2023
AL#150 p.65
David Franzen
▪ George Smith was one of that rare breed: A self-starter guitar maker before the American Lutherie Boom. Heres three fond remembrances by people who were glad to have known him well.
2023
AL#150 p.65
Peter Tsiorba
▪ George Smith was one of that rare breed: A self-starter guitar maker before the American Lutherie Boom. Heres three fond remembrances by people who were glad to have known him well.
2023
AL#150 p.5
Martin Moen
▪ An Australian retiree has made a cello, and intends to make more.
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#150 p.60
Mike Doolin
▪ Doolin shows us how to make nice solid wood linings starting with veneer from the hardware store. They turn out great, and you have your choice of colors: light, or dark.
2023
AL#149 p.24
Lee Herron
▪ You know what they say: When you are a hammer, everything looks like a nail. When you are a luthier, everything looks like it could be made into a fine handmade guitar. Like that chunk of firewood over there. Its way too short to make sides, but well figure something out.
2023
AL#148 p.9
Kelly Reynolds
▪ Reader solicits opionions about the use of Lyptus, a typle of eucalyptus wood.
2023
AL#148 p.62
John Calkin
▪ The Lutherie Curmudgeon casts his eye on the lutherie scene, and speaks his truth. He’s kinda grumpy, but you know you love him.
2022
AL#146 p.6
Flip Scipio
▪ Ten years ago, Flip Scipio attended the last of the summer seminars given by José Romanillos at his base in Sigüenza, Spain. Now, after the recent passing of the Maestro, this review is both informative and poignant.
2022
AL#146 p.14
Max Mclaughlin
▪ Here’s a story that will sound familiar to a lot of us old farts of the Lutherie Boom generation for the decades-old echoes that it evokes. A bold young person wants to do unusual and arty things with guitars, and they find an older mentor in the crowded back room of a New York City guitar store. That takes you back, don’t it Gramps?
2022
AL#146 p.26
John Calkin
▪ David Thormahlen started making many kinds of string instruments in the woodshop in college, and then made a strategic decision to focus his lutherie career on lever harps. It all worked out well, and he still makes guitars, mandolins, and bouzoukis in addition to the harps. He shows us some of his gluing fixtures which involve bicycle inner tubes; some stretched, some inflated.
2022
AL#146 p.38
Lee Herron
▪ Sometimes you get a customer who just wants you to run wild. Check out the design and build process of this 17.75-inch, 7-string, multiscale black-locust flattop guitar. Fun!
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.46
C.F. Casey
▪ We sometimes hear of a luthier who enjoys the challenge of building an instrument from lumber-yard materials rather than from picked and approved tonewoods. but Casey goes one better when he makes two successful instruments from a single softwood two-by-four. And it had a knot in it, just for extra fun.
2022
AL#145 p.52
John Calkin
▪ Using simple, non-dedicated tooling, Calkin steps us through his straightforward, no-nonsense process of routing control cavities in solid guitar bodies.
2022
AL#145 p.70
John Calkin
▪ Calkin thinks about a few things that have changed since he started making guitars nearly 50 years ago. And some things that have not.
2021
AL#143 p.56
Steve Dickerson
▪ The author hit on an unusual program for building his first uke. He bought a kit, but then set aside the good wood for a later build. He went to the lumberyard to buy cheap wood, then proceeded with reduced anxiety. Makes sense when you think about it. The humble uke came out fine.
2021
AL#143 p.6
Federico Sheppard
▪ It is a story of mystery, dedication, and destiny. The wide-eyed young novitiate is mentored by oracles, sorcerers, and craftsmen until he finds his great quest and pursues it against all odds. To put it more plainly, but no more truthfully, it is the story of Federico Sheppard constructing a copy of FE08, the astonishingly elaborate early opus of the master luthier Antonio Torres Jurado. Mentions Nick Kukich, Ray Jacobs, Shel Urlik, Jose Romanillos, Richard Brune, Robert Ruck, Robert Lundberg, Abel Garcia Lopez, Nicolo Alessi.
2021
AL#143 p.40
Leonardo Michelin-Salomon
▪ In AL#141 Leonardo showed us how he was building Romantic-era guitars at the craft school in Norway. This time he is taking a deep dive into building with local spruce. Although the trees are not big, the wood is very good. Mentions Gennaro Fabricatore, Johann Anton Stauffer, Josef Pagés, Coffee-Goguette.
2021
AL#142 p.40
Doug Hunt Mark French
▪ Two luthiers dare each other to make a useful guitar for a total investment of $75 each. One makes a flattop, the other a solid body. There are rules, and rules are meant to be broken.
2021
AL#142 p.55
Max Krimmel
▪ If you are luthier who does not remember the name of Max Krimmel, you might be under age fifty. Max was a pack leader in the early days of the American Lutherie Boom, before he went on to specialize in a few of his many other artistic interests. Anyway, why and article about marimbas? As Max says, “Think of it as deep background learning.”
2020
AL#141 p.38
Gerry Chicalo
▪ All the guitar soundboards ever made don’t add up to a toothpick in the vast lumberyard of the timber industry. A stray cedar log that washes onto a beach in British Columbia can be lutherie gold, and harvesting it can be a lot of nice fragrant outdoor fun.
2020
AL#139 p.58
Roger Bucknall
▪ Can people really hear the difference between different back-and-sides wood? Brittish guitar builder Roger Bucknall is in an excellent position to explore this question. He’s the founder (in 1973) and still head honcho of boutique brand Fylde Guitars. He made a set of identical guitars except for the wood choices, and….. Read the article to see what happened.
2020
AL#139 p.70
Tom Thiel
▪ They say to cut lutherie trees when the sap it down. But what does that really mean? Also, that old story about cutting the trees during the right phase of the moon might be more than a story.
2020
AL#140 p.2
Stephen Marchione
▪ The braces in an archtop guitar are very similar to the bars in fiddles, and Marchione fits them with the same traditional techniques. The mating surface of the brace is roughed out with a chisel, then refined with a small plane, and perfected with files and scrapers. Chalk shows the whole truth of the fit. Believe the chalk.
2020
AL#140 p.56
Geoff Needham
▪ Bamboo is kinda like wood, right? Ever wonder if you could make a guitar out of it? Nowadays it comes in large panels of edge-laminated strips that are about the right thickness. The author made two nice classical guitars with bamboo sides and backs, and gives the material a big thumbs-up for workability, appearance, and sound. Mentions Miguel Rodriguez and Domingo Esteso.
2019
AL#138 p.66
Bryan Johanson
▪ Orfeo Magazine represents a new idea in marketing. It is free online, or you can buy it as gorgeous coffee-table books of collected issues. Either way, it sure is pretty. Written and photographed by Alberto Martinez, Orfeo Magazine presents one man’s lavishly illustrated pilgrimages into the world of the classical guitar.
2019
AL#138 p.69
John Calkin
▪ What do you do with cupped soundboard sets? Go ahead and use them. Calkin offers some practical tips for avoiding problems.
2020
AL#139 p.2
Dean Coss John Calkin
▪ Does a solid body lap steel guitar need a truss rod? No. Plus a discussion of alernative woods and some appreciation of the virtues of quick-and-dirty lutherie.
2020
AL#139 p.3
Michael Bashkin
▪ Fixing a boo-boo.
2020
AL#139 p.38
Sjaak Elmendorp
▪ Holland had a lutherie boom in the 1970s, too. Arie started out as a carpenter, but moved into lutherie after an injury. Today he makes steel string guitars and a variety of other instruments. Mentions Roger Siminoff, Irving Sloane, Arthur Overholzer, Cees van Loon, Vox Humana, preparing cow bone, humidity control.
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#138 p.20
Mark French
▪ Author Mark French is walking the lutherie path in the reverse direction of many makers. As a physics prof trained in the crazy magic of CNC and industrial robot processes, he had made a lot of guitars before he did much in the way of traditional low-tech hand-tool work. As part of an intensive effort to fill in those gaps, he attended an eight-day course at Robbie O’Brien’s shop in Colorado to make a flamenco guitar with Spanish luthier and licensed bloodless toreador Paco Chorobo. O’Brien went to Spain and visited Paco’s shop in 2015. Read all about it in AL124.
