2023
AL#150 p.6
Sjaak Elmendorp
▪ The technology and fashion of wooden instruments move forward inexorably, although whether that forward motion is the same as improvement can be a matter of debate for decades or centuries. Elmendorp made what he calls a faithful impression rather than accurate reproduction of a 1907-style Gibson L1: small body, carved top, floating bridge, round hole.
2023
AL#150 p.16
Mark French
▪ Richard R.E. Bruné was in the GALs very first cohort and was an author and convention presenter from the very beginning. Weve visited him a couple of times over the decades. His son Marshall was born into the business, and into the Guild. Together they run a large workshop and epicenter of classical guitar making, scholarship restoration, appreciation, and dealing.
2023
AL#148 p.22
Karl Hoyt
▪ Hoyt stumbled upon a small and distressed old instrument that turned out to be made by a founding father of the authentic ukulele. Mentions Augusto Dias, Jose do Espirito Santo, Jim Tranquada.
2023
AL#148 p.44
James Buckland
▪ Beautiful books about the pre-classical guitar, with lush and informative photography, are being published in Europe. Dont worry; they include English text for the benefit of us new-worlders. Mentions Mauro Giuliani, Gennaro Fabricatore, Joseph Pons, Johann Stauffer, Rene Lacote, Wappengitarre.
2022
AL#147 p.52
Michael Burton
▪ What do you do with a guitar that seems beyond repair? Repair it anyway. Why not? After decades of neglect and wildly improper storage, this sturdy Asian-built flattop had developed the mother of all neck warps. Burton ripped into it with clothes iron, heat blanket, router, and neck jig to replace the truss rod and fix earlier disastrous repair attempts. It turned out great.
2022
AL#146 p.2
Jeffrey R. Elliott
▪ Gives updated info on guitar restoration materials that were mentioned by Elliott in AL#145.
2022
AL#145 p.16
Jeffrey R. Elliott
▪ Elliott is best known for his long career of making classical guitars of the highest quality, but he has also undertaken some major restorations of important historic instruments. Here he reviews three projects and shares thoughts about his approach. Mentions Jose Romanillos, Hermann Hauser Sr., Antonio de Torres, Francisco Tarrega, Francisco Gonzalez, Peter Radcliff.
2022
AL#145 p.32
Mark French
▪ Frequent author Mark French spends a lot of time in the physics lab and the workshop. But here he emerges, blinking, into the Arizona sunshine to visit a fabulous musical instrument museum. In fact, it’s The Musical Instrument Museum.
2021
AL#144 p.6
Roger Haggstrom
▪ A hundred and some years ago, Swedish folks sat around the house all of a dark winter and sang hymns together, accompanied by the strummings of cheap mass-produced guitars. Those days are gone, but a lot of the guitars are still hanging on the walls of old houses. Roger Häggström has made a business of restoring them to useful condition and modifying them to sound and play better than they ever could have. He restores and modifies. Restomods. Mentions the Levin guitar company.
2021
AL#144 p.24
Federico Sheppard
▪ Federico Sheppard completes his uncompromising copy of FE08, the elaborate early opus of the master luthier Antonio Torres Jurado. Beautifully figured wood and excruciatingly detailed marquetry come together and receive a French polish finish. Mentions Jose Romanillos, Marian Romanillos, Eugene Clark, and Robert Ruck.
2021
AL#144 p.65
Kevin Aram
▪ Our reviewer Kevin Aram praises this gorgeous book which includes interviews with several luthiers about the methods and ideas of the great Spanish master builder.
2021
AL#143 p.30
Alfred Woll
▪ The Vinaccia family was at the heart of the development of the Neapolitan mandolin, beginning in the mid-18th century and running well into the 20th. This article follows those developments with changing string technology and musical taste. The author then gives us a step-by-step demonstration of making the distinctive arched-and-canted soundboard.
