1999
AL#60 p.49 read this article
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.50 BRB5 p.505
Stan Tucker
▪ A fixture to cut fret slots using an older 9″ DeWalt radial-arm saw to measure and cut accurate fret slots for odd scale lengths.
1999
AL#60 p.51 BRB5 p.503
Peter Giolitto
▪ How the dished form described in AL#58 is used to fit the backs of guitars.
1999
AL#60 p.51 BRB5 p.504
Scott van-Linge
▪ A photo of a modification to the Bishop Cochran plunge-router base.
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#58 p.61
Don Overstreet
▪ Info on upright bass repair in book or video form.
1999
AL#58 p.61 read this article
Henry Strobel
▪ Full sized violin molds.
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.
1999
AL#59 p.18 BRB5 p.386
David Melly Steve Kauffman
▪ Kauffman had been a luthier for sometime before he apprenticed to Steve Klein. Today he builds Klein acoustics in his own shop as well as his personal line of guitars. He’s a thoughtful and thought-provoking man, and you’ll be glad you met him. With 6 photos.
1999
AL#59 p.22 BRB5 p.332
Jonathon Peterson George Majkowski Boaz Elkayam
▪ George Majkowski and Boaz Elkayam complete their work on 10 Kasha guitars to honor the memory of Richard Schneider and to keep his work alive. The hand tools involved, the strange method of fretting, and the cool vacuum clamps, as well as the design philosophy behind the guitars, make this a pair of articles not to be missed. The Old World meets the future here and they blend very nicely. With 58 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1999
AL#59 p.36 BRB5 p.390
Merv Rowley
▪ Rowley may have been the first to use metal rod for frets rather than fret wire, a technique often attributed to Richard Schneider. He has built dulcimers for many years and has been something of an innovator. Here he examines the chromatic, rather than the diatonic dulcimer, and decides that perhaps it’s time has come and how to make it most acceptable to those who already play the conventionally fretted instrument. With a photo and two charts.
1999
AL#59 p.39 BRB5 p.402
Gordon Gray Grit Laskin
▪ Laskin is a well-known maker of masterful guitars and a groundbreaking artist in inlay concept and design. He’s also a novelist and a recording artist. If the 9 photos of his guitars and inlay work don’t inspire you, you’re certainly from an old school of lutherie.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1999
AL#59 p.46 BRB5 p.396
Jeff Huss Mark Dalton
▪ Hand carved and compensated bone saddles are a mark of finesse. Fine work is all about the details, and Huss and Dalton discuss a detail that is often overlooked but easy to make. With 8 photos.
1999
AL#59 p.50 BRB5 p.392
Jonathon Peterson
▪ Rhinehart has built Dobro-style guitars for years, and was among the first to furnish custom resonator cones to the industry. Includes a new plan format, a one-page diagram of a square neck guitar with a chart of dimensions. Different methods of seating the cone are discussed, and 8 photos show some of the details of Rhinehart’s work.
1999
AL#59 p.56 BRB5 p.452
Fred Carlson
▪ Carlson checks out Iboney, a specially treated cow bone used for nuts and saddles. Also in this column is an examination of 3 Stew-Mac tools, a fingerboard and bridge heating iron, a purfling cutter attachment for the Dremel MultiPro, and a binding cutter for the Stew-Mac version of the MultiPro router base. Fred likes the Iboney, and decides that both Stew-Mac Dremel attachments are better made than the Dremels themselves. The heating iron passes inspection, too, but the GAL Tool Guy feels a bit luke-warm about it.
1999
AL#59 p.59
Eric Aceto
▪ Inquiries on switching to water based lacquer after developing an allergy to low toxic lacquer, Crystalac in particular.
1999
AL#59 p.59 read this article
Jeffrey-R. Elliott
▪ Is it safe to use African wenge to make classical guitar bridges?
1999
AL#59 p.60 read this article
Ken Altman
▪ French bowmaking planes very much like the ones used by Stephan Thomachot, who gives bowmaking workshops at Oberlin College.
1999
AL#59 p.61 BRB5 p.502
Michael Breid
▪ A custom bow-tip-gluing jig built out of necessity.
1999
AL#59 p.61 BRB5 p.500
Gene Simpson
▪ A cardboard tube sliced up for use as radiused pads.
1999
AL#59 p.62 BRB5 p.482 read this article
Linda Manzer
▪ The reviewer finds this book about the life and work of John D’Angelico and James D’Aquisto “is a wonderful and carefully prepared book,” though perhaps not free of errors.
1999
AL#59 p.63 BRB5 p.478 read this article
John Calkin
▪ Robinson not only continues to widen the scope of instrument inlay, he invites others to come along and shows them how to do it. The reviewer is very enthusiastic about this video tape.
1999
AL#59 p.63 BRB5 p.483 read this article
David Hurd
▪ The reviewer finds that the expense and daunting technical nature of this two-volume set should not prevent individuals from acquiring them and wading in. He admonishes that one never knows what will come out of such reading, but that nothing will come of it if it isn’t attempted.
1999
AL#59 p.65 BRB5 p.484 read this article
John Calkin
▪ The reviewer likes this instruction video that is ultimately intended to sell product, and finds that the instruction far outweighs the salesmanship angle of this Stew-Mac tape.
1999
AL#60 p.4
R.E. Brune
▪ Brune’s letter gives us an update of the Spanish flamenco scene as he found it during a visit to Spain in May of 1999. With 3 photos.
1999
AL#58 p.16 BRB5 p.358
John Calkin Bonnie Carol
▪ Bonnie Carol has been a mainstay on the dulcimer scene for three decades. She is alive and well in Colorado, still building and performing. With 9 photos of her shop, instruments, and construction process. Mentions Max Krimmel.
1999
AL#58 p.20 BRB5 p.332
Jonathon Peterson George Majkowski Boaz Elkayam
▪ Boaz Elkayam and George Majkowski extend the work of Michael Kasha and Richard Schneider in a project that entails the construction of 10 guitars. A wide variety of building techniques involving hand and power tools, as well as vacuum clamping, is necessary to make these complicated instruments. An unlikely pairing of craftsmen contributes to our understanding of one of the most controversial instrument designers of our times, and the memory of a respected luthier and teacher. With 26 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1999
AL#58 p.32 BRB5 p.362
Graham Caldersmith
▪ Everyone knows that the most responsive instruments often teeter on the edge of self-destruction from string tension. Building fine-sounding instruments that will also have a reasonable lifespan is one of our general goals. Caldersmith takes a scientist’s view of the violin and decides that arching design is the key to longevity, while an understanding of free-plate tuning is needed to release the tonal qualities the luthier seeks. He furnishes 7 charts and diagrams to help make his case, as well as a photo of his Australian self. But what we all want to know is if a pursuit of science will eventually enhance our luthier’s intuition. Is it better to think or to feel? Do we really have to choose?
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1999
AL#58 p.38 BRB5 p.366
Cyndy Burton Gary Southwell
▪ Southwell makes gut-strung guitars that may be strange or more-or-less conventional, but always elegant, and he makes them for some high-profile patrons. His specialty is pre-classical or “salon” guitars. He’s an eloquent Englishman whom you’ll be happy to meet. With 6 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1999
AL#58 p.42 BRB5 p.355
Jon Sevy
▪ If first-year college math pushed your left-brain functions to the limit (been there, done that) you may cringe at the sight of the simplest equation. If so, check out this article. Modern luthiers build arcs into many of their instruments, and if you don’t know how to create them to lay out your own jigs you’ll be forever at the mercy of tool suppliers. Worse yet, when someone asks what the radius of your back plate is you can shrug your shoulders and look like an idiot. Let Sevy solve your problem. You can do it!
1999
AL#58 p.46 BRB5 p.370
Eric Fouilhe
▪ What affect does the tailpiece have on your latest fiddle? Bet you don’t even know! We’ll bet you haven’t even thought about it! The cello is the object of concern here, but is there a large difference? The cello tailpiece has evolved into an inelegant plastic lump, and Fouilhe maintains that it’s often a source of sonic foul play, sort of like a 200-pound jockey on a race horse. He makes his case with 3 photos and 2 drawings.
1999
AL#58 p.49
Ervin Somogyi
▪ Why do you lutherize? Really, why? Luthiers may be more inclined to look inward than others, but they’re no more inclined to talk about what they find there than anyone else. Somogyi’s eloquent confession might spark the rest of us into talking more deeply about our art and craft.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1999
AL#58 p.52 BRB5 p.449
Fred Carlson
▪ How would you like a video camera that can snoop inside your guitar? Carlson examines the Chapin Insight guitar inspection camera and finds that it’s loads of fun and probably very useful to a repairman who has the $350 to improve his inspection capabilities.
1999
AL#58 p.55 BRB5 p.480 read this article
Woody Vernice
▪ In 1984 the MIT museum sponsored an exhibition of banjos built predominantly in and around Boston. This book is sort of the catalog of that show, complete with two essays about the history of the banjo and the Bostonians who built the factories. The reviewer decides that if you like the open-back banjo you’ll enjoy this book.
1999
AL#58 p.55 BRB5 p.480 read this article
David Riggs
▪ The reviewer likes this book about building assorted folk and flea market instruments, though he doesn’t expect serious luthiers to have much use for it. Not unless they like to kick back with a tin can banjo, that is. A fun book for unserious moments.
1999
AL#58 p.56 BRB5 p.481 read this article
John Calkin
▪ The reviewer finds this set of three video tapes (about 6-hrs. worth) to be roughly made but perhaps invaluable to the learn-at-home crowd.
1999
AL#58 p.57 BRB5 p.481
Cyndy Burton
▪ Bream began when the classical guitar world was small, indeed. The reviewer finds this collection of letters about Bream’s early years to be small, expensive, and enjoyable.
1999
AL#58 p.58 BRB5 p.501
Andrea Andalo
▪ A simple device to hold guitars during the finishing phase which consists of an upright which can be held in a vise and a workboard which the neck can be secured.
1999
AL#58 p.58 BRB5 p.501
John Monteleone
▪ A good method for finding the height of mandolin family sides using a violin soundpost height gauge.
1999
AL#58 p.59 BRB5 p.502
Skip Helms
▪ A quick jig for cutting bridge slots and tie block inlays for use with a plunge router.
1999
AL#58 p.59 BRB5 p.503
Peter Giolitto
▪ An easy way to make dished forms using plaster to create the dished surface.
1999
AL#58 p.60 read this article
Peter Dyer
▪ Stainless steel and its rusting properties and the universal side bender.
1999
AL#58 p.60
Peter Dyer
▪ Universal side bender.
1999
AL#58 p.60
Lawrence Smart
▪ Information on the dovetail method for joining the instrument neck to body including calculating the degree of neck angle, dimensions of the dovetail cuts, procedures for making the cuts, and adjusting any improper fit.
1999
AL#58 p.60 BRB5 p.361
R.E. Brune
▪ Publications on identifying Ramirez guitars by serial number and more info on the 1988 model 1A.
1999
AL#57 p.11 BRB5 p.297
John Calkin
▪ Calkin was hired by Huss and Dalton to take over their guitar binding. His story includes a description of how to make wood binding, and covers the hand tools he uses during the binding procedure. With 6 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1999
AL#57 p.14 BRB5 p.302
Frank Ford Don MacRostie
▪ The authors believe that hot hide glue is the best adhesive for virtually all construction and most repair jobs. Here’s why they think so and how they handle this ancient material. Includes diagrams of the customized glue pots used by both men, 15 photos, and a hide glue grading chart.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.
1999
AL#57 p.22 BRB5 p.300
Cyndy Burton Joshia de-Jonge
▪ Joshia’s classical won high praise during the listening session at the GAL’s 1998 convention, quite an achievement for a 19-year-old woman. But then, just about every member of her family builds guitars. Her free-spirited optimism may be as much a product of her upbringing as her youth. With 3 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
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.40 BRB5 p.317
John Calkin
▪ Calkin builds a uniquely shaped travel guitar called the True Companion, and here explains its construction as well as the jigs he devised for production building. The plan is a mini-version of GAL Plan #44. With 14 photos, including one of the sternest luthier of the year. Ya’ll remember to smile when it’s your turn!
1999
AL#57 p.43 BRB5 p.321
John Calkin
▪ A full-scale instrument plan. See the GAL website for a low-rez preview.
1999
AL#57 p.46 BRB5 p.330
Kevin-B. Rielly
▪ By now we all know about using dished workboards to create a radius on flat instrument plates. Rielly’s board is easier to make than most, and can be adjusted for either the top or back radius. With 6 photos.
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.50 BRB5 p.324
Paul McGill
▪ McGill’s lutherie shop is in his basement, and keeping his house free of fumes and dust involved lots of planning and not a little money. Here’s how he did it. With 3 photos and a drawing.
1999
AL#57 p.53 BRB5 p.327
John Calkin Steve Kinnaird
▪ Kinnaird is a minister, luthier, blues guitarist, and all-around nice guy. You’ll be glad you met him. With 4 photos.
1999
AL#57 p.56 BRB5 p.458
Michael Darnton
▪ Good violins often come with a certificate of authenticity, but what does that mean? What are the legal ramifications of a certificate, and who writes them? Are they trustworthy? How does one gain the necessary expertise to write certificates? Cool stuff, even if you could care less about fiddles.
1999
AL#57 p.58 BRB5 p.436
Fred Carlson
▪ Carlson takes over the GAL test pilot seat for new tools. This time he flies the Turbo-carver, an ultra-speed carving tool similar to (but not as elaborate as) a dentist drill. Carlson likes the tool but can’t seem to find a lot of use for it in lutherie. And though the tool is fairly inexpensive, he also questions its lifespan.
1999
AL#57 p.61 BRB5 p.193
Bradley Bischoff
▪ A removable or reversible varnish mentioned by Joseph Grubaugh.
1999
AL#57 p.61
Jeffrey-R. Elliott
▪ An inconspicuous way to fix an exposed edge of a truss rod on the neck of a steel string.
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.
1999
AL#57 p.63 BRB5 p.480 read this article
John Calkin
▪ The reviewer finds that this book will guide any luthier through the construction of this instrument that is sort of a simple guitar from Yugoslavia.
1999
AL#57 p.64
Cyndy Burton
▪ If you’re looking for formal lutherie instruction in the UK, Canada, or US, this list of schools is your best place to start.
1999
AL#58 p.3
Gheorghiu Aristotel-Viorel
▪
1999
AL#58 p.6 BRB5 p.262
Jay Hargreaves
▪ The final installment in the series, parts 1 & 2 were in AL#56 and #57, respectively. In this segment the sides are bent, the body is assembled and bound, the neck is fitted to the body, and attention is given to tuning the plates. Special consideration is given to making the adjustable bridges as well as Tom’s elegant ebony/graphite tailpiece. With 36 photos and a drawing.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1998
AL#56 p.5
Brian Burns
▪ Burns is a member of the thriving Northern California Association of Luthiers, and he offers advice to others about how to start a successful lutherie organization.
1998
AL#56 p.6 BRB5 p.248
Lawrence Smart
▪ The demands of contemporary players has forced many changes in the mandolin family since the fabled Loar family of Gibsons was created in the 1920s. Smart has built mandolins, mandolas, and mandocellos to work together as an ensemble as well as separately, and here he discusses the differences that might be desirable in the family as the setting is changed, as well as the changes that players have asked for in his instruments. Accompanied by charts of Smart’s instrument specs as well as those of Gibson. With 5 photos and 5 drawings.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
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.22 BRB5 p.230
Jeffrey-R. Elliott
▪ In every craft the cream inevitably rises, and Elliott is known to make some of the creamiest classical guitars in the world. Though this article offers a complete recipe for building guitars with “allure,” it becomes obvious that the most important ingredient is the artistic sensitivity he has developed. Not to be overlooked if your goal is to cook up fine classicals. With 9 photos, 1 drawing, and a list for further reading.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.
1998
AL#56 p.32 BRB5 p.240
Peter Hurney
▪ Uke builder Hurney offers a description and plans for the Martin Tenor, as well as outlines of the Martin Soprano and Concert models. The plans are available as GAL full-scale Plan #43. With front and back photos of 3 sizes of Martin ukes.
1998
AL#56 p.34 BRB5 p.242
Peter Hurney
▪ A full-scale instrument plan. See the GAL website for a low-rez preview.
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#56 p.50 read this article
John Calkin
▪ Scott Chinery had 22 luthiers build 22 archtop guitars, all of them blue. Why? And why did the Smithsonian Institute decide to display them? And then throw in a big shindig for luthiers and guitar nuts alike? Calkin treks to Washington D.C. in the name of the Guild to figure out what all the fuss is about and discovers that hardly anything is what it seems. With 3 photos.
1998
AL#56 p.54 BRB5 p.290
Kent Everett
▪ So you hate the way pickguards look but like the job they do? Everett shows how to apply a clear pickguard without bubbles or fingerprints coming along for the ride.
1998
AL#56 p.56
Cyndy Burton
▪ This list of instrument plans probably isn’t world-inclusive, but it’s the biggest list we’ve put together so far. Collect them all and you could probably build for the rest of your life and never use the same plans twice.
1998
AL#56 p.58
Harry Fleishman
▪ The Guild’s toolin’ fool bows out as a regular columnist by reviewing tools that could only exist in an Ideal World. Or Funnier World. Pure satire from a man who knows about purity. With 4 photos.
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#56 p.64 BRB5 p.291
Harrell Sellers
▪ Getting metal tailpieces cast in quantities a small business can afford.
1998
AL#56 p.64 BRB5 p.309
Jeffrey-R. Elliott
▪ The variables that influence the ‘feel’ or playability of instruments with the same scale length, string gauge, and setup.
1998
AL#56 p.64
John McCarthy
▪ Obtaining stainless steel sheets for the universal side bender.
1998
AL#56 p.65 BRB5 p.500
Kevin-B. Rielly
▪ A simple $1 bender design as an alternative to bending frets with pliers or a variable fret bender which takes less than 30 minutes to assemble.
1998
AL#56 p.65 BRB5 p.500
Woody Vernice
▪ A Benedetto glue applicator is much cleaner than index finger glue application.
1999
AL#57 p.3
Jeffrey-R. Elliott
▪ Elliott offers a correction to his top brace system as stated in his lecture printed in AL#56.
1999
AL#57 p.6 BRB5 p.292
Jeff Huss Mark Dalton
▪ The H&D Guitar Company builds about 100 guitars per year, the great majority of them bound in wood. Here’s how they do it. With 13 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1998
AL#55 p.45 read this article
Ken Sribnick
▪ Sribnick believes that consistent accuracy stems from shop standards. One set of measuring tools, one set of templates, one style of doing things. He makes a good case, too. With 3 photos.
1998
AL#55 p.48 BRB5 p.243
Cyndy Burton Paul Jacobson
▪ Jacobson is a widely respected builder of classical guitars who considers lutherie to be the equivalent of writing sonnets. They are both exercises in controlled creativity. And both can be beautiful.
1998
AL#55 p.54 BRB5 p.497
Filippo Avignonesi
▪ A jig to make joints for attaching necks to bodies; both heel and body are slotted and joined by a flat wooden spline.
1998
AL#55 p.55 BRB5 p.498
John Calkin
▪ Aside from sanding chores, the belt sander makes a much better grinder than a bench grinder.
1998
AL#55 p.55 BRB5 p.498
Jeff Huss Mark Dalton
▪
1998
AL#55 p.58
Cyndy Burton
▪ Where to get pickups, condenser mikes, electric guitar parts, and general electronics gear.
1998
AL#55 p.60 BRB5 p.277
Peter Dyer Dennis Abbl
▪ Regarding stainless steel VS spring steel used for the universal (Charles Fox) side bender.
1998
AL#55 p.60 BRB5 p.208
Tom Blackshear
▪ The relationship of the soundboard to the neck on classical and flamenco guitars.
1998
AL#55 p.60 BRB5 p.208
Jeff-Lee Manthos
▪ Procuring William Fulton’s book, Turpentine Violin Varnish.
1998
AL#55 p.61 BRB5 p.458
Michael Darnton
▪ Repair ethics updated. Centuries from now some of those “cheap” fiddles won’t be cheap any more, and the quick and dirty repairs we do to keep them functional today may be considered butchery in the future. Is it time to reconsider our impact on the violin scenes to come?
1998
AL#55 p.62 BRB5 p.208
Frank-S. Hedi Gavin Baird
▪ It is customary to glue on the bridge after finish is done on the guitar for a far easier cleanup job.
1998
AL#55 p.63 BRB5 p.477
Bishop Cochran
▪ The reviewer finds that this book is weak on pickup design considerations but that it will ultimately set the luthier free to customize his sound and escape the high cost of commercial pickups.