2019
AL#137 p.69
john Calkin
▪ How come my Flying Vee uke did not sound great? Probly not enough air in it.
2019
AL#137 p.70
James Buckland
▪ Straightforward advice for getting the best result with simple hand planes.
2019
AL#137 p.22
Cyndy Burton Joshia de Jonge
▪ Joshia de Jonge was a sensation at the 1998 GAL Convention when, as a young female luthier, she brought a nicely-made and fine sounding instrument to the classical guitar listening session. It helped to have grown up in a guitar-making family. And now that she has left her parents’ home and shop, she is raising guitar-making sons. Mentions Geza Burghardt; Linda Manzer; Sergei de Jonge; Eric Sahlin.
2019
AL#137 p.62
Greg Maxwell
▪ Australian luthier Trevor Gore is the co-author of the two-volume book Contemporary Acoustic Guitar, Design and Build. Gore teaches a three-day seminar in which he demonstates his very specific and number-based method of measuring and controlling the resonant frequecies of guitars. Maxwell attended one such seminar, held at Robbie O’Brien’s shop, and gives a brief overview.
2018
AL#135 p.69
Mark Hatcher
▪ What’s the deal with hardwood tops on steel string guitars?
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.
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.
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.
2018
AL#134 p.34
Greg Byers
▪ So you made a classical guitar, and it sounds good. You want your next one to sound good, too. You want your output to be consistently good. How do you do that? After decades of lutherie experience, Byers has developed a method of recording the frequency responses of the soundboard at each major stage of construction. Does the tap-tone of the raw top set tell the whole story? No, but it can help you steer the project to a successful conclusion.
2018
AL#134 p.52
Chris Herrod
▪ You’ll often read article in American Lutherie where scientists explain the sound of guitars in terms of resonant frequencies and onset transients. On the other hand, longtime wood merchant Chris Herrod is here to give the metaphoric pendulum a big old shove back to the right-brain tradition of using evocative adjectives like “dry,” “creamy,” and “poignant.” He also discusses psychoacoustics research and how confident we should be about our “ears.”
2017
AL#132 p.68
Brent Cole
▪ Is Alaska yellow cedar more available than it used to be?
2018
AL#133 p.6
Federico Sheppard
▪ There are luthiers way up in the tributaries of the Amazon River. They have wood galore, and they are teaching large numbers of local kids to make their own instruments. But they are short on good sharp tools and modern information. Our intrepid adventurer Federico Sheppard sets out to address that lack by bring in donated tools and holding master classes. He was multi-tasking; on the same trip he researched and commemorated the 1931 visit of Agustin Barrios to the remarkable Teatro Amazonas, which you might recognize from the Werner Herzog movie Fitzcaraldo. And he got in some fishing.
2018
AL#133 p.22
R.M. Mottola Mark French
▪ Mark French was a kid who took guitar lessons and paid the guy at the music store to change his strings. He went on to be an aerospace engineer, but with all that book learning he still did not know how guitars worked. Now he teaches college courses on guitar making and hangs out with captains of industry at Fender and Taylor.
2018
AL#133 p.48
James Blilie
▪ We all have ideas about the stiffness of brace wood, probably based on a combination of intuition, hearsay, and informal flexing. Blilie aims to accumulate more quantitave data. Here he reports on his latest tests. He also describes his methodology and the reasoning behind it. This is Blilie’s third article on this topic.
2017
AL#131 p.69
Tom Thiel
▪ Why does my dimensioned neck stock keep twisting?
2017
AL#132 p.58
Lee Herron
▪ Take a break from building that replica Joachim Tielke Baroque guitar and step up to this lutherie challenge. Build a fully-functional Dobro from a sheet of 3/4″ construction plywood, a few parts from the plumbing department, and various stuff from the thrift store. OK, you can also have a fretboard, a real set of tuners, and a set of strings. But when it comes to finding a resonator cone, you’ll have to punt. Or Bundt.
2017
AL#131 p.53
James Blilie
▪ Unless you are really messing it up, the glue line is stronger than the wood. And here’s more numbers to prove it. Blilie uses real lab gear and standard statistical analysis to drive the lesson home.
2017
AL#130 p.68
Robert Ruck
▪ Is ipe a good guitar wood?
2017
AL#131 p.3
Samuele Carcagno Chris Plack
▪ A study at Lancaster University seeks luthiers to help with a scientific study of the impact of wood choice on the percieved sound of acoustic guitars.
2017
AL#129 p.64
John Calkin
▪ Calkin’s manifesto of outlaw lutherie. He says real lutherie can be fun, spontanious, quick, and cheap. Relax. It’s good for you.
2017
AL#129 p.68
Mark Dalton Andy Powers John Calkin
▪ Torrified wood has been baked at similar temperatures as baking potatoes, usually in a reduced-oxygen atmosphere. Seems to make the wood lighter in weight, darker in color, and stiffer across the grain.
2017
AL#129 p.68
John Calkin R.M. Mottola
▪ There is no company offering a torrifying service, but maybe you can do something similar in a home oven. I said maybe. Don’t blame the GAL if you make a stinking mess. Or worse.
2017
AL#130 p.42
Paul Schmidt Jason Harshbarger
▪ A lot of the makers that we meet in the pages of American Lutherie are grizzled veterans of the early days. Not this one. Harshbarger is a young single father who went to lutherie school in the late 1990s, then survived on cabinet work until he could build a lutherie shop in his basement. His steel-string design work uses Steve Klein’s work as a point of departure, and moves forward boldly from there.
2017
AL#130 p.60 read this article
Tom Bednark
▪ Tunquist ran the huge circular saw on which most of the wood for Martin guitars was cut in the 1940s, ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s. He is remembered by Tom Bednark, an early GAL member.
2017
AL#129 p.6
Cyndy Burton Linda Manzer
▪ The prolific maker of high-end flattop and archtop guitars talks about her mentors Jean Larrivee and Jimmy D’Aquisto, the lutherie biz, her collaborations with guitarist Pat Metheny, and a recent project in cooperation with other Canadian luthiers. Also mentions Paul Simon.
2017
AL#129 p.12
John Calkin
▪ Calkin says real lutherie can be fun, spontanious, quick, and cheap. He makes a uke from a lumber-yard 2×4 to drive home the point.
2017
AL#129 p.24
James Condino
▪ Condino has developed a clever process by which he can string and play a new mandolin very early in the building process. This makes voicing much more accurate,a nd it reduces the risk of experimental materials and bracing patterns considerably. Must see to believe. Mentions the work of Lloyd Loar at the Gibson company in the 1920s.
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.
2016
AL#128 p.22
Pat Megowan Jeff Lee Manthos
▪ People come to lutherie on many different paths. Some of us were nerdy model-making kids, or spoiled lefty college dropouts. Or maybe the garage band was our gateway into the opium den of guitar making. On the other hand, Jeff Manthos was a helicopter aircrewman and rescue swimmer in the Vietnam era. Then, unexpectedly, he went to the Violinmaking School of America in Salt Lake City. He has made a career of it, first in other shops and now on his own.
2016
AL#128 p.48
Cyndy Burton Jeffrey R. Elliott Gabriel Fleta
▪ His grandfather Ignacio Fleta was a violin maker who started making guitars after repairing instruments by Torres, and his father Gabriel Sr. made guitars for decades as one of the legendary “hijos” of Ignacio who made guitars for Segovia, John Williams, and many others. Gabriel Fleta Jr. has been making guitars since the 1970s and has now inherited the family business. We visit his shop in Barcelona.
2016
AL#128 p.58
James Blilie
▪ We all have ideas about the stiffness of brace wood, probably based on a combination of intuition, hearsay, and informal flexing. Blilie aims to accumulate more quantitave data. Here he reports on his latest tests. He also describes his methodology and the reasoning behind it. This is Blilie’s second article on this topic. The earlier one is in AL128. A third article appears in AL133.
2016
AL#126 p.5
Tomasz Cierpisz
▪ Tomasz says right on to the tonewood article in AL#69, A Heretics Guide to Alternative Lutherie Woods.
2016
AL#125 p.69
Jeffrey Yong
▪ Types of wood found in fancy wood panelling in Chinese hotels.