2020
AL#141 p.65
Chris Sobel
▪ Françoise and Daniel Sinier de Ridder, authors of The Spanish Guitar, will be familiar to American Lutherie readers from their ambitious restoration articles. Our reviewer loves this lavish and informative picture book.
2020
AL#140 p.34
Kerry Char
▪ This ornate contraption had seen a lot of use and abuse in almost a dozen decades of service. Long-ago modifications plus the pull of sixteen strings left it in a sorry state. It had to be taken in hand rather decisively to be brought back into playing condition. Two necks, the back, the enormous bridge, and a lot of bracing came off. Content warning: contains lutherie gore.
2020
AL#140 p.62
C.F. Casey
▪ Nearly twenty years ago, Casey made a detailed drawing of a 7-string Russian guitar which we published as GAL Instrument Plan #48. Recently, he was called on to make a replica of that instrument. Sure, he had the drawing, but he took a few liberties with the project. He tells us what he did, and why. The original guitar showed some Stauffer inspiration.
2019
AL#138 p.70
Art Robb
▪ How do you take the back off a 19th-century guitar? Carefully, and slowly. The author offers good advice based on long experience.
2019
AL#138 p.6
Michael Bashkin
▪ Michael Bashkin’s lutherie cred is unimpeachable, and it turns out that he previously had a career in forestry, with years of experience in many places from the tropics, to the temperate zone, to the arctic. So he knows a lot about trees and about wood. How should we feel about using the earth’s dwindling supplies of fine traditional woods to make our wonderful, precious guitars? And will our clients give us less of their wonderful, precious dollars if we don’t? Let’s ask Michael. This fascinating article is based on his 2017 GAL Convention lecture.
2019
AL#136 p.48
R.M. Mottola
▪ What’s the scale length? Isn’t it just twice the distance from the nut to the 12th fret? Yeah, kinda, but there can be a lot of complicating factors when working on old instruments. Like maybe the nut position was compensated, or just cut wrong. Or maybe the 12th fret was a little off. The fret positions might have been calculated using the old rule of 18. Here’s how to find out what’s really going on.
2019
AL#136 p.12
Kerry Char
▪ A cool old Gibson-era Epiphone guitar got well and truly smashed in an incident involving large and excited dogs. Better call Char! Kerry Char, that is. He jumps right in to remove the top, take off the braces, and then put the whole thing back together and polish it up nice before you can say “Kalamazoo!” From his 2017 GAL Convention slide show.
2019
AL#136 p.36
Mike Gluyas Shaun Newman
▪ Although he had fallen in love with the classical guitar the first time he heard one as a teenager, Shaun Newman was already well along in a career as a language teacher when he first tried to make one. He was lucky enough to find a mentor in his corner of England, and he has been making and restoring an impressive variety of fine instruments for the last thirty years.
2019
AL#136 p.42
Massimo Maddaloni Lizabeth Jane Hella Giacomo Parimbelli
▪ From the time that the violin was invented, Cremona was the world center for the highest quality string instrument making, until it gradually became known for lower-quality mass production of fiddles. After its dark age, Cremona has more recently seen a renaissance of its lutherie heritage. This article looks at an unusual guitar made by a Cremonese luthier in the 1930s and sees echoes of the old masters in its design. Mentions Stradivari, Panormo, Fibonacci spiral, Archimedean spiral, golden ratio.
2018
AL#135 p.30
Kerry Char
▪ Kerry Char sawed the top off an old Gibson flattop in front of a group of several dozen luthiers at the 2017 GAL Convention. And within the same hour he pried the back off a Knutsen harp guitar. Step by step photos.
2018
AL#133 p.34
D. and F. Sinier de Ridder
▪ So you need to restore a guitar that is a third of a millienium old. Of course it was originally a Baroque guitar. A couple hundred years ago somebody chopped it into a Romantic-era 6-string guitar. No prob, you’ll just find a similar authentic instrument for a guide. Except there aren’t any. Spain was packed with them 300 years ago, but now not a single one is known to exist in original condition. Nonetheless, a full and successful restoration is made.