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#55 p.64 BRB5 p.478
John Calkin
▪ The reviewer finds that for anyone wishing to attempt intricate, carefully fitted inlays these two instruction videos should guide them through the craft phase and help to release whatever art they may be capable of.
1998
AL#55 p.65 read this article
John Calkin
▪ The reviewer enjoyed this video. It is iconoclastic and hip, and should help anyone keep their squeezebox wheezing healthily. Instruction should always be this fun.
1998
AL#55 p.65 read this article
Woody Vernice
▪ These are two picture books of guitars made by luthiers who attended the Healdsburg Guitar Festivals in 1996 and 1997. The reviewer finds that the pictures are too little, but that luthiers looking for new ideas may browse through them endlessly.
1998
AL#56 p.3
Jon Sevy
▪ Sevy has developed a spreadsheet for calculating the over-all time spent building a lutherie project. He offers the spreadsheet to readers through his website.
1998
AL#56 p.3
Derrick McCandless
▪ McCandless built a functioning P/J bass that is 8′ long and otherwise to scale. With 1 photo of the finished instrument.
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#56 p.4
Tony Graziano
▪ Graziano sends in a photo of a double-neck ukulele made in his shop.
1998
AL#54 p.52 BRB5 p.458
Michael Darnton
▪ Darnton dwells upon the value of violins (as opposed, at times, to their cost), and finds that customers drive the cost of violins even when they aren’t sure of the value. For non-fiddle people this may be the most interesting column he has written, and for violin folks it should prove quite enlightening.
1998
AL#54 p.54 BRB5 p.474
Cyndy Burton
▪ The reviewer urges the purchase of this pricey book ($119.95) by anyone seriously interested in the history or construction of the classical guitar.
1998
AL#54 p.55 BRB5 p.476
John Calkin
▪ The reviewer finds that this video is a good learning device for anyone wishing to learn how to set up their electric guitar or bass, perhaps less so for acoustic players.
1998
AL#54 p.56 BRB5 p.476
John Calkin
▪ The reviewer finds this set of 5 videos to be useful and complete for those who wish to build an archtop guitar, but that those who lack previous lutherie experience should also have the book by Benedetto.
1998
AL#54 p.57 BRB5 p.477
John Calkin
▪ The reviewer decides that the book should be of use to anyone who is about to purchase their first spray gear, but that other sources of information are more lutherie-specific.
1998
AL#54 p.58 BRB5 p.444
Harry Fleishman
▪ Fleishman tries out a tool for puncturing archtop plates to establish depth of cut, likes it, but finds that the standard size tool is for violin makers and guitar makers must special order; the nut files of a lifetime come into his shop; a good tool that Everyman can afford turns out to be nice fret slot cleaning tool.
1998
AL#54 p.62
Cyndy Burton
▪ Where to get the gear you need to do what you want to do as a luthier.
1998
AL#54 p.65
Todd Taggart
▪ A source for Bolteron plastic binding material.
1998
AL#54 p.65
Ed Pastor
▪ Staining fingerboards.
1998
AL#54 p.65 BRB5 p.193
Tim Shaw
▪ Clay used in the position marker cavities of old fretboards.
1998
AL#54 p.65 BRB5 p.193
Stephen Bacon
▪ Epoxy as filler.
1998
AL#54 p.65
Robert Lundberg
▪ Shark chemical file sharpening system.
1998
AL#55 p.3 BRB5 p.213 read this article
Roger Sadowsky
▪ Sadowsky remembers Irving Sloane as a Renaissance man, and surely just the work he did in the lutherie field would qualify him for that. He designed and produced tuning machines, a slew of hand tools, and three instruction books that no doubt continue to be the worthy introduction many of us have to the world of lutherie. He was also Sadowsky’s father-in-law. This small remembrance is as nice as any man has had.
1998
AL#55 p.7
John Pearse
▪
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.
1998
AL#55 p.16 BRB5 p.214
Mark Bass Paul McGill
▪ McGill is a thinking-man’s guitar maker with some strong notions that run counter to current lutherie mythology. He also has a big-time clientele who believe he is right. With 6 photos.
1998
AL#55 p.20
Staff
▪ If you weren’t there, too bad. But you can begin to imagine what it was like from this extensive coverage. With 66 photos.
1998
AL#55 p.32 BRB5 p.224
Jonathon Peterson David Gusset
▪ Gusset’s early work made him intimately familiar with many fine old Italian violins, and he has used their influence to make his mark in world violin making competitions. With one drawing and 9 photos, including wonderful violin close-ups.
1998
AL#55 p.40 BRB5 p.209
Sam Littlepage
▪ Suppose you made a stiff framework that resembled a guitar that was strong enough to resist most of the distortion to which the instrument is prone, and then built a guitar around the framework. Well, Littlepage has beat you to it. He reports that it not only works, but also improves the guitar in every way. With 14 photos and a pair of drawings.
1998
AL#53 p.51
Peter Giolitto
▪ A modified Ibex bridge clamp with greater reach and span for classical guitar use.
1998
AL#53 p.51
John Calkin
▪ The scroll saw is a reasonable substitute for the bandsaw when changing the bandsaw’s blade would be required.
1998
AL#53 p.52 BRB5 p.486
John Calkin
▪ A non-fiddle maker reviews 10 of the less expensive books about building violins. Are they useful? Interesting? Deadly dull? Worth the bread? There are far more expensive books in this category, but these are the ones most likely to be encountered by the beginner. This will give you a leg up before you order.
1998
AL#53 p.56 BRB5 p.442
Harry Fleishman
▪ Harry ‘fesses up: many luthiers are just too darn serious to grok good humor. But he, himself, is serious about testing new gear. In this issue he sort of likes a Bench Guitar Cradle, isn’t very enthusiastic about the Ultimate Guitar Mirror, is ambiguous about a fret slotting miter box and saw, finds a good mini-mic to combine with piezo pickups for not a lot of money, hates a commercial go-bar deck, and raves about a neck removal jig for dovetail joints. Whew!
1998
AL#53 p.59 BRB5 p.147
Fred Campbell Douglas Somervell
▪ Differing clarifications on using epoxy as filler on rosewood under nitrocellulose lacquer.
1998
AL#53 p.59
John Calkin Harry Fleishman
▪ A standard series of graduated projects that one can undertake to gain experience in instrument maker.
1998
AL#53 p.60 BRB5 p.458
Michael Darnton
▪ Are there good alternative finishes for violins? What’s the best way to repair a nicked fiddle? Where is the best place to position the soundpost?
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.
1998
AL#53 p.64 BRB5 p.474
Bryan Johanson
▪ The reviewer finds the book flawed in minor ways but says that it is well worth its price of $75, which is a pretty good recommendation.
1998
AL#54 p.2
David Brownell
▪
1998
AL#54 p.6 BRB5 p.182
Cyndy Burton Eugene Clark
▪ Jeez, there’s a lot to know about French polishing. Changing lubricating oils can change the quality of the job, but there are reasons to change oils. The pad you rub with makes a difference. The longevity and toughness of the finish can be controlled by the materials you use. This work is deeper than meets the eye. Burton attended a class taught by Clark, and she brings home the straight skinny for American Lutherie. With 15 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.
1998
AL#54 p.16
Ervin Somogyi
▪ Until the Asian market crisis many American luthiers thought that dealing their instruments in Japan would provide the best of living opportunities. Much of Somogyi’s production goes to Japan, and in 1997 he visited Japan at the invitation of his distributor to visit dealers and attend the “NAMM show” of the Orient. Here’s what business and lutherie in Japan is really like. With 10 photos.
1998
AL#54 p.21 BRB5 p.204
Cyndy Burton Judy Threet
▪ Threet is a Canadian builder who specializes in fingerstyle guitars. Her guitars often display an artistic flair that few can match. This interview takes a decidedly philosophic turn, and appropriately so, since Threet used to be a professor of philosophy. With 4 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1998
AL#54 p.26 BRB5 p.198
Graham McDonald
▪ Advice about building an Irish instrument with a Greek name from an Australian in an American magazine. You could get jet lag just thinking about it. McDonald covers the construction of the entire instrument (his neck joint is really slick) but the focal point is his top construction. He steams thick flat plates in the oven and bends them into an arch until they set. After joining there is a minimum of carving yet to be done. All this is in the name of saving time and timber. With 9 photos and a pair of drawings.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1998
AL#54 p.34 BRB5 p.194
Tim Olsen Joseph Curtin
▪ The personal history of violin people is often the most interesting because so many of them realize that a formal approach to learning their craft is often the fastest way of being recognized in the business, even though they may invest many years in the process. And they frequently find themselves in exotic places as they learn. It must work, too. How many of us need an assistant and a business manager to help hold down the fort, as Curtin does? With 6 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1998
AL#54 p.38 BRB5 p.127
John Calkin
▪ Inspired by his time spent at Fox’s American School of Lutherie, Calkin revamps his whole building procedure. Dished workboards turn out to be easy and cheap to make. Mando, uke, and dulcimer sides are bent with an electric silicone blanket. Molds are revamped. Speed and precision are in, drudgery is out (well, almost). Parts 1 and 2 were in American Lutherie #52 and #53, respectively. With 25 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.
1998
AL#54 p.50 BRB5 p.495
Nathan-D. Missel
▪ Saving time carving the top and back plates of archtop guitars by power carving them into rough form before final graduation using this custom carver.
1998
AL#54 p.51 BRB5 p.493
Filippo Avignonesi
▪ Correcting sinking soundholes, i.e, weak waist bars using this technique.
1998
AL#54 p.51 BRB5 p.495
Jonathon Peterson
▪ Clamping loose brace ends in the nether regions of a guitar box can be effectively accomplished by wedging sticks between the brace and opposite plate of the guitar.
1998
AL#54 p.51 BRB5 p.496
Dale Randall
▪ Using a 1CC syringe and loading it from the bottle as a nonclogging applicator for superglue.
1997
AL#52 p.60 BRB5 p.473
C.F. Casey
▪ The reviewer came away from Ribbecke’s seminar not only feeling that he now had the foundation needed to build archtops, but felt that his lutherie skills in general had been boosted by his experience.
1997
AL#52 p.62
Cyndy Burton
▪ A short list of new books, videos and cyber-stuff, as well as a list of organizations and periodicals with a lutherie bias. Seems like no matter what instrument you want to build there are some official folks who want to help you. Hurrah!
1997
AL#52 p.64 BRB5 p.493
John Calkin
▪ Hammering in vs cutting frets exactly to length.
1997
AL#52 p.64
Woody Vernice
▪ An addendum to a tip in AL#43 on installing two small braces between the bridge patch and the waist bar of a classic guitar in an effort to correct a slight caving in, using post-it notes as depth gauges.
1997
AL#52 p.65
Bart Reiter
▪ Information on grants to study lutherie.
1997
AL#52 p.65 BRB5 p.137
Michael Darnton
▪ What finish Martin used before nitrocellulose lacquer and when they switched.
1997
AL#52 p.65
Scott Hackleman
▪ Indian and or European books on sarod and sitar construction.
1998
AL#53 p.2 read this article
Bart Hopkin
▪
1998
AL#53 p.3 read this article
Jan Callister
▪
1998
AL#53 p.8 BRB5 p.168
Paul Gudelsky
▪ An overview of D’Aquisto’s career by a man who studied guitar construction with Jimmy and collected a number of his instruments. It becomes clear how complex an individual D’Aquisto really was. Lots of generalized talk about wood and archtop design, too, but nothing scientific. More of a tribute to a man who died way too soon. With 5 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1998
AL#53 p.9 BRB5 p.172
Paul Schmidt
▪ D’Aquisto’s biographer bids farewell to the man who was called by some the world’s greatest luthier of our time. A touching and very real-world story. With 2 photos.
1998
AL#53 p.14 BRB5 p.172
John Monteleone
▪ A photo-essay of 8 D’Aquisto archtops formerly owned by Paul Gudelsky, set up to show the progression of Jimmy’s designs. With 8 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1998
AL#53 p.18 BRB5 p.176
John Monteleone
▪ A world-renowned maker of archtops who knew D’Aquisto well offers a more technical examination of Jimmy’s design evolution. With 3 photos and a drawing.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.
1998
AL#53 p.22 BRB5 p.164
Cyndy Burton Shelley Park
▪ Park plays jazz guitar and builds Selmer-style guitars like those designed by Mario Maccaferri and played by Django Reinhardt. She furnishes some interesting thoughts about alternative woods and different finishes. Are women luthiers who survive long enough to become professionals really more interesting than many of the men, or do they just give better interviews? You decide. With 9 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1998
AL#53 p.26 read this article
Fred Carlson
▪ Carlson attended Charles Fox’s original guitar making school in 1975, and nearly a generation later reunited with Fox at his new facility, the American School of Lutherie. Basic to Fred’s story is the manner in which the times, two people, and guitar making have changed in 20-odd years. The times, indeed, are a’changin’.
1998
AL#53 p.32 BRB5 p.108
John Calkin
▪ In AL#52 we looked at the tools and jigs Charles Fox uses to build acoustic guitars. In Part 2 we examine how that equipment is put to use as Fox takes us through the procedure of building a classical guitar at his American School of Lutherie. Most of this info will be just as useful to the steel string builder, as well. With 55 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.
1998
AL#53 p.44 BRB5 p.178
John Calkin George Fortune-Jr. Stan Olah
▪ Fortune is a self-taught fiddle maker and instrument repairman in rural Virginia. To many of his neighbors he is known simply as the Fiddle Man. Perhaps Americans aren’t losing their independent spirit, but often it feels like it. Calkin pays tribute to a man who seems to represent a whole way of life. With 7 photos.
1998
AL#53 p.48 BRB5 p.192
Harry Fleishman
▪ Who but Harry could design frets that look like half a hot-dog sliced lengthwise? Seriously, though, Fleishman’s method of shaping and installing frets should mark the end of player discomfort and fret end hang-up.Not to mention that his frets look seriously cool. With 1 photo and 4 drawings.
1998
AL#53 p.50 BRB5 p.494
Nathan-D. Missel Christopher Smith
▪ A side dent puller and reshaper which works exceedingly well in correcting damage.
1998
AL#53 p.50 BRB5 p.504
Dave Maize
▪ Using innertubes to bundle stickered backs and sides is not a great idea.
1997
AL#51 p.53 BRB5 p.492
Julius-J. Borges
▪ A dirt simple, yet incredibly effective procedure to create accurate side templates without a CAD program.
1997
AL#51 p.53 BRB5 p.490
James-E. Patterson
▪ Speeding up the sharpening of bandsaw blades.
1997
AL#51 p.53
Michael Darnton
▪ Contrary to Darrelle Anne Le Maitre’s comments in AL#50, using a cushy washer under a strap button will actually increase the load and leverage on a screw and increase the chance of repeat failure.
1997
AL#51 p.53
Dave Maize
▪ The GWW Case Company takes around 8 weeks to deliver a prototype or an order of cases, is very businesslike and easy to work with.
1997
AL#51 p.54
Cyndy Burton
▪ Burton lists 2 pages of suppliers and manufacturers of finish and glue, and offers more than a page of useful tips gleaned from many luthiers.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1997
AL#51 p.57
Alan Carruth
▪ Refitting a 1916 Gibson A-model mandolin back which no longer conforms to the outline.
1997
AL#51 p.57
Filippo Avignonesi
▪ Getting the 18th fret note on the high E string (A#) on a classic guitar to sound more lively.
1997
AL#51 p.57
Dennis Russell
▪ Sources of mandola plans.
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.3
Joe-D. Franklin
▪ Many builders maintain that a guitar top that varies in thickness offers better tone than a uniform top.Franklin offers technical reasons for why it is so.
1997
AL#52 p.6
Jonathon Peterson
▪ Though only 2 years old, the Healdsburg show has become culturally and commercially important, as well as a luthiers’ information exchange. Peterson interviews organizers and luthiers who set up displays. The spread of 19 photos is an even split of personalities and close-ups of interesting guitars.
1997
AL#52 p.10
Fred Carlson Charles Fox
▪ Fox has made an impact on the guitar community as an influential teacher and a designer of tools. Carlson attended Fox schools in the ’70s and ’90s, and in this interview he asks Fox to contrast his schools and predict the future of lutherie in America.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1997
AL#52 p.12 BRB5 p.108
John Calkin
▪ The main thrust of Fox’s American School of Lutherie lies in teaching lone guitarmakers to make better instruments through more accurate tooling and in helping them become more commercially viable by increasing their production. Calkin attended one of Charles’ week-long Contemporary Guitar Making seminars and documented much of the hard info for American Lutherie readers. This segment concentrates on nearly 3 dozen jigs and fixtures that anyone can add to their lutherie arsenal, most of them adapted to power tools. With 57 photos. Parts 2 & 3 to follow.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.
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#52 p.42 BRB5 p.144
Tim Olsen R.E. Brune
▪ Brune was an original founder of the Guild, has been a GAL convention lecturer, and an American Lutherie author. He’s also a world-renowned maker, dealer, and collector of classical guitars. In this interview he offers some personal background as well as what he thinks it will take to stay afloat in the lutherie world that’s coming. His insider’s view of high-buck instrument dealing is especially compelling. With 7 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
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#52 p.50 BRB5 p.138
Jonathon Peterson Augustino LoPrinzi
▪ Augie LoPrinzi has made or overseen the construction of over 8000 guitars. He went from a one-man shop in the back of his barbershop to a factory that employed 30 people and made 80 flattops a month. Now back in a small-shop setting, his enthusiasm for the guitar is as high as ever. Come along for one of the wilder rides in the annals of lutherie.
1997
AL#52 p.53 BRB5 p.141
John Calkin
▪ Augie LoPrinzi has been an accessible luthier who taught or influenced dozens of people as they entered the business. Calkin “knew him when,” back in the ’70s at a time his small shop churned out 25 guitars a month. This is a different look at a man who was also a barber, pool hustler, amateur magician, wannabe classical guitarist, and a storyteller deluxe. Fun.
1997
AL#52 p.56 BRB5 p.458
Michael Darnton
▪ The soundpost of a cello can push the hard grain of the spruce right through the varnish. So how does one fix the problem? Is your varnish not as clear as you’d like? Damn! What’s the best way to scale down a 4/4 violin to the smaller sizes? Darnton comes to the rescue again.
1997
AL#52 p.58 BRB5 p.441
Harry Fleishman
▪ Ever thought to look in a fabric store for lutherie tools? I’ll bet’cha that Harry beat you to it. He found a deal on aprons, some good layout tools for design work, and bias tape for tying on bindings. Then he opened a Woodcraft catalog and discovered clamps and a carbide burr cutter he couldn’t live without. Just one more column demonstrating why the editorial staff has developed a fatherly concern for their toolman’s life on the edge of lutherie.
1997
AL#51 p.3
Carol McGrath
▪
1997
AL#51 p.3
Marlo Sagers
▪
1997
AL#51 p.6 BRB5 p.86
Ralph Novak
▪ Scale length is seldom used as a design criterion to achieve a given tone, but Novak shows that a given set of strings behaves differently according to the scale length it is stretched over. There are reasons to change other than player comfort. Impress your friends with your knowledge of the evil clang tone. With 6 graphs and 2 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1997
AL#51 p.13
Kevin-B. Rielly
▪ One guitar, two necks, and two distinct functions: half solidbody with magnetic pickups, half hollow with a piezo pickup.Not to mention a look you haven’t seen before. With 6 photos.
1997
AL#51 p.16
David Grey
▪ Grey’s nifty jig uses a table router to bind guitar bodies. The classiest part is the micrometer adjustments built into the jig. With 2 photos and 5 good drawings.
1997
AL#51 p.20 BRB5 p.80
Armin Kelly Hermann Hauser-III
▪ The name Hermann Hauser needs no introduction in the classical guitar world. Here Hauser #3 talks about heritage, learning the craft, wood, and closing in on the perfect guitar. With 6 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s 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#51 p.26 BRB5 p.92
Jonathon Peterson Boaz Elkayam
▪ Elkayam grew up as a luthier, built guitars as he traveled half the world on a motorcycle, never stopped learning, and seems never to have met a challenge he didn’t welcome. High-class lutherie skills don’t necessarily make a person interesting. If Boaz quit the trade today he’d still be someone you’d like to seek out. Check out his classical guitar with two fingerboards (but only one neck). With 24 photos of beautiful instruments, beautiful places, and beautiful women.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1997
AL#51 p.36 BRB5 p.143
Nathan-D. Missel
▪ You can build these little hollowing planes for a dollar or two and very little time. With 3 drawings to show you the way.