2016
AL#125 p.69
Jose Romanillos
▪ Is a 4 piece spruce top as good as a 2 piece?
2015
AL#123 p.69
C.F. Casey
▪ More thoughts on the use of the word “chocolaty” to describe guitar sound.
2015
AL#123 p.69
Andy Powers Steve Smith
▪ Wiping with acetone VS not wiping, epoxy VS wood glues, and other contradictory information.
2014
AL#120 p.70
Dave Rauscher
▪ Karin-Rost in Germany is a good source for custom wooden inlays.
2014
AL#120 p.70
Ralph Charles Tom Thiel
▪ Ponderings on the current plentiful supply of red spruce.
2014
AL#120 p.71
Graham McDonald
▪ Generalizing the tonal differences among the top woods, redwood, western red cedar, port oxford cedar, and the spruces.
2014
AL#119 p.43
Trevor Gore
▪ How do you pick wood for a guitar? If you stood up and shouted “Science!” this is the article for you. Also see Part 1 in AL #118. This is the second and final episode in the series.
2013
AL#116 p.69
Brent Cole
▪ Rays in spruce are generally desirable and indicate stiffness.
2013
AL#114 p.68
Don Overstreet
▪ Poplar, a vague term in the lumber industry, generally referring to species in the two genera Liriodendron and Populus, is discussed in depth.
2013
AL#114 p.69
Kevin Waldron
▪ The ideal climate for storing tonewood and climate control.
2013
AL#113 p.67
John Pendergrast
▪ Making ukuleles from recycled dresser drawer wood.
2013
AL#113 p.68
Tom Thiel
▪ Conflicting information around the term ‘rift-sawn’ and why grain orientation matters to luthiers.
2013
AL#113 p.69
James Ham
▪ How to orient the wood grain of a neck block for an acoustic guitar.
2012
AL#112 p.69
John Calkin
▪ Bending cocobolo using a Fox bender.
2012
AL#112 p.69
Brian Howard
▪ Published specifications on rifted, quartered, and rift sawed lumber.
2012
AL#111 p.69
Steve Spodaryk
▪ Sanding ebony for decoration and keeping it tidy.
2012
AL#111 p.70
Aaron Green
▪ Preventing cracks from opening up in Indian rosewood backs, which appear soon after the instrument is finished.
2012
AL#109 p.69
Isabel Roeder
▪ Keeping colors in abalone from washing out in digital photography.
2011
AL#108 p.67
James Ham
▪ Kiln dried tonewood compared to fine air dried tonewood.
2011
AL#107 p.69
Darren Forbes
▪ Allergic reactions to Cocobolo Rosewood.
2010
AL#101 p.68
Bruce Harvie
▪ About the value of a hundred-plus year old 20×12 Walnut log.
2009
AL#98 p.68 ALA2 p.42
John Calkin Bob Taylor
▪ Possible differences in side bending in various wood families when using silicone heating blankets.
2009
AL#99 p.3
Thomas Johnson
▪ Johnson’s letter introduces us to English uke maker Ray Cowell, who began his career by making instruments from wood retrieved from the ocean liner RMS Olympic, sister ship to the ill-fated Titanic.
2008
AL#96 p.42
James Condino Ted Davis
▪ Davis’ lutherie exploits goes back to the ’70s. He was one of the first of the recent red spruce believers, and he harvested many trees to supply himself and a few others who were lucky enough to key into his business. He made guitars, mandolins, and dulcimers to support his hotrod automobile habit. He had strong opinions about wood that run counter to modern beliefs, and had the experience to back them up.Davis died before the interview was published. He will be missed. With 15 photos.
2008
AL#96 p.50
Bob Gleason
▪ A low key (not to mention fun) description of how uke making varies from guitar making. Gleason also describes some of the varieties Hawaiian wood he likes to work with, a slick method for removing lacquer from the bridge foot print, and some of the construction tricks he has come up with. Owning a shop in Hawaii must surely take the lutherie life to another level. With 15 photos.
2009
AL#97 p.4 read this article
Joseph Curtin
▪ It turns out that virtually every aspect of the violin can be altered to make it more playable, more visually interesting, and perhaps better sounding. What a relief! There’s life in the old girl yet. Are players brave enough to get on board?
2008
AL#95 p.59
John Calkin
▪ Mike Brittain (see previous article) sent a set of Florida rosewood to the GAL office, and the office staff looked around for someone to build a guitar out of it. Calkin answered the call. Well, someone had to scarf up the free wood, didn’t they? That Mike Brittain’s a swell guy, isn’t he? So this is the story of one particular guitar. By the way, the Florida rosewood in question is Dalbergia sissoo, not the Dalbergia latifolia most often used for guitars. But it looks great, works great, and sounds great. With 5 photos.
2008
AL#95 p.65 read this article
Joe Herrick
▪ The reviewer not only learned a lot about choosing tops and designing brace patterns, he had a very good time. The class took him beyond building generic guitars and into the realm of building the specific guitars that he andor his customers want to hear.
2008
AL#95 p.66
Rick Rubin
▪ Reference to article in BRB2 pg.362 on the use of sodium silicate, aka water glass, for ossifying wood.
2008
AL#95 p.67
Laurie Williams
▪ Kauri, the local name of Agathis Australis, is a wood endemic to New Zealand and is purchased mainly there.
2008
AL#96 p.6 ALA3 p.68
Robert Ruck Jeffrey R. Elliott Manuel Velazquez Alfredo Velazquez
▪ Manuel Velazquez built his first guitar in 1929. Can you imagine that? His son Alfredo is carrying on the tradition, though Manuel has not retired. He has definite opinions about what woods make the best guitar and how they should be finished. He is a giant in the business and must be admired for his tenacity as much as his ability. And a fun interview to boot. Mentions Bobri, Andres Segovia, Torres, Santos Hernandez, and Hermann Hauser. With 36 photos.
2008
AL#95 p.57 read this article
Mike Brittain
▪ Brittain is a Florida luthier obsessed with hunting down the tonewood trees that came to his home state either as infestations or introduced ornamentals. It turns out there’s lots of Indian rosewood growing in Florida, and many trees that have to be removed due to “progress” or storm damage. We can’t let them go to waste, can we Mike? With 5 photos.
2008
AL#94 p.66
Bob Gramann
▪ A small guitar made of southern pine, recovered from a submerged crib dam.
2008
AL#94 p.66
Mark French Ned Steinberger Alan Carruth
▪ Synthetic fretboard materials such as phenolic-impregnated kraft paper laminate as an alternative to tropical hardwoods.
2008
AL#93 p.66
Benz Tschannen
▪ Some experimenting on ossification of guitar soundboards.
2008
AL#93 p.67
John Calkin
▪ The feasibility of constructing a good acoustic guitar made only of wood found in Snasa, Norway.
2008
AL#94 p.50
Don MacRostie
▪ MacRostie’s clever jig measures the top deflection of a carved mandolin under string load at any stage of its construction. It is a valuable tool within the reach of any luthier.
2007
AL#92 p.70 read this article
Chris Dungey
▪ Oregon violin maker Gardener was an influential luthier who lived a very long life. He is famous for mentoring younger luthiers in the skills of selecting and cutting trees (see “Logging Luthiers,” BRB2 p.446 AL#24 p.13). It always hurts when another member of the tribe passes on.
2008
AL#93 p.10
Jonathon Peterson Robert Ruck
▪ Ruck has been one of the bright lights among American classical guitar makers for a long time, and this lengthy interview not only shows him to be a fascinating individual with an interesting history, but dwells at some length on the development of his guitars and the bracing patterns and other features he has evolved. Among his influences are Juan Mercadal, John Shaw, Hart Huttig, Neil Ostberg, and Manuel Barrueco. With 24 photos and a bracing diagram.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.
2008
AL#93 p.38 read this article
Greg Hanson Andrea Florinett
▪ Author Hanson spent two weeks in Switzerland harvesting and processing lumber and tonewood with the Florinett family, who supply the guitar business with 7000 quality spruce tops each year. Florinett is a certified forester who is as concerned with the healthy harvesting of tree stands as with making the most and best use of the wood. The morality of business is also his concern if he is to help his village, his country, as well as the future of his family business. This is a compelling look at an end of the lutherie business that few of us even think about. With 15 photos and a sketch of Picea abies subspecies.
