRB3 p.60            
Ken Warmoth                                                                                           

▪ Most in-the-know electric guitar folks consider Warmoth necks and bodies to be the best going. Here’s how they’re made. With 22 photos.

This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.

A Low Cost Bass, Part 2

1991
AL#25 p.14   BRB2 p.430            
Frederick C. Lyman Jr.                                                                                           

▪ Lyman continues his crusade for a low-cost, high performance bass viol. Part 1 was printed in the previous issue.

A Low Cost Bass

1990
AL#24 p.30   BRB2 p.430            
Frederick C. Lyman Jr.                                                                                           

▪ Lyman builds a bass with a lauan body and a top of quartersawn 2x4s, and is quite pleased with the outcome. There are only 2 photos, but a lot of text. Lyman’s conventional basses are in the hands of many well-known musicians. He certainly knows the difference between good and bad instruments. Part 2 follows in the next issue.

Letter to the Editor: Gittler Guitar

1989
AL#19 p.5               read this article
Anthony D. Blokzyi                                                                                           

▪ Blokzyi furnishes a description of the Gittler guitar, an all stainless steel, skeletonized instrument.

Meet the Maker: Frederick C. Lyman, Jr.

1989
AL#18 p.46   BRB2 p.248            
Jonathon Peterson   Frederick C. Lyman Jr.                                                                                       

▪ Lyman is an inveterate experimenter best known for his string basses, a regular American Lutherie contributor, and an interesting thinker.

In Defense of Short Scale Basses

1989
AL#17 p.50   BRB2 p.153            
Michael Sacek                                                                                           

▪ Sacek prefers a scale length of 31″ for bass fiddles and bass guitars. The article contains no plans, but offers enough food for thought that builders should take his ideas into consideration. In the one photo his instruments look pretty interesting.

Meet the Maker: Hammond Ashley

1988
AL#15 p.30   BRB2 p.82            
Tim Olsen   Hammond Ashley                                                                                       

▪ This is a “factory tour” of the Ham Ashley shop.They specialize in the larger members of the violin family.

A Case of Explosion Damage

1988
AL#15 p.66               read this article
Keith Davis                                                                                           

▪ A natural gas explosion blows up the instruments of an entire school orchestra. Davis comes to the rescue, but wonders what the long-term ramifications will be for the fiddles and bass viols.

Our Great Spherical Friend Part Five: An Experimental Bass

1988
AL#14 p.50               
Frederick C. Lyman Jr.                                                                                           

▪ Lyman forges ahead in his quest for a cheap but satisfying substitute for the traditional solid wood bass viol. This segment describes an experimental bass made of lauan plywood and 2×4 studs. The results leave him hopeful that he is on the right track.

Lost Shirts and Curved Braces

1987
AL#12 p.54   BRB1 p.464            
Harry Fleishman                                                                                           

▪ These three articles augment Tim Olsen’s initial bass offering in American Lutherie #9, and as a collection they still offer the largest fund of information on the creation of the acoustic bass guitar to reach print.

A Port, but No Pins

1987
AL#12 p.56   BRB1 p.468            
William McCaw                                                                                           

▪ These three articles augment Tim Olsen’s initial bass offering in American Lutherie #9, and as a collection they still offer the largest fund of information on the creation of the acoustic bass guitar to reach print.

Tap It and Tune It

1987
AL#12 p.58   BRB1 p.470            
David Freeman                                                                                           

▪ These three articles augment Tim Olsen’s initial bass offering in American Lutherie #9, and as a collection they still offer the largest fund of information on the creation of the acoustic bass guitar to reach print.

Improving the Plywood Bass (Our Great Spherical Friend Part Four)

1987
AL#10 p.60   BRB1 p.202            read this article
Frederick C. Lyman Jr.                                                                                           

▪ Lyman’s quest is to build an inexpensive but musically useful string bass. In this episode he tries to improve a Kay plywood bass. The results leave him ambivalent but hopeful.