1997
AL#51 p.38 BRB5 p.100
Fred Carlson
▪ Inspired by his fiddle-building partner, Suzy Norris, Carlson has created a guitar that utilizes a large number of sympathetic strings. The obstacles that had to be overcome were significant, but “angel voices” never come easy to us Earth folks. With 10 photos and a pair of drawings of how things work.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1997
AL#51 p.42 BRB5 p.104
John Calkin Jeff Huss Mark Dalton
▪ Virginia luthiers Huss and Dalton show off their shop and talk about the business of going into business. They make 7 high-end acoustics per month, and they make it sound easy. With 11 photos.
1997
AL#51 p.46 BRB5 p.471
John Calkin
▪ The reviewer likes this book about instrument creation. The book deals lightly with the physics of music and lightly with the concept of craft. Hopkin’s real message is that musical instruments are everywhere on the planet, not just in the guitar shop, and he happily guides the reader through the creation of dozens of them. Deals with wind and percussion instruments more than with strings, but the string section is useful.
1997
AL#51 p.46 BRB5 p.471
Bryan Johanson
▪ Though taken aback by the ego of the author, the reviewer decides the book is invaluable to his enjoyment of the guitar. “If you care about the guitar, you should own this book.”
1997
AL#51 p.47 BRB5 p.471
John Calkin
▪ The reviewer likes the informal structure of this book about an important health consideration in any woodshop.Shop dust can be controlled on a low budget when necessary, and many collectors and aids can be made in the shop.
1997
AL#51 p.48 BRB5 p.472
Woody Vernice
▪ The reviewer especially raves about the photography included in the book, though his assessment of its value to the working luthier is not so hot.
1997
AL#51 p.49 BRB5 p.472
John Calkin
▪ The reviewer enjoyed his time spent with this book, but decides its appeal will be to those who are already ukulele enthusiasts. If you aren’t one, it probably won’t make you one.
1997
AL#51 p.49 BRB5 p.472
John Calkin
▪ This video is about designing, making, and repairing pickups, starting at the bottom. The reviewer enjoyed the tape and found that it taught him new material in a manner that didn’t frighten him off.
1997
AL#51 p.50 BRB5 p.458
Michael Darnton
▪ Straight talk about why slab-sawn wood is a poor choice for violin necks, boiling down an alcohol solution, getting a chin rest to stay on a fiddle, and making lake pigments.
1997
AL#51 p.52 BRB5 p.491
John Calkin
▪ A portable fret to solve the installation problem of the infamous 6 and a half fret of a dulcimer.
1997
AL#51 p.52 BRB5 p.491
Buzz Vineyard
▪ A laminated all wood tailpiece to gain more control over the dimensions, weight, and aesthetics of the tailpiece.
1997
AL#50 p.14 BRB5 p.56
Jonathon Peterson Arul-Dominic Xavier
▪ Xavier traveled all the way from India to attend the Healdsburg Guitarmakers Festival. This interview makes it obvious to what lengths some folks have to go to become luthiers. Think you’re on a budget? In India a GAL membership costs about one third of a month’s wages. With 6 photos.
1997
AL#50 p.20 BRB5 p.48
Kalia Kliban
▪ Kliban reports on an inlay workshop led by Larry Robinson. Robinson has become a master of shell decoration and an important teacher in the field. This article covers everything from design to engraving, and amounts to a condensed version of Larry’s book on the subject. With 15 photos of the workshop and knockout inlay work.
1997
AL#50 p.30 BRB5 p.72
John Roeder
▪ Roeder offers construction advice about the classic German zither, which has 5 strings over a fretboard and as many as 40 open strings used for chord and bass accompaniment. Included are 6 drawings and 14 photos, as well as a shrunken version of GAL full-size Plan #41. Mentions Franz Schwarzer.
1997
AL#50 p.32 BRB5 p.78
John Roeder
▪ A full-scale instrument plan. See the GAL website for a low-rez preview.
1997
AL#50 p.40 BRB5 p.68
Tim Olsen Michael Hornick
▪ Hornick has become renown as the creator of Shanti guitars. In this interview he discusses the road to the top of the lutherie profession as well as tonewood and guitar design. With 3 photos.
1997
AL#50 p.44 BRB5 p.41
Michael Hornick
▪ Good lacquer work isn’t mysterious, just a pain in the neck. Hornick has it down to an art and a science, and he offers up his recipe to the last detail.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1997
AL#50 p.48
Jonathon Peterson
▪ Here are 17 photos of knockout instrument work.
1997
AL#50 p.50 BRB5 p.38
John Calkin Kent Everett
▪ Everett is one of those monster craftsmen who can knock out 50 fine instruments a year, alone. This interview not only covers his lutherie background but also explains the shop schedule that keeps the guitar flowing at such a prodigious rate. Featuring five photos and one of Everett’s comic strips.
1997
AL#50 p.54 BRB5 p.438
Harry Fleishman
▪ Fleishman examines two tools used for changing the width of fret tangs and a Dremel tool jig for routing bridge slots after the bridge is glued to the guitar. He likes them all. With 3 photos.
1997
AL#50 p.56 BRB5 p.458
Michael Darnton
▪ This time the GAL’s fiddle guru talks about bridge shoes, fitting pegs, detecting a loose bass bar, streaky ebony, and “Russian” string setups.
1997
AL#50 p.58 BRB5 p.489
Glenn Uhler
▪ A body or neck rest with an interesting history.
1997
AL#50 p.58 BRB5 p.489
Chuck Shifflett
▪ A comfortable handle that works way better on Micro Plane rasps which were reviewed by Harry Fleishman in AL#48.
1997
AL#50 p.58 BRB5 p.502
Darelle-Anne Le-Maitre
▪ Removing the shank of a strap button screw from the upper horn of a Stratocaster.
1997
AL#50 p.59 BRB5 p.490
Dave Maize
▪ Four tool ideas; a small battery powered gooseneck lamp for a router, Bernard’s pliers for removing snug fitting bridge saddles, bamboo shish kebab skewers for glue spreading, and a scraper to clear glue along guitar braces.
1997
AL#50 p.59 BRB5 p.491
Alan Carruth
▪ Mixing 10 percent of acetone in polyurethane for nice bite.
1997
AL#50 p.60 BRB5 p.129
Dave Hajicek
▪ A reliable method to correct extensive lacquer finish crazing. He sprays pure MEK.
1997
AL#50 p.61
James Curtis
▪ Where to find mandolin tuning machines which mount on a slotted head like classical guitars.
1997
AL#50 p.61 BRB5 p.137
Mike Longworth
▪ What finish Martin used before nitrocellulose and when they switched.
1997
AL#50 p.61
Ronald-Louis Fernandez
▪ Video training available demonstrating detailed techniques of classical guitar making.
1997
AL#50 p.61
Larry Stamm
▪ Dished or spherical workboards and their radii.
1997
AL#49 p.4
Jay Hargreaves
▪ Richard Schneider was a luthier, mentor, and ground-breaking experimenter. See the Guild’s “In Memoriam” web page.
1997
AL#49 p.4
Tim White
▪ Richard Schneider was a luthier, mentor, and ground-breaking experimenter. See the Guild’s “In Memoriam” web page.
1997
AL#49 p.6 BRB5 p.2
Woodley White Rene Baarslag
▪ A Dutchman who moved to Spain and learned guitar making with the help of Antonio Marin, Baarslag has carved out a reputation as a fine luthier. The descriptions of his home will make you wonder why luthiers can’t live this well in America. Baarslag’s life must be very pleasant.
1997
AL#49 p.10 BRB4 p.4
Woodley White
▪ Baarslag journeys to the American School of Lutherie to teach a week-long class about building classical guitars. White attended, and gives a full report. With 37 photos.
1997
AL#49 p.20 BRB5 p.12
John Calkin
▪ How to make thin-body guitars intended to be plugged in on stage. The bodies are hollowed from solid stock. Design considerations are emphasized. Production jigs are described, as are a set of jigs for making bridges. With 14 photos.
1997
AL#49 p.28 BRB5 p.18
Tim Olsen Fred Carlson
▪ Carlson grew up on a New England commune and never outgrew the philosophy of sharing. He would rather let his uniqueness bloom than give in to commercial considerations. You’ll be glad you met him here. With 16 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1997
AL#49 p.36 BRB5 p.34
Brent Benfield
▪ So you bought a spherically dished form in which to build your guitars. But how do you go about it? Benfield describes a path notable for its lack of complication. This is a painless way to bring your guitars into the 21st century. Most of the ideas are applicable to flattop guitars as well. With 10 photos and 4 drawings.
1997
AL#49 p.40 BRB5 p.26
Richard Beck
▪ Beck’s theme is to keep the quality but cut the time involved in building acoustic guitars. He shares his jigs for shaping headstocks and arching braces using a router table and heavy aluminum jigs. You may have to get a machine shop in on this job. With 13 photos and a drawing.
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
AL#49 p.50 BRB5 p.44
Colin Kaminski Jeff Traugott
▪ Neck resetting techniques have changed enormously in the last few years, and they continue to evolve. Traugot has been in the forefront of the evolution. Here’s his up-to-the-minute description of the procedure. With 12 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1997
AL#49 p.54 BRB5 p.436
Harry Fleishman
▪ Fleishman examines two retrofit bases for the Dremel mini-router, and likes them both for different reasons. He also test drives a set of micro-chisels and JAWS, a hand-powered fretting press, and recommends them. With 5 photos.
1997
AL#49 p.57 BRB5 p.193
John Calkin
▪ An abbreviated chart from Howie Mitchell’s ‘The Hammered Dulcimer’ for spring brass and phosphor bronze wire.
1997
AL#49 p.58 BRB5 p.504
Glenn Uhler
▪ This plastic tool box made by Rubbermaid has two stacking trays that lift out together and plenty of room in the bottom for fretting hammers and larger tools.
1997
AL#49 p.58 BRB5 p.489
Colin Kaminski
▪ Boggs Tool Processing uses the liquid honing process for sharpening files.
1997
AL#49 p.59 BRB5 p.488
Nathan-D. Missel
▪ Using a pattern-following router bit made from a salvaged pencil sharpener mounted on a drill press when cutting pegheads, bridges, tops, or tail pieces. It is an extreme spiral, you see.
1997
AL#49 p.59 BRB5 p.489
Peter Schaefer
▪ The German company Auro makes readymade shellac and amber varnish (lacquer).
1997
AL#49 p.60 BRB5 p.458
Michael Darnton
▪ The style and size of violins, like most everything else in noncommunist countries, is driven by the market place. Darnton responds to a query about which fiddle makers are best to copy, and how to arch the plates to please contemporary musicians.
1997
AL#49 p.62 BRB5 p.470
Colin Kaminski
▪ This course, which saves years of learning on your own, is based on jigs and fixtures, and too brief for those who prefer to work by hand. Joseph is very forthcoming with his methods, ideas, and tricks.
1997
AL#50 p.3
Allen Watsky
▪ Watsky has modified several guitars to provide compensation of the nut end, with good results.
1997
AL#50 p.4 BRB5 p.60
Frank Ford
▪ Ford has been a preeminent repairman for years, but has recently emerged as a fine teacher of repair topics. Everyone’s refretting tricks are a little different. Even if you have a handle on the general principle you may find that Frank Ford has something to offer you. With 29 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.
1996
AL#48 p.58 read this article
Keith Davis
▪ Helpful hints for shipping a violin.
1996
AL#48 p.58
Walter Mitchell-Jr.
▪ A tip on masking the binding from a nouveau builder who is also a watercolorist.
1996
AL#48 p.60 BRB4 p.113
Eugene Clark
▪ Dispelling years of confusion regarding the rule of 18.
1996
AL#48 p.60
George Gorodnitsky
▪
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.
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 read this article
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.68
Don Gallagher
▪ Just like it says. With 4 photos and a drawing.
1997
LW p.80
James-E. Patterson
▪ This article compresses into less than 6 pages everything you need to know about cutting and inlaying shell, except for how to make up original designs. Creativity is a tough thing to teach. Includes 5 diagrams and 6 photos.
1997
LW p.103 read this article
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.124
Tim Olsen
▪ Now that lutherie has boomed, is it best to attend a school to learn the trade? Or does self-education (and self-discovery) still make sense. It depends.
1997
LW p.124
Jeffrey-R. Elliott
▪ The author has been an apprentice and has trained apprentices. Before you face either situation you should read this to learn what you are getting into.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1997
LW p.128
Staff
▪ A list of schools, organizations, and periodicals to help you find your way.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
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.134
Staff
▪ Abstracts of reviews of books, videos, and periodicals related to the themes of this book.
1997
LW p.142
Staff
▪ The material in Lutherie Woods is mostly pre-American Lutherie. This list of related articles will help bring you up to date.
1997
AL#49 p.3 BRB5 p.37 read this article
Jeffrey-R. Elliott
▪ A well-known teacher and maker of controversial classical guitars passes on.
1996
AL#48 p.4 BRB4 p.205
Rudy Walker
▪ Walker sends photos and a description of an electric guitar designed around the Monkees logo of the mid-’60s.
1996
AL#48 p.5 BRB4 p.205
Kerry Char
▪ Char sends several photos of a unique resophonic mando-cello he made for Gregg Miner.
1996
AL#48 p.6 BRB4 p.378
Lawrence-K. Brown
▪ Brown made the elaborate trim for 27 Baroque guitars, then spread the actual construction over a year and a half. All the details are included. He believes that too much patience stands in the way of making a living. This is an article with attitude. With 29 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1996
AL#48 p.14 BRB4 p.386
Jonathon Peterson Bishop Cochran
▪ Cochran is a player/maker of electric and acoustic/electric guitars who uses machine shop equipment and supplies to create his instruments. The emphasis is on precision work, duplicable procedures, and practical designs. With 26 photos.
1996
AL#48 p.22 BRB4 p.394
Ervin Somogyi
▪ This 1995 convention lecture covers the physical nature of the neck. Not how to do the work, but how to make a neck for maximum playability and instrument performance. Both steel string and classical guitars are discussed. With 1 photo and a slough of diagrams.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
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#48 p.36 BRB4 p.404
Frank Ford
▪ Ford built an elaborate jig for resetting the necks of valuable and delicate guitars where a slip of the chisel can’t be risked. The contrary nature of guitars may dictate that some hand fitting is required after the jig is used, but much of the danger is removed. With 8 photos.
1996
AL#48 p.38 BRB4 p.406
Christopher Luck
▪ How to get a good CrystaLac finish in a small shop on a tight budget.
1996
AL#48 p.42 BRB4 p.400
Phillip Murray
▪ Even in this age of the bolted on neck, there are plenty of guitarmakers who’d rather use a dovetail. Murray’s well thought out jigs cut both the male and female portions of the joint. With 14 photos and 7 diagrams.
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.49 BRB4 p.440
Harry Fleishman
▪ The GAL’s Toolman/stand-up comic checks out a potpourri of rasps, a pair of small drawknives, and a specialized chisel, and suggests what you should do with your junky Model 3 or 4 Dremel tool.
1996
AL#48 p.52
Cyndy Burton
▪ A list of all the instrument plans that Burton could track down, and where to buy them.
1996
AL#48 p.54 BRB4 p.442
Michael Darnton
▪ Look out for buzzy nuts. Why might violins sound too dark? What fiddle books should be purchased? The book discussion is especially worthy and entertaining.
1996
AL#48 p.56 BRB4 p.504
Rod Hannah
▪ Using a mill bastard file to remove excess material when dressing frets.
1996
AL#48 p.56 BRB4 p.504
James-E. Patterson
▪ A modified fingerboard tapering jig from an Ervin Somogyi design.
1996
AL#48 p.57 BRB4 p.505
Glenn Uhler
▪ Lutherie tools from a welding supply store, including an inspection light kit featuring an extension/mirror tool, and a nice pin vise.
1996
AL#48 p.57 BRB4 p.502
John Calkin
▪ Touching up dings in polyesters or polyurethanes with lacquer.
1996
AL#48 p.57 BRB4 p.503
Leslie-C. Sahl
▪ An improvement to a violin peg-hole reamer by using a door knob for a handle.
1996
AL#48 p.58
John Calkin
▪ Building a polyethylene booth (Martello Tent) to keep sanding and routing dust from contaminating the rest of the shop.
1996
AL#48 p.58
Jeffrey Yong
▪ Clamping a wood block with nails down the middle of the guitar to bind the guitar on one side at a time.
1996
AL#47 p.28
Staff
▪ Healdsburg is quickly becoming Guitar Town, USA. This festival featured displays, lectures, and tours, not to mention fun. With 12 photos.
1996
AL#47 p.30 BRB4 p.346
John Calkin Geoff Stelling
▪ A profile of one of the leaders in high-end banjos, featuring a tour of the shop, production techniques, construction methods, and banjo/motorcycle cross-pollination.
1996
AL#47 p.34 BRB4 p.368
Greg Byers
▪ Finding perfect intonation through deep math and jiggling the string length at both ends. For some luthiers the quest for perfection knows no bounds. The rest of us are just jealous.
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#47 p.50 BRB4 p.358
Harry Fleishman
▪ Fleishman has worked with all the commercial piezo pickups and has made a bunch of his own. Shop-brewed pickups can be cheap, useful, and instructive, but finding the best use for any piezo can be complicated. Adding microphones or magnetic pickups to the mix can be more confusing than helpful. Fleishman takes a look at all the angles. From his 1995 convention lecture.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1996
AL#47 p.57 BRB4 p.150
Larry Pater
▪ The author used a Fishman guitar transducer pickup on a flattop bass with good results.
1996
AL#47 p.57 BRB4 p.150
Peter Schaefer
▪ European sources of lacquer are given.
1996
AL#47 p.57 BRB4 p.193
Justin Moore
▪ The best way to contour the back of the neck on a 6 string electric bass.
1996
AL#47 p.58 BRB4 p.442
Michael Darnton
▪ Darnton fields questions about slipping pegs and pricing repair work and estimates.
1996
AL#47 p.60 BRB4 p.470
John Calkin
▪ The reviewer generally likes this video for the specific information it offers about Dobro hardware. He also finds that half the tape is too basic to be of real help to seasoned luthiers.
1996
AL#47 p.60 BRB4 p.471
Kenny Hill
▪ This book, printed only in Spanish, describes guitar making in Ecuador. The reviewer finds that the Ecuadorian guitar as described in this book is crudely fashioned, and that the text is incomplete. Nevertheless, he enjoys it as a look into another culture.
1996
AL#47 p.62
Cyndy Burton
▪ A page of tools especially for the luthier, and a page and a half of tools and supplies of a more general nature. Where to get your tools. Or, at least, where to get your catalogs.
1996
AL#47 p.65 BRB4 p.505
Kent Everett
▪ Kent Everett’s number one workbench for over 18 years of 50 hours a week repair work.
1996
AL#47 p.65 BRB4 p.497
Glenn Uhler
▪ The plasti-cut PC-10-DX costs 18 dollars and is a dream to use.
1996
AL#47 p.65 BRB4 p.503
Phillip Murray
▪ A wallpaper steamer to remove a fingerboard from a neck by injecting into the broken truss rod.
1996
AL#48 p.3 BRB4 p.297
George Diamesis
▪ Diamesis writes about the lutherie scene in Greece, and sends 2 photos of ethnic instruments he and his students have built.
1996
AL#46 p.59 BRB4 p.503
Norbert Pietsch
▪ Fret slot sawing guides to resaw fret slots without marring or knocking loose the bindings.
1996
AL#46 p.60 BRB4 p.150
Fred Campbell
▪ Further questions on Fred Campbell’s article in AL#44 and vinyl wash coats.
1996
AL#47 p.6 BRB4 p.332
Jonathon Peterson
▪ So you’ve got a guitar that ought to sound better than it does. What can you do to it to perk up the punch? Experts Marc Silber, Scott van Linge, Robert Steinegger, Dana Bourgeois, Frank Ford, and T.J. Thompson describe how they shave braces, and show that brace shaving isn’t your only weapon.
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#45 p.56
Brent Benfield
▪ Sanding fingerboards with 12,000 grit micromesh before fretting.
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#45 p.57 BRB4 p.503
Norbert Pietsch
▪ This device is handy for ‘antiquing’ or yellow staining for resonator bindings.
1996
AL#45 p.58 BRB4 p.468
Richard Beck
▪ The reviewer finds that this is a “best value in a guitar history and identification book.”
1996
AL#45 p.58 BRB4 p.468
Jess Wells
▪ The reviewer finds that this book is “the one sharpening book on the market today which I find useful as a reference in my library.”
1996
AL#45 p.59 BRB4 p.469
Robert Lundberg
▪ This is a thorough and glowing review of an important book, by a reviewer who is best known for his work in early instruments.
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.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.30 read this article
Teri Novak
▪ A chiropractor (and wife of a well-known luthier) describes how to prevent your shop life from harming your health. From her 1995 GAL convention lecture, with 18 photos and a number of drawings.
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.42 BRB4 p.326
Jonathon Peterson
▪ Buzz Vineyard builds archtop guitars with pin bridges and strange bracing, and rosewood backs and sides. What’s the result? He tells all to Peterson.