2017
AL#131 p.6
Federico Sheppard Bernhard Kresse
▪ Bernhard Kresse lives and works in his hometown of Cologne, Germany. He’s one of those guitar-making self-starters who was lured away from college by the siren song of lutherie. He has come to specialize in restoration and new construction of Romantic-era guitars, and also makes a “modern” classical guitar based on their advanced features.
2017
AL#130 p.6
Tim Olsen Jason Lollar
▪ Jason Lollar attended the Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery way back when founders John Roberts and Bob Venn were still instructors. Jason went on to do a lot of guitar repair and some guitar making, but his early interest in winding pickups eventually grew into a twenty-person shop specializing in reproducing vintage models.
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?
2016
AL#128 p.8
Alan Perlman
▪ Perlman runs though a restoration job on a Torres guitar, replacing a side and copying fancy purflings. Then he builds a replica of a Stahl Style 6 flattop. So when you are copying a century-old American guitar, how far do you go in the name of authenticity? Do you match the faded tones of the purfling, or use the nice bright colors that the Larson Brothers liked? Do you let the glue blobs roam free like they did, or get all tidy like a nervous modern maker? From his 2014 convention lecture.
2015
AL#123 p.16
D. and F. Sinier de Ridder
▪ This guitar, built in 1875, is the 2nd instrument made in the second epoch of Antonio de Torres, and was subjected to numerous botched repairs over the years. The authors undertake a thorough restoration to put the guitar in playing condition.
2015
AL#121 p.68
Randy Holmes
▪ Information on restoring an old Sunburst Silvertone, in bad shape and missing the pickguard.
2012
AL#111 p.8
Joe Konkoly
▪ Repair, modification, and restoration of vintage instruments. From the 2011 GAL convention lecture.
2012
AL#109 p.71
Thomas Knatt
▪ Restoring a heavily damaged 1826 Panormo.
2012
AL#110 p.48
James Condino
▪ Restoring old plywood basses. From Condino’s 2011 GAL convention workshop.
2012
AL#109 p.34
James Condino
▪ Restoring old plywood basses. From Condino’s 2011 GAL convention workshop.
2011
AL#108 p.63
Michael Darnton
▪ This 3-book set covers a wide range of topics beyond what the title specifies, in over 142 articles.
2011
AL#108 p.48
Sue Johnson
▪ Repairing this damaged instrument with previously botched repairs including color touch-up, outlandish replacement linings, thick varnish, and nail attached bindings.
2010
AL#103 p.28 ALA5 p.42
Don Pilarz
▪ Photos detailing every aspect of the Gonzales Guitar restoration, completed in 300 hours over two years.
2010
AL#101 p.22
D. and F. Sinier de Ridder
▪ In the 19th century Baroque guitars were not treasured antiques, they were merely old-fashioned. One that was chopped into a “Spanish” guitar back is restored back to its original configuration by a Parisian lutherie team.
2009
AL#97 p.48
Roger Alan Skipper
▪ Skipper decides to save the life of a Martin D-28 that most of us would use for spare parts and firewood. A new top is made and severely cracked sides and back are restored to usefulness by interesting techniques that offer strength and renewed life rather than cosmetic perfection. In other words, a repair that mere mortals can afford. Good job! With 12 photos.
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.
2008
AL#95 p.32 ALA5 p.76
Tobias Braun
▪ Braun took on the job of restoring a massively injured Spanish factory guitar made approximately in 1900. This is not only a close look at how such work is done, but an examination of how these guitars were made. It’s not a Torres, but it’s pretty cool. With 41 photos and 4 catalog page reproductions.
2006
AL#87 p.67
Jeffrey R. Elliott Cyndy Burton
▪ Proper way to fix a Manzanero guitar with poorly repaired cracks on the top and back, a pulled up neck, and a poor refinish.