Plywood Bass Top Repair

1987
AL#9 p.49   BRB1 p.342            
Dale Randall                                                                                           

▪ Randall finds an inventive way to fix a bass that’s been dropped on its top, but the repair leaves a 1/4″ hole through the top that must be plugged and disguised.

Building the Flattop Bass

1987
AL#9 p.24   BRB1 p.322            
Tim Olsen                                                                                           

▪ Olsen offers the philosophy, theory, construction details, and plans for a new instrument. The plans are a shrunken version of GAL full scale Plan #13. Though Olsen and a few others began building flattop basses in the 1970s, in a real sense this article is the birth certificate of the instrument. The flattop bass is a flattop guitar on steroids, not to be confused with the bass viol.

This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.

Letter to the Editor: Various Letters

1986
AL#8 p.6               
Richard Ennis                                                                                           

▪ Ennis defends the plywood bass (and plywood in general in its application to instruments) and goes on to mention a few particular problems with the instrument that need to be addressed.

Our Great Spherical Friend Part Two

1986
AL#7 p.43   BRB1 p.196            read this article
Frederick C. Lyman Jr.                                                                                           

▪ Lyman offers another philosophical look at lutherie and acoustical physics.

Our Great Spherical Friend Part One

1986
AL#6 p.19   BRB1 p.196            read this article
Frederick C. Lyman Jr.                                                                                           

▪ Lyman likens the physical properties of a stringed instrument to those of the earth’s atmosphere (our great spherical friend), and advises us that an understanding of science should underlay our intuitional sensitivities.

In Praise of the Plywood Bass

1985
AL#4 p.48   BRB1 p.148            read this article
Frederick C. Lyman Jr.                                                                                           

▪ Lyman champions the use of common materials and low sophistication in the production of serviceable, affordable bass fiddles. Mentions Kay basses and the Richard Ennis design in AL#3.

Building a Plywood Bass

1985
AL#3 p.42   BRB1 p.92            read this article
Richard Ennis                                                                                           

▪ Rough sketches help describe a fast and cheap substitute for a bass viol. It has no scroll or waist, and a flat top and back.

Bass Crate

1984
DS#273   BRB1 p.254            read this article
Frederick C. Lyman Jr.                                                                                           

▪ Lyman created a shipping crate for the bass viol that will take abuse without damaging the bass, which is suspended in the crate without touching any of the walls. With 5 good drawings of crate details. It’s not lutherie, but it might save your instrument.

Adjustable Bass Bridges

1984
DS#267   BRB2 p.356            
Peter Psarianos                                                                                           

▪ There are two main styles of commercially available bass bridge adjusters. Here’s how to fit them to a bridge. With 6 drawings and a handy spec chart of the two adjusters.

Basic Bass Adjustments

1983
DS#257   BRB2 p.450            
Frederick C. Lyman Jr.                                                                                           

▪ The rude construction of many basses prevents them from being as subtle an instrument as a violin, but they have their own setup requirements that may not be obvious to the uninitiated. Lyman shares his years of experience with bass creation and repair to help us get the most from any bass, however crudely fashioned or maintained.

Bass Neck Angle Jig

1983
DS#252   LT p.3            
Frederick C. Lyman Jr.                                                                                           

▪ Lyman was the GAL’s bass guru for years.

This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.

The Piccolo Bass

1980
GALQ Vol.8#1 p.36               read this article
Frederick C. Lyman Jr.                                                                                           

▪ A new instrument which fills the gap between the bass and the cello and which can be used in the melodic register but with the tonal density of the bass, rather than cello.

Design Factors in the String Bass

1980
GALQ Vol.8#4 p.8   BRB2 p.52            
Frederick C. Lyman Jr.                                                                                           

▪ Lyman has made basses for several contemporary bass luminaries and has decided that they need qualities in the bass that weren’t called for in the past. He offers specific ways to match a bass to the requirements of the player. With one photo of the author.

Position Markers For Fretless Bass

1979
DS#123               
Leo Bidne                                                                                           

▪ The fretless bass, unlike the vertical standing double bass, is played horizontally and the long, slim neck is too wide for ‘sighting’ down the neck, thus a system of marking is necessary.