1989
AL#18 p.46 BRB2 p.248
Jonathon Peterson Frederick-C. Lyman-Jr.
▪ Lyman is an inveterate experimenter best known for his string basses, a regular American Lutherie contributor, and an interesting thinker.
1989
AL#18 p.48 BRB2 p.280
George Manno Les Paul
▪ The long-lived jazzer/inventor/guitar designer talks mostly about his long association with Gibson.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1989
AL#18 p.52 BRB2 p.497
Robert Lundberg
▪ The reviewer finds he could easily recommend this book if it weren’t so overpriced.
1989
AL#18 p.56
Joseph-R. Johnson
▪ Johnson offers another pep talk to the Guild. He finds that the GAL is doing everything they promised, and doing it well. Why aren’t we surprised?
1989
AL#17 p.30 BRB2 p.193
M.A. Kupfer James Flynn John Morgan
▪ A full-scale instrument plan. See the GAL website for a low-rez preview.
1989
AL#17 p.34 BRB2 p.180
Alexandre Belevich
▪ Just like it says. Accompanied by a selection of prints.
1989
AL#17 p.37
James Flynn
▪ Perhaps we shouldn’t be amazed by the seemingly large interest in various ethnic instruments and the music they produce. It seems that it’s easier to change countries than it is to change music. This organization publishes a quarterly newsletter, holds conventions, and offers scholarships to young musicians.
1989
AL#17 p.38 BRB2 p.183
James Flynn Yuri Aleksik
▪ Aleksik is a master prima balalaika player from Kiev. Flynn asks him about instruments in this short interview.
1989
AL#17 p.40 BRB2 p.194
Jack Levine
▪ Levine solves a problem many of us might face at first: How to set up shop in a confined, shared workspace. The solution is a takedown mold and a secure footlocker for tools and work in progress.
1989
AL#17 p.43 BRB2 p.199
Dana Bourgeois
▪ Bourgeois discovers a simple trick to keep his spray work uncontaminated—spray it upside down and hold it there until the lacquer flashes off.
1989
AL#17 p.44 BRB2 p.198
John Morgan
▪ Bridge setup must be done after the bridge is glued to the guitar in Morgan’s system. It also requires many little operations, but the intonation should come out perfect and the saddles remain individually adjustable for height. The finished bridge looks pretty cool, too.
1989
AL#17 p.46 BRB2 p.208
Brett Borton
▪ Have you ever seen a mandolin with an intentional crease or sharp bend to the top behind the bridge? That’s a cranked top. Borton describes how to add a cranked top to the steel string guitar, though he’s not too specific about why we should try it.
1989
AL#17 p.48 BRB2 p.206
Geary Baese
▪ Baese writes about adding color to violin varnishes in an historically accurate manner. He defines a lake pigment as “fixing . . .an organic soluble dye upon an inorganic carrier to render an insoluble colored compound.”
1989
AL#17 p.50 BRB2 p.153
Michael Sacek
▪ Sacek prefers a scale length of 31″ for bass fiddles and bass guitars. The article contains no plans, but offers enough food for thought that builders should take his ideas into consideration. In the one photo his instruments look pretty interesting.
1989
AL#17 p.51 HLC p.244
Robert Lundberg
▪ Lundberg recommends that the uninitiated not try to build an instrument from these plans without first reading the entire series of lectures presented in “Historical Lute Construction.” The plans are more diagramatic than exhaustive, but contain the essential information to construct the instrument.
1989
AL#17 p.52 BRB2 p.495
David Thormahlen
▪ The reviewer has reservations about the repair chapter of this book, but otherwise finds it to be “accessible, innovative, and valuable.”
1989
AL#17 p.52 BRB2 p.494
Al Stancel
▪ The reviewer gives this book very high marks for usefulness, readability, and accuracy.
1989
AL#17 p.52 read this article
Tim Olsen
▪ The reviewer enjoys the premier issue of a magazine for bottom end kind of people.
1989
AL#17 p.54 BRB2 p.480
John Monteleone
▪ Top thickness pattern of the D’Angelico guitar compared to that of a mandolin.
1989
AL#17 p.54
Jim Morris
▪ Write to Williams Tool for where to find mandolin molds.
1989
AL#17 p.54 BRB2 p.481
Christopher Lynch
▪ Vinegar is a cheap, safe, readily available substance for re-etching files.
1989
AL#17 p.55
Cyndy Burton
▪ Directly ordering David Rogers machine heads.
1989
AL#17 p.55
Janet Toon
▪ Source of violoncello measured drawings.
1989
AL#17 p.55 BRB2 p.481
Eric Sahlin
▪ Locating a peghole reamer suitable for lutes.