2006
AL#86 p.50
John Calkin
▪ This is another of the author’s attempts to save a ruined instrument without ruining the customer’s bank account. The subject this time is a WWI-era Gibson army-navy style mandolin. With 14 photos.
2006
AL#85 p.46
John Calkin
▪ Some instruments aren’t valuable enough to warrant extensive repair work but are too interesting to throw away. Enter the resurrectionist. In this case the subject is a ’30s tenor guitar by Regal. Cracks are fixed, braces are replaced, a new bridge is made, and the neck is refitted. With 21 photos.
2005
AL#83 p.61 BRB7 p.501
David Golber
▪ Restoring old decorated Hardanger fiddle pegs. You need to preserve the old carved button, so this method involves grafting it to a new shaft.
2005
AL#84 p.3 BRB7 p.545
R.E. Brune
▪ Brune comments on the restoration of the Torres guitar covered in AL #83. Brune worked on this guitar previous to Elliott’s restoration, and he offers two more photos of the instrument.
2005
AL#84 p.50 BRB7 p.412
John Calkin
▪ Resurrection isn’t so much about true restoration as in making a dilapidated instrument function again in a manner that the owner can afford. Time-saving procedures are permitted that a restorationist wouldn’t dream of, but preserving the instrument as much as possible is still the goal. With 12 photos.
2005
AL#83 p.18 BRB7 p.364
Jeffrey R. Elliott
▪ Restoring famous instruments is a tricky business. If they are also old, well-played, and abused by poor storage facilities the work becomes a cross between knowledge, craft, and art. Elliott goes where few of us would care to travel, explaining every step of restoration as he goes. Perhaps as important is what he doesn’t do. The ethics of restoration is a foundation of the story. With 42 photos as well as a 2-page spread of GAL full-size plan #52.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.
2005
AL#83 p.32 BRB7 p.378
Jeffrey R. Elliott
▪ A full-scale instrument plan. See the GAL website for a low-rez preview.
2005
AL#82 p.26 BRB7 p.312
Jonathon Peterson Charles Beare
▪ Beare is the captain of a violin restoration firm, a competition judge, and a man thoroughly versed in the intricacies of vintage violins. He has known all the experts of his life time, and he has formulated many strong opinions about old fiddles and the various fields that use them to do business. You’ll find him interesting even if you aren’t a violin person. With 9 photos.
2005
AL#82 p.66 BRB7 p.437
Don Overstreet Don MacRostie
▪ Cleaning a 1920 Gibson A-4 mandolin properly without hammering whatever finish is present and removing the wax layers.
2004
AL#80 p.61 BRB7 p.349
R.E. Brune
▪ A highly valued classical guitar from the 60s that has developed a dish between the bridge and the sound hole.
2004
AL#80 p.63 BRB7 p.268
Howard Bryan
▪ Evaluating an old Clark harp, SN 2102, with light wear.
2002
AL#72 p.63 BRB6 p.374
Jeffrey R. Elliott R.E. Brune Stewart Pollens Byron Will Michael Darnton Frank Ford
▪ Thoughts from various folks representing different instruments and approaches on restoration label do’s and don’ts for severely damaged guitars.
2003
AL#73 p.50 BRB7 p.24
Nathan Stinnette George Wunderlich
▪ Wunderlich builds minstrel banjos, recreations of banjos made before the various factories turned them into standardized items that standardized the way we all think about the banjo. With 6 photos.
2002
AL#70 p.16 BRB6 p.328
Jeffrey R. Elliott
▪ Returning a historically important guitar to life is not only a painstaking project but also one that must be done with finesse and a respect for the instrument’s value as an historical document. This restoration took several months and much research and investigation, requiring the use of tools not normally associated with guitar repair. With 43 photos and a magazine-size version of GAL Plan #47 of the instrument under discussion.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.
2002
AL#70 p.34 BRB6 p.343
Jeffrey R. Elliott
▪ A full-scale instrument plan. See the GAL website for a low-rez preview.