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.50 BRB4 p.437
Harry Fleishman
▪ Fleishman attends Charles Fox’s American School of Lutherie and sends back a very enthusiastic report of what he found there.
1996
AL#46 p.52 BRB4 p.221
Robert Brook
▪ Brook describes a new method of binding scroll headstocks on F-model mandolins.
1996
AL#46 p.54
Cyndy Burton
▪ A new column is born, kicking off with 2 pages of places to buy tonewood.
1996
AL#46 p.56 BRB4 p.442
Michael Darnton
▪ Darnton discusses the glues he keeps in his shop.Also, setting up the cello.
1996
AL#46 p.58 BRB4 p.502
John Jordan
▪ This repair is ideal for a cello pegbox that cracks in two through the G peghole or a bass that cracks in two through the A peghole.
1996
AL#46 p.58 BRB4 p.504
Norbert Pietsch
▪ Protecting pearl when restoring an old banjo with engraved pearl inlays.
1996
AL#46 p.58 BRB4 p.502
Robert Mead
▪ Building templates for two types of autoharps using the PC based CAD system.
1995
AL#44 p.59 BRB4 p.498
Rod Hannah
▪ A clear plexiglas piece as an alignment tool for a Teeter-style bridge slot device.
1995
AL#44 p.60 BRB4 p.499
Rod Hannah
▪ Several methods of removing original Fender frets, which were slid in from the side.
1995
AL#44 p.60 BRB4 p.501
Skip Helms
▪ A way to let a router and radial saw do some of the grunt work in building an archtop guitar.
1996
AL#45 p.2 read this article
Gretchen-Weeks Brough
▪ Brough offers her services as a freelance computer drafter to members who would like instrument plans drawn in AutoCAD.
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.
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.
1996
AL#45 p.22 BRB4 p.285
Alan Carruth
▪ How is it that some makers build consistently superior guitars even though, scientifically speaking, they have no direct control over the thing that makes them superior (high frequency response)? Carruth is a long-time researcher and acoustician. This 1995 lecture transcription is about the design compromises that luthiers face while pursuing the ultimate guitar. With 6 drawings and 2 photos.
1996
AL#45 p.28 BRB4 p.276
Dan Erlewine Frank Ford
▪ This wide-ranging lecture transcription from the1995 GAL convention covers some specific repair techniques, professional ethics, customer relations, pursuing a profit, and vintage instrument repair. Strong advice from two of the best known men in the business.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1996
AL#45 p.36 BRB4 p.290
Jonathon Peterson Don Overstreet
▪ Overstreet took formal training in violin construction with Peter Prier in Salt Lake City, then ended up in the shop of Paul Schuback where he builds and repairs the instruments of the fiddle family. It seems that all who trod the same path make a unique journey (a strong theme in the GAL).
1996
AL#45 p.40 BRB4 p.294
Richard Beck
▪ Beck is a repairman for some heavy hitters in the music biz. Here he offers a sound method of repairing shattered headstocks using a router. With 11 photos.
1996
AL#45 p.43 BRB4 p.79
Michael Yeats
▪ Attending a seminar or short class is an excellent way to get started making bows.
1996
AL#45 p.43 BRB4 p.123
John Doan
▪ The history of the banjo-lin, 100 years old, manufactured by F.C. Heiser Company, Fort Smith, Arkansas.
1996
AL#45 p.43 BRB4 p.193
Fred Campbell
▪ Keeping light bindings from being stained.
1996
AL#45 p.44 BRB4 p.474
John Calkin
▪ Some videos are worth the money, and some aren’t. It depends more on the depth of your experience and interest than on the quality of these videos, which is generally good. Take a look at a batch of tapes (and one book) from Stewart-MacDonald about building or repairing stringed instruments.
1996
AL#45 p.50 BRB4 p.442
Michael Darnton
▪ This time the column has but one concern, removing the top plate. With 7 photos.
1996
AL#45 p.54 BRB4 p.436
Harry Fleishman
▪ Fleishman test drives the adjustable fretboard arching planes from Luthiers Mercantile International, and finds that they handle the curves nicely. Also, an update on Highlander pickups.
1996
AL#45 p.56 BRB4 p.496
Kevin Kobie
▪ Using a 1.5″ wide china-bristle paintbrush to clean fingerprints off of headstock after restringing.
1996
AL#45 p.56 BRB4 p.491
Bob Milburn Orville Milburn
▪ Reducing shellac flake dissolve time with the use of a coffee grinder.
1996
AL#45 p.56 BRB4 p.500
John Jordan
▪ A second set of hollow radius forms lined with sandpaper for fitting the sides to the top and back radii when binding acoustic instruments with tops and backs made in hollow-radiused forms.
1996
AL#45 p.56 BRB4 p.501
Norbert Pietsch
▪ A vise heavy enough not to teeter when hammered or rasped on and can be easily mounted on a work surface.
1995
AL#43 p.65
Ervin Somogyi
▪ Recognizing the accomplishments of the volunteer work of NCAL (Northern California Association of Luthiers) with a special award, the Swiss Army Banjo.
1995
AL#44 p.5
Marc Worsfold
▪
1995
AL#44 p.8 BRB4 p.222
Robert Desmond
▪ This is a short biography of a luthier who entered the trade before many of us were born, and who has turned classical guitar making into a family business.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
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#44 p.20 BRB4 p.230
Guy Rabut
▪ Apparently not every violinist is determined to have a fiddle that looks 300 years old. Rabut has made some interesting attempts to update the violin without sacrificing the tone that everyone demands. Can’t wait until these babies start showing up in symphonic orchestras. With 21 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1995
AL#44 p.26 BRB4 p.238
Chris Foss
▪ This is one of the most invigorating articles on the hammered dulcimer ever. Foss has made over 1000 instruments, has developed some hard opinions, and has tried a truckload of interesting experiments. Ever carpet the inside of a dulcimer? Foss has. Find out why.
1995
AL#44 p.32 BRB4 p.242
Jonathon Peterson Saul Koll
▪ Koll has fashioned a living by creating unique, often bizarre, guitars, both acoustic and electric. For many, ideas often come easy, it’s selling them that’s hard. Koll has found a niche. With 23 photos.
1995
AL#44 p.38 BRB4 p.248
Fred Campbell
▪ Campbell finishes the guitars that other luthiers build. He has become an expert spray meister with the confidence to give away the tricks he has learned the hard way. This is perhaps the best piece on lacquering AL has ever printed. With 7 photos and a finishing schedule.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1995
AL#44 p.46 BRB4 p.256
Michael Sanden
▪ Sanden converted his whole basement into a complete shop.Here’s his floor plan.
1995
AL#44 p.48 BRB4 p.472
John Calkin
▪ As always, not all books are created equal. Calkin compares all the dulcimer books he could round up.
1995
AL#44 p.51 BRB4 p.193
Christopher Luck
▪ Keeping bindings free from bleed or stains from filler.
1995
AL#44 p.51 BRB4 p.113
Roger Sadowsky
▪ Recommendations for musical instrument insurance.
1995
AL#44 p.51
Nicholas-Von Robison
▪ How luthiers can take advantage of the newest, fastest growing part of the internet, the world wide web.
1995
AL#44 p.52 BRB4 p.434
Harry Fleishman
▪ This time the GAL’s Toolman tests a Stewart-MacDonald diamond coated fret file, and the Hacklinger gauge for measuring the thickness of instrument tops and backs. He likes the file enough to recommend it. He likes the gauge, too, but its high price puts him off.
1995
AL#44 p.54 BRB4 p.442
Michael Darnton
▪ What is neck pitch, and what does it do to/for the violin? How does one deal with an Elmer’s glue repair? Why is poplar sometimes used for the cello and viola? Darnton tells all.
1995
AL#44 p.56
David Freeman
▪ Freeman tries to decide what musicians really want from an instrument. Well, he and we all know what they want, but how can we possibly give it to them?
1995
AL#44 p.57 BRB4 p.467
Andres Sender
▪ The reviewer finds that this book is particularly useful for the plane maker, and ultimately decides that it is “. . .a remarkable deal if you can find it.”
1995
AL#44 p.58 BRB4 p.500
Norbert Pietsch
▪ Two rings, one for inside, one for outside, for use with rubber or rope for clamping binding to a banjo rim.
1995
AL#44 p.58 BRB4 p.497
Michael Sanden
▪ An elevated, swivelling workboard for holding tops while shaping the braces.
1995
AL#44 p.59 BRB4 p.499
Merv Rowley
▪ The dilemma of how to increase dulcimer fretboard width without reducing sound output level on an Appalachian mountain (or fretted) dulcimer.
1995
AL#43 p.28 BRB4 p.217
Jess Wells
▪ A full-scale instrument plan. See the GAL website for a low-rez preview.
1995
AL#43 p.34
Staff
▪ An in-depth description of the 1995 Guild convention in Tacoma, with 73 photos.
1995
AL#43 p.46 read this article
Wayne Kelly
▪ If you have access to a PC (and you obviously do) you can use this article to set up your own fret slotting system. Not about how to cut slots, but where to cut them.
1995
AL#43 p.48 BRB4 p.432
Harry Fleishman
▪ Fleishman examines and enjoys two tools from Stewart-MacDonald, the Bridge Saddle Routing Jig and the Adjustable Fret Slotting Saw.
1995
AL#43 p.50 BRB4 p.416
Rick Turner
▪ Turner talks about the Grateful Dead and some of their gear.
1995
AL#43 p.52 BRB4 p.442
Michael Darnton
▪ What is Nussbaum? Is there such a thing as irreparable damage?
1995
AL#43 p.54 BRB4 p.81
Robert Lundberg
▪ The rebate plane used for fitting lute ribs and the modifications necessary to make the Lie-Nielson scraper plane fully functional.
1995
AL#43 p.54 BRB4 p.405
Andy DePaule
▪ The pedal steel is an instrument, it is also a precision machine.
1995
AL#43 p.56 BRB4 p.495
Bill Daniels
▪ A router jig cuts time in half when doing violin edge work.
1995
AL#43 p.57 BRB4 p.495
Jonathon Peterson
▪ Using an inspection light and mirror to locate the position of the old brace from leftover glue through the sound hole on a damaged American made Neapolitan mandolin.
1995
AL#43 p.57 BRB4 p.495
John Miles
▪ A homemade alternative to a commercial polishing product in which grains of abrasive are bonded onto a rubbery layer.
1995
AL#43 p.58 BRB4 p.495
Andy DePaule
▪ Using a table saw with a dado blade to rough carve the edges of tops and backs for archtop guitars, mandolas, and violins for lack of a carving machine.
1995
AL#43 p.58 BRB4 p.495
Chris Foss
▪ A cobbled together glue roller to edge glue 6 hammered dulcimer tops at a time, each made up of 4 pieces.
1995
AL#43 p.58 BRB4 p.495
George Gorodnitsky
▪
1995
AL#43 p.59 BRB4 p.495
Norbert Pietsch
▪ A custom pull hammer to pull loose stubborn banjo tone rings and bracket bands when removing them from their rims.
1995
AL#43 p.59 BRB4 p.495
Tom Ribbecke
▪ Reversing the blade in X-acto or pro-edge razor saws for mitering purfling.
1995
AL#43 p.59 BRB4 p.495
Filippo Avignonesi
▪ Adding two fairly stiff but very light braces between the 3 center fan braces between the waist bar and the bridge patch to add a little more kick to a redwood topped classical guitar.
1995
AL#43 p.59 BRB4 p.495
James Vanderplas
▪ A makeshift PVC pipe electric mandola stand.
1995
AL#43 p.60 BRB4 p.466
John Calkin
▪ The reviewer finds that this should be a useful book for any but the most experienced repairman.
1995
AL#43 p.61 read this article
Robert Lundberg
▪ The reviewer finds that this book is too limited in its scope, and recommends against its purchase. However, he maintains that a sensibly revised edition would be an important and welcome resource, and that such a revised edition is in the works.
1995
AL#42 p.52
Cyndy Burton
▪ A list of lutherie schools, classes, and individual instruction.
1995
AL#42 p.54 BRB4 p.431
Harry Fleishman
▪ Fleishman examines the Highlander acoustic guitar pickup and decides it’s pretty good, but not perfect. He has never met the perfect pickup, so far.
1995
AL#42 p.56 BRB4 p.465
John Calkin
▪ The reviewer is enthusiastic about this picture book but decides that it may have no relevance to the life of a typical luthier.
1995
AL#42 p.57 BRB4 p.466
Don Bradley
▪ The reviewer finds that the authors have made an invaluable reference for studying the vibration of all types of musical instruments.
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.60 BRB4 p.442
Michael Darnton
▪ Why can’t I get the proper degree of polish from my varnish? How high should a saddle be? Why do my violins come apart during varnishing? What stylistic mistakes are most common? Why is oil varnish so nasty?
1995
AL#42 p.62 BRB4 p.492
Filippo Avignonesi
▪ An unproduced design for a string tension simulation jig.
1995
AL#42 p.63 BRB4 p.493
Bill Daniels
▪ A simple sander to thickness rib stock for violins and violas.
1995
AL#42 p.63 BRB4 p.492
Martin Dumas
▪ Oven controls used for thermostatic temperature control of electric bending irons.
1995
AL#42 p.63
Tim Earls
▪ An epoxy job when re-fretting a Japanese 70s Epiphone.
1995
AL#42 p.64 BRB4 p.491
George Gorodnitsky
▪ Two small metal blocks between two jewelry saw blades to cut straight or curved strips with parallel edges.
1995
AL#42 p.64 BRB4 p.497
Tom Ribbecke
▪ Removing cyanoacrylate residue from fingers using a pumice stick.
1995
AL#42 p.64 BRB4 p.495
Chris Foss
▪ Writing pertinent information regarding jig use directly onto the jig itself.
1995
AL#42 p.64 BRB4 p.493
Ric McCurdy
▪ Some tips gleaned from John Monteleone and company about Jimmy D’Aquisto’s scraper sharpening methods.
1995
AL#42 p.64
Martin Dumas
▪ Extracting and printing the outline of an instrument from a photograph.
1995
AL#43 p.7 read this article
Marc Soubeyran
▪
1995
AL#43 p.8 BRB4 p.202
Todd Brotherton Jim Williams
▪ Australians continue to make a mark in the evolution of the guitar. Williams made his mark as an author, as well. He discusses his background and his instruments.
1995
AL#43 p.11 BRB4 p.206
Jim Williams
▪ Williams discusses the building style he has borrowed from Greg Smallman for classical guitars. With 14 photos, plus drawings.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
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#43 p.24 BRB4 p.212
Jonathon Peterson Jess Wells
▪ Wells specializes in the creation of early stringed instruments. Here he discusses that particular market, his training, and the history of the viola da gamba. With 17 photos.
1995
AL#41 p.58 BRB4 p.486
Tom Ribbecke
▪ Achieving brush free results for lacquer in the rain and cold.
1995
AL#41 p.58 BRB4 p.488
Robert Steinegger
▪ A go bar setup Steiny style.
1995
AL#41 p.58 BRB4 p.489
Dale Randall
▪ This tool with a curved blade allows for gentle planing inside the radius of a brace.
1995
AL#41 p.58 BRB4 p.495
Chris Foss
▪ A simple one-width-of-cut-fence that drops into the miter gauge of a table saw.
1995
AL#41 p.58
Harold Turner
▪ Making business cards out of paltry wood pieces.
1995
AL#41 p.58 BRB4 p.490
Antonio Masiello
▪ A tool much like a miniature bandsaw which uses a string of a given size to cut a slot for a string of the same size.
1995
AL#41 p.58 BRB4 p.491
Robert Steinegger
▪ Temporary modification of an Everly guitar mold to a Martin 00 size.
1995
AL#41 p.58
Chris Foss
▪
1995
AL#42 p.3 BRB4 p.151 read this article
Gila Eban
▪ One of the world’s best luthiers passes on.
1995
AL#42 p.7
Paul Neri
▪
1995
AL#42 p.8
Peter Manuel
▪
1995
AL#42 p.12 BRB4 p.174
Robert Ruck
▪ Ruck spends most of his time in this lecture talking about top design and finishing. With 13 photos and several drawings, plus a detailed list of his finish materials and procedures.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.
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.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.
1995
AL#42 p.42 BRB4 p.188
David Riggs Klaus Reischel Peppe Reischel
▪ The Reischels make Landstrofer tuners, high-quality German gears for classical guitars.
1995
AL#42 p.44 BRB4 p.190
Chris Foss
▪ Foss describes his permanent setup for drilling tuning pin and hitch pin holes in dulcimer pin blocks.
1995
AL#42 p.46 BRB4 p.196
Duane Heilman
▪ Heilman offers plans for a drum sander that has a radius built into the drum.
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#42 p.51 BRB4 p.416
Rick Turner
▪ Turner’s system of tuning an acoustic guitar pickup is elaborate. He also talks about amps for the acoustic guitar.
1995
AL#41 p.7 read this article
Fred-T. Dickens
▪
1995
AL#41 p.10 BRB4 p.126
Graham Caldersmith
▪ Caldersmith is working to expand the voice range of guitar ensembles, both classical and steel string. With 4 photos and frequency response graphs. The first installment of Caldersmith’s work with a classical guitar family came way back in AL#18.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1995
AL#41 p.18 BRB4 p.154
John Calkin
▪ The goal is to make the lightest possible instrument that will stay in tune. Calkin examines bracing, bridge design, scale lengths, wood, and hammer design. With 9 photos and several drawings.
1995
AL#41 p.26 BRB4 p.134
Nicholas-Von Robison Debbie Suran
▪ Suran is a performer/builder of hammered dulcimers.
1995
AL#41 p.29 BRB4 p.137
Debbie Suran Nicholas-Von Robison
▪ Suran’s design allows for the least amount of tension over the side bridges, which contributes to instrument stability. A full-scale instrument plan. See the GAL website for a low-rez preview.
1995
AL#41 p.34 BRB4 p.140
Jonathon Peterson
▪ Seven luthiers explain how they cut that oval slot.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
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.40 BRB4 p.144
Ronald-Louis Fernandez
▪ It’s untrue that all the old builders were stodgy old putzes locked into a cold tradition. Some of their guitars were pretty far out. With 21 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1995
AL#41 p.47 BRB4 p.416
Rick Turner
▪ Turner discusses solder, and a pickup pan pot.
1995
AL#41 p.48 BRB4 p.429
Harry Fleishman
▪ Fleishman examines the battery-powered Stealth guitar tuners from Sabine, which are meant to be mounted on the guitar. He finds them useful but aesthetically hard to hide on the instrument.
1995
AL#41 p.50 BRB4 p.22
Stephen Marchione
▪ A good article on the subject can be found in the Dec 1989 issue of Better Homes and Gardens.
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.
1995
AL#41 p.50 BRB4 p.71
Alan Carruth
▪
1995
AL#41 p.50
Cali Hackman
▪ Quest for other hurdy gurdy builders.
1995
AL#41 p.51 BRB4 p.197
Bob Milburn
▪ Where to put the center on a hollow radiused form.
1995
AL#41 p.52 BRB4 p.463
Tom Ribbecke
▪ The reviewer finds that this book sets a new standard for guitarmaking books in general, and that it should affect the evolution of the archtop guitar for many years to come.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1995
AL#41 p.53 BRB4 p.464
John Calkin
▪ The reviewer finds that if you wish to push your inlay work beyond the traditional patterns you may find this book indispensable.
1995
AL#41 p.54
Ervin Somogyi
▪ Somogyi believes that ethics is a cloudy but deep issue that all luthiers must contend with. Simply trying to do your best work is not the end of the issue.
1995
AL#41 p.56 BRB4 p.442
Michael Darnton
▪ Why is there a step in the neck behind the nut of my fiddle? What angle are the junctions of the ribs cut to at the corners? What’s the difference between French and Belgian cello bridges? Zits in the varnish? Why does my French polish crackle?
1995
AL#41 p.58 BRB4 p.488
Jorge Gonzalez
▪ A tool for measuring inside instruments with tiny sound holes.
1994
AL#40 p.5 read this article
Chris von-der-Borch
▪
1994
AL#40 p.7
Chris Burt
▪
1994
AL#40 p.8 BRB4 p.90
Curt Carpenter
▪ Carpenter tells of his VA-sponsored apprenticeship to a legend of the electric guitar industry. A fine string of anecdotes. Carpenter actually moved in with Doc Kauffman and his wife, relived all the old stories, learned to build guitars, visited with Leo Fender, met Rudy Dopera, and made pickups. Carpenter left the army to enter the Guitar Wars.