2007
AL#92 p.54 read this article
Bruce Creps
▪ Creps’ business is dealing wood to luthiers. He gives advice on dealing with the mills that process your log, how to store and dry the planks, and (in AL #91) how to resaw it into useful instrument wood. Perhaps most interesting is the number of ills that can befall wood, both as a tree and while curing. Laying out boards for the prettiest sets and the greatest yield is also covered. With 18 photos and a drawing.
2007
AL#91 p.14
C.F. Martin IV
▪ The author is the current chief of the venerable family business. He provides a candid look at Martin Guitar company history as well as a short examination of alternative wood varieties. Highly entertaining, with 5 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
2007
AL#91 p.40 read this article
Bruce Creps
▪ Just about everything you’ll need to know about setting up a bandsaw for resawing and getting the most yield from your lumber. The emphasis is on the Hitachi CB75F resaw, but much of the info will translate to other bandsaws. Included is a good side bar on resharpening bandsaw blades. With 10 photos and 6 drawings.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
2007
AL#90 p.51
Rodney Stedall
▪ With all the wood varieties in the world it’s criminal that so few are accepted in lutherie. Have a look at kiaat, a wood used by South African luthiers. With 2 photos.
2007
AL#90 p.51
Ron Bushman
▪ Another look at two varieties of wood used by South African luthiers. With 2 photos.
2007
AL#90 p.52
James Condino
▪ Condino’s mandolin is made from recycled materials, mostly Douglas fir and katalox. It is unique and beautiful, and the story behind it is pretty cool, too. With 7 photos.
2007
AL#90 p.54 read this article
Bruce Harvie
▪ Specialty woodcutters must be the hardest working people in lutherie, but they also seem to have the most fun. Not just a woodcutter, Harvie is also a treasure hunter supplying luthiers in the trade with wooden jewels. This story is great fun. With 16 photos.
2007
AL#90 p.8
David Hurd
▪ Hurd believes that the fastest way to great instruments is science, and it’s hard to argue with such a rational man. His jigs measure the deflection of top plates while under tension, and once he carves the top and braces to the numbers he wants he’s done. Period. Sort of makes intuition obsolete. This could also be math heavy if he didn’t offer an Internet spread sheet to ease the pain. With 7 photos and 7 figures/charts.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
2007
AL#90 p.16 read this article
Barbara Goldowsky Douglas Martin
▪ Martin is the guy who’s turning the violin world upside down with his balsa wood fiddles. They look pretty bizarre but critics and musicians seem to agree that he’s on to something. He’s also a very interesting guy. With 20 photos.
2007
AL#90 p.46
Rodney Stedall Mervyn Davis
▪ Davis’ South African upbringing inspires a wonderful decorative sense in his instruments. He’s built a ton of different stuff but may end up best known for his wildly unique modular guitars called Smooth Talkers. With 16 photos.
2006
AL#88 p.8 ALA3 p.90
Randy Reynolds
▪ Double-top guitars utilize a top made of two thin layers of spruce separated by a honey-comb material called Nomex. So few people have heard such guitars that the jury is still out (way out) concerning double-top benefits, but here’s how they are made and why. One thing seems sure—the guitar market is large enough to absorb every idea, so no facet of guitar evolution is likely to die out before its time. With 13 photos.
2006
AL#88 p.13 ALA3 p.96
Brian Burns
▪ This is a more scientific look at what the double-top might have to offer. With 2 photos.
2006
AL#88 p.42 ALA1 p.68
R.M. Mottola
▪ Have you got design ideas that are radical or just untried? Perhaps you should toss together a trial instrument before you risk squandering valuable time on a master work that doesn’t work. Here’s how, with an emphasis on building with plywood and even Formica. With 10 photos and a drawing.
2006
AL#86 p.48 read this article
Michael Sanden
▪ The author is enthusiastic about the spruce he buys from Pacific Rim Tonewoods, and his tour of the facility provides some insight as to how trees become guitar tops. With 7 photos.
2005
AL#84 p.64 BRB7 p.479
John Calkin
▪ Spruce and pine for guitar and mandolin tops VS maple.
2005
AL#83 p.10 BRB7 p.362
Jonathon Peterson Pierre-Yves Fuchs
▪ Fuchs went through cabinet making school and violin making school on his way to becoming a gold medal bow maker. He is traditional and opinionated, and will make you believe that there might be cosmic influences involved in making an excellent bow. Intuition, that is. Tradition, experience, and a good feeling about your work in progress. Science guys may pull their hair out, but most of us would rather have good intuition than a good grounding in physics. With 3 photos.
2005
AL#83 p.14 BRB7 p.358
Michael Finnerty Bradley Clark
▪ Cole Clark Guitars is an Australian company specializing in computer designed and manufactured flattop and electric guitars. Rather than use CNC machines to duplicate old guitar styles of construction they have modified their designs to suit the potentials of the machinery, which in the end reduces expensive hand labor by as much as half. A sidebar mentions the lutherie uses of 3 Aussie wood varieties. With 10 photos.
2005
AL#83 p.59 BRB7 p.479
Alain Bieber
▪ Bieber says there are old patents that show guitars with top grain orientation perpendicular to the strings. But were any of these ever built?
2005
AL#81 p.26 BRB7 p.286 read this article
Cyndy Burton Kevin La Due
▪ A high school teacher coaches entire classes through guitar making. Think kids can’t do it? You’ll be surprised. Some well-made and easy-to-use jigs make the process faster and friendlier, and the use of local wood makes it affordable. Pretty inspirational, and with 21 photos.
2005
AL#81 p.40 BRB7 p.302 read this article
Ralph Charles
▪ Man! How come red spruce is so expensive? And how come we can’t find a red spruce top as pretty as a piece of Sitka? Friends, if you look at enough old guitars you’ll realize that Adirondack spruce tops were rarely tight-grained, perfectly straight, and perfectly quartered all at the same time. The big stands of Eastern spruce may have been harvested 60 years ago, but forester Charles is here to say that the trees never grew with luthiers in mind. Man has had a random hand in growing red spruces for generations, and so have beavers. Conditions in the woods can change rapidly. It’s wild out there! To amateur naturalists this is exciting stuff. With 5 photos and a chart.
2005
AL#81 p.63 BRB7 p.415
John Calkin
▪ The thick soundboard requirement in hammered dulcimer construction.
2004
AL#79 p.63 BRB7 p.469
Cyndy Burton
▪ Cautionary tidbits for bending African blackwood for the first time with a Fox side bender.
2004
AL#78 p.46 BRB7 p.200
John Calkin Jeffrey Yong
▪ Yong hails from Malaysia, a country not often associated with fine lutherie. Nevertheless, he makes a lot of instruments that look very contemporary and tasty, and he has access to varieties of wood that would make many of us very envious. With 10 photos.
2004
AL#78 p.20 BRB7 p.192
Cyndy Burton Lester DeVoe
▪ A maker of flamenco guitars discusses guitarists and instruments. A good interview can be as inspiring as a good how-to, and this is a good interview. Mentions Santos Hernandez, Sabicas, Paco de Lucia.
2003
AL#76 p.16 BRB7 p.116
Mike Doolin John Greven
▪ This wonderful interview has the kind of depth that only happens when friends talk. It takes familiarity to know what to ask and how to answer. Humor permeates this discussion of alternative woods, business ploys, the Internet, and in general living the life of a successful luthier. Greven has been in the business as long as anyone and is generous with his advice and experience. With 22 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
2003
AL#76p.65 BRB7 p.491
Alain Bieber
▪ A method for matching the curl when making 4-piece curly maple backs.
2004
AL#77 p.8 BRB7 p.142
Jonathon Peterson Sue Mooers Ray Mooers
▪ This is a wonderful story of how a couple began a basement lutherie business and ended up employing 36 people in the creation of fine harps and hammered dulcimers. Everybody in the lutherie trades should be this nice and interesting (and the wonder of it is that so many are!). With 37 photos, including a bunch of the harp assembly shop.