2002
AL#69 p.28 BRB6 p.316
Jonathon Peterson Kerry Char
▪ Char is a guitar maker who also specializes in the restoration of old and odd instruments, particularly harp guitars by Knutsen and others. With 16 photos of vintage instruments.
2000
AL#63 p.10 BRB6 p.72
Cyndy Burton Sheldon Urlik
▪ When a collector becomes a historian his importance to lutherie takes on a new dimension. Urlik’s collection begins with Torres and extends to many important current, and can be examined by anyone in his book A Collection of Fine Classical Guitars, from Torres to the Present. With 19 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1999
AL#59 p.6 BRB5 p.374
Frank Ford
▪ A top repairman tackles the sticky subject of what repair and restoration work should be tackled in this age of vintage instrument mania, especially in the area of elective surgery. Even today’s utilitarian instruments may be tomorrow’s hot collectibles, so every instrument that passes over our bench has to be considered in this light. What work should we refuse, and what are our liabilities for the work we do? Includes 41 photos, mostly of vintage guitars and mandolins.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.
1998
AL#56 p.62 BRB5 p.458
Michael Darnton
▪ Before you try to fix, buy, or sell a violin, you better know what you’re diving into. Darnton explains how to evaluate the condition of a fiddle and how to spot old repairs and perhaps even forgeries.
1998
AL#54 p.65 BRB5 p.193
Stephen Bacon
▪ Epoxy as filler.
1998
AL#55 p.8 BRB5 p.217
R.E. Brune
▪ The story of this astonishing flamenco guitar involves Barbero, Sabicas, Carlos Montoya, and Elektra records. It dropped from sight until showing up at Brune’s for repair. Brune drew up a complete set of plans while the guitar was in his possession. They are printed here, and are also available as a full-size GAL Plan #42. With 12 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1998
AL#55 p.10 BRB5 p.219
R.E. Brune
▪ A full-scale instrument plan. See the GAL website for a low-rez preview.
1997
AL#52 p.46 BRB5 p.148
R.E. Brune
▪ What does it take to restore an important instrument? Skill, research, and a solid feel and appreciation for the time during which the piece was made and played. Skip any of these factors and you could easily screw up an irreplaceable piece. Brune describes his approach to one guitar while at the same time demonstrating the qualities necessary to enter this field.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
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.
1996
AL#48 p.46 BRB4 p.474
John Calkin
▪ Reviewed here are six videos, one about violins setups, one about French polishing, and four about guitar repair. All are found worthy, though two of the repair tapes are for the inexperienced luthier.
1996
AL#48 p.28 BRB4 p.408
Cyndy Burton John Mello
▪ Mello is a repairperson, guitarmaker, restorer, and instrument dealer. He apprenticed under Richard Schneider and worked with Jeffrey R. Elliott before opening his own shop.Much of the interview dwells upon the restoration of an 1862 Torres guitar. With 11 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1996
AL#47 p.46 BRB4 p.364
Colin Kaminski Marc Silber
▪ Silber is a musician, nomad, repairman, musical historian, guitar designer, dealer, collector, and all around keeper of the flame. How can a man have so much fun and make a living at the same time?
1996
AL#45 p.57 BRB4 p.499
Alan Carruth
▪ An alternative method for removing white glue is the use of acetic acid, handy where the use of steam would be objectionable.
1996
AL#46 p.20 BRB4 p.316
Robert Lundberg
▪ An introduction to the structure and methods of construction of historical instruments, especially the belly. With 12 photos, 2 pages of notes and bibliography, and a family tree of Neapolitan luthiers from the 15th to the 20th centuries.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1996
AL#46 p.58 BRB4 p.504
Norbert Pietsch
▪ Protecting pearl when restoring an old banjo with engraved pearl inlays.
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#42 p.57 BRB4 p.481
Robert Lundberg
▪ The reviewer finds that although the abstracts are clear and well written, the quality and usefulness of the abstracted material is not judged. The unwary may be sent on a long search for information of little, or dangerous, use.