1988
AL#16 p.29 BRB2 p.139
Steve Andersen
▪ This is a reduced version of our Plan #24. The article also provides an introduction to the particular guitar that was copied for the plans, and 3 photos. Jazzer nirvana on paper.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1988
AL#16 p.30 BRB2 p.141
Steve Andersen
▪ A full-scale instrument plan. See the GAL website for a low-rez preview.
1988
AL#16 p.33 read this article
Nicholas-Von Robison Perry Thomas
▪ Only 6% of the rain forest harvest is exported, only 20% is used for timber, and 80% of the trees cut are burned. Pollution may ultimately represent as much of a threat as the chain saw. This article tries to get a handle on the situation.
1988
AL#16 p.35
Cliff Dennis
▪ Jeez, someone finally took the mountain dulcimer seriously enough to try and compensate it’s intonation. Welcome to the 21st century, Mr. and Mrs. Dulcimer.
1988
AL#16 p.36 BRB2 p.136
Ted Davis Gene Harner
▪ An unpretentious luthier from Tennessee talks honestly about building fiddles and mandolins.
1988
AL#16 p.40 BRB2 p.144
Tom Rossing
▪ Charts, graphs, drawings, and formulae bulk up this in-depth scientific examination of how a guitar makes noise.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1988
AL#16 p.50 BRB2 p.197
Frederick-C. Lyman-Jr.
▪ Lyman examines D’Addario Nylon Core Upright Bass Strings as well as Savarez “Corelli” strings.
1988
AL#16 p.52
John Morgan
▪ Morgan uses braces that seem to taper the wrong way, but reports good results. They also stop short of the lining. He lists other distinctions in his design that complement the new bracing system.
1988
AL#16 p.54 BRB2 p.493
Mark Humpal
▪ The reviewer finds that if you just like to look at guitars, and don’t demand art quality photos, you’ll like this book and its 1200 pictures.
1988
AL#16 p.54 BRB2 p.493
Mark Humpal
▪ The reviewer finds this to be “a wonderful little book. . .,” “slick, well crafted, ready for the coffee table. . . .”
1988
AL#16 p.55 BRB2 p.493
Tim Olsen
▪ It’s hard to tell when the reviewer is being enthusiastic or facetious, but I think he likes this cassette collection of odd musical noises (noisy musical oddities?).
1988
AL#16 p.56
Todd Brotherton
▪ Todd Brotherton remarks about the growth of the Guild, and encourages all members to support the GAL by contributing articles.
1988
AL#16 p.57 BRB2 p.480
Bob Zatzman
▪ Slanted pickups, loosened truss rod, and classified ads.
1988
AL#16 p.57 BRB2 p.480
Hans Larsson
▪ Slanted pickups, loosened truss rod, and classified ads.
1988
AL#16 p.57 BRB2 p.480
Lloyd-Scott Ogelsby
▪ Problems with Titebond glue turning chalky.
1989
AL#17 p.3 read this article
Richard Schneider
▪ Schneder really liked this book, and he writes to say that Stewart Brand agres with him about it.
1989
AL#17 p.6 BRB2 p.162
Tim Olsen
▪ Whether or not there is anything new to be said about Stradivari, it is impossible for a serious publication about lutherie not to take him into account at some point. Olsen’s lengthy article includes analytical drawings and photos of the master’s work. All the guitar and mando folks might wonder what the fuss is about. Olsen sets us straight.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.
1989
AL#17 p.22 BRB2 p.184
A.I. Peresada
▪ Nalimov is to the balalaika as Stradivarius is to the violin. This article is condensed from Peresada’s biography of Namilov. With photos, drawings, and label reproductions.
1989
AL#17 p.28 BRB2 p.178
James Flynn M.A. Kupfer
▪ It turns out that life for a Russian instrument maker isn’t far different than for an American luthier. Long hours, difficult conditions, and small financial rewards. The turf may be different, but the job remains the same.
1989
AL#17 p.29 BRB2 p.190
James Flynn
▪ Plans and instruction for an instrument designed by Kupfer, with 11 photos. The plan is a reduced version of GAL full-scale Plan #25. Kupfer is a famous luthier in Russia.
1988
AL#15 p.30 BRB2 p.82
Tim Olsen Hammond Ashley
▪ This is a “factory tour” of the Ham Ashley shop.They specialize in the larger members of the violin family.
1988
AL#15 p.35 BRB2 p.77
Lloyd-Scott Ogelsby
▪ Concocting your own glue is perhaps one of the ultimate steps in lutherie self-sufficiency. Ogelsby insists that it isn’t difficult, just tricky, but he lists some good reasons for making the effort.
1988
AL#15 p.36
Tim Olsen
▪ Editor Olsen offers his usual keen synopsis of the central GAL event. Fun for all, with 29 photos.
1988
AL#15 p.45
Bon Henderson
▪ A long time GAL staffer offers an “outsider’s” view of the convention. How is this possible? Read it for yourself!