2004
AL#77 p.28 BRB7 p.160 read this article
Stephen Frith
▪ Frith travels to Austria to mill spruce with Tobias Braun, and suggests that other luthiers might like to treat themselves to such a holiday. See the world, spend time in the outdoors, and collect some European spruce at a remarkable price! With 9 photos of sawmill mayhem to whet your appetite.
2003
AL#75 p.42 BRB7 p.76
Jonathon Peterson Dake Traphagen
▪ For those who really make an impact in lutherie complete immersion in the craft is the rule, not the exception. Long days, few breaks, and a lot of work. Traphagan is a good example. Floating to the top of the heap isn’t a simple matter. Still, one can get there while maintaining a sense of humor and a continuing appreciation for the mysteries of the craft, and Traphagan is also a good example of that, too. A really good interview with 10 photos and three diagrams of guitar tops.
2003
AL#74 p.36 BRB7 p.62
R.M. Mottola
▪ A tight-fisted and humorous look at buying select tools, wood, and strings without draining your bank account. With 4 photos and a drawing.
2003
AL#74 p.58
Harry Fleishman
▪ Long-time AL contributor Fleishman takes to task contributing editor John Calkin for being a closed minded so-and-so, referring to statements made in Calkin’s “A Heretic’s Guide to Alternative Lutherie Woods” in AL#69. Fleishman’s plea for tolerance is well made.
2003
AL#74 p.61 BRB7 p.17 read this article
Alan Ollivant
▪ Quartersawing and drying six large maple rounds that are 45″ long and 3′ in diameter.
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.
2003
AL#73 p.65 BRB7 p.13
John Calkin
▪ Bending bubinga and other woods.
2003
AL#73 p.65 BRB7 p.27 read this article
Ted Megas
▪ Thin, small cracks on the ebony tailpiece of a new custom made archtop.
2003
AL#73 p.68 BRB7 p.486
David B. Hawley
▪ Building a guitar entirely out of toothpicks for $127.
2003
AL#73 p.46 BRB7 p.18
Steve Regimbal
▪ Take a quick look at three adventurous instruments by archtop builder Ted Berringer. They are a 12-string octave guitar, a 5-string mandolin, and a 6-string archtop made entirely of spruce. With 12 photos.
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#71 p.68 BRB6 p.248
Bob Woodcock
▪ Spalted wood toxicity.
2001
AL#68 p.69 BRB6 p.205
Ervin Somogyi
▪ The differences in the characteristics of the top woods European spruce, Sitka spruce, Engelmann spruce, and western red cedar.
2002
AL#69 p.5
Erik Stenn
▪ Erik reports on small-scale efforts to replant Brazilian rosewood.
2002
AL#69 p.13 BRB6 p.288
John Calkin
▪ This is an examination of 17 varieties of wood not usually associated with guitars, their bending characteristics, and how they look. Calkin’s opinions about tonewood have proven to be pretty controversial, but this article may help if you are tired of the same old look on your instruments. With 19 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.
2002
AL#69 p.46
Ervin Somogyi
▪ The wry Somogyi presents some little-known information that may not improve your work but will nicely occupy your mind as you carve a neck for the 50th time, or whatever. The meaning of many words has drifted so far from the roots of those words that, in the strictest sense, we no longer know what we are talking about, even though we continue to communicate very nicely. Mostly. A fun piece.
2002
AL#69 p.64 BRB6 p.248
Mike Collins
▪ Potentially deadly mold in spalted maple wood.
2001
AL#67 p.54
Cyndy Burton
▪ This is a list of where to buy wood (tone or otherwise) and inlay materials.
2000
AL#64 p.6 BRB6 p.118
Jeffrey R. Elliott Greg Byers Eugene Clark Gary Southwell
▪ Four note-worthy builders of the classical guitar talk about their influences, their building philosophies, and some of the their construction techniques in a panel discussion that should inspire anyone interested in the instrument. With 26 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.
2000
AL#64 p.50 BRB6 p.156
Nathan Stinnette
▪ Stinnette is the Huss & Dalton Guitar Co. employee in charge of converting split red spruce trees into billets of brace wood, and then into guitar braces. The article describes how the rough chunks of wood are converted into quarter-sawn boards and then how the boards are made into braces. With 15 photos.
2000
AL#62 p.64 BRB6 p.11
Dave Maize
▪ Building demolition, street trees, blowdowns, flooding, and naturally killed trees as sources for recycled/reclaimed woods.
1999
AL#60 p.19 BRB5 p.417
Ervin Somogyi
▪ How important is the grain orientation of your braces? Is quartersawn wood really the stiffest? Somogyi ran a small series of tests that suggest that information we all trust and take for granted may be little more than lutherie mythology. With 3 photos and a chart.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1999
AL#60 p.49
Bruce Harvie
▪ Origins of maples which exhibit the bird’s eye figure when slab cut, as seen in several Torres extant guitars.
1999
AL#60 p.52
Cyndy Burton
▪ This column updates several source lists that have appeared in past issues. If you need it to build instruments, you should find a supplier here.
1999
AL#57 p.24 BRB5 p.262
Jay Hargreaves
▪ In this installment the top plate is carved and braced. Ribbecke roughs out the plates in a unique vacuum cage that goes a long way toward keeping his shop clean. The chainsaw wheel he attaches to his grinder gives this series its name, and speeds the carving process dramatically. Tuning the top isn’t completed until the guitar is assembled in the next segment. Part 1 was in AL#56. Includes 20 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1999
AL#57 p.32 BRB5 p.310
David Hurd
▪ Uke maker Hurd was once a research scientist, and intuitive instrument construction is not his bag. Using his formula luthiers can compare known wood species with unknowns and learn what to expect of the new ones. He also offers some top dimensions for instruments of the ukulele family. With 5 charts and much math.
1999
AL#57 p.48 BRB5 p.322
Don Musser
▪ Musser supplies wood to the trade, and his notions about grain runout may surprise you. Wood from split billets doesn’t guarantee a minimum of runout unless the billet itself has absolutely no runout. Does it matter? Musser thinks so. With 4 photos.
1999
AL#57 p.62 BRB5 p.479 read this article
Nicholas Von Robison
▪ The reviewer finds that this technical tome about how wood vibrates may have a lot of value to any luthier who wants to work out the math, but that its high price will make it unavailable to most.
1998
AL#56 p.16 BRB5 p.256
Cyndy Burton Linda Manzer
▪ Through her artistic merit, dogged determination, and sheer grit, Manzer has risen to the top ranks of her profession. This interview covers her background and training, work ethic, favorite woods, and other lutherie intimacies. With 10 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1998
AL#56 p.36 BRB5 p.262
Jay Hargreaves
▪ Ribbecke is a renowned maker of archtop guitars. He also opens his shop periodically to small classes that wish to learn his formula for successful and graceful guitars. Hargreaves attended one such week-long session and brought back the straight skinny for American Lutherie readers. Part 1 details the construction of a laminated maple neck and associated details. Part 2 follows in AL#57. With 29 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1998
AL#56 p.44 BRB5 p.285
John Calkin David Hurd
▪ David Hurd’s classical guitar drew accolades at the ’98 convention’s listening session, but he’s better known for his ukes and his info-jammed ukulele website. He’s also had the opportunity to build instruments from species of Hawaiian wood that most of us have never even heard of. Life is different in Hawaii. Still. With 3 photos.
1998
AL#55 p.63 BRB5 p.477
Nicholas Von Robison
▪ The reviewer finds this collection of magazine articles will furnish new information to woodworkers of all experience levels. It should also encourage many to harvest their own wood supply and show them how to make it into a material worthy of their best work.
1998
AL#56 p.4
Tim O’Dea
▪ Australian O’Dea gives an enthusiastic description of Australian blackwood and its use in lutherie Down Under. The wood is similar to koa, to which it is related. With 1 photo of 2 finished acoustic guitars.
1998
AL#53 p.62
Cyndy Burton
▪ Ms. Burton has rounded up almost two pages of wood suppliers. If you can’t find it here you may have to go cut it yourself.
1997
AL#51 p.58 BRB5 p.440
Harry Fleishman
▪ The Guild’s tool buster tames two new offerings and enjoys the ride. The first is a knife for opening cracks in guitar tops. The other is jig that thins and shapes the splints to be put into the slots cut by the knife. Along the way he examines the catalog of Luthiers Mercantile International.