1994
AL#40 p.14 BRB4 p.86
Alan Carruth
▪ Impressions of lectures given on the first day of the GAL 1992 convention in Vermillion South Dakota, held in conjunction with the Catgut Acoustical Society.
1994
AL#40 p.18 BRB4 p.96
R.E. Brune
▪ There is an undying interest in the Segovia guitars. Brune offers good description as well as 10 photos and a complete set of plans. The plans are a reduced version of our full-scale Plan # 38.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1994
AL#40 p.19 BRB4 p.97
R.E. Brune
▪ A full-scale instrument plan. See the GAL website for a low-rez preview.
1994
AL#40 p.24 BRB4 p.124
Jonathon Peterson Rossco Wright Larry Roberts
▪ Classical guitarists are too fussy to simply travel with a shrunken guitar. These two luthiers offer instruments that suit the special needs of special guitarists.
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#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.42 BRB4 p.116
Bryan Galloup
▪ Detailed captions for 36 photos explain how to cook the neck out of a flattop and put it back on the way it ought to be.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1994
AL#40 p.50 BRB4 p.82
John Calkin
▪ Calkin’s pair of articles first takes a look at Vreeble, a form of lacquer-based crackle paint, and then at refinishing an electric bass with curly maple veneer.
1994
AL#40 p.53
Cyndy Burton
▪ A very selective list of American and world lute makers.
1994
AL#40 p.54 BRB4 p.416
Rick Turner
▪ Have you got a new idea about wiring a guitar or bass? Turner helps you decide if it may be worth the effort of trying it out. The fact that a new wiring system will work doesn’t mean anyone will want to hear it. Or buy it. Or care at all.
1994
AL#40 p.56 BRB4 p.427
Harry Fleishman
▪ Fleishman tests the L.R. Baggs Micro Drive preamp and the MEQ-932 preamp available from Martin. Both units are for acoustic guitars, and the reviewer found them both to be a good value but not necessarily interchangeable.
1994
AL#40 p.60 BRB4 p.488
Jonathon Peterson
▪ A fir 2X6 screwed to a bench vice to extend the moveable jaw width of the end of the workbench.
1994
AL#40 p.60 BRB4 p.490
Jonathon Peterson
▪ Small fluorescent lights used as inspection lights, small enough to fit through F holes.
1994
AL#40 p.61 BRB4 p.489
Andres Sender
▪ This jig flattens 4 pegs, one side at a time, and is powered by a screen door type spring hinge.
1994
AL#40 p.61
John Calkin
▪ An opaque projector as a handy tool in the shop.
1995
AL#41 p.7 read this article
John Higgins
▪
1994
AL#39 p.28 BRB4 p.80
Elon Howe
▪ A nontraditional mold deep enough to keep the ribs square to the top and back plates.
1994
AL#39 p.30 BRB4 p.62
Jorge Gonzalez
▪ Outwardly, the tiple resembles a biggish ukulele with 10 strings arranged in four courses. Tuning arrangements vary with geography. In America the Martin tiple is the best known.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1994
AL#39 p.32 BRB4 p.64
Jorge Gonzalez
▪ A full-scale instrument plan. See the GAL website for a low-rez preview.
1994
AL#39 p.34 read this article
Alan Carruth
▪ Fine musicians get together with acousticians and luthiers to try old against the new. No agreements are reached, but apparently a good time was had by all.
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#39 p.44
Andrea Tacchi
▪ Tacchi opines that perhaps our attitude toward our work has too hard an edge, that we may be too eager to lose sight of the artist within us to produce the best work we are capable of.
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.46 BRB4 p.458 read this article
Robert Lundberg
▪ The reviewer finds that Strobel’s books are useful and accurate, and that the author has made a brave attempt to encourage luthiers to make their own violins, rather than strict copies of master instruments. Always look for the latest edition of each volume since changes and updates often accompany each new edition.
1994
AL#39 p.49 BRB4 p.461
Kevin Aram
▪ The reviewer finds that his good first impression of the book is dimmed by six months spent in its company. He maintains that the information is inconsistent and not in the best interest of the beginning luthier, nor complete enough for the experienced builder.
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#39 p.52 BRB4 p.482
Andres Sender
▪ A $40 design for an oval electric bending iron that can be built in a day from available materials.
1994
AL#39 p.53 BRB4 p.486
George-W. Dietz
▪ Transforming 99 cent small pliers into fret bending pliers.
1994
AL#39 p.53 BRB4 p.485
Jonathon Peterson
▪ Strips of masking tape twisted into long skinny tubes as alternative to double stick tape.
1994
AL#39 p.53
Robert Steinegger
▪ Mounting Waverly tuners without the press-in collars they come with.
1994
AL#39 p.54 BRB4 p.425
Harry Fleishman
▪ The GAL’s tool man examines Bob Smith Industries line of epoxies and CA glues and finds that they shoot down the competition.
1994
AL#39 p.56 BRB4 p.416
Rick Turner
▪ Turner updates the membership on some wire work he has done lately in his own shop.
1994
AL#39 p.58 BRB4 p.442
Michael Darnton
▪ Darnton tells what to look for if a certain string breaks consistently, and how to remove a firmly attached violin neck.
1994
AL#39 p.60 read this article
Marvin-E. Shaw
▪ Weissenborn guitar.
1994
AL#39 p.60 read this article
Robert Lundberg
▪ Where to get lute strings.
1994
AL#39 p.60 read this article
Owen Couch
▪ Where to get dulcimer plans.
1994
AL#38 p.55 BRB4 p.484
Merv Rowley
▪ A simple gadget for checking the levelness using nothing more than a straightedge, flashlight, and insulated wire.
1994
AL#38 p.55
Greg Descateaux
▪ Utilizing cutoff stock from local cabinet shops in laminated necks and body construction.
1994
AL#38 p.55
Harry Fleishman
▪ An excellent price for a Ryobi oscillating drum sander.
1994
AL#38 p.56 BRB4 p.485
John Miles
▪ The use of abrasive tools for various instrument making tasks.
1994
AL#38 p.56 BRB4 p.485
Rod Hannah
▪ A disposable and recyclable nut and saddle spacing jig.
1994
AL#38 p.56 BRB4 p.485
Bishop Cochran
▪ The ‘hurricane blower’, a rubber bulb-type blower used by photographers to keep their equipment clean.
1994
AL#38 p.56 BRB4 p.485
Gene Simpson
▪ A trick to transfer lacquer thinner from a 5 gallon container to a 1 gallon can.
1994
AL#38 p.57
George Gorodnitsky
▪ Making an easy and inexpensive beautiful abalone-inlaid headstock or rosette.
1994
AL#38 p.57
Ed Moore
▪ A heat sealing iron for applying heat in localized areas in bridge and fingerboard removal.
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#38 p.60 BRB4 p.442
Michael Darnton
▪
1994
AL#39 p.4
Paul Gudelsky
▪
1994
AL#39 p.6
Paul Hurley
▪
1994
AL#39 p.7
Lance Carter
▪
1994
AL#39 p.8
Charles-J. Daniels
▪
1994
AL#39 p.10 BRB4 p.52
Bryan Galloup
▪ Here’s the whole story, with some tools for heat removal of the parts not seen in the magazine before. Pull those worn parts and make your own replacements. With 38 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
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#39 p.25 BRB4 p.70
John Calkin
▪ The focus here is electric guitar pickguards, both wood and plastic. Some tips carry over to acoustic pickguards.
1994
AL#39 p.27 BRB4 p.85
Jonathon Peterson Henry Strobel
▪ A violinmaker talks about his foray into publishing violin books.
1994
AL#37 p.60 BRB4 p.483
Rich Craven
▪ Grocery store freezer sheet vinyl as a source of template material.
1994
AL#37 p.60 BRB4 p.483
Robert Steinegger
▪ A tool invented to remove the knobs on a set of tuning gears on an old Gibson mandolin.
1994
AL#37 p.60 BRB4 p.488
John Jordan
▪ Make quick-and-dirty long drill bits from bicycle spokes.
1994
AL#38 p.8
George Gorodnitsky
▪
1994
AL#38 p.8
Earl Bushey
▪
1994
AL#38 p.8 HLC p.226
Robert Lundberg
▪ Lundberg makes the nut, ties on the frets, and strings up the lute. With a string tension formula and an explanation of the rule of 18 for locating frets. Contains 33 step-by-step photos, and detailed captions. This series ran for 19 installments in American Lutherie and has been collected into our hardback book Historical Lute Construction.
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#38 p.24 BRB4 p.34
R.E. Brune
▪ Brune made a map of plate dimensions using a new (and expensive) gizzy called the Elcometer. Then he decides that plate thickness probably isn’t so big a deal. Well, at least you have a model to guide you.
1994
AL#38 p.26 BRB4 p.20
David Riggs
▪ Sometimes German instruments can look downright, well, German! Not the ones that Riggs captured on film, though. Perhaps the whole world is now one big melting pot.
1994
AL#38 p.30 BRB4 p.36
Jonathon Peterson Nick Kukich Jeanne Munro
▪ The folks from Franklin Guitars are outspoken and articulate. Are steel string makers really the “bottom feeders” of the guitar world? Kukich was there at the rebirth of the OM guitar.
1994
AL#38 p.34 BRB4 p.42
Francis Kosheleff
▪ A typical bandura looks like a melted acoustic guitar with about a hundred extra strings spread across the body. OK, not that many. A lot, though. Kosheleff knows these Russians well.
1994
AL#38 p.36 BRB4 p.39
Jonathon Peterson
▪ Sullivan built a maximum performance thickness sander for $800 and 100 hours time.
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.44 BRB4 p.48
Mike Doolin
▪ Anyone willing to dismantle their first guitar deserves a lot of credit, especially if it came out cosmetically pristine the first time. Doolin replaced the top of his first guitar to bring the bass response up to spec. With 9 photos and a lot to think about.
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#38 p.52 BRB4 p.424
Harry Fleishman
▪ Fleishman has made himself an expert in the field of amplifying the acoustic guitar. Here he examines the Transducer/Mic Combo, from Dana Bourgeois Guitars, and decides that it is a “real bargain.”
1994
AL#38 p.54 BRB4 p.488
Skip Helms
▪ Converting thick feeler gauges to an inexpensive set of nut files.
1994
AL#38 p.54 BRB4 p.484
John Jordan
▪ Options from easiest to most difficult for grounding strings to achieve noise reduction.
1994
AL#38 p.54
Robert Steinegger
▪
1994
AL#38 p.54
Harold Turner
▪ Making a wild looking dulcimer using wood scraps.
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.26 BRB3 p.352 read this article
Michael Darnton
▪ And you thought you knew all there was to know about making that fiddle play. Darnton continues his instruction from AL#35. This time he tunes and fits the bridge, strings, tailpiece, saddle, and end button. With 13 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1994
AL#37 p.32 HLC p.218
Robert Lundberg
▪ Lundberg cleans, scrapes, waxes, and oils the various parts of the lute that will not receive shellac finishing. With 29 step-by-step photos, detailed captions, and two recipes for lute wax. This series ran for 19 installments in American Lutherie and has been collected into our hardback book Historical Lute Construction.
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?
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.49
Cyndy Burton
▪ A consolidated listing of available instrument plans and their sources.
1994
AL#37 p.50
Frank Bolger
▪ The Bay Area Society of Stringed Instruments Craftspersons puts on its first exhibit. This organization is now called NCAL.
1994
AL#37 p.52 BRB4 p.422
Harry Fleishman
▪ Fleishman spent a month doing all his repair work on The Apprentice, an instrument holder from WidgetWorks, and declares that he can’t give it up.
1994
AL#37 p.54 BRB4 p.442
Michael Darnton
▪ Darnton reflects upon bass bar design and tap tone pitches for viola and cello.
1994
AL#37 p.56 BRB4 p.416
Rick Turner
▪ Turner’s column is all about the essential electronic measuring instruments for the guitar shop.
1994
AL#37 p.57 BRB4 p.458
Ron Lira
▪ The reviewer says, “I’m so impressed with this book I could just bust!” Apparently America now has a National heaven.
1994
AL#37 p.58 BRB4 p.482
David Riggs
▪ Building a large arched instrument using a 4″ grinder and a Lancelot cutting disc as a gouge alternative.
1994
AL#37 p.58 BRB4 p.482
Willis Groth
▪ A violin fingerboard clamping jig.
1994
AL#37 p.59 BRB4 p.483
Keith Hill
▪ A violin gluing method using waterproof hide glue to battle humidity and which renders the dried glue less susceptible to attack from mold and bacteria.
1994
AL#37 p.59
John Jordan
▪ Deep throated sockets or nut drivers are indefinitely preferable to adjustable wrenches or pliers when attaching hardware.
1994
AL#37 p.59
Randal Carr
▪ Using computer programs to create templates for nut spacing and fret layouts.
1994
AL#37 p.59 BRB4 p.483
Robert Steinegger
▪
1994
AL#37 p.60 BRB4 p.483
Harry Fleishman
▪ Cutting four small slots near the corners of a moveable bench to make it double as a collapsible go-bar deck for bracing.
1994
AL#37 p.60 BRB4 p.483
Keith Cary
▪ Some thoughts on fitting plugs in re-hairing a bow.
1993
AL#36 p.46 BRB3 p.416
Robert Lundberg
▪ Scrapers are wonderfully useful tools despite the difficulties they often pose to beginners. Lundberg explains how to tame them.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.
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.
1993
AL#36 p.52 BRB3 p.422
Jonathon Peterson
▪ Four repairmen offer a variety of tips about altering mechanical archtop bridges, adding more “pop” to fretless bass necks, soldering and shielding electrics, carbide bandsaw blades, abrasive cord, superglue, cutting saddle slots, double-stick tape, bending plastic binding, beveling pickguard stock, replacing bar frets with T-frets, and restoring headstocks to look old.
1993
AL#36 p.56 BRB3 p.426 read this article
Rick Turner
▪ Turner warns repairmen not to get in over their heads with custom electronics work, and describes two elaborate jobs that came out right for all concerned.
1993
AL#36 p.58 BRB3 p.446 read this article
Michael Darnton
▪ Darnton discusses classical violin strings and a timesaving method of cutting the purfling slots.
1993
AL#36 p.60 BRB3 p.441
Harry Fleishman
▪ Toolman tries out the Hipshot Extender Key for guitars, and the Hipshot Trilogy bridge. He finds them to be useful products with specific uses.
1993
AL#36 p.63
John Doan
▪ Obtaining the extended bass strings for a Dyer harp guitar
1993
AL#36 p.63
Gene Rhinehart
▪ Drawings of the duolian metal body guitar (12-fret neck).
1994
AL#37 p.4
Kris-D. Pennisten
▪
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.
1994
AL#37 p.6 BRB4 p.2
Tim Olsen
▪ Nobody built a better archtop than D’Aquisto did. Olsen outlines the procedures and peculiarities of a famous luthier’s work.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.
1994
AL#37 p.10 BRB4 p.6
Tim Olsen
▪ Olsen travels from the general (in the preceding article) to the specific. He zeros in on D’Aquisto’s soundboard work for a detailed examination. With 47 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.
1993
AL#36 p.6 BRB3 p.380 read this article
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.12 BRB3 p.393
Ervin Somogyi Colin Kaminski
▪ Many of us suffer periods of lutherie burnout, but few as dramatically as Somogyi, whose house and shop were lost in a great California fire. This interview offers early background information and an update of how he has coped since the fire.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1993
AL#36 p.16 BRB3 p.396
Ervin Somogyi
▪ Somogyi delves into many of the technical considerations of guitar design and construction. With a large number of drawings.
1993
AL#36 p.26 BRB3 p.410 read this article
David Golber
▪ The chief difference between the Hardanger and a normal violin is its use of sympathetic strings, though other differences abound. Ornate decoration is also usual. Golber offers a good description of a typical Hardanger and how to set it up.With 9 photos and a number of drawings.
1993
AL#36 p.32 HLC p.210
Robert Lundberg
▪ Lundberg explains how to fit the many pegs of graduating length and diameter. With 26 step-by-step photos and detailed captions. This series ran for 19 installments in American Lutherie and has been collected into our hardback book Historical Lute Construction.
1993
AL#36 p.39 BRB3 p.476
Wayne Kelly
▪ Make your own radiused blocks from auto body filler.
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#36 p.41 BRB3 p.409
Scott Tremblay
▪ A full-scale instrument plan. See the GAL website for a low-rez preview.
1993
AL#35 p.21 BRB3 p.392
Paul Hostetter
▪ Using these drawings and text you can make your own kabosy in a few days. A full-scale instrument plan. See the GAL website for a low-rez preview.
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#35 p.34 HLC p.196
Robert Lundberg
▪ The bowl is finished with shellac and rubbed out. With 38 step-by-step photos and detailed captions. This series ran for 19 installments in American Lutherie and has been collected into our hardback book Historical Lute Construction.
1993
AL#35 p.44 BRB3 p.500 read this article
Bruce McGuire
▪ Overholtzer is cussed and discussed, but he had an undeniable influence on the American classical guitar scene. He built Spanish guitars in a very un-Spanish manner.
1993
AL#35 p.46
Wayne Kelly
▪ Have a try at laying out rosette tiles with your PC.
1993
AL#35 p.48 BRB3 p.368
Ralph Novak
▪ Good fretwork is complicated, but practice makes it a staple in the repairman’s income. Novak offers advice garnered from twenty-odd years in the business.
1993
AL#35 p.52 BRB3 p.446 read this article
Michael Darnton
▪ What are the proper dimensions and shape of the neck? What is a “tight” fiddle? What is fingerboard tilt? What does a player mean when he says he “can’t reach” the D string? Darnton answers all.
1993
AL#35 p.54 BRB3 p.441
Harry Fleishman
▪ The Guild’s resident tool and hardware tester takes a look at Waverly vintage-style tuners, Sperzel locking machine heads, and the Trem-Setter stabilizing device. All are given the nod of approval.
1993
AL#35 p.56 BRB3 p.495
John Calkin
▪ Finishes, including high texture Flecstone, Tru-oil, and McClosky’s bar top; a commercial varnish.
1993
AL#35 p.57 BRB3 p.495
Harold Turner
▪ Plate tuning made simple using a stereo satellite speaker and glitter.
1993
AL#35 p.57 BRB3 p.498
Greg Descateaux
▪ Slight additions to Colin Kaminski’s description of how to build a hollow radius form in AL#33.
1993
AL#35 p.57 BRB3 p.498
Jonathon Peterson
▪ Design idea for a simple workstand using a wedge-shaped box. You can make one out of anything.
1993
AL#35 p.58 BRB3 p.426 read this article
Rick Turner
▪ Turner spends nearly 2 pages talking about electric guitar wiring harnesses, which wire to use, and what pot values to try.
1993
AL#35 p.60
Paul Hurley
▪ Hurley believes that classical guitars aren’t loud enough, and that if design changes can’t make improvements, perhaps concert halls should be changed or amplification used. He wishes to boost the popularity of guitar concerts.
1993
AL#35 p.61
Cyndy Burton
▪ The Folk Harp Journal is a good source of harp or Celtic harp info.
1993
AL#35 p.62 BRB3 p.502 read this article
Ray Mooers Betty Truitt
▪ Robinson was a prime mover in the resurgence of the folk harp.
1993
AL#35 p.63 BRB3 p.503 read this article
John Monteleone
▪ Remembering Mario Maccaferri, creator of guitars made by Selmer of Paris and made famous by Django Reinhardt, major contributor to the field of injection molding plastic, and overall self made man.
1993
AL#36 p.5 read this article
Rion Dudley
▪ Dudley finally tried building a guitar with Osage orage wood, and he likes it.
1993
AL#34 p.41 BRB3 p.351 ALA3 p.51
R.E. Brune
▪ Is the Met’s Segovia Hauser the famous Hauser? Probably, but maybe not. That such mysteries can remain about the most famous classical guitarist ever is quite heartening.
1993
AL#34 p.42 ALA5 p.8
H.E. Huttig Todd Taggart Tim Olsen
▪ A well-loved man is remembered in his own words. Also see AL#32.
1993
AL#34 p.44 BRB3 p.313
James-E. Patterson
▪ Even the best hygrometer needs to be reset occasionally. Here’s how, and why.
1993
AL#34 p.46 BRB3 p.314 read this article
Elaine Hartstein
▪ Another method to plot the modern fingerboard.
1993
AL#34 p.49
Sheldon Schwartz
▪ A salute to David Freeman from one of his former students.
1993
AL#34 p.50 read this article
John Calkin
▪ Calkin takes a humorous (and highly fictionalized) whack at folk history.
1993
AL#34 p.52 BRB3 p.426 read this article
Rick Turner
▪ This column is dedicated to combining magnetic and piezo pickups.
1993
AL#34 p.54 BRB3 p.446 read this article
Michael Darnton
▪ What adjustments change the tone of a violin? Should new pegs be reshaped or should the pegbox holes be opened to fit them? Which glue for a top center seam? Are stains really useless?
