2023
AL#149 p.68
Steve Dickerson
▪ When you see a big horrible blister form on a thick commercial finish, it means two things. Firstly, the finish is ruined. Secondly, it will come off nice and clean with a spatula and heat gun.
2022
AL#147 p.66
John Calkin
▪ Calkin gives the thumbs-up to a fine 5-hour video just about wet sanding and buffing a lacquer finish. Prepping and spraying the finish is a whole other matter, not covered here.
2021
AL#142 p.68
Reg Beardsley
▪ Fix finish checking with diluted linseed oil. You have to dilute it with mineral spirits to reduce the viscosity. Some discussion of refractive index.
2020
AL#141 p.70
Howard Stephens
▪ The author argues that they don’t sound very different.
2019
AL#138 p.28
John Calkin
▪ Got a used humbucker, a wall stud, some extruded aluminum, and a couple other odds and ends? Make a lap steel guitar! Author John Calkin likes to get right down to business. There’s nothing precious or over-thought here. Minimum tooling, maximum lutherie fun. This is how Leo Fender got his start, ya know.
2019
AL#136 p.4
Federico Sheppard
▪ Robert Ruck was one of the young self-starters who founded the American Lutherie Boom, and he remained a leading light in the movement until the end of his life. Federico Sheppard was an aquaintence and admirer who became closer to Ruck when they spent time together at Federico’s place on the Camino de Santiago in Spain one summer. In this article, Federico presents a photo tour of Ruck’s shop in Eugene Oregon and explains some of the tools and techniques we see. Mentions French polising with hardware-store shellac. Mentions Richard Brune.
2017
AL#132 p.71
Cat Fox
▪ Experienced guitar repairer Cat Fox gives a big thumbs-up to Glooboost products for drop fills on lacquer. Well, her thumbs are not that big. Just regular.
2017
AL#130 p.66
Max Girouard Andrew Mowry
▪ Two mandolin makers test this post-catylized shellac product. They like it.
2017
AL#130 p.69
Gary Clayton Fisher
▪ Does that miracle photo-setting glue they advertize on TV have any merit?
2017
AL#129 p.68
Pete Daigle Reg Beardsley
▪ Make water-slide decals using specially prepared paper and the right brand of color laser printer. Plus a description of how one could make traditional water-slide decals in the old-school way, that is, by silk screening.
2017
AL#129 p.68
Charles Fox
▪ List of guitar finishing services.
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.
2004
AL#79 p.63 BRB7 p.252
Charles Fox
▪ Tiny scratches after using a power buffer to rub out finish.
2004
AL#79 p.63 BRB7 p.475
Don MacRostie
▪ Doing a sunburst finish by hand, without using a spray gun.
2004
AL#79 p.6 BRB7 p.206
R.E. Brune
▪ In a sense Brune is laying down the law for successful classical guitar making. Much of it will be useful to any builder, and all of it is interesting because Brune is an interesting man who has his thoughts together. Not to mention that he’s a heck of a luthier with a deep background in the history of his craft. With 30 photos and 8 diagrams. Mentions Santos Hernandez, Marcelo Barbaro, Ignacio Fleta, Hermann Hauser, Sr.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.
2004
AL#79 p.34 BRB7 p.416
Peggy Stuart Don MacRostie
▪ The author attended a mandolin making class taught by Don MacRostie at the American School of Lutherie. The first four parts of her report appeared in the four previous issues of AL. Part Five concerns the application of a sunburst using stains, both by spraying and rubbing, as well as the application of lacquer and French polish finishes. With 37 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
2004
AL#77 p.67 BRB7 p.490
Scott van Linge
▪ Mushy, overcooked angel hair spaghetti as an excellent grain filler for mahogany necks.
2002
AL#71 p.69 BRB6 p.309
Bob Miller Fred Carlson
▪ A pore-filler and sealer that is compatible with a brush-on oil finish.
2001
AL#65 p.39 BRB6 p.170
Fred Campbell
▪ A large part of the secret to getting a fine gloss finish of any sort is the preparation of the wood before anything is even applied. Campbell has specialized in finish work for years and isn’t shy about sharing what he knows.
2001
AL#65 p.57 BRB6 p.215
Greg Byers
▪ Sealing the interiors of fretted instruments: most builders don’t.
1998
AL#55 p.62 BRB5 p.208
Frank S. Hedi Gavin Baird
▪ It is customary to glue on the bridge after finish is done on the guitar for a far easier cleanup job.
1998
AL#54 p.57 BRB5 p.477
John Calkin
▪ The reviewer decides that the book should be of use to anyone who is about to purchase their first spray gear, but that other sources of information are more lutherie-specific.