1995
AL#42 p.26 BRB4 p.160
John Koster
▪ Koster explains what you can hope to gain by examining museum instruments, how to approach a museum, and what to do when you get there. With 21 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1995
AL#42 p.40 BRB4 p.192
Alan Carruth
▪ Carruth ran mode and frequency tests on the old top and the replacement top.The goal was to reproduce the quality of the old airlines-damaged top.
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.
1994
AL#37 p.22 BRB4 p.17
Nicholas Von Robison John Koster
▪ How does a man become conservator to a famous collection of stringed instruments, and just exactly what does he do after he’s there? Koster maintains the collection at the Shrine to Music Museum.
1994
AL#37 p.44 BRB4 p.23
Keith Hill
▪ Hill cooks up a varnish that resembles the fiddles in the early paintings, not those same fiddles 300 years later. A hundred years from now he expects his violins to be prettier than anyone’s.
1994
AL#37 p.59 BRB4 p.483
Robert Steinegger
▪
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#35 p.6 BRB3 p.352 read this article
Michael Darnton
▪ To the uninitiated, violin setup seems to have way too many steps for the small number of moveable parts involved. Taken one step at a time, the mystery falls away. Darnton explains the tools and procedures he uses to get the most out of a violin. This segment includes fitting pegs, correcting problems with the nut, making a fingerboard, and fitting a soundpost. Part Two is printed in AL#37. With 30 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1993
AL#34 p.6 BRB3 p.316 ALA5 p.22
Jeffrey R. Elliott
▪ Elliott believes that top replacements might be far more common in the future than they are now. Instruments with tired tops might have them replaced rather than retire the rare/irreplaceable hardwoods that comprise the rest of the instrument. Anyhow, he tried it out. Here he presents a description of the operation and the ethics involved, with 23 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1993
AL#33 p.12 BRB3 p.278 read this article
Roberto Gomes
▪ Gomes offers a list and short description of some current Brazilian builders.
1993
AL#33 p.14 BRB3 p.280
R.E. Brune
▪ Brune describes a rare 11-string Torres guitar and the manner in which he restored it. With 11 photos and a half-page of drawings. Mentions Romanillos.
1993
AL#33 p.30 BRB3 p.292
Geary Baese
▪ When a violin guy gets on the trail of an old guitar it comes out sounding an awful lot like a violin article. And when Stradivari is involved what else can one expect? Baese makes an educated guess about the materials and techniques that finished a famous guitar. With 8 photos.
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.52 BRB3 p.268 read this article
Tim Olsen Guy Rabut
▪ A long-time Guild member makes it as a violinmaker in the Big Apple after a twenty-year run. Mentions Ed Campbell, Peter Prier, Rene Morel.
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#32 p.7 BRB3 p.241 read this article
Robert Lundberg
▪ It seems that there is real doubt about the authenticity of this very same lute. American Lutherie’s lute meister looks at the photos and thinks, “Hmm, maybe it is real.” With one more photo of Moby Lute.
1992
AL#29 p.6 BRB3 p.194 ALA3 p.2
R.E. Brune
▪ Brune outlines the first major exhibition of Spanish guitars ever mounted in America. With 8 photos, including one of Santos Hernandez. Also mentions Torres, M. Ramirez, Segovia, Simplicio, Barbero, Romanillos, and others.
1991
AL#25 p.56 BRB3 p.446
Michael Darnton
▪ Darnton turns some pictures of a mystery fiddle into a thousand words. Or a few hundred, anyway. Then he moves on to discuss distorted ribs, retouching varnish, and tracking down a mystery buzz. He adds an update about his varnish formula.