1993
AL#34 p.56 BRB3 p.439 read this article
Harry Fleishman
▪ Fleishman examines a rash of Stew-Mac fretting tools and their fretting video. He gives the green light to the entire package after extensive testing.
1993
AL#34 p.58 BRB3 p.492
Colin Kaminski
▪ The jig to taper fingerboards, made of 3/4″ plywood.
1993
AL#34 p.58 BRB3 p.494
Harry Fleishman
▪ Mixing dust with glue for a heavy paste to epoxy frets.
1993
AL#34 p.58 BRB3 p.491
Colin Kaminski
▪ A modified Blue Point K-1020 vacuum pump to recycle refrigerant from automotive air conditioners, per California state law.
1993
AL#34 p.59 BRB3 p.492
Harry Fleishman
▪ A trick for bringing out the color of a rosette inlay or binding.
1993
AL#34 p.59 BRB3 p.494
Colin Kaminski
▪ This jig used for clamping fingerboard bindings fixes the problem of clamping the binding against the fingerboard and keeping the white and black lines flush with the bottom edge of the fingerboard.
1993
AL#34 p.60
Cyndy Burton
▪ An all purpose answer to get potential guitar makers aimed in the right direction without discouraging anyone.
1993
AL#34 p.61 BRB3 p.499 read this article
David Wilson Peggy Warren
▪ Remembering Hammond Ashley, aged 91, advocate of fine music and fine musical instrument making.
1993
AL#35 p.2 BRB3 p.305 read this article
Tom Peterson
▪ Remembrance of H.E. Huttig, one of the GAL’s founding members.
1993
AL#35 p.5 read this article
Bill Moran
▪ Does acid rain change the crystal formation in wood cells?
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#35 p.16 BRB3 p.386 read this article
Paul Hostetter
▪ The kabosy is a folk instrument from Madagascar. It comes in several body shapes, but always has a neck with the same layout of staggered frets, many of which don’t completely cross the fingerboard. It’s easy to build and fun to play once your eyes stop being baffled by the weird frets.
1993
AL#33 p.50 BRB3 p.426 read this article
Rick Turner
▪ Turner talks about building pickup/microphone systems into an acoustic guitar.
1993
AL#33 p.52 BRB3 p.446
Michael Darnton
▪ What is a spiral bushing, and when do you use it? It’s a one-question column this time around.
1993
AL#33 p.54 BRB3 p.437
Harry Fleishman
▪ Fleishman tests the Dean Markley SST acoustic guitar pickup (saddle/transducer) and decides that it may fit certain needs but it doesn’t offer faithful reproduction of the guitar’s acoustic sound.
1993
AL#33 p.56 BRB3 p.492
Bill Garofalo
▪ One of a kind solidbody electric tuning mechanism.
1993
AL#33 p.57 BRB3 p.493
Taffy Evans
▪ History of the wonder vise.
1993
AL#33 p.57 BRB3 p.471 read this article
Dave Maize
▪ Videos begin to get their due in the review department. The reviewer decides this tape is a valuable aid for the first-time builder.
1993
AL#33 p.58
Gene Rhinehart
▪ Where to find a ‘quarterman’ cone for building a dobro.
1993
AL#33 p.59 BRB3 p.475
Brett Borton
▪ Bracing cedar classic guitar tops.
1993
AL#33 p.59 BRB3 p.475 read this article
Byron Will
▪ Strong winter grain in spruce and cedar.
1993
AL#33 p.59 read this article
Harry Schwab
▪ Obtaining technical details or blueprints on the inner workings of the Swedish nyckelharp and the chromatic keyboard of a hurdy gurdy.
1993
AL#33 p.59
Ken Warmoth Kent Rayman
▪ Dead spots on fretted bass necks.
1993
AL#33 p.60 BRB3 p.312
Bill Garofalo
▪ An impromptu tour of a guitar factory in Buenos Aires, mainly making solidbody electrics.
1993
AL#34 p.4
Ervin Somogyi
▪ Somogyi was burned out of house and shop during the Oakland Hills Firestorm. He describes his plight and how the Crafts Emergency Relief Fund (CERF) helped rescue him. If you need such help, or if you would like to contribute to CERF, Somogyi tells how.
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#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#34 p.14 BRB3 p.324 read this article
Paul Hostetter Bart Reiter
▪ Reiter is perhaps the best known current maker of open back banjos. He traces his beginnings and some specifics of the banjo market. With 3 photos.
1993
AL#34 p.18 BRB3 p.328 read this article
George Borun
▪ Not many people make the mental leap from violins to the space age easily. Borun did, and found the connection useful. His list of uses extends far beyond bending the ribs.
1993
AL#34 p.20 BRB3 p.330 ALA6 p.24
Jonathon Peterson Michael Sanden
▪ A Swedish guitar maker comes to America for a round of twenty-questions. When non-Americans step out on Lutherie Road the trip isn’t necessarily the one we imagine. Sanden shares a lot of information about his mentor, Georg Bolin.
1993
AL#34 p.24 BRB3 p.334 ALA6 p.30
Jonathon Peterson
▪ In AL#29 Peterson looked back at the harp guitar. This time he takes a forward look. A number of luthiers find fascination and a new potential in the big beast, and this is the best look at their results to date. With 28 photos and 8 detailed drawings. Also available is GAL full-scale Plan #34, the Klein solidbody electric harp guitar.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1993
AL#34 p.30 BRB3 p.340
Steve Klein
▪ A full-scale instrument plan. See the GAL website for a low-rez preview.
1993
AL#33 p.2
Tibor Semmelweis
▪ Hungarian luthiers formed an organization for mutual aid.
1993
AL#33 p.3 read this article
Scott Tribby
▪ Violin makers in Michigan formed an organization for mutual aid.
1993
AL#33 p.3
Skip Helms
▪ Doin’ it with a router table.
1993
AL#33 p.4
Colin Kaminski
▪ Central California luthiers formed an organization for mutual aid. IT was called BASSIC.
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.23 BRB3 p.476
Colin Kaminski
▪ Kaminski’s form uses two sheets of plywood of different thickness. They are stacked and screwed together down the center, and the thin sheet is curved by placing rows of wedges between them. A wood frame is built around the plywood, then polyester is poured between the sheets to make the radius permanent. It works, but it can be messy.
1993
AL#33 p.24 BRB3 p.288 read this article
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 read this article
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.29
Francis Kosheleff
▪ Another page of humor from the mildly depraved mind of Kosheleff. With two cartoons.
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.
1993
AL#33 p.35 BRB3 p.308
David Freeman
▪ Micro-mesh is the latest word in sandpaper. In fact, it’s not even paper and it doesn’t feel sandy. Freeman and his students use it for all wet-sanding chores, including the final gloss finish. It’s that fine.
1993
AL#33 p.36 BRB3 p.303
Wes Brandt
▪ A well-known repairman delivers eight tips, including an alternate way to bend a Venetian cutaway, tool tips, and a way to bend sides more accurately.
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.
1993
AL#33 p.46 BRB3 p.310 read this article
David Golber
▪ If stock tuners stick up too far from the top of your headstock you can fix them, but it requires a machinist’s lathe.
1993
AL#33 p.48 BRB3 p.306
John Calkin
▪ Calkin offers a neck shaping method that gives preconceived notions a chance to be born. What you want in a neck is what you get, quickly and with straight lines.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1992
AL#32 p.32
Staff
▪ This is a salute to the Guild’s most loyal members.
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.46 BRB3 p.265
Lisa Hurlong
▪ An adopted daughter of Granada describes an up-and-coming Spanish guitar maker. Good local color. Mentions Antonio Marin.
1992
AL#32 p.47 BRB3 p.257 read this article
Harold Turner
▪ Build a banjo and scare the congregation, and not with music. Luthier humor, and more good local color. Turner was there when the banjo bomb was invented. A shrinking calf skin head was the culprit.
1992
AL#32 p.48 BRB3 p.262
Jose Romanillos
▪ Scholarship on the trail of a vanished instrument.
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.56 BRB3 p.490
Willis Groth
▪ This pivoting work stand really is made of a bowling ball. You have to see it to understand it.
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.62 BRB3 p.470 read this article
Robert Lundberg
▪ This marvelous book of workbenches will fill you with ideas of how to improve the ‘heart’ of your own shop.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1992
AL#32 p.64 BRB3 p.446 read this article
Michael Darnton
▪ What should one expect from a purchased ebony fingerboard? Should a fiddle bridge lean back, and how far? Can you offer hints about using hide glue? Darnton’s wide experience rescues another page of readers.
1992
AL#32 p.66 BRB3 p.488
John Higgins
▪ Specialized tools for making nuts, a flat sided tapered scribe, and the equal spacing divider.
1992
AL#32 p.67 BRB3 p.489
Nicholas-Von Robison
▪ A fly-tiers vise makes an excellent small parts vise for final cleanup on pearl inlays.
1992
AL#32 p.67 BRB3 p.489
David Freeman
▪ Effective method for stickering wood for storage.
1992
AL#32 p.68 BRB3 p.487
Skip Helms
▪ A few ideas using a router table for classical makers.
1992
AL#32 p.68 BRB3 p.489
Richard Echeverria
▪ Quickie tips on the thinline switch fisher-line, clay dot replacements, fret size selector, cloth braided wire, and tune-o-matic bridge wire.
1992
AL#32 p.69 BRB3 p.474
Jonathan Yuen
▪ Swedish Nyckelharp construction and hurdy-gurdy plans.
1992
AL#32 p.69
David Freeman
▪ Failure of Sabine model 1500 electronic tuner to respond to the low E on an acoustic guitar.
1992
AL#32 p.69 BRB3 p.474
Dake Traphagen
▪ Making baroque guitar roses.
1992
AL#32 p.69 read this article
George Rizsanyi
▪ A source for sandolin varnish.
1993
AL#33 p.2
Nicholas-Von Robison
▪ Information and a book reccomendation concerning acid rain and its impact on world forests.
1992
AL#31 p.57 BRB3 p.487
Rick McCollum
▪ Mixing small amounts of hide glue.
1992
AL#31 p.57 BRB3 p.487
Don Musser
▪ Locating hairline cracks using the solvent naphtha.
1992
AL#31 p.57 BRB3 p.487
Harry Fleishman
▪ Using clothespins for extra squeeze.
1992
AL#31 p.58 BRB3 p.222 read this article
Jonathon Peterson Byron Will
▪ Will talks primarily about the business end of being a harpsichord maker.
1992
AL#31 p.60 BRB3 p.437
Harry Fleishman
▪ Fleishman reviews the Waverly Fret Tang Nipper and finds that for the full-time builder it is an indispensable tool.
1992
AL#31 p.61 BRB3 p.474
Robert Lundberg
▪ Literature on making Baroque guitar roses.
1992
AL#31 p.62 BRB3 p.426 read this article
Rick Turner
▪ Turner goes deep with information about the effect of wire insulation size on the character of a pickup, and explains the construction of guitar capacitors.
1992
AL#31 p.64 BRB3 p.446 read this article
Michael Darnton
▪ Why don’t the ribs of a broken fiddle fit the top any more? How much spring should be built into a bass bar? Why is there a step in the neck behind the nut on my fiddle. Darnton knows, now you will, too.
1992
AL#31 p.67 BRB3 p.501 read this article
R.E. Brune
▪ Remembering Hart Hutting II, an avid aficionado of flamenco and selfless contributor to the GAL since it’s inception.
1992
AL#32 p.2 BRB3 p.307 read this article
Michael Cone
▪ Writes of soundboard graduation and using a glass capillary tube for plate excitation.
1992
AL#32 p.4 BRB3 p.238 read this article
Ken Sribnick Gayle Miller
▪ A one-of-a-kind, almost fabled instrument.
1992
AL#32 p.6 BRB3 p.240 read this article
Ken Sribnick Gayle Miller
▪ The lute photographers relate a wonderful anecdote about their pilgrimage to the London shop of Charles Beare to shoot the unicorn, er, no, the great white lute. With 3 more photos.
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#32 p.8 BRB3 p.242
Jonathon Peterson Ren Ferguson
▪ The shop honcho of Gibson West relates some personal background. Ferguson moved to Montana long before Gibson did. Did Gibson really build a factory there just for him? Probably not. Mentions Rob Ehlers, Steve Carlson, Henry Juszkiewicz.
1992
AL#32 p.11 BRB3 p.244
Jonathon Peterson
▪ As a maker of fine acoustic instruments Gibson was reborn in Montana. The man in charge of creativity and efficiency leads the GAL team through his domain. With 17 photos.
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#32 p.24
Bon Henderson
▪ Read about how dreamy-but-enthusiastic-hippie-types built a strange little newsletter into an organization of international respect.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1992
AL#32 p.25
R.E. Brune
▪ A man who witnessed the very labor pains that preceded the birth of the GAL recaptures the details and makes a dire prophecy.
1992
AL#32 p.26 BRB3 p.258
Todd Brotherton Tim Olsen
▪ Olsen is the leader of the Guild, though he would strongly resist being called the boss. Sometimes it seems that people are led to where they can best serve, regardless of the path they might have chosen for themselves. Tim doesn’t make instruments any more, but through the GAL he shines a light upon all of us who do. This interview is proof that, often, people are even more interesting than you suspect. Mentions Deb Olsen, Bon Henderson, J.R. Beall, Bob Petrulis, Leo Bidne, Harvey Thomas.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1992
AL#32 p.30
Staff
▪ This convention flashback offers 3 group photos and a description of all the conventions squeezed into a paragraph apiece.
1992
AL#31 p.7 BRB3 p.203
Jose Romanillos
▪ Romanillos co-authored the catalog for the Exhibition of Spanish Guitars in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and he asks that R. E. Brune elucidate upon his statement that the catalog contained inaccuracies (AL#29).
1992
AL#31 p.7 BRB3 p.203
R.E. Brune
▪ Brune answers Romanillos letter, above.
1992
AL#31 p.8 BRB3 p.212 ALA3 p.44
R.E. Brune
▪ Brune visits with, measures, and draws Segovia’s most famous guitar. The plans offered are a reduced version of GAL full-scale Plan #33. Brune feels that the guitar misses the maestro. With 19 photos.
1992
AL#31 p.14 BRB3 p.218
Gavin Baird
▪ You can thin all your guitar wood on the drill press. Baird’s sander is perhaps as accurate as any. He claims control of the wood to within .001″.
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.21 BRB3 p.9 ALA3 p.48
R.E. Brune
▪ A full-scale instrument plan. See the GAL website for a low-rez preview.
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#31 p.30 BRB3 p.224 read this article
John Decker
▪ This alternative to wood is outside the reach of most luthiers. It’s interesting to know how hard some are working to make graphite sound like wood. Graphite might have its own sound to offer, but once again inventors have to deal with what humans are used to, rather than with what they might have if they were more open minded. With 7 photos.
1992
AL#31 p.34
Staff
▪ Journeyed to South Dakota with 300 fanatics to talk instruments. This is a quick wrap-up with 35 photos.
1992
AL#31 p.41
Staff
▪ The turnout at this convention was 65 builders and merchants.
1992
AL#31 p.45
Staff
▪ Mattingly was a super-supporter of the Guild and of free information exchange. Donations to the GAL can be earmarked for this fund, which has been used to bring specific speakers and exhibitions to Guild conventions.
1992
AL#31 p.45
Gila Eban
▪ Eban salutes a man whose generosity helped many persons on their quest for the good life as luthiers.
1992
AL#31 p.50 HLC p.190
Robert Lundberg
▪ Lundberg makes the pegs with a tiny machinist’s lathe. With 25 step-by-step photos and detailed captions. This series ran for 19 installments in American Lutherie and has been collected into our hardback book Historical Lute Construction.
1992
AL#31 p.46 HLC p.206
Robert Lundberg
▪ The pegbox is attached to the neck. With 16 step-by-step photos and detailed captions. This series ran for 19 installments in American Lutherie and has been collected into our hardback book Historical Lute Construction.
1992
AL#31 p.55 BRB3 p.237 read this article
John Bromka
▪ Bromka examines a French member of the lap dulcimer family. With 2 photos.
1992
AL#31 p.56
Tim Olsen
▪ A world-renowned luthier decides to make strings his own way.
1992
AL#31 p.57 BRB3 p.486
Ake Bjornstad
▪ Short bladed fretsaws for cleaning or widening fret slots.
1992
AL#31 p.57 BRB3 p.489
Colin Kaminski
▪ Replacing fret nippers chipped while cutting strings.
1992
AL#31 p.57 BRB3 p.487
Dale Randall
▪ Problems with burned out speed controls and bearings in the Dremel Moto-Tool.
1992
AL#30 p.44 BRB3 p.204 read this article
Tim Earls
▪ Multiple radius fingerboards revisited. Also called conical fretboards. Earls strives to put the design process into the hands of Joe Guitar maker using “barnyard” geometry. Seems to work. The article also contains a description of the Warmoth multiradius fretboard, which has become sort of the industry leader.
1992
AL#30 p.46 BRB3 p.210 read this article
Don Musser
▪ Musser tries to get the guitar to play in tune with itself by laying out the frets for just intonation, rather than equal temperament. Interchangeable fretboards allow the changing of keys and tunings. Pretty interesting, and the new fret pattern looks very bewildering and cool. Based on the work of Mark Rankin.
1992
AL#30 p.48 BRB3 p.485
Mark Tierney
▪ An easy to make jig with a wide jawed woodworkers vise to work down the edges of thin strips of veneer or laminated binding.
1992
AL#30 p.48 BRB3 p.484
Dorothy Carlson
▪ Four quick tips for violin family repair work.
1992
AL#30 p.48 BRB3 p.484
Jonathon Peterson
▪ Bending back a bridge rather than replacing it for a reset.
1992
AL#30 p.49 BRB3 p.485
Tom Ribbecke
▪ Eliminating bubbles that form in the finish when spraying lacquer on rosewood.
1992
AL#30 p.49 BRB3 p.486
Richard Echeverria
▪ A gadget for gluing loose back braces inside acoustic guitars.
1992
AL#30 p.49 BRB3 p.486
Ed Margerum
▪ A mill used for rock polishing as an easy, safe, time saving way to dissolve resins and mix varnishes.
1992
AL#30 p.49 BRB3 p.486
Robert Steinegger
▪ Getting a nice clean splice when binding a guitar body with ivoroid plastic strips using solvent-based glue.
1992
AL#30 p.49 BRB3 p.485
Jeffrey-R. Elliott
▪ Reducing cleanup after using a handheld power buffer with liquid buffing compound on the wool pad.
1992
AL#30 p.49 BRB3 p.486
Robert Steinegger
▪ Freeing up tool shelf space with Velcro attachments.
1992
AL#30 p.49 BRB3 p.486
Richard Echeverria
▪ Repairing a crack in a D-28.
1992
AL#30 p.51 BRB3 p.426 read this article
Rick Turner
▪ Turner explains how to help quiet a buzzy Silvertone, quick-check pickup phase, and the different characteristics of high and low impedance pickups.
1992
AL#30 p.52 BRB3 p.435
Harry Fleishman
▪ Fleishman wrings out the line of Mini-flex guitar mikes and finds them wanting. He also tries out the Radio Shack electret condenser mike #33-1063 and likes it.
1992
AL#30 p.54 BRB3 p.446 read this article
Michael Darnton
▪ Darnton examines the use of various woods for tuning pegs, discusses the differences among Italian, German, French, and English methods of building fiddles, runs down a list of violin societies, and dismisses the use of supplier-prepared violin varnishes.
1992
AL#30 p.56 BRB3 p.469
Curt Carpenter
▪ The reviewer is disappointed in the chapters about pickup making. The rest of the book is hard to follow and perhaps too deep for beginning luthiers. The book does offer food for thought, but should be used in conjunction with other references.
1992
AL#30 p.56 BRB3 p.469 read this article
Lloyd Zsiros
▪ The reviewer finds that although the book offers no information on playing or building guitars, it is otherwise an excellent resource and a pleasure to read. The photos are excellent and the book covers a lot of ground.
1992
AL#30 p.58
Tom Ellis
▪ Clarifying data of GAL plan #22, Lloyd Loar Gibson F-5 mandolin drawn by Ted Davis.
1992
AL#30 p.58 BRB3 p.473
Steve Banchero
▪ Pressing out sunken mandolin tops.
1992
AL#30 p.59 BRB3 p.474
Richard Keldson
▪ Suppliers of original or reproduction ivoroid friction pegs for 5-string banjos.
1992
AL#29 p.56 BRB3 p.483
Michael Darnton
▪ Clean your dirty Levis with a scrub brush while wearing them in the shower. Really.
