2025
AL#155 p.6               
Samuel Barnes   Thomas Beltran                                                                                       

▪ Are you like me? (That is to say, a self-starting kid who managed to cobble together a working guitar in the 1960s)? If so, you’ll understand the journey of Tom Beltran, another of our tribe of pioneers. Or if you have not yet started receiving Social Security checks, you may be amazed at the perseverance he showed, battling through the pre-GAL wilderness to become a successful and respected maker of classical guitars. Either way, you’ll be touched by his story of kind strangers and generous mentors. Touched, but not surprised, because that’s the story of the American Lutherie Boom, which is a wonderful, significant, and righteous thing. We all built it together. Thanks, everybody. Mentions David Russell Young, Paul Estenson, Irving Sloane, Arthur Overholtzer, Jose Romanillos, Bob Mattingly, Lloyd Baggs, John Carruthers, Frederick Noad, Greg Brandt, Max Krimmel, Richard Schneider, Michael Kasha, Vicente Gomez, Christopher Parkening.