1988
AL#15 p.46 BRB2 p.86
R.E. Brune
▪ An intense description of Japanese classical guitar making taken from Brune’s convention lecture. Life in Japan is probably not much like you imagine it to be, it is far more interesting. The Q&A segment deals more with Brune’s own guitar work. With 21 photos inside a Japanese “factory.”
1988
AL#15 p.56 BRB2 p.100
Joseph-R. Johnson
▪ Johnson offers a brief note about the Witten-Rawlins collection that was recently acquired by the Shrine to Music Museum. With photos and a museum checklist.
1988
AL#15 p.60 BRB2 p.106
Steve Newberry
▪ Newberry proves mathematically that large frets do not cause an instrument to play out of tune (though they might easily help a guitarist to play out of tune. There’s a large theoretical difference).
1988
AL#15 p.62
Tom Rossing
▪ This is a humorous comparison of a G string force waveform to a Dow Jones Industrial Average graph.
1988
AL#15 p.64 BRB2 p.81
John Schofield
▪ Schofield uses a pin router to cut matching f-holes in his mandolin tops quickly and safely.
1988
AL#15 p.65 read this article
Peggy Stuart
▪ Anyone can dance to a fiddle. In Oregon they can dance on a fiddle. With 1 photo.
1988
AL#15 p.66 read this article
Keith Davis
▪ A natural gas explosion blows up the instruments of an entire school orchestra. Davis comes to the rescue, but wonders what the long-term ramifications will be for the fiddles and bass viols.
1988
AL#15 p.68
Wayne Harris
▪ Harris has a poor opinion of musicians who expect luthiers to give them free instruments. He wishes that both sides could respect the luthier/musician symbiosis.
1988
AL#15 p.69 BRB2 p.492
Joseph-R. Johnson
▪ The reviewer is enthusiastic about the research potential of this updated book, and believes it will be of use to the repairman who may face Larson instruments on his bench.
1988
AL#15 p.69 BRB2 p.492
Tim Olsen
▪ The Shrine to Music Museum holds some of the world’s most important collections of musical instruments. This inexpensive volume is not only a great souvenir to those who have visited the museum, but a valuable research resource.
1988
AL#16 p.3 BRB2 p.80
Beverly Maher
▪ Maher adds corrections to AL # 8 and #13. She mentions that Segovia’s famous Hauser guitar was from 1937, and that it is at home in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
1988
AL#16 p.3 BRB2 p.80
Jeffrey-R. Elliott
▪ Elliott corrects his own mistake about the year of Segovia’s most famous Hauser guitar.
1988
AL#16 p.6 BRB2 p.112
Steve Andersen
▪ A well-known maker of archtop instruments offers an in-depth examination of his building style and his business. With 13 photos.
1988
AL#16 p.8 BRB2 p.115
Jonathon Peterson
▪ This is 9 photos and a small description of the machine that might be the production archtop maker’s best friend.
1988
AL#16 p.20 HLC p.70
Robert Lundberg
▪ The various lute parts were discussed in previous segments of this series. Now it is time to assemble a plan of attack for the integration of those parts, and to build the form for the bowl. With several drawings and photos. Fifth in a series of 19 articles.
1988
AL#16 p.24 HLC p.76
Robert Lundberg
▪ The lute theory is over and the chips begin to fly. The series begins with the construction of the form on which the bowl will be assembled. 14 photos with detailed captions.
1988
AL#15 p.5
Jeff Forbes
▪ When diluting sulfuric acid, like for sharpening files, it is a very important safety method to put acid into water, not water into acid. We got it reversed in an article, and we got letters about it. But don’t worry, we fixed it when that article was republished in the Big Red Book.
1988
AL#15 p.5
Jonathon Peterson
▪ When diluting sulfuric acid, like for sharpening files, it is a very important safety method to put acid into water, not water into acid. We got it reversed in an article, and we got letters about it. But don’t worry, we fixed it when that article was republished in the Big Red Book.
1988
AL#15 p.6 HLC p.48
Robert Lundberg
▪ This segment covers the bridge, neck, fingerboard, pegbox, and pegs of the lute. With photos and a number of drawings. This series is comprised of 19 installments.
1988
AL#15 p.28 HLC p.243
Robert Lundberg
▪ Lundberg recommends that the uninitiated not try to build an instrument from these plans without first reading the entire series of lectures presented in “Historical Lute Construction.” The plans are more diagramatic than exhaustive, but contain the essential information to construct the instrument.
1988
AL#14 p.21 BRB2 p.60
Harry Fleishman
▪ Fleishman’s tools are a rubber band-powered jack clamp for regluing braces, and a homemade wrench for tightening output jack nuts inside an acoustic guitar.