1997
AL#52 p.28 BRB5 p.152
Guy Rabut
▪ To non-fiddle people all violins look about the same. To the initiated, however, they are vastly different. Besides offering a thorough description of his scroll carving techniques, Rabut gives us a glimpse into the world of the violin in-crowd where an appreciation for subtlety is the stock-in-trade. Guy is a high-profile maker who has had the opportunity to examine many world-class violins. With 52 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.
1997
AL#51 p.24 BRB5 p.84
Don Musser
▪ Musser offers a peek at varieties of top wood you may never have considered, and finds them promising. The varieties are white fir, sub-alpine fir, Colorado blue spruce, and one that may be a hybrid. Includes four photos of sectioned logs.
1997
AL#49 p.44 BRB5 p.30
Nicholas Von Robison
▪ Robison describes wood identification as an adventure. You’ll need some reference books and a microscope, and a computer wouldn’t hurt. Ever see an instrument trimmed in smokewood? How do you know, Sherlock? Without a little scientific trickery your guess could be wrong either way. Get with the program. With 6 photomicrographs of softwoods.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1997
LW p.10 read this article
Nicholas Von Robison
▪ Range descriptions, scientific nomenclature, wood description, and uses in lutherie.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1997
LW p.22
David Hill
▪
1997
LW p.23 read this article
Nicholas Von Robison
▪ Where to look for objective information about trees and wood.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1997
LW p.39
Jim Williams
▪ If guitars had been invented in Australia, we’d be struggling to get Sitka to sound like celery top pine.
1997
LW p.103
Harry Fleishman
▪ Perhaps Harry didn’t invent the guitar top made from two varieties of wood, but he has certainly made it a trademark of his instruments. The text explains the why of it, and the single photo offers a peek at one of Fleishman’s unique designs.
1997
LW p.132
Staff
▪ Where to buy your wood and tools.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1997
LW p.2 read this article
Nicholas Von Robison
▪ Common tree names will usually get you by, but there’s nothing like knowing a few scientific names.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1997
LW p.5 read this article
Nicholas Von Robison
▪ Terminology of lumber biz.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1996
AL#47 p.20 BRB4 p.350
Carol Ventura
▪ When these Guatemalans decide to build an instrument they begin by hacking a tree out of the jungle. Read this and you may never bad-mouth your suppliers or instruction books again. With 32 step-by-step photos of the birth of a guitarria.
1996
AL#46 p.3 BRB4 p.263
Ronald Louis Fernandez
▪ More information about South American instruments and tonewoods (and toneshells from armadillos). This refers to Suran’s article in AL#45.
1996
AL#46 p.6 BRB4 p.298
Bill Collings Ren Ferguson Richard Hoover Jean Larrivee Bob Taylor
▪ Steel string company honchos Bill Collings, Ren Ferguson, Richard Hoover, Jean Larrivee, and Bob Taylor discuss the development of their guitars, current production techniques, tonewood, amplification, and the immediate future of the instrument. From the 1995 convention panel discussion moderated by Joseph R. Johnson.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1996
AL#46 p.38 BRB4 p.312
Cyndy Burton Todd Taggart
▪ The driving force behind Luthiers Mercantile International talks about building a business, supplying an industry, and helping to make a guitar town out of Healdsburg, California.
1996
AL#46 p.47 BRB4 p.330
Carl Kaufmann Laurie Williams Nicholas Emery
▪ New Zealanders Laurie Williams and Nicholas Emery build innovative instruments for the homelanders, though export may be in their futures. They have access to wood varieties that most of us have never even heard of.
1996
AL#46 p.54
Cyndy Burton
▪ A new column is born, kicking off with 2 pages of places to buy tonewood.
1996
AL#45 p.4 BRB4 p.258
Debbie Suran
▪ On the trail of S. American luthiers, strange instruments, and unusual wood varieties, in a land where travel is difficult but the people are friendly. Ask your tonewood supplier to start stocking armadillo shells. With 24 photos.
1995
AL#44 p.17 BRB4 p.236
David Hill Michael Gurian
▪ Gurian knows much more than he tells in this interview, but it’s good to know he’s still actively part of the guitar scene. He has worked alone, started an informal school of guitarmaking through the apprentices he has trained, owned guitar factories, invented tools, and is currently a supplier of parts and accessories.
1995
AL#43 p.18 BRB4 p.198
Nicholas Von Robison
▪ Both of these woods have recently become available as body wood for stringed instruments. Robison offers a technical look at two beautiful woods, and tries to predict their futures.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1995
AL#42 p.22 BRB4 p.184
Keith Hill
▪ A maker of classical guitars harvests some strange local trees to try out as instruments.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1995
AL#42 p.48 BRB4 p.194
Cyndy Burton Des Anthony
▪ An Australian guitarmaker talks about Australian wood, his instruments, and the Australian vacation system.
1995
AL#41 p.38 BRB4 p.152
Nicholas Von Robison Lara Espley
▪ Espley is a Canadian maker of wonderfully distinctive instruments. Here she talks about her favorite woods (purpleheart, koa), her training, and the gender gap.
1995
AL#41 p.50 BRB4 p.22
James Holst
▪ 3M’s gold free-cut A-weight open coat has no stearates or additives and lasts a very long time.
1994
AL#40 p.40 BRB4 p.112
C.F. Casey
▪ Casey devised his own methods of testing fingerboard woods for strength and abrasion resistance. His results will probably surprise you.
1994
AL#40 p.38 BRB4 p.114
Jonathon Peterson Jim Roden
▪ Roden is a dulcimer maker and a forester, so he understands that we need to preserve forests and we need to cut them, too. He freely addresses both sides of the coin.
1994
AL#39 p.46 BRB4 p.458
Nicholas Von Robison
▪ The reviewer finds the book to be accurate and that the authors and editor did their best to escape the dry, technical aspects of wood science.
1994
AL#39 p.51 BRB4 p.463
Marc Worsfold
▪ This book only concerns itself with wood varieties that grow large enough to harvest for lumber. In that light, the reviewer finds it to be an “excellent, well-researched book that gives a different view of New Zealand resources other than sheep.”
1994
AL#38 p.58
Larry Trumble
▪ Trumble forecasts the future for one of lutherie’s staple woods.
1994
AL#38 p.59
Jeff Anning Graham Johnson Ake Bjornstad Cyndy Burton
▪ Sources of spruce, redwood, and cedar in Canada.
1994
AL#39 p.18 BRB4 p.65
Jonathon Peterson Eric Myer
▪ Meyer’s current gig is the manufacture of violin fittings. He describes his peg making process in detail.
1994
AL#38 p.40 BRB4 p.44
Bart Potter
▪ Harvesting wood in Hawaii, conserving it for the future, and looking at koa’s working properties.
1994
AL#38 p.48 BRB4 p.59
John Calkin
▪ How to make hardshell, vinyl-covered, fur-lined cases for instruments that won’t fit into a stock case.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1994
AL#37 p.40 read this article
Elon Howe
▪ Another luthier turns woodcutter using a Wood Mizer portable bandsaw, and maple isn’t the half of it. With 4 photos and a diagram for sawing logs into “bastard cut” mandolin wood.
1994
AL#37 p.42 read this article
Nicholas Von Robison
▪ Local color and good humor are key ingredients of this peek at an independent-minded violinmaker. Arizona rosewood? Manzinita tuning pegs?
1993
AL#36 p.50 BRB3 p.420 read this article
Nicholas Von Robison Debbie Suran
▪ Two luthiers examine an alternative wood and find that their samples do not match each other, and that their research texts don’t match descriptions, either. Two chunks of wood point to a common problem for those who are driven to be different.
1994
AL#37 p.5
R.E. Brune
▪ If you attempt to move across international borders any artifact containing wood from a CITES tree (which includes Brazilian rosewood) you may risk confiscation if first you don’t fill out the right forms and pay the proper fees. It’s a slow and expensive process, and Brune’s forecast for the future is even scarier.