1998
AL#54 p.65 BRB5 p.193
Stephen Bacon
▪ Epoxy as filler.
1998
AL#53 p.59 BRB5 p.147
Fred Campbell Douglas Somervell
▪ Differing clarifications on using epoxy as filler on rosewood under nitrocellulose lacquer.
1997
AL#51 p.50 BRB5 p.458
Michael Darnton
▪ Straight talk about why slab-sawn wood is a poor choice for violin necks, boiling down an alcohol solution, getting a chin rest to stay on a fiddle, and making lake pigments.
1997
AL#50 p.59 BRB5 p.491
Alan Carruth
▪ Mixing 10 percent of acetone in polyurethane for nice bite.
1996
AL#48 p.38 BRB4 p.406
Christopher Luck
▪ How to get a good CrystaLac finish in a small shop on a tight budget.
1996
AL#47 p.30 BRB4 p.346
John Calkin Geoff Stelling
▪ A profile of one of the leaders in high-end banjos, featuring a tour of the shop, production techniques, construction methods, and banjo/motorcycle cross-pollination.
1996
AL#45 p.10 BRB4 p.264
R.E. Brune
▪ This 1995 lecture transcription investigates the history of art applied to lutherie in all its varied forms, and then translates many of them into illustrations of contemporary instruments. Topics include painting, gilding, carving, veneer, inlay, engraving, and varnish work. With 49 photos and illustrations.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1995
AL#44 p.38 BRB4 p.248
Fred Campbell
▪ Campbell finishes the guitars that other luthiers build. He has become an expert spray meister with the confidence to give away the tricks he has learned the hard way. This is perhaps the best piece on lacquering AL has ever printed. With 7 photos and a finishing schedule.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1995
AL#44 p.20 BRB4 p.230
Guy Rabut
▪ Apparently not every violinist is determined to have a fiddle that looks 300 years old. Rabut has made some interesting attempts to update the violin without sacrificing the tone that everyone demands. Can’t wait until these babies start showing up in symphonic orchestras. With 21 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1995
AL#43 p.52 BRB4 p.442
Michael Darnton
▪ What is Nussbaum? Is there such a thing as irreparable damage?
1995
AL#42 p.12 BRB4 p.174
Robert Ruck
▪ Ruck spends most of his time in this lecture talking about top design and finishing. With 13 photos and several drawings, plus a detailed list of his finish materials and procedures.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.
1994
AL#40 p.50 BRB4 p.82
John Calkin
▪ Calkin’s pair of articles first takes a look at Vreeble, a form of lacquer-based crackle paint, and then at refinishing an electric bass with curly maple veneer.
1994
AL#39 p.36 BRB4 p.72
Dan Erlewine
▪ In the last issue Erlewine described how he made a new “old” Tele body. In this installment he attacks the neck, quite literally. With 40 photos.
1994
AL#38 p.18 BRB4 p.28
Dan Erlewine
▪ How do you make a new electric guitar that looks like it spent forty years in the bar wars? Erlewine uses two finishes with incompatible shrink rates, rope, the concrete floor, you name it! Creativity can be harsh, but his Tele certainly looks vintage.
1993
AL#36 p.6 BRB3 p.380
Dan Erlewine
▪ Erlewine hides his wooden patches under a field of colored French polish, then paints over it with simulated wood grain, and then might shoot a sunburst around everything. Old European craftsmen would smile in recognition of these tricks, but they are seldom applied to guitars.
1993
AL#36 p.40 BRB3 p.405
Jonathon Peterson Scott Tremblay
▪ Trembley is a Canadian luthier who specializes in the guitars of the 19th century, both as a maker and a restorationist. He has studied the subject deeply. With 12 photos and a scale drawing of an 1816 Salon Guitar by Jose Martinez. This plan is a reduced version of GAL full-scale Plan #36.
1993
AL#34 p.54 BRB3 p.446
Michael Darnton
▪ What adjustments change the tone of a violin? Should new pegs be reshaped or should the pegbox holes be opened to fit them? Which glue for a top center seam? Are stains really useless?
1993
AL#33 p.35 BRB3 p.308
David Freeman
▪ Micro-mesh is the latest word in sandpaper. In fact, it’s not even paper and it doesn’t feel sandy. Freeman and his students use it for all wet-sanding chores, including the final gloss finish. It’s that fine.
1993
AL#33 p.36 BRB3 p.303
Wes Brandt
▪ A well-known repairman delivers eight tips, including an alternate way to bend a Venetian cutaway, tool tips, and a way to bend sides more accurately.