1988
AL#14 p.22 HLC p.30
Robert Lundberg
▪ This portion of the series deals with the soundboard, or belly, of the lute, including the braces and rosette. Many drawings illustrate the shape and thickness of historical lute tops. Beautiful drawings accompany the photos of astonishing rosettes (the drawings are not patterns of the photos). Where did those old guys find the patience? This is the third of 19 installments.
1988
AL#14 p.42 HLC p.241
Robert Lundberg
▪ Lundberg recommends that the uninitiated not try to build an instrument from these plans without first reading the entire series of lectures presented in “Historical Lute Construction.” The plans are more diagramatic than exhaustive, but contain the essential information to construct the instrument.
1988
AL#14 p.44 HLC p.242
Robert Lundberg
▪ Lundberg recommends that the uninitiated not try to build an instrument from these plans without first reading the entire series of lectures presented in “Historical Lute Construction.” The plans are more diagramatic than exhaustive, but contain the essential information to construct the instrument.
1988
AL#14 p.46 BRB2 p.66
Ervin Somogyi
▪ Somogyi saves a stash of warped rosewood guitar sets by clamping them between aluminum plates and heating them with a clothes iron.
1988
AL#14 p.48
Nicholas-Von Robison
▪ Robison saws off the tip of his thumb. A shop safety reminder for the experienced craftsperson.
1988
AL#14 p.50
Frederick-C. Lyman-Jr.
▪ Lyman forges ahead in his quest for a cheap but satisfying substitute for the traditional solid wood bass viol. This segment describes an experimental bass made of lauan plywood and 2×4 studs. The results leave him hopeful that he is on the right track.
1988
AL#14 p.53 BRB2 p.67
George Manno
▪ Manno offers a recipe for a golden-red varnish for use on new violins.
1988
AL#14 p.54
Jonathon Peterson
▪ Peterson is a devoted fan of this organization, which disseminates educational information about forestry related topics and provide the forest products industries a “place where they can put their best foot forward.” The Center’s Handmade Musical Instrument Show is the chief draw for luthiers.
1988
AL#14 p.56 BRB2 p.76
Jonathon Peterson
▪ Peterson finds a relatively safe method of sharpening files by acid etching. THE ORIGINAL PUBLICATION OF THIS ARTICLE CONTAINED A SERIOUS ERROR. ACID SHOULD ALWAYS BE ADDED TO WATER, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND. THIS ERROR HAS BEEN CORRECTED IN THE REPRINTS).
1988
AL#14 p.57 read this article
Jeffrey-R. Elliott
▪ Elliott observes that one of the best ways to ensure the safety of a guitar is to make sure it is a good fit in its case.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1988
AL#14 p.59
Richard Jordan
▪ Jordan used spruce of different stiffness to brace three nearly identical classical guitars, and found the differences to be dramatic. His stiffness test was especially easy to run.
1988
AL#14 p.60 BRB2 p.490
Cyndy Burton
▪ This book, which has since become sort of the Bible of guitarmaking, is described by the reviewer as “the book we’ve all been waiting for.”
1988
AL#15 p.3
Mel Wong
▪ When diluting sulfuric acid, like for sharpening files, it is a very important safety method to put acid into water, not water into acid. We got it reversed in an article, and we got letters about it. But don’t worry, we fixed it when that article was republished in the Big Red Book.
1988
AL#15 p.5
Tom Rossing
▪ When diluting sulfuric acid, like for sharpening files, it is a very important safety method to put acid into water, not water into acid. We got it reversed in an article, and we got letters about it. But don’t worry, we fixed it when that article was republished in the Big Red Book.
1988
AL#15 p.5
Hubert Keller
▪ When diluting sulfuric acid, like for sharpening files, it is a very important safety method to put acid into water, not water into acid. We got it reversed in an article, and we got letters about it. But don’t worry, we fixed it when that article was republished in the Big Red Book.
1988
AL#13 p.7 BRB2 p.5
Richard Schneider
▪ Schneider tells of his first, and rather strange, meeting with Segovia.
1988
AL#13 p.10 BRB2 p.6
W.D. Allen
▪ Allen shows how changing the internal air resonance of the violin can change the performance of the instrument, and claims that this variable applies to any stringed instrument. With many charts (including Allen’s hula-dancing molecules), graphs, and 2 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1988
AL#13 p.16 BRB2 p.12
Tim Olsen Jean Larrivee
▪ Life inside the Larrivee guitar shop during its electric/acoustic phase. With 19 photos.
1988
AL#13 p.24 HLC p.18
Robert Lundberg
▪ This portion of the series has to do with the shape of the lute body, or bowl. It includes 21 photos of historical models and numerous drawings and label signatures. This series includes 19 segments.