1993
AL#35 p.24 BRB3 p.370
Nicholas Von Robison Tom Ribbecke
▪ As an adviser to the trade, a builder of high quality guitars, and teacher, Ribbecke has had a strong influence on the work of many luthiers. This interview sketches his beginnings in lutherie.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1993
AL#35 p.26 BRB3 p.372 read this article
Tom Ribbecke
▪ Ribbecke gathered information from across the country for this talk, an introduction to the woods that may eventually—like it or not—change the look of the instruments we make and play.
1993
AL#35 p.30 BRB3 p.376 read this article
Nicholas Von Robison
▪ Alternative Lutherie Woods List.
1993
AL#34 p.5
Nicholas Von Robison
▪ Any artifact containing wood from a CITES tree might be impounded at any international border. This list may help you if you travel or do import/export.
1993
AL#33 p.59 BRB3 p.475 read this article
Byron Will
▪ Strong winter grain in spruce and cedar.
1993
AL#33 p.6 BRB3 p.272
Cyndy Burton Roberto Gomes
▪ A Brazilian guitar maker comments upon his situation in Brazil and his first trip to America as a luthier.
1993
AL#33 p.9 BRB3 p.275 read this article
Roberto Gomes
▪ Straight from the horse’s mouth—a Brazilian guitar maker talks about Brazilian tonewood. Ever wonder what a living rosewood tree looks like? Well, wonder no more. With 6 photos and a range map.
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.22 BRB3 p.173 read this article
John Boser
▪ Gathering one’s own tonewood can be a tiresome pursuit. Boser takes a humorous look at one of his futile expeditions.
1993
AL#33 p.24 BRB3 p.288
Steve McMinn
▪ The head honcho of a new designer tonewood company describes his operation. With 4 photos.
1993
AL#33 p.26 BRB3 p.290
Jeffrey R. Elliott
▪ How does one hack a log that’s 11′ wide into 4000 guitar tops? Very carefully! With 9 photos detailing the decimation of Moby Spruce. By the way, this is a log that Steve McMinn rescued from the pulp mill.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1993
AL#33 p.39 BRB3 p.309 read this article
Harold Turner
▪ Turner thinks you might like to try white pine as a tonewood. But you’ll have to harvest it yourself. Here are some suggestions about how to go about it.
1993
AL#33 p.40 BRB3 p.298 read this article
John Curtis
▪ Curtis is a wood dealer and a founder of WARP (Woodworkers Alliance for Rainforest Protection). Here he examines international law, species extinction, conservation, and local economies in the Third World. Oh yeah, and the American luthier’s place in this scheme.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1992
AL#32 p.67 BRB3 p.489
David Freeman
▪ Effective method for stickering wood for storage.
1992
AL#32 p.16 BRB3 p.250 ALA5 p.10
R.E. Brune H.E. Huttig
▪ Huttig began importing guitar parts and European tonewood in the 1950s, and was a hard-core enthusiast of the classical guitar even before that. As a businessman and a friend to musicians and luthiers his life had far-reaching fallout. Mentions Barbero, Bobri, Hauser II, Hernandez, Romanillos, Ramirez, Esteso, and so on.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1992
AL#31 p.18 BRB3 p.226 read this article
Ted Davis Bruce Harvie Steve McMinn Byron Will David Wilson
▪ As the large stands of old growth timber are harvested it is likely that quality tonewoods will come more and more from men who can take the time to harvest and pack out individual trees. Who are they, how do they work, and what’s their prognosis for the future? The discussion also introduces species that you probably never considered for top wood until now. With photos and range maps.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1992
AL#31 p.23 BRB3 p.231 read this article
Nicholas Von Robison
▪ Whadija call that tree? An introduction to Latin pronunciations.
1992
AL#31 p.27 BRB3 p.235 read this article
Nicholas Von Robison
▪ Those Latin tongue twisters actually mean something. Scholars actually find joy and amusement in many of the scientific names. You might, too.
1992
AL#30 p.10 BRB3 p.200 ALA4 p.24
Paul Hostetter Maurice Dupont
▪ Meet a French guitar maker whose specialty is the recreation of Selmer guitars. Dupont even mills his own spruce. He is one of the more accessible foreign luthiers, and his guitars are available in the States. Mentions Maccaferri, Django Reinhardt.
1992
AL#29 p.58 BRB3 p.467 read this article
Cyndy Burton
▪ Seldom does a new catalog cause so much excitement. The reviewer especially likes it for bedtime reading.
1992
AL#29 p.58 BRB3 p.467 read this article
Nicholas Von Robison
▪ The reviewer decides this book isn’t perfect for the DIY wood analyzer, but it will do, especially since it’s the only game in town.
1992
AL#30 p.4
R.E. Brune
▪ CITES restrictions on Brazilian rosewood include a ban on the import/export of objects that contain that wood. There are exceptions, however. Brune gives us the lowdown on the original agreement.
1992
AL#29 p.38 BRB3 p.174
Gayle Miller Ken Sribnick
▪ Visit a water-powered French sawmill that supplies tonewood to 350 luthiers. With 7 photos. Mentions George Miller.
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#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.
1991
AL#26 p.5 BRB3 p.42
Todd Brotherton Myles Gilmer
▪ Gilmer buys wood from all over the globe and sells it to a number of special interests in the woodworking field. He’s been around, he’s concerned about the forests and ethical harvesting, and he’s articulate. Without the Gilmers of America there would be very few independent professional instrument makers.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
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.
1991
AL#26 p.33 BRB3 p.53
Lynn Ellsworth Ken Warmoth Jay Hargreaves
▪ Hargreaves interviews two giants of the Strat compatible parts industry.
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.
1990
AL#24 p.60 BRB2 p.504
Nicholas Von Robison
▪
1990
AL#24 p.60 BRB2 p.504
Nicholas Von Robison
▪
1990
AL#24 p.60 BRB2 p.504
Nicholas Von Robison
▪
1990
AL#24 p.60 BRB2 p.504
Nicholas Von Robison
▪
1990
AL#24 p.60 BRB2 p.504
Nicholas Von Robison
▪
1990
AL#24 p.60 BRB2 p.504
Nicholas Von Robison
▪
1990
AL#24 p.60 BRB2 p.504
Nicholas Von Robison
▪
1990
AL#24 p.60 BRB2 p.504
Nicholas Von Robison
▪
1990
AL#24 p.60 BRB2 p.504
Nicholas Von Robison
▪
1990
AL#24 p.60 BRB2 p.504
Nicholas Von Robison
▪
1990
AL#24 p.60 BRB2 p.504
Nicholas Von Robison
▪
1990
AL#23 p.60 BRB2 p.484
Elon Howe Harold Turner
▪ Some good uses of Cherry wood, or poor man’s mahogany.
1990
AL#24 p.13 BRB2 p.446
Steve Banchero Janet Toon
▪ A collection of violin and cello makers harvests spruce in the national forest.
1990
AL#24 p.16 BRB2 p.470
Dana Bourgeois
▪ This is perhaps the strongest article ever published in American Lutherie about voicing the top and bracing of the steel string guitar. The fallout from this piece has been very wide spread.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.
1990
AL#24 p.19 BRB2 p.476
Gila Eban Dana Bourgeois
▪ Dana discusses his favorite top woods and how they compare.
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.
1990
AL#24 p.38 BRB2 p.460
Bob Gleason
▪ A Hawaiian guitar maker passes on some of his tricks for the successful use of an indigenous wood. With 4 photos of his sidebending procedure.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1990
AL#24 p.56 BRB2 p.469
John Calkin
▪ Calkin encourages the use of alternative tonewoods. He offers advice about choosing cherry boards and methods of finishing cherry instruments that he has found attractive.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1990
AL#23 p.24 BRB2 p.414
Roberto Blinder Jose Yacopi
▪ Blinder interviews an Argentine instrument maker about his career, his guitars, wood, and strings. With 4 photos.
1990
AL#22 p.28 BRB2 p.384
Rion Dudley
▪ Dudley adds a 1/10″ layer of spruce between the instrument top and the bridge plate of a 12-string guitar, and under the bridge of a flattop mandolin. He likes the results, but is uncertain what the operation actually does to the performance of the top.
1990
AL#21 p.56
Nicholas Von Robison
▪ Robison is concerned about the plight of the world’s tropical forests, but pleads that a boycott of rain forest wood will backfire on the would-be conservationists.