1991
AL#25 p.22 BRB3 p.2
Kevin Aram
▪ Aram offers an anecdotal history of one of the most influential classical guitars of our time. With 26 photos. Mentions Hauser I, Torres.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1990
AL#22 p.38 BRB2 p.376
Michael Darnton
▪ Violin people think about finishes in a way that guitar makers have difficulty grasping. It is an obsession. Darnton’s lengthy article discusses varnish types and components and offers a few recipes. It doesn’t seem fair that guitar folks don’t get to play with stuff called dragons blood, sandarac, and propolis, to name just a few. Such exotic incantations are bound to improve a finish, don’t you think?
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1990
AL#23 p.14 BRB2 p.406
Jonathon Peterson
▪ Doan describes his collection of oddball zithers.
1990
AL#21 p.44 BRB2 p.262
Joseph R. Johnson
▪ A number of non-mandolins were considered to be intrinsic parts of the mandolin orchestras. This installment of the series looks at all the boys in the band (and some girls, too). With 16 photos and a few drawings.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1990
AL#22 p.3
Ralph Novak
▪ An old Harmony guitar may not be a wonderful instrument, but it is well worth rebuilding.
1990
AL#21 p.12 BRB2 p.354
Cyndy Burton Michael Yeats
▪ Training, ethics, money—all luthiers face the same dilemmas, but it’s possible that those who face the field of professional classical musicians are tried a little harder. Yeats offers straight talk about all three issues.
1990
AL#21 p.32 BRB2 p.358
Jeffrey R. Elliott Cyndy Burton
▪ The authors make a cross-country pilgrimage to examine two world famous classical guitars, one by Manuel Ramirez and one by Hermann Hauser Sr. The wonder is that there are riddles there yet to be solved.
1990
AL#21 p.36 BRB2 p.352
Robert Lundberg R.E. Brune
▪ Lundberg says that perhaps he’s tracked down Marie’s own luthier. Brune examines the evidence and decides he’s not prepared to jump on board. With 3 fine photos.
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.
1989
AL#20 p.8 BRB2 p.262
Joseph R. Johnson
▪ Johnson examines the mandolin orchestra at the turn of the century when an aggressive ad campaign by Gibson changed the look and sound of the American mandolin forever. With 13 photos. Part One is in AL#19. Part Three is in AL#21.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1989
AL#20 p.14 BRB2 p.306
Michael Darnton
▪ Darnton offers some in-depth advice to help you make your violin repairs invisible.
1989
AL#20 p.18 BRB2 p.316
Cyndy Burton Stewart Pollens
▪ Pollens is Associate Conservator of the Department of Musical Instruments at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. How does a major museum maintain its instruments? How do they view their responsibilities to their collections? How does one train to do the work? Here it is.
1989
AL#19 p.24 BRB2 p.250
R.E. Brune
▪ A guitar that may have belonged to Marie Antoinette is brought back to playing condition. This article gives a good picture of what goes into the restoration of a museum-quality instrument. With 13 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1989
AL#19 p.34 BRB2 p.262
Joseph R. Johnson
▪ Mandolin mania in America was a social phenomenon that was inflated to the max by the Gibson Company advertising propaganda. This portion of the series details the rise of the mandolin orchestras and mandolin clubs. With 9 photos and a Gibson cartoon. Part Two and Part Three follow in AL#20 and AL#21.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1989
AL#18 p.12 BRB2 p.214
Geary Baese
▪ Baese draws upon old literature and recent black light testing to draw his conclusions about the structure of old varnishes. The Q&A session reveals a high sophistication in the audience. With 5 photos and a few old print reproductions.
1989
AL#18 p.26 BRB2 p.228
Ted Davis Darryl Wolfe
▪ Both of these men love and revere the F-5 mandolin. Wolfe owned four Lloyd Loar mandos up to the time of the interview, studied and photographed 130 old F-5s, and published the F5 Journal. A lengthy interview with 12 photos. One man’s opinion can dispel, and perhaps create, instrument mythology.
1989
AL#18 p.52 BRB2 p.497
Robert Lundberg
▪ The reviewer finds he could easily recommend this book if it weren’t so overpriced.