1988
AL#13 p.37 HLC p.239
Robert Lundberg
▪ Lundberg recommends that the uninitiated not try to build an instrument from these plans without first reading the entire series of lectures presented in “Historical Lute Construction.” The plans are more diagramatic than exhaustive, but contain the essential information to construct the instrument.
1988
AL#13 p.38 HLC p.240
Robert Lundberg
▪ Lundberg recommends that the uninitiated not try to build an instrument from these plans without first reading the entire series of lectures presented in “Historical Lute Construction.” The plans are more diagramatic than exhaustive, but contain the essential information to construct the instrument.
1988
AL#13 p.40 BRB2 p.20
J. Jovicic O. Jovicic
▪ This is a scientific analysis of how variations in picking a note change the response of the classical guitar. Translated from the French.
1988
AL#13 p.44 BRB2 p.24
George Manno
▪ Manno points out there is a difference between wood that is dry and dry wood that is well seasoned, and offers a test for both. He maintains that only dry, well-seasoned wood is worth using.
1988
AL#13 p.46 BRB2 p.26
Tim Shaw
▪ In his convention lecture Shaw compares the life of an independent luthier with life inside the Gibson custom shop, and finds that the rewards of one are different than the rewards of the other, but that either can offer an attractive way of living.
1988
AL#13 p.52 BRB2 p.32
George Manno
▪ Manno explains how to make the colorants of violin varnish safe from fading. He also offers advice about keeping your chemical experiments safe.
1988
AL#13 p.54 BRB2 p.34
Al Stancel
▪ Stancel opens old repaired cracks with heat and chemicals, cleans them with surfactants, and mends them with hide glue. The author works with the fiddle family, but his advice should flow over into any luthier’s discipline.
1988
AL#13 p.56 BRB2 p.36
Yves Parent
▪ A chemist explains how superglue functions, and why you might want to give your wood an alkaline bath before you squirt on the goo.
1988
AL#13 p.57 BRB2 p.490
Tim Olsen
▪ Olsen admits to an interest in odd musical noises. This cassette gets his approval as “interesting,” and not a lot more.
1988
AL#14 p.2
Arnold-M.J. Hennig
▪ Hennig endorses Leo Burrell’s idea of intentionally planing a slight twist into the neck of a guitar. This letter also contains an early mention of nut compensation.
1988
AL#14 p.4 BRB2 p.38
Cyndy Burton Greg Byers Robert Steinegger Buzz Vineyard
▪ This workshop lecture and its audience participation make a wonderful case for the value of collected experience. These 7 pages of text and photos offer tips and information not to be found in any of the French polishing videos and articles that have come out since, as well as explaining the basics of finishing with shellac.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.
1988
AL#14 p.11 BRB2 p.45
Tim Olsen
▪ Is shellac made of sap from a tree in India? Or is it from juice exuded from a bug that eats that sap? Or is it more complicated than that?
1988
AL#14 p.12 BRB2 p.46
Graham Caldersmith
▪ Is it possible that old fiddles aren’t superior? Yes, but the only people who want to believe that it’s true are the contemporary violinmakers. Human nature would rather cast its faith to a mythical past than deal honestly with the present. Or not. Caldersmith doesn’t pretend to settle the debate.
1988
AL#14 p.14 BRB2 p.55
Ed Vande-Voorde
▪ Rhinehart’s Dobro cones have developed a wonderful reputation. In this interview he outlines his material choices and production techniques. With 6 photos.
1988
AL#14 p.17 BRB2 p.37
Dana Bourgeois
▪ Where did Martin buy their spruce from year to year during their vintage days? Bourgeois discovered that there is no way to know, and that guitar experts are forced to guess.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1988
AL#14 p.18 BRB2 p.58
Steve Grimes
▪ A noted maker of archtop guitars offers a detailed description of the method he uses to adjust the tone of his instruments during the carving process. He finds he is willing to sacrifice a little volume in order to attain a precise tonal character.
1987
AL#12 p.14 BRB1 p.402
J. Jovicic O. Jovicic
▪ This article is more technical talk translated from the original French publication in Acustica. With 51 reproductions of laser interferograms. Part 1 was in American Lutherie #10.
1987
AL#12 p.18 BRB1 p.452 read this article
Nicholas-Von Robison
▪ Robison offers description, anecdotes, 4 photos, and a drawing of an instrument that might be crudely described as a Japanese 3-string banjo. The plans are a shrunken version of our full-scale Plan #16.
1987
AL#12 p.19 BRB1 p.453
Nicholas-Von Robison
▪ A full-scale instrument plan. See the GAL website for a low-rez preview.
1987
AL#12 p.20
Tim Olsen
▪ This article offers 7 photos from a Portland instrument exhibit and a listing of Portland builders and repair people. The next six articles on this list are also by or about Portlanders.