1992
AL#29 p.57 BRB3 p.483
Jurgen Goering
▪ Fish glue does not have to be heated and dries light brown and glass hard.
1992
AL#29 p.57 BRB3 p.484
Tim Earls
▪ Variation on a modified clothespin clamp. The original was submitted in 1980 by Bruce Scotten and appears on page 26 of Lutherie Tools.
1992
AL#29 p.57 BRB3 p.484
Robert Steinegger
▪ A lining clamp made from a modified clothespin.
1992
AL#29 p.57 BRB3 p.484
Jurgen Goering
▪ Get free ivory from piano repair shops. They may have cast-off ivories from key tops replaced by plastic.
1992
AL#29 p.57 BRB3 p.484
Richard Echeverria
▪ Fixing the common problem encountered with the Gibson style ABR and Schaller Nashville tune-o-matic guitar bridge: they collapse.
1992
AL#29 p.57 BRB3 p.485 read this article
Gerhart Schmeltekopf
▪ Rigging up a temporary reciprocating or ‘pole’ lathe.
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#29 p.59 BRB3 p.468 read this article
Lloyd Zsiros
▪ The reviewer likes this video at first, but after repeated viewing finds it comes up short. If you have all the books and still can’t get motivated, perhaps this tape will help.
1992
AL#29 p.60 BRB3 p.446 read this article
Michael Darnton
▪ Darnton sheds light on asymmetrically graduated violin tops, natural drying vs. UV drying of varnish, and the market in Baroque fiddles.
1992
AL#29 p.62 BRB3 p.434
Harry Fleishman
▪ Harry reviews the Acoustech Dynamic Field Pickup.
1992
AL#30 p.3 read this article
Lloyd Zsiros
▪ These are the boards left over from commercial veneer slicing. Still some good wood in there.
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#30 p.6 BRB3 p.196 ALA4 p.20
Paul Hostetter
▪ AL is one of the few available resources that examines the foreign instrument scene in any detail. Hostetter’s chief interest lies in the Selmer Django guitars designed by Maccaferri, but he peeks into every nook that offers a glimpse of strange instruments. Along the way he meets Francois Charle and Maurice Dupont. With 5 photos of Selmers.
1992
AL#30 p.7 BRB3 p.197 ALA4 p.21
Francois Charle Paul Hostetter
▪ Get the straight skinny about Maccaferri/Selmer guitars from a French expert.
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#30 p.16 BRB3 p.136 read this article
Alan Carruth
▪ Accessibility and usefulness are the keys to this segment of Carruth’s study. He addresses the archtop, flattop, and classical guitars, and even builds a flattop out of oak to compare its tuning modes to conventional tonewoods. With many mode diagrams and plate graduation charts. Too many scientific studies leave the luthier asking, “So what do you want me to do?” Carruth offers some real-world suggestions. Parts One and Two were in AL#28 and AL#29.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.
1992
AL#30 p.28 HLC p.178
Robert Lundberg
▪ Making and veneering the tapered pegbox. With 50 step-by-step photos and detailed captions.photos. This series ran for 19 installments in American Lutherie and has been collected into our hardback book Historical Lute Construction.
1992
AL#30 p.40 BRB3 p.206 ALA5 p.18
Jonathon Peterson Richard Schneider
▪ Many still have doubts about the merits of the Kasha versions of the classical guitar, but no one questions Schneider’s reputation as a masterful creator of instruments. This interview focuses on his time spent in Mexico learning the trade from Juan Pimentel.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.
1991
AL#28 p.58 BRB3 p.479
John Kitakis
▪ Solving the issue of burrowing string balls which eat their way through bridge plates.
1991
AL#28 p.59
Rick Turner
▪ An epoxy specifically formulated for use on tropical hardwoods.
1991
AL#28 p.59 BRB3 p.482
Fabio Ragghianti
▪ Universal instrument holder using a Klemsia clamp.
1991
AL#28 p.59 BRB3 p.483
Richard Echeverria
▪ An attachment rigged up for vacuuming inside flattop and archtop guitars.
1991
AL#28 p.59 read this article
David Riggs
▪ A luthier volunteers for the space program in this humorous piece.
1991
AL#28 p.60 BRB3 p.466 read this article
Gary Frisbie
▪ Books from the 70s written by an Englishman and intended to provide a wealth of info on Gibson guitars built from 1950 to the end of the 70s. Book 1 covers all the major lines of solidbody and hollowbody electrics, jazz and flattop acoustics. Book 2 covers omissions and inaccuracies in book 1, plus Epiphones, Kalamazoos, and Dwight guitars
1992
AL#29 p.4
C.F. Casey
▪ WARP planned to preserve tropicals forests by working with indignous people.
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.
1992
AL#29 p.10 HLC p.162
Robert Lundberg
▪ The points are inlaid into the top, and the fingerboard is attached to the neck. The process is shown for both veneered necks and plain necks. With 40 step-by-step photos and detailed captions. This series ran for 19 installments in American Lutherie and has been collected into our hardback book Historical Lute Construction. This article is listed twice due to differences between the magazine series and the final form of the book.
1992
AL#29 p.15 HLC p.172
Robert Lundberg
▪ The half binding is made and let into the soundboard edge. With 24 step-by-step photos and detailed captions. This series ran for 19 installments in American Lutherie and has been collected into our hardback book Historical Lute Construction.
1992
AL#29 p.20 BRB3 p.178 ALA6 p.10
Jonathon Peterson
▪ Most people who even knew what one was thought of the harp guitar as a less-than-useless dinosaur. Then came Michael Hedges. Peterson looks back at a strange instrument whose best music might just lie in the future. With 49 photos and a number of good drawings. Mentions Torres, Hauser I, Scherzer, Staufer, Mozzani, Gibson, Knutsen, Martin, and so on.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.
1992
AL#29 p.34 BRB3 p.192 ALA6 p.27
Todd Brotherton
▪ This is the guitar into which Michael Hedges breathed new life. A full-scale instrument plan. See the GAL website for a low-rez preview.
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.
1992
AL#29 p.42 BRB3 p.136 read this article
Alan Carruth
▪ Carruth tries to keep it light as he describes the glitter dances that should improve your violins, and even sheds light on cello plate tuning. If you feel threatened by the dryness of science just relax and give it a try. Carruth is on your side. Really. With a whole bunch of drawings. Part One was in AL#28. Part Three follows in AL#30. The entire series appears in BRB3.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1992
AL#29 p.53 BRB3 p.473
John Sullivan
▪ How to get it to play in tune.
1992
AL#29 p.54 BRB3 p.426 read this article
Rick Turner
▪ A new column is born. What is pickup phase and polarity? Why do positions 2 and 4 on a 5-way Strat switch sound funky? Turner knows and tells all.
1992
AL#29 p.56 BRB3 p.480
Bill Garofalo
▪ Soaking guitars sides without resorting to vats and trays, using a piece of 4″ plastic pipe with a capped end, secured vertically to a wall or cabinet.
1992
AL#29 p.56 BRB3 p.480
Tim Earls
▪ Painting your pegboard completely white for better lighting.
1992
AL#29 p.56 BRB3 p.483
Nick Blanton
▪ Addressing two problems that can plague Dremel Tools: loose bearings, and an insecure mount in the housing.
1992
AL#29 p.56 BRB3 p.483
Bill Garofalo
▪ A bent metal sheild for cutting fret slots. Use a modified backsaw.
1991
AL#27 p.56 BRB3 p.446 read this article
Michael Darnton
▪ Darnton explains how to disassemble a fiddle, and the effects of soundhole size on violin performance.
1991
AL#27 p.58 BRB3 p.479
Chris Foss
▪ A barbaric, easy way to keep scrapers sharp.
1991
AL#27 p.58 BRB3 p.478
Phillip Lea
▪ When making plexiglas templates, use a scraper with no hook to smooth the edges.
1991
AL#27 p.58 BRB3 p.481
Gerhart Schmeltekopf
▪ A metric or letter bit is just the thing to make a hole just a tad larger or smaller.
1991
AL#27 p.58
Phillip Lea
▪ Gluing kerfed lining with small and cheap binder clips.
1991
AL#27 p.60 BRB3 p.465 read this article
Kevin Kobie
▪ The reviewer finds that this book is a well-written, useful reference about all Fender guitars.
1991
AL#27 p.60 BRB3 p.465 read this article
C.F. Casey
▪ The reviewer finds this book to be mostly a rehash of Irving Sloane’s Classic Guitar Construction.
1991
AL#28 p.6
Ervin Somogyi
▪ Somogyi lost his home and shop in the Oakland Hills fire of 1991.
1991
AL#28 p.6
Chuck Shifflett
▪ Shifflett reccomends the lutherie course taught by Michael Dunn at Douglas College in New Westminster, BC.
1991
AL#28 p.8 HLC p.156
Robert Lundberg
▪ The top is glued to the bowl and trimmed. With 19 step-by-step photos and detailed captions. This series ran for 19 installments in American Lutherie and has been collected into our hardback book Historical Lute Construction.
1991
AL#28 p.15 HLC p.162
Robert Lundberg
▪ The points are inlaid into the top, and the fingerboard is attached to the neck. The process is shown for both veneered necks and plain necks. With 40 step-by-step photos and detailed captions. This series ran for 19 installments in American Lutherie and has been collected into our hardback book Historical Lute Construction.
1991
AL#28 p.18 BRB3 p.136 read this article
Alan Carruth
▪ Most acoustic scientists are not prepared to reduce their work to a plane-by-the-numbers chart of an instrument top.Neither is Carruth. It remains to be seen what improvements free plate tuning will offer to the average guitar, but there is every chance that luthiers who ignore the work as an inartistic invasion of their craft and art will be left in the dust. Carruth invites you to get on board right now. Parts Two and Three are in AL#29 and AL#30. The entire series apperas together in BRB3.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.
1991
AL#28 p.32 read this article
Ralph Novak
▪ If you build instruments for money you should learn about running a business. Novak relates his good experiences at a college workshop for entrepreneurs.
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#28 p.46 BRB3 p.75
Al Stancel
▪ A master fiddle surgeon explains a common operation. With 11 drawings to help guide you through the procedure.
1991
AL#28 p.51 BRB3 p.124 read this article
Jonathon Peterson Michael Darnton
▪ Peterson gives us the biographical scoop on American Lutherie’s Violin Q&A man.
1991
AL#28 p.54 BRB3 p.472
Roger Siminoff
▪ Thickness graduations of F-5 mandolin tops.
1991
AL#28 p.56 BRB3 p.446 read this article
Michael Darnton
▪ Why are bridges always made of maple? Why do fiddles have points? How does one tune a fingerboard? Do epoxy or superglue have any accepted uses on the violin? Darnton furnishes answers.
1991
AL#28 p.58 BRB3 p.478
Ralph Novak
▪ Making multiple Xerox copies of line art when inlaying pearl ‘pictures’.
1991
AL#28 p.58 BRB3 p.480
Richard Echeverria
▪ This modification provides a smoother trem action to reduce friction and improve sustain.
1991
AL#26 p.42 BRB3 p.32 read this article
Cyndy Burton Donald Warnock
▪ It’s wonderful that this interview is in the same issue as interviews with Larrivee and Warmoth, since they are opposites. The first two are sort of factory moguls, and Warnock is the gentlemanly craftsman/artist. All have forged a successful life on their own terms, and the contrast is delicious.
1991
AL#26 p.47 BRB3 p.477
Keith Davis
▪ Here’s the premise: build a boatload of one-string noisemakers and give them away. Inspire kids to make music. Take a tax break.
1991
AL#26 p.48 BRB3 p.56
Jonathon Peterson
▪ Brandt owns a luthiers co-op, and finds it makes more sense and money than four men running their own separate shops do. He’s got the lowdown on keeping records, using time efficiently, sharing labor, hiring a front man, and turning over work quickly. Lots of business hints and tips for any luthier, regardless of your position.
1991
AL#26 p.52 BRB3 p.446 read this article
Michael Darnton
▪ Darnton discusses wolf tones, the life span of new fiddles, and why lacquer is never used on a violin.
1991
AL#26 p.54 BRB3 p.472
Kent Rayman
▪ Building an electric solidbody standing bass similar to the Clevinger upright electric bass.
1991
AL#26 p.54
Topher Gayle
▪ The Pakistani dulcimer has 7 strings, 2 level plastic nut, and numbers over hurdygurdy type keys.
1991
AL#26 p.57 BRB3 p.479
Chris Brandt
▪ A simple clamping caul to use in conjunction with rubber straps to clamp frets down.
1991
AL#26 p.57 BRB3 p.476
David Riggs
▪ Sources of various instructional materials for archtop guitar construction.
1991
AL#26 p.58 BRB3 p.463 read this article
Manny Bettencourt
▪ The reviewer finds that this book is an invaluable resource for the professional repairman and will let the amateur evaluate a potential repair and decide whether or not he has the skill to tackle it.
1991
AL#26 p.58 BRB3 p.463 read this article
David Riggs
▪ The reviewer finds that this book offers good, solid instruction to the person building their first guitar.
1991
AL#26 p.59 BRB3 p.464 read this article
Harry Fleishman
▪ The reviewer admires the beauty of the book’s photography, but seems hesitant to recommend it since so little of it is dedicated to musical instruments.
1991
AL#26 p.60 BRB3 p.464 read this article
C.F. Casey
▪ This British D.I.Y. book offers alternative diction, syntax, and approach to the material.
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#27 p.26 BRB3 p.100 read this article
James Flynn
▪ This instrument is a unique and graceful-looking Russian folk psaltery, a sophisticated version of the lap harp grade schoolers play by sliding numbered sheet music under the strings.
1991
AL#27 p.32 BRB3 p.106
James Flynn
▪ A full-scale instrument plan. See the GAL website for a low-rez preview.
1991
AL#27 p.34 BRB3 p.108 read this article
Ronald-Louis Fernandez
▪ This instrument is a lovely looking cittern, sort of a big mandolin with 12 strings. The traditional tuners are unique, compact, and distinctly ungraceful, but they allow—indeed, encourage—the use of a wonderfully distinctive headstock. With 16 photos.
1991
AL#27 p.46 BRB3 p.118
Joseph-R. Johnson Hideo Kamimoto
▪ The famous repairman/author discusses his book, his history as a luthier, and his expectations for his own future.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1991
AL#27 p.51
Michael Darnton
▪ This is a humorous photo of some specialized clamps developed by Condit for violin repair.
1991
AL#27 p.52 BRB3 p.122 ALA5 p.21
Jonathon Peterson
▪ Richard Schneider discusses his current work at “the most beautifully situated guitar shop in the world.” The Kasha influence upon the classical guitar keeps evolving in the hands of this masterful builder/teacher.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1991
AL#27 p.54
Cyndy Burton
▪ A revised, verified, but by no means complete list of lutherie schools and a resource list of organizations and journals which have useful information for instrument makers.
1991
AL#26 p.5 BRB3 p.42 read this article
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.13 BRB3 p.480
Dale Randall
▪ Go fishing for your soundposts. Land them perfectly. This is a soundpost setter unlike any other. Really.
1991
AL#26 p.14 BRB3 p.46
Dan Erlewine Herb David
▪ It’s tough to be in business and stay successful. It’s really tough to stay in business and keep having fun, too. Herb David tells how he runs his business, builds a few instruments, stays in shape, has fun. Here’s the last line of his personal prayer: “Deliver me from temptation but keep me in touch.” You gotta love the guy. Mentions Sam Varjebedian and Terry Horvath.
1991
AL#26 p.22 BRB3 p.72 read this article
Rick Turner
▪ Time management advise from a guy who has done a lot of business.
1991
AL#26 p.25 BRB3 p.478
Dale Randall
▪ Randall explains how to make it, but not what it’s for.
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.50 BRB3 p.29
Jim Merrill Bill Colgan
▪ This repair involves removing part of the fingerboard and sinking support splines from the top of the instrument, rather than from the back.
1991
AL#25 p.52 BRB3 p.30 read this article
Michael Keller
▪ Silicon heat blankets are good for more than bending sides. Keller touches upon other uses, but his instructions for making forms and putting them to use is the focus here, and they cover about all you need to know. Once you have the blanket, the forms are cheap to make.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1991
AL#25 p.55 BRB3 p.477
C.F. Casey
▪ Sports glasses, such as those worn by squash players, are an improvement on regular safety glasses.
1991
AL#25 p.55 BRB3 p.477
Dale Randall
▪ A fret crowning file that cannot possibly scratch the fretboard.
1991
AL#25 p.55 BRB3 p.477
Al Stancel
▪ How Casa Del Sol Violins solves the violin bow hair storage problem.
1991
AL#25 p.56 BRB3 p.446 read this article
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.59 read this article
John Decker
▪ Guitarron strings are available from Pimentel Guitars.
1991
AL#25 p.59 read this article
John Kitakis
▪ Unified repair price list including bridge reglue, bone nut or saddle, refret, dress frets, cracks, and refinishing.
1991
AL#25 p.59
Cyndy Burton
▪ Info on Gibson scale lengths and purfling cutters.
1991
AL#25 p.60 BRB3 p.462 read this article
David Riggs
▪ A useful how-to book with clear, concise directions on bow making and other lutherie practices.
1991
AL#26 p.2
Robert-Z. Miller
▪ Gault was a violinmaker who passed away at age 82. His friend and student salutes him.
1991
AL#26 p.3 read this article
John Calkin
▪ When his Dremel died, he got a Bosch laminate trimmer to replace it. He loves the Bosch and does not miss the Dremel.
1990
LT p.84
Tim Olsen
▪ Use plexiglas to clean sanding drums.
1990
LT p.84
J.D. Mackenzie
▪ Recommends a glue for adhering sandpaper to sanding drums.
1990
LT p.90
Tim Olsen
▪ Hinged fence cuts accurate curved pieces.
1990
LT p.114
Steve Andersen Chris Brandt R.E. Brune Ted Davis Jeffrey R. Elliott James Flynn Bob Gleason Hideo Kamimoto Robert Lundberg Frederick C. Lyman Jr. John Monteleone Robert Ruck Richard Schneider Ervin Somogyi Al Stancel Robert Steinegger Janet Toon
▪ Seventeen established luthiers were asked to list ten hand tools, five power tools, and five supplies used as tools. This info was used to determine the most essential tools, including specifics, model and size, source, and any special uses.
1991
AL#25 p.3 read this article
James Flynn
▪ Flynn reports that improving U.S. relations with Russia are a good thing for balalaika and domra players.
1991
AL#25 p.4
Cyndy Burton Jeffrey-R. Elliott
▪ Fan braces in the famous Segovia Hauser guitar are trimmed in a particular way.
1991
AL#25 p.4 read this article
John Calkin
▪ Wood is not magic. It is wood. Widen your view of what would be suitable material for your next guitar.
1991
AL#25 p.5 BRB3 p.505 read this article
Chris Hanlin
▪ Announcing the passing of luthier and mentor Bob Mattingly.
1991
AL#25 p.6 BRB3 p.16
Steve Banchero David Freeman Larry Kirmser David Vincent Donald Warnock
▪ A panel of lutherie teachers talks it over at the 1990 GAL Convention.
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.
1991
AL#25 p.21 BRB3 p.482
C.F. Casey
▪ This is one way to make a rosette when you are tired of simple circle patterns.
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.
1991
AL#25 p.32 BRB3 p.12
Kevin Aram
▪ A full-scale instrument plan. See the GAL website for a low-rez preview.
1991
AL#25 p.34
Phillip Lea
▪ Lea offers the lowdown on an important regional instrument show.
1991
AL#25 p.36 BRB3 p.13
Tim Olsen Dan Erlewine
▪ Is there any doubt that Erlewine is the world’s best-known guitar fixer? He’s also a heck of a nice guy. Editor Olsen nailed Erlewine’s feet to the floor long enough to answer a few questions. With 4 neat snapshots. Mentions Herb David, Mike Bloomfield.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1991
AL#25 p.40 BRB3 p.476
Peter Schaefer
▪ Schaefer’s tool will give you control over the skinniest pieces of wood that go into your instrument.
1991
AL#25 p.42 BRB3 p.22 read this article
Michael Darnton
▪ Why are some fiddles worth so much? Which ones might you find that will provide good investments? Which sleepers should you look for if you want a really good inexpensive violin for playing? Darnton doesn’t offer the last word, but his advice is worth heeding. Mentions Stradivari, Guarnari.
1991
AL#25 p.44 BRB3 p.26
Jonathon Peterson George Gorodnitsky
▪ A Russian luthier moves to L.A. and shows up in Tacoma. He was trained in violins and moved on to electric guitars. This is what it was like, rockin’ in the USSR.
1991
AL#25 p.47 BRB3 p.28 read this article
George Gorodnitsky
▪ Gorodnitski fled Russia for an unknown fate in the USA. This article is only one column long, but it’s pretty striking. You may never think the same way about the Rose Parade again.
1991
AL#25 p.48 BRB3 p.24
Bill Colgan Greg Bernd
▪ Like many of his generation, eighty-year-old Summerfield led a hard life. He didn’t turn to professional instrument making until he reached what many would call old age, but after that he didn’t waste any time. There’s quite a few Seth Summerfields out there, and their story is always a good one.
1990
AL#24 p.57 BRB2 p.478
Trevel Sofge
▪ A tool made from a chunk of snare drum head for crowning frets to avoid having to cover the fretboard with tape.
1990
AL#24 p.57 BRB2 p.478
John Kitakis
▪ A simple lamp/heater system utilizing a cheap spring arm lamp.
1990
AL#24 p.59 BRB2 p.485
Bob Zatzman Jim Morris Ralph Novak Matt Umanov Ron Lira
▪ Wiring information for electric guitars.
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
LT p.22
Dale Brotherton
▪ Traditionally-trained woodworker offers an understanding of the stones and how they are used.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1990
LT p.38
Dave Flager
▪ A wooden shaft supports the clamp.
1990
LT p.79
Ted Davis
▪ Official-looking 18″ power-feed shop-made sander requires no welding or machine shop work.
1990
LT p.83
Dave Flager
▪ A table to mount a portable belt sander on edge.
1990
LT p.84
Rich Westerman
▪ A source of quality cloth-backed abrasive rolls, and a belt cleaning material.
1990
LT p.84
Tom Peterson
▪ Spraying with silicone lubricant can extend the life of power abrasives.
1990
AL#23 p.54 BRB2 p.420
Gabriel Petric
▪ AL #23 takes its second glimpse at instrument making in a strange land and finds that the concerns of luthiers are the same the world over. With 7 photos.
1990
AL#23 p.57 BRB2 p.503
David Riggs
▪ Riggs used Siminoff’s F-model book to build an A-model mandolin. His review offers building tips from his own experiences, as well as recommendations for changes in the book.
1990
AL#23 p.58 BRB2 p.429
C.F. Casey
▪ Make your own laminated maple c-clamps.
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#23 p.60 BRB2 p.485
Christopher Allworth C.F. Casey
▪ The Ashmolean Museum (Oxford, England) has available working drawings of a 1641 guitar by Rene Voboam, including details of construction of the parchment rose.
1990
AL#24 p.4
Marc Silber
▪ Silber fills in some info on the lower-pitched members of the mandolin orchestra.
1990
AL#24 p.5 read this article
John Calkin
▪ Calkin warns about being too precious about making a first guitar from fine wood. He says grab any old wood and build a mountain dulcimer.
1990
AL#24 p.6 BRB2 p.422
Steve Andersen Steve Grimes Ted Beringer Jonathon Peterson
▪ This informal roundtable discussion delves deeply into the background, influences, and work of three builders at a time when the archtop guitar was just coming into its own for the second time. With 7 photos.
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.25 BRB2 p.449
Michael Darnton
▪ Darnton’s contrivance marks the finished thickness on violin plates that have already been carved to within 1mm-2mm of final tolerances, and it is simple to make.
1990
AL#24 p.26 BRB2 p.465
Jonathon Peterson Ivo Pires
▪ America (and indeed, the world) is so deep with people who have had a meaningful life in some phase of lutherie that we should cease being surprised to discover an unknown person who has already racked up 30 or 40 years of experience. Pires is one of those folks, and his story is charming and illuminating. The cream seems to rise wherever it may be.
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.32 BRB2 p.430
Frederick-C. Lyman-Jr.
▪ This plan gives a half-scale drawing of the bass, plus a full-scale body outline.
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.40 HLC p.142
Robert Lundberg
▪ The neck blank has already been fitted to the bowl. Now it is shaped, veneered, and attached. With 49 photos and detailed captions. This series ran for 19 installments in American Lutherie and has been collected into our hardback book Historical Lute Construction.
1990
AL#24 p.54 BRB2 p.486
Michael Darnton
▪ Details include cooking varnish, finishing necks, causes of neck cracks, and adjusting a peg shaper to match your peg reamer.
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#24 p.57 BRB2 p.478
Gary Fish
▪ A small piece of bone to form a mini saddle to be placed under the B and E strings.
1990
AL#24 p.54 BRB2 p.498
Michael Darnton
▪ The blade of a peg shaper is adjustabel, which means it can go wrong. Take the time to adjust it perfectly.
1990
AL#22 p.34 BRB2 p.402
George Manno Hartley Peavey
▪ This is an interview with Hartley Peavey, whose manufacturing empire includes electric guitars, amplifiers, and other electronic gear for musicians. Topics include computerized manufacturing, offshore guitars, artist endorsements, and the Peavey business philosophy.
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#22 p.49 BRB2 p.484
David Freeman Ralph Novak
▪ Water base finishes are more labor intensive but the trade offs of health and fire hazard are worth it.
1990
AL#22 p.50
Alan Carruth
▪ Carruth is a champion and practitioner of acoustic science. Here, he defends his field against artistic criticism.
1990
AL#22 p.52
Staff
▪ This is an alphabetical (by topic), cross-referenced list of the first twenty issues of American Lutherie.
1990
AL#23 p.3
Curt Ames
▪ A member has an authentic S.S. Stewart instrument which combines the neck of a mandolin with the body of a small banjo.
1990
AL#23 p.8 BRB2 p.386
Gila Eban Dana Bourgeois
▪ This interview took place while Bourgeois was designing acoustic guitars for Paul Reed Smith, an enterprise that never came to fruition but which led to Bourgeois starting his own company in Maine. He talks about his early days as a luthier and his association with Eric Shoenberg.
1990
AL#23 p.12 BRB2 p.393
John Chipura
▪ This is a wood treatment shoot-out. Waterglass is a controversial ingredient in violin finishing. Chipura makes a case for using calcium silicate instead.
1990
AL#23 p.13 BRB2 p.413
Ralph Novak
▪ Novak finds a simple method of getting electric guitar pickups in phase.
1990
AL#23 p.14 BRB2 p.406
Jonathon Peterson
▪ Doan describes his collection of oddball zithers.
1990
AL#23 p.20 BRB2 p.398
Jonathon Peterson George-A. Smith
▪ Smith is a veteran builder of many instruments who prefers to specialize in guitars and harpsichords.
1990
AL#23 p.22 BRB2 p.486
Michael Darnton
▪ Topics include sharpening a peg reamer, dealing with fingerboard tearout, tailpiece setup, pitching the neck, and staining the bridges.
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#23 p.28 BRB2 p.411
James Hillier
▪ The kibangala is a seven string, four-course instrument carved from solid wood that utilizes a skin head. The plan is a shrunken version of our full-scale Plan #28.
1990
AL#23 p.30 BRB2 p.412
Gary Fish
▪ Fish converted a sewing machine to wrap bow handles.
1990
AL#23 p.34
Bon Henderson
▪ A short description of the major GAL event, spiced up with 36 photos.
1990
AL#23 p.39
Staff
▪ Sixty-seven builders and suppliers turn out to show their wares.
1990
AL#23 p.42 HLC p.130
Robert Lundberg
▪ In this segment Lundberg prepares the bowl for removal from the mold, fits the neck and the countercap, reinforces the ribs, and fits the belly to the bowl. Contains 22 step-by-step photos and captions. This series ran for 19 installments in American Lutherie and has been collected into our hardback book Historical Lute Construction.
1990
AL#23 p.48 HLC p.136
Robert Lundberg
▪ Fitting the many brace ends to the sides of the bowl and ensuring that the subtle topography of the soundboard will be right.With 21 photos and detailed captions. This series ran for 19 installments in American Lutherie and has been collected into our hardback book Historical Lute Construction.
1990
AL#22 p.4 BRB2 p.368
Otis-A. Tomas
▪ This Canadian luthier used the proportions of musical harmony to design his mando family. His instruments have carved tops and an arched back that utilizes five staves. Very pretty. With 3 photos and several drawings.
1990
AL#22 p.10 BRB2 p.372
R.E. Brune
▪ Brune maintains that strict definitions separating the classical and flamenco guitars were not formulated until the 1950s, before which they often shared many of the characteristics that now separate them.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1990
AL#22 p.15 BRB2 p.389
Don Teeter
▪ The guitar repair guru talks about setting up acoustic and electric guitars, installing truss rods in old instruments, superglues, saddle materials, and bridge designs.
1990
AL#22 p.18
John Larsen
▪ Larsen built his first guitar in 1950. His article describes the difficult road folks had to follow before the Information Age engulfed lutherie.
1990
AL#22 p.20 HLC p.122
Robert Lundberg
▪ In this episode Lundberg tunes the belly, or top, of the lute. The belly is already braced and the bridge is glued to it, but it is not yet attached to the bowl. Contains 21 photos, 3 diagrams, and detailed text. This series ran for 19 installments in American Lutherie and has been collected into our hardback book Historical Lute Construction.
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#22 p.29 BRB2 p.392
Cyndy Burton Nancy Conescu
▪ Conescu offers insight into the value of formal lutherie training. After violin making school she worked for years under the watchful eye of master repairmen and builders.
1990
AL#22 p.30
Francis Kosheleff
▪ Kosheleff offers more offbeat lutherie humor.
1990
AL#22 p.32 BRB2 p.486
Michael Darnton
▪ Darnton suggests the most basic reading list for those wishing to make their first violin.
1990
AL#22 p.32 BRB2 p.487
Michael Darnton
▪ How tight should a violin nut slot be?
1990
AL#22 p.32 BRB2 p.488
Michael Darnton
▪ Does a fiddle’s fingerboard need relief? Yes, and doing it right has an ellement of elegance that would not be obvious to a guitar maker.
1990
AL#22 p.32 BRB2 p.489
Michael Darnton
▪ About the angle of a fiddle bridge.
1990
AL#23 p.22 BRB2 p.490
Michael Darnton
▪ The ebony’s grain tore out a little when I planed it. Now what?
1990
AL#23 p.22 BRB2 p.491
Michael Darnton
▪ Yes, you can resharpen a peg reamer.
1990
AL#23 p.22 BRB2 p.492
Michael Darnton
▪ Tailgut length is important because it controls string afterlength.
1990
AL#23 p.22 BRB2 p.493
Michael Darnton
▪ Getting the height and pitch of the neck right is not entirely straightforward. Here’s how to think about it.
1990
AL#23 p.22 BRB2 p.494
Michael Darnton
▪ A new bridge on an old fiddle is too darn white. Here’s a recipe for a stain to spray on it.
1990
AL#24 p.54 BRB2 p.495
Michael Darnton
▪ When you are cooking violin varnish, how much smoke is enough? And how much is too much? BTW, if it explodes in flames, you went too far.
1990
AL#24 p.54 BRB2 p.496
Michael Darnton
▪ Kids break fiddles. And when they do, it is usually the neck broken off at the heel.
1990
AL#24 p.54 BRB2 p.497
Michael Darnton
▪ The neck of a fiddle looks bare. Usually it’s got some linseed oil or some shellac on it.
1989
AL#20 p.58 BRB2 p.483
Cyndy Burton
▪ History, context, and precedent for the spelling of ‘lutherie’.
1989
AL#20 p.59 BRB2 p.483
Ronald-Louis Fernandez
▪ Obtaining a Portuguese Guitarra and viola, the instruments of fado and Portuguese folk music.
1989
AL#20 p.60
Todd Taggart
▪ Obtaining manmade materials suitable for fretboards and bridges and possible health hazards thereof.
1989
AL#20 p.63
Francis Kosheleff
▪ An account of the 1989 California earthquake and its effect on the lutherie community.
1990
AL#21 p.8 BRB2 p.346
Jose Romanillos
▪ A dedicated person lives a life of joy and frustration. Finding a suitable balance is the tough part. Romanillos aims his thought at the guitar and strikes a much larger target.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
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.14 BRB2 p.364
Ralph Novak
▪ Novak’s patented fretboard uses slanted frets that alter the scale length from string to string, growing longer toward the bass side. He lists a series of improvements over the normal fretboard.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1990
AL#21 p.15 BRB2 p.365
John Bromka
▪ It seems that some 17th century Elizabethan luthiers beat Novak to the punch with a multiple-scale fretboard.
1990
AL#21 p.16 HLC p.110
Robert Lundberg
▪ Lundberg makes the bridge and glues it to the braced top. Contains 49 step-by-step photos and detailed captions, plus 7 diagrams. This series ran for 19 installments in American Lutherie and has been collected into our hardback book Historical Lute Construction.
1990
AL#21 p.31 read this article
Ed Beylerian
▪ Luthiers try lute molds of a new synthetic material. Its stability is pleasing but its strength may make it of limited use for some.
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.35 BRB2 p.311
Louis-“Buddy” Hale Michael-H. Price
▪ The GAL’s own comic book hero signs off. Parts One and Two were printed in AL #19 and AL#20.
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.
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#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.
1990
AL#21 p.58
Tim Olsen
▪ Refer to data sheet 280 for information on neutralizing the residues of paint strippers.
1990
AL#21 p.59 read this article
Bob Banghart
▪ Lutherie humor. We’ve heard of guitars in a museum, but a museum inside a guitar?
1990
AL#21 p.60 BRB2 p.500
Steve Newberry
▪ A collection of outstanding papers from the literature of acoustical physics.
1990
AL#22 p.3
Ralph Novak
▪ An old Harmony guitar may not be a wonderful instrument, but it is well worth rebuilding.
1989
AL#19 p.58 BRB2 p.482
Willis Groth
▪ A Japanese produced cast iron induction hotplate for cooking varnish.
1989
AL#19 p.58
Mike Markure
▪ Except on vintage Ovations, if a top is cracked a whole new body is made rather than replacing the top.
1989
AL#19 p.59 BRB2 p.479
Francis Kosheleff
▪ Got a movable bridge instrument with ladder-style bracing? Want to try a bridge design that might offer an improvement in tone? Kosheleff has an idea you should look at.
1989
AL#19 p.61
Francis Kosheleff
▪ The well known fact that domestic animals abandoned in the forest will revert to their ancestral state, as applied to stringed instruments.
1989
AL#20 p.5
R.H. Kessler
▪ The metric scales on early production Ibex fret rules are off.
1989
AL#20 p.5 BRB2 p.345
Michael Darnton
▪ Darnton adds information to Olsen’s article about Stradivari in AL#17.
1989
AL#20 p.6 read this article
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#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#20 p.20 BRB2 p.318
Dale Randall
▪ Randall lines the entire guitar back with plexiglas mirrors while working inside the body. Looks like a fine idea.
1989
AL#20 p.21 BRB2 p.319
Jonathon Peterson
▪ William McCaw is a builder in pursuit of the $1000, high quality classical guitar.
1989
AL#20 p.22 BRB2 p.320
James Rickard
▪ Life inside the D’Addario company. With 25 photos and 3 drawings.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1989
AL#20 p.32 BRB2 p.330
Jeffrey-R. Elliott Jonathon Peterson
▪ The 6 tools are: a guitar cradle, a grimel (hand purfling cutter), a hand circle cutter, a shooting board, a circle cutting jig for the Dremel tool, and water stones for tool sharpening.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1989
AL#20 p.38 BRB2 p.338
Jonathon Peterson
▪ Marshall is a builder of bass fiddles.
1989
AL#20 p.40 HLC p.94
Robert Lundberg
▪ Lundberg makes a complete lute top including carving the rose and bracing the soundboard. Contains 57 photos and 6 diagrams with detailed captions. This series ran for 19 installments in American Lutherie and has been collected into our hardback book Historical Lute Construction.
1989
AL#20 p.55 BRB2 p.310
Louis-“Buddy” Hale Michael-H. Price
▪ The informational comic strip continues. Part One was in AL #19. The final part follows in AL#21.
1989
AL#20 p.56 BRB2 p.500
James Flynn
▪ The reviewer bubbles with enthusiasm for this book.
1989
AL#20 p.56 read this article
Francis Kosheleff
▪ The reviewer finds this little Canadian magazine put out by a lutherie school to be “interesting but not too deep.”
1989
AL#20 p.58 BRB2 p.482
J.G. Molnar Marc Silber
▪ Cantos work was primitive but his materials good; the flamencos being of real Spanish cypress with fairly good spruce tops.
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
Cyndy Burton
▪ Water based lacquers are too thin and run, and streak according to the answerers.
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.3
Brett Borton
▪ Borton sends 2 photos updating his work on crank tops (American Lutherie #17), and an X brace substitute.
1989
AL#19 p.5 BRB2 p.221
Arnold-M.J. Hennig
▪ Hennig gives advice about removing guitar bridges with a sharpened putty knife. He also laments the fact that popular opinion believes that guitars, unlike violins, have a “shelf life,” and as a result are often eventually neglected rather than repaired.
1989
AL#19 p.5 read this article
Anthony-D. Blokzyi
▪ Blokzyi furnishes a description of the Gittler guitar, an all stainless steel, skeletonized instrument.
1989
AL#19 p.6 HLC p.80
Robert Lundberg
▪ Construction of the lute bowl. Detailed captions to 57 step-by-step, how-to photos. This series ran for 19 installments in American Lutherie and has been collected into our hardback book Historical Lute Construction.
1989
AL#19 p.20 BRB2 p.239
Al Stancel
▪ Even experts in the violin field get burned now and then, and once in a blue moon they end up better off than they thought from a fiddle deal. Stancel offers true tales from both sides of the coin. Exactly what kinds of worms eat fiddles?
1989
AL#19 p.23 read this article
H.E. Huttig
▪ Farewell to a jazz guitarist/repairman.
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.32 BRB2 p.251
Anonymous
▪ A full-scale instrument plan. See the GAL website for a low-rez preview.
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#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.42 BRB2 p.296
Kent Everett
▪ Experience with fiberglass boat repair leads to a new method of fixing shattered headstocks. With 4 photos.
1989
AL#19 p.44 BRB2 p.300
Jonathon Peterson Ralph Rabin
▪ Rabin learned to make violins in Cremona, Italy. His description makes it sound like a wonderful way to learn.
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#19 p.51 BRB2 p.309
Louis-“Buddy” Hale Michael-H. Price
▪ American Lutherie tries an informational comic strip.Parts Two and Three follow in AL#20 and AL#21.
1989
AL#19 p.52 BRB2 p.312
Jonathon Peterson
▪ Peterson uses a cappuccino machine to steam the neck out of its joint, and wood shavings to rebuild the dovetail. In-depth text and 5 photos.
1989
AL#19 p.56 BRB2 p.496
Jeffrey-R. Elliott Cyndy Burton
▪ The reviewers find this book to be “a significant resource. . .densely packed with information both useful and interesting.” The evolution of the classical guitar, as described by Romanillos, should be of interest to all contemporary builders.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1989
AL#19 p.58 BRB2 p.482
Gary Fish
▪ Several techniques to accomplish a neat seam, trying to keep the glue off the surrounding finish.
1989
AL#17 p.55
Eric Sahlin
▪ Price ranges for handmade lutes.
1989
AL#17 p.55
Cyndy Burton
▪ Where to get HD plans? GAL, Elderly, Dulcimer Players News, and Robinson’s Harp Shop.
1989
AL#17 p.55
Cyndy Burton
▪ Refinishing ovations.
1989
AL#18 p.3
Danny McLean
▪ He mentions Kestral Tools of Lopez, Washington.
1989
AL#18 p.3
Rion Dudley
▪ Thoughts abut the value of braces running all the way to the sides.
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.11
Dale Randall
▪ Randall built a foot-operated mini-jack for regluing braces inside an instrument.
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.20 BRB2 p.222
Graham Caldersmith
▪ Caldersmith and the Canberra Guitar Ensemble work toward developing a series of classical guitars to match the range of the violin family.
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.30 BRB2 p.235
Ted Davis
▪ A full-scale instrument plan. See the GAL website for a low-rez preview. The article also offers a plan of the Virzi Tone Producer, a map of top and back thickness, and a page of recommendations for building new F-5s to original Gibson specs.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1989
AL#18 p.36 read this article
Frederick-C. Lyman-Jr.
▪ Lyman not only comes up with a new instrument, but also writes the article as a lesson in problem solving as he worked toward an uncertain goal.
1989
AL#18 p.38 read this article
Phil Banks
▪ Banks, like many before him, attempts to display on paper the movements of an excited guitar top.He is uncertain of his results, but his illustrations are certainly foxier than a normal graph or oscilloscope printout.
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#18 p.43
Jonathon Peterson
▪ Peterson continues his enthusiastic reports about an annual event in an intriguing setting.
1989
AL#18 p.44 BRB2 p.246
Jack Levine
▪ Levine made a deep-throated caliper for accurately measuring the thickness of the cello plate that is not removed, when the other is.