1989
AL#20 p.6
Ron Lira
▪ The “poplar” used in Danelectro necks is really the wood of the tulip tree. It’s not a proper poplar, but it is what they call “poplar” at the hardware store.
1989
AL#18 p.57 BRB2 p.481
Myles Gilmer
▪ Getting rid of blue streaks caused by fungus, which if removed early enough, will leave no permanent damage or discoloration.
1989
AL#18 p.57 BRB2 p.481
Jeffrey R. Elliott
▪ Kiln drying spruce gives an unnatural rigidity and consequently limits its life as to be to function effectively.
1989
AL#19 p.40 BRB2 p.294
Jonathon Peterson Frank “Andy” Johnson
▪ Johnson is a banjo restorationist and tonewood supplier from Washington State. He specializes in selling spruce to the major piano manufacturers.
1989
AL#19 p.46 BRB2 p.302
Todd Taggart
▪ Taggart’s prognosis for the future of traditional tonewoods is gloomy, but his experiences with controlled wood harvesting in South America shine a ray of hope on the situation. He also mentions solar box cookers, which can substitute for firewood in many third world countries where firewood is the chief use of timber. Taggart emphasizes conservation rather than alternative woods.
1989
AL#18 p.6 BRB2 p.210
Bruce Harvie Casey Wood
▪ This is a Q&A session from the S. Dakota convention. The answer folks not only harvest and sell a wide variety of “designer” tonewoods, they are well up on alternative woods for lutherie. Very informative, and fun.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1989
AL#18 p.42 BRB2 p.238
Jonathon Peterson Wes Brandt
▪ Peterson offers a short interview with a luthier who makes small-bodied steel string guitars from alternative woods.
1989
AL#17 p.46 BRB2 p.208
Brett Borton
▪ Have you ever seen a mandolin with an intentional crease or sharp bend to the top behind the bridge? That’s a cranked top. Borton describes how to add a cranked top to the steel string guitar, though he’s not too specific about why we should try it.
1988
AL#16 p.33 read this article
Nicholas Von Robison Perry Thomas
▪ Only 6% of the rain forest harvest is exported, only 20% is used for timber, and 80% of the trees cut are burned. Pollution may ultimately represent as much of a threat as the chain saw. This article tries to get a handle on the situation.
1988
AL#14 p.46 BRB2 p.66
Ervin Somogyi
▪ Somogyi saves a stash of warped rosewood guitar sets by clamping them between aluminum plates and heating them with a clothes iron.
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.
1988
AL#14 p.59
Richard Jordan
▪ Jordan used spruce of different stiffness to brace three nearly identical classical guitars, and found the differences to be dramatic. His stiffness test was especially easy to run.
1988
AL#13 p.44 BRB2 p.24
George Manno
▪ Manno points out there is a difference between wood that is dry and dry wood that is well seasoned, and offers a test for both. He maintains that only dry, well-seasoned wood is worth using.
1988
AL#14 p.17 BRB2 p.37
Dana Bourgeois
▪ Where did Martin buy their spruce from year to year during their vintage days? Bourgeois discovered that there is no way to know, and that guitar experts are forced to guess.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
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.
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.
1987
AL#12 p.22 BRB1 p.454 ALA3 p.4
Joseph Bacon Jeffrey R. Elliott
▪ A lengthy interview with the well-known maker of classical guitars covers such subjects as training, wood seasoning and supply, finishes, and boomerangs. Cyndy Burton participates. Mentions Hauser Sr., Michael Kasha, Richard Schneider, Ralph Towner, and Julian Bream. With 4 photos.
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.
1987
AL#11 p.22 BRB1 p.428 read this article
Gulab Gidwani
▪ A well-known importer and dealer of tonewoods relates some of the difficulties of doing business with third-world nations, such as getting a sawyer of railroad ties to cut fretboards.
1987
AL#11 p.24 BRB1 p.432
Dave Schneider
▪ Don’t take that repair job without this article! One question remains unanswered: why does sanding the finish of a sitar release such a strong smell of tobacco?
1987
AL#11 p.32 BRB1 p.474
Max Krimmel Jean Larrivee Bruce Ross Ervin Somogyi Robert Steinegger
▪ Such panel discussions are always interesting, but this one especially so, mostly because three of the five panelists run one-man shops. The questions (and even many answers) don’t seem to change much from year to year, but it’s good to hear from some smaller voices in the industry for a change.
1987
AL#11 p.51 BRB1 p.501 read this article
Ernest Nussbaum
▪
1987
AL#10 p.53 BRB1 p.412 read this article
John Curtis
▪ A wood merchant relates the difficulties of getting lumber out of the jungle, and why the rain forest isn’t being replanted.
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.
1987
AL#11 p.7 BRB1 p.429
Michael Parsons
▪ Parsons relates his history of building instruments from salvaged wood.
1987
AL#9 p.46 BRB1 p.338 read this article
John Jordan
▪ Jordan catalogs and describes nine rosewoods from Africa, and nine false rosewoods. Some max out too small for instruments but are of interest to wood collectors. Others should interest the open-minded luthier.
1987
AL#10 p.5 BRB1 p.467
Richard Ennis
▪ Ennis’ letter describes a flattop bass guitar he recently completed, accompanied by 2 photos.
1987
AL#10 p.30 BRB1 p.382 read this article
Nasser Shirazi
▪ The tar (or Persian banjo) is a classical Iranian instrument, the body of which is carved from a mulberry log and covered in lambskin. The neck traditionally incorporates rams horn and camel bone. Exotic, fascinating, wonderfully politically incorrect. Some alternate materials are listed for those who can’t wait for their camel to die. With 6 photos, 2 sketches, and a scaled down version of GAL Plan #14.
1987
AL#10 p.32 BRB1 p.385
Nasser Shirazi
▪ A full-scale instrument plan. See the GAL website for a low-rez preview.
1987
AL#9 p.45 BRB1 p.482 read this article
George Manno
▪ The GAL’s resident violin expert of the time answers questions about cleaning violins, top reinstallation, domestic tool sources, domestic wood, and treating potassium silicate (a wood sealer) with tea to keep it from staining spruce green.
1986
AL#8 p.18 BRB1 p.274 ALA3 p.8
Jeffrey R. Elliott
▪ This lecture transcription presents a chronological overview of the work of Hermann Hauser Sr. 26 photos and 3 drawings complete the article. A major investigation of some important guitars.
1987
AL#9 p.6 BRB1 p.304 read this article
Paul Schuback
▪ In this fascinating lecture from the 1986 GAL convention Schuback speaks of his apprenticeship to a French violin maker in 1962, then goes on to offer details about instrument construction, wood, and a Q&A session.
1986
AL#8 p.16
William Conrad
▪ Conrad finds that spruce tops can be graded for density by the color of the light that shines through them, and uses a camera light meter to calibrate them.
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.
1986
AL#7 p.21 BRB1 p.248
Nicholas Von Robison Ed Arnold
▪ Robison interviews Arnold about harvesting wood in Mexico and dealing it in America.
1986
AL#7 p.26 BRB1 p.250 read this article
Paul Wyszkowski
▪ Wyszkowski describes his visit to H. L. Wild and provides some background information about the legendary tonewood dealer.
1986
AL#7 p.27 BRB1 p.252
Richard Bingham
▪ Bingham provides a brief anecdote about making a guitar from a “found” guitar kit from H. L. Wild.
1986
AL#7 p.28 BRB1 p.251
Steve Curtin
▪ Curtin shares his impressions of his first visit to H. L. Wild.
1986
AL#7 p.45 read this article
Nicholas Von Robison
▪ Things look bleaker for the world’s forests.
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.
1986
AL#5 p.10 BRB1 p.150
Ted Davis William DelPilar
▪ Davis offers his conversation with a professional luthier who made over 800 classical guitars between 1956 and 1986.
1986
AL#5 p.26 BRB1 p.172
Ervin Somogyi
▪ Somogyi describes his adventure of buying guitar tops in Germany, and the extent to which bowed instruments dominate the German market.
1986
AL#5 p.27 BRB1 p.176
Ervin Somogyi
▪ Somogyi uses personal experience to compare Sitka and European spruces.