1989
AL#17 p.48 BRB2 p.206
Geary Baese
▪ Baese writes about adding color to violin varnishes in an historically accurate manner. He defines a lake pigment as “fixing . . .an organic soluble dye upon an inorganic carrier to render an insoluble colored compound.”
1989
AL#17 p.6 BRB2 p.162
Tim Olsen
▪ Whether or not there is anything new to be said about Stradivari, it is impossible for a serious publication about lutherie not to take him into account at some point. Olsen’s lengthy article includes analytical drawings and photos of the master’s work. All the guitar and mando folks might wonder what the fuss is about. Olsen sets us straight.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.
1988
AL#15 p.56 BRB2 p.100
Joseph R. Johnson
▪ Johnson offers a brief note about the Witten-Rawlins collection that was recently acquired by the Shrine to Music Museum. With photos and a museum checklist.
1988
AL#14 p.53 BRB2 p.67
George Manno
▪ Manno offers a recipe for a golden-red varnish for use on new violins.
1988
AL#13 p.54 BRB2 p.34
Al Stancel
▪ Stancel opens old repaired cracks with heat and chemicals, cleans them with surfactants, and mends them with hide glue. The author works with the fiddle family, but his advice should flow over into any luthier’s discipline.
1988
AL#13 p.7 BRB2 p.4
H.E. Huttig
▪ Huttig relates a story about the instrument that was the center of the classical guitar universe for decades, the Hauser played by Segovia.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
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#7 p.46 BRB1 p.246
Lawrence D. Brown
▪ Brown gives advice about the special repair needs of very old instruments.
1984
DS#279 LW p.62 ALA6 p.2
Ted Davis
▪ This rare Martin required the creation of a new harp neck as well as the repair of many top and side cracks. The plans included are also available as GAL full-scale blueprint #7. Includes 5 photos.
1983
GALQ Vol.11#3 p.30 BRB2 p.176
Don Alfieri
▪ The goal and duties of the instrument restorationist are not always clear cut since the philosophy of restoration is not universally agreed upon. The author makes a good case for a conservative approach to the subject and the work.
1983
DS#264 LW p.60
Ted Davis
▪ New top, fingerboard, and headstock veneer. GAL plan #6.
1982
DS#223 LW p.92
Michael Breid
▪ The author has had good luck heating and stretching shrunken binding back to its original configuration. Here’s how.
1981
DS#176 BRB2 p.260
Lawrence D. Brown
▪ Lute pegs are different than violin pegs and have their own requirements if they are to function properly. Brown gives a thorough explanation.
1980
GALQ Vol.8#2 p.10 LW p.66
Richard Irwin
▪ Irwin found a small gold-painted guitar in a junk shop that turned out to be an 1850 2-24 Martin. Removing the gold paint revealed a nearly pristine guitar marred only by some pick wear. With 3 photos and a diagram of the pyramid bridge.
1979
GALQ Vol.7#4 p.10 BRB2 p.68
Lawrence D. Brown
▪ Discussion of lute soundboard, bridge, neck, fingerboard, and frets.
1979
DS#125 LW p.86 read this article
Robert Steinegger
▪ The author keeps a comprehensive file of all the cool patterns that cross his bench, and here’s how he does it. It’s not quite as easy and obvious as you might think.
1978
GALQ Vol.6#1 p.10 BRB2 p.78
Kent Rayman Aggie Rayman Robert Lundberg
▪ Lundberg is a classic example of a man who couldn’t fit into any of the slots society tried to force him into, yet who went on to become an important individual in his field. Lute players of the world couldn’t be happier about it. With 4 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.
1975
GALNL Vol.3#5,6 p.19 BRB2 p.48
Laurence Libin
▪ Luthiers who deal in restoration and re-creation of old instruments may find that museums may harbor help that is otherwise unavailable, and you may not have to visit the museum to avail yourself of its services. Libin discusses what museums are usually prepared to do to help researchers, and how to deal with museums when you need their help.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.