1992
AL#32 p.44 BRB3 p.266 read this article
Michael Darnton
▪ Nothing is easy for fiddle people. When they aren’t tweaking and gluing wood they are stirring up a witch’s brew in their home chem labs. Darn if Darnton doesn’t sound like he likes it, though. Buy some fancy wood. Trick it into changing color.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1992
AL#32 p.58 BRB3 p.270
Jim Grainger
▪ Grainger swears that this work is easy and profitable, and makes it seem so. The secret ingredient is called Final Coat, a Mohawk product.
1992
AL#30 p.49 BRB3 p.486
Ed Margerum
▪ A mill used for rock polishing as an easy, safe, time saving way to dissolve resins and mix varnishes.
1992
AL#30 p.49 BRB3 p.485
Jeffrey R. Elliott
▪ Reducing cleanup after using a handheld power buffer with liquid buffing compound on the wool pad.
1991
AL#28 p.34 BRB3 p.126 ALA4 p.10
Phillip Lea Bob Taylor
▪ Few people in Guitarland are as outspoken and clear-headed as Bob Taylor. Others might say he’s just opinionated. He believes a good guitar is a good guitar, no matter if it was whittled by Gepeto or cranked out by a dozen computer-guided milling cutters. This article offers a peek into the Taylor factory and a guided tour through one man’s thoughts about the contemporary guitar. With 28 photos.
1991
AL#26 p.8 BRB3 p.37 ALA4 p.28
Jean Larrivee
▪ Larrivee has overseen the creation of 15,000 acoustic guitars and 12,000 electrics. Much of what he has to say pertains as strongly to the one-off builder as it does to another industry giant, and he doesn’t hold back on anything.
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.
1990
AL#23 p.12 BRB2 p.393
John Chipura
▪ This is a wood treatment shoot-out. Waterglass is a controversial ingredient in violin finishing. Chipura makes a case for using calcium silicate instead.
1990
AL#21 p.38 BRB2 p.362
Rick Rubin
▪ The goal is to preserve instrument wood for centuries, or make it stiffer. Either or both will do. Rubin examines a list of wood additives and lets the reader decide what to do.
1987
AL#9 p.34 BRB1 p.332
Dave Schneider
▪ A ’68 paisley Tele is reborn, complete with Parsons B and E benders and a complete refinishing from the foil on up.
1986
AL#8 p.42
Brian Derber
▪ Derber tries out “good tone in a can,” a wood treatment that the manufacturers claim instills a vintage tone in your new instruments. He finds it wanting, though his test is hardly scientific. Nor does he believe that further testing is warranted.
1985
AL#3 p.38 BRB1 p.90
Ed Mettee
▪ Photos and sketches fill out a description of a knockdown solidbody guitar that fits into a briefcase.
1984
DS#276 BRB1 p.262 read this article
Graham Caldersmith
▪ The Sacconi technique of sealing fiddles with silicates has not been widely accepted. Nevertheless, the author explains how he has successfully used silicates to seal and harden violin wood before varnishing, as well as the use of vernice bianca (basically whipped egg whites) to act as an interface between the silicate and the varnish.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1983
GALQ Vol.11#1 p.8 BRB1p.372
Nicholas Von Robison
▪ Robison offers a convincing, multi-pronged philosophical stance for using natural dyestuffs that should lodge firmly among the luthiers that build ancient instruments or see them on their repair bench. Or anyone else who admires subtlety more than bright pizzazz.
1983
DS#236 BRB1 p.210 read this article
Nicholas Von Robison
▪ The dyestuffs are from bugs, flowers, and tree parts. Mordants are chemicals that set the colors and may shift the hue. Dyers’ hip talk is a lot of fun, and the bits of dye history Robison includes add sparkle to a colorful article. Working with these materials could add mountains of snob appeal to a guitar. Rather than describe a three-color ‘burst as yellow/red/brown it might be described as fustic/madder/walnut hull. Be the first on your block to give it a go.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.
1981
DS#199 BRB2 p.479
Chris Burt
▪ Horsestail weed makes a natural fine sandpaper. Stradivari used it. So can you.
1980
DS#154 BRB1 p.411 read this article
Ken Cartwright
▪ This solution paints on easily, dries quickly, and is an effective sealer.
1978
DS#97 BRB1 p.352 read this article
Jimmie Van
▪ Discusses the advantages of cleaning instruments with lemon oil and resealing the finish with carnauba wax.
1977
DS#55 BRB1 p.36 read this article
Jeffrey R. Elliott
▪ Various chemicals have been used for centuries to color (or de-color) wood. Fiddle makers are hip to tons of these, but Elliott describes a couple that he finds useful on his guitars. He also advocates lubricating tools and work surfaces with carnauba wax, which will not contaminate your wood.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.