1987
AL#12 p.22 BRB1 p.454 ALA3 p.4
Joseph Bacon Jeffrey-R. Elliott
▪ A lengthy interview with the well-known maker of classical guitars covers such subjects as training, wood seasoning and supply, finishes, and boomerangs. Cyndy Burton participates. Mentions Hauser Sr., Michael Kasha, Richard Schneider, Ralph Towner, and Julian Bream. With 4 photos.
1987
AL#12 p.26 BRB1 p.460 ALA4 p.4
Tim Olsen
▪ Enhanced with 6 photos, this is the tale of one luthier’s connection to famous musicians, the Everly Brothers. Have you ever made a guitar with solid gold frets and binding? Robert Steinegger has.
1987
AL#12 p.30 HLC p.xiii
Tim Olsen Robert Lundberg
▪ Did people of a given time and place think and respond differently than we do? Lundberg thinks so. He has learned to think like an ancient luthier by studying their work, and has therefore made a connection to a neglected tradition and society. It shows in his work and his speech, and apparently, in his life.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1987
AL#12 p.32 HLC p.2
Robert Lundberg
▪ The first of 19 articles in our lute construction series, Lundberg traces the history of the lute family and construction.
1987
AL#12 p.48 HLC p.238
Robert Lundberg
▪ Lundberg recommends that the uninitiated not try to build an instrument from these plans without first reading the entire series of lectures presented in “Historical Lute Construction.” The plans are more diagramatic than exhaustive, but contain the essential information to construct the instrument.
1987
AL#12 p.50 read this article
George Manno
▪ Manno examines the Zeta JV-205 and the EV-5 Barrett electric violins and finds them exceptional. High marks go to both, but especially to the Zeta.
1987
AL#12 p.52
Paul Hamer
▪ Hamer’s lecture captures the electric guitar in mid-evolution. He mentions retrofit pickups, locking trem systems, and the Roland guitar synth. He is obviously thrilled to be a part of the parade.
1987
AL#12 p.54 BRB1 p.464
Harry Fleishman
▪ These three articles augment Tim Olsen’s initial bass offering in American Lutherie #9, and as a collection they still offer the largest fund of information on the creation of the acoustic bass guitar to reach print.
1987
AL#12 p.56 BRB1 p.468
William McCaw
▪ These three articles augment Tim Olsen’s initial bass offering in American Lutherie #9, and as a collection they still offer the largest fund of information on the creation of the acoustic bass guitar to reach print.
1987
AL#12 p.58 BRB1 p.470
David Freeman
▪ These three articles augment Tim Olsen’s initial bass offering in American Lutherie #9, and as a collection they still offer the largest fund of information on the creation of the acoustic bass guitar to reach print.
1987
AL#12 p.60 BRB1 p.472 read this article
Leo Burrell
▪ Burrell’s patented guitars have a neck that actually twists 45° to keep the action uniformly low. They incorporate many other astonishing characteristics, too. Has anyone ever seen one of these guitars for sale?
1987
AL#12 p.64 BRB1 p.503 read this article
David Macias
▪ The reviewer encourages all students of the guitar to read this book, regardless of their special interests.
1987
AL#12 p.65
Tim Olsen
▪ The GAL is 64 issues old, counting all its publications.. Editor Olsen lists the qualities that have made the Guild successful.
1988
AL#13 p.5 BRB2 p.161
John Randerson
▪ Randerson adds a lengthy note about different alcohols to the 1704 violin varnish formula previously offered by Manno in AL#12, and Manno answers.
1988
AL#13 p.6 BRB2 p.2
R.E. Brune
▪ Brune’s anecdotes help close the gap between the man and the legend.
1988
AL#13 p.7 BRB2 p.4
H.E. Huttig
▪ Huttig relates a story about the instrument that was the center of the classical guitar universe for decades, the Hauser played by Segovia.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1987
AL#11 p.21
Nicholas-Von Robison
▪ Hardly anybody’s embarrassing moment is as embarrassing as Robison’s.
1987
AL#11 p.22 BRB1 p.428 read this article
Gulab Gidwani
▪ A well-known importer and dealer of tonewoods relates some of the difficulties of doing business with third-world nations, such as getting a sawyer of railroad ties to cut fretboards.
1987
AL#11 p.24 BRB1 p.432 read this article
Dave Schneider
▪ Don’t take that repair job without this article! One question remains unanswered: why does sanding the finish of a sitar release such a strong smell of tobacco?
1987
AL#11 p.26 BRB1 p.371 read this article
Dave Schneider
▪ This little article doesn’t offer a lot of detail, but it might be all you need.
1987
AL#11 p.27 BRB1 p.434
Robert Steinegger Nicholas-Von Robison
▪ Steinegger made a mandolin based on the work of Orville Gibson, but modified the neck pitch and soundboard arch to make it satisfy contemporary playing standards. He also changed some materials. With 2 photos and a scaled down version of our Plan #15.
1987
AL#11 p.28 BRB1 p.435
Robert Steinegger Nicholas-Von Robison
▪ A full-scale instrument plan. See the GAL website for a low-rez preview.
1987
AL#11 p.30 BRB1 p.482 read this article
George Manno
▪ Manno is an honest man (even when honesty hurts), knowledgeable, and opinionated. An especially strong column that touches upon repair prices, colors for varnish touchups, tonewood sources, Polish white bow hair, and Tetto Gallo violins.
1987
AL#11 p.32 BRB1 p.474
Max Krimmel Jean Larrivee Bruce Ross Ervin Somogyi Robert Steinegger
▪ Such panel discussions are always interesting, but this one especially so, mostly because three of the five panelists run one-man shops. The questions (and even many answers) don’t seem to change much from year to year, but it’s good to hear from some smaller voices in the industry for a change.
1987
AL#11 p.40 BRB1 p.436 read this article
James Garber Roy Smeck
▪ This is an interview with the man who may have been the best known instrumentalist of his time, the Chet Atkins of vaudeville, if you will. The conversation is mostly about his instruments.
1987
AL#11 p.44 BRB1 p.440 read this article
Tim Olsen
▪ A rollicking, good-time account of a era gone by and a free-spirited maker of outrageous electric guitars who was pretty much unknown outside of his own territory. It’ll make you feel good.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1987
AL#11 p.50 BRB1 p.502 read this article
George Manno
▪ The reviewer finds this video to be a wise investment, especially for one new to the craft.
1987
AL#11 p.50 BRB1 p.502 read this article
Don Overstreet
▪ The reviewer finds the book to be of mild interest for the violin historian, but seems to have been generally disappointed in its usefulness to the luthier.
1987
AL#11 p.51 BRB1 p.502 read this article
George Manno
▪ The reviewer finds this to be the one book that every violin shop and instrument appraiser should own. ‘Nuff said.
1987
AL#11 p.51 BRB1 p.501 read this article
Ernest Nussbaum
▪
1987
AL#11 p.55 BRB1 p.430
Michael Parsons
▪ With this stand-alone jig you can spray or brush an instrument without having to touch it.
1987
AL#12 p.3 BRB1 p.459
Ralph Novak
▪ Novak offers tips on fretwork, tool sharpening, fitting bridge pins, recycling clogged sandpaper, and admonishes us to get steel wool out of our shops.
1987
AL#12 p.5 BRB1 p.481 read this article
William-T. Walls
▪ Walls offers tips about cleaning and polishing violins and bows.
1987
AL#12 p.8 BRB1 p.448 read this article
Joseph-R. Johnson
▪ Johnson examines a Stradivarius guitar from the Shrine to Music collection. With 8 photos.
1987
AL#12 p.11 BRB1 p.473
Jay Hargreaves
▪ Drawings and description for two sanding blocks that use 3M Stikit paper.
1987
AL#12 p.12 BRB1 p.451 read this article
George Manno
▪ This is a recipe for a touchup violin varnish, with instructions for adding colors.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1987
AL#10 p.35 BRB1 p.397
Don Musser
▪ Improve the hold of superglue by adjusting the pH factor of the wood. Also, how to find and heal hairline guitar cracks before lacquering.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1988
AL#10 p.35 BRB1 p.397 read this article
Chris Pile
Thick superglue and accelerator are introduced.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1987
AL#10 p.36 BRB1 p.390 read this article
Jeff Feltman Jack Batts
▪ Intelligent questions and no-holds-barred answers make this long interview with a veteran builder seem too short. All violin articles should be this interesting. Forty-nine years dedicated to wood, glue, and varnish have to teach one a great deal. With 8 photos. Mentions Sacconi, Stradivari, Guarneri, and Amati.
1987
AL#10 p.44 BRB1 p.398
Joseph-R. Johnson
▪ This is a checklist of what to look for when you get there. Also, a reason to go.
1987
AL#10 p.47 BRB1 p.401
John Schofield
▪ Schofield offers a table saw slotting jig that is simple to use and as accurate as your own layout work can make it. The drawing is rough, but it’s enough. The formula is an alternative to the more common “rule of 18.”
1987
AL#10 p.48 BRB1 p.402
J. Jovicic O. Jovicic
▪ Serious research using a classical guitar with four different brace patterns. The experiment started with a simplified fan brace pattern, and fan braces were added for subsequent evaluation. Translated from the French. Part Two is in AL#12.
1987
AL#10 p.53 BRB1 p.412 read this article
John Curtis
▪ A wood merchant relates the difficulties of getting lumber out of the jungle, and why the rain forest isn’t being replanted.
1987
AL#10 p.55 BRB1 p.409 read this article
Russ Carlisle
▪ These hammers sport a shaft of bamboo. They can be quickly flipped to offer hard or padded hammer surfaces. Make a set. Throw a dance.
1987
AL#10 p.56 BRB1 p.414 read this article
Dave Schneider
▪ A dream comes true. Schneider relates his growth toward a successful lutherie career. He begins with a high school shop program, travels through various repair and furniture jobs, apprentices as a lute maker, and ends up self-employed.
1987
AL#10 p.59 BRB1 p.396
F.W. Fais
▪ Fais’ iron uses chromed pipe—must be very pretty. A simple and cheap tool, even if you don’t already have a heat gun.
1987
AL#10 p.60 BRB1 p.202 read this article
Frederick-C. Lyman-Jr.
▪ Lyman’s quest is to build an inexpensive but musically useful string bass. In this episode he tries to improve a Kay plywood bass. The results leave him ambivalent but hopeful.
1987
AL#10 p.62 BRB1 p.500 read this article
Cyndy Burton
▪ Workbook format, large, 160 photos and diagrams, and spiral binding are great advantages of this nuts and bolts straight method book.
1987
AL#11 p.3 BRB1 p.297 read this article
Lloyd-Scott Ogelsby
▪ An analytical chemist offers some fascinating information about hide glue. It turns out that formaldehyde makes hide glue waterproof. Jump ahead to AL#15 for Oglesby’s how-to article about hide glue.
1987
AL#11 p.7 BRB1 p.429
Michael Parsons
▪ Parsons relates his history of building instruments from salvaged wood.
1987
AL#11 p.7
Alan-L. Wall
▪ Wall has discovered that the easiest way to make the wooden portions of spool clamps is with a hole saw.
1987
AL#11 p.8 BRB1 p.416
Steve Klein
▪ Klein’s lecture outlines his aesthetic concerns about the contemporary steel string guitar, and many of the details of his ever-evolving, iconoclastic instruments. With several nice drawings and 2 photos. Mentions Richard Schneider and Michael Kasha.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1987
AL#11 p.8
Steve Klein
▪ The following four articles demonstrate how innovation and individual flair can lead to instruments that don’t resemble the rest of the pack.
1987
AL#11 p.10 BRB1 p.419 read this article
Susan Norris
▪ Norris offers no details about her asymmetric 10-string fiddle, but the one good photo adds much to a delightful little article.
1987
AL#11 p.12 BRB1 p.420
Gila Eban
▪ Eban builds Kasha-style classical guitars. She comments at length about how her aesthetic concept for the guitar evolved, and offers many details of her construction procedures. Her descriptions of her work are so entrancing that you will long for more photos than the five that are offered. With rosette drawings.
1987
AL#11 p.14 BRB1 p.427
Fred Carlson
▪ Carlson makes a case for less conformity in lutherie. Only 1 photo of one of his dramatic, asymmetrical guitars, but it’s quite inspiring.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1987
AL#11 p.30 BRB1 p.485 read this article
George Manno
▪
1987
AL#11 p.30 BRB1 p.485 read this article
George Manno
▪
1987
AL#9 p.46 BRB1 p.338 read this article
John Jordan
▪ Jordan catalogs and describes nine rosewoods from Africa, and nine false rosewoods. Some max out too small for instruments but are of interest to wood collectors. Others should interest the open-minded luthier.
1987
AL#9 p.49 BRB1 p.342
Dale Randall
▪ Randall finds an inventive way to fix a bass that’s been dropped on its top, but the repair leaves a 1/4″ hole through the top that must be plugged and disguised.
1987
AL#9 p.52 BRB1 p.344
William Conrad
▪ A Patron is the workboard used to build a guitar in the Spanish style. Conrad explains how to build one, and the reasoning behind it.
1987
AL#9 p.54 BRB1 p.343
Michael Sanden
▪ An ex-barber turned luthier converts his old chair into a sturdy, adjustable workbench with 360° of accessibility.
1987
AL#9 p.56 BRB1 p.498
C.F. Casey
▪ The reviewer believes that the book may help an experienced luthier adjust his “attitude” toward his craft and thereby make a better instrument. The beginner may not find it so useful.
1987
AL#9 p.56 BRB1 p.500 read this article
Tim Olsen
▪ The reviewer is enthusiastic about the mind-opening possibilities of this booklet/cassette combination.
1987
AL#9 p.56 BRB1 p.499 read this article
Joseph-R. Johnson
▪ The reviewer finds that the book “falls short of being a thorough international bibliography, but will prove valuable to guitar and vihuela teachers, students, and luthiers.”
1987
AL#9 p.57 BRB1 p.500 read this article
Tim Olsen
▪ The reviewer has high praise for this 28-minute film about famed archtop builder Jimmy D’Aquisto. As well as being a “valentine” to D’Aquisto, this film offers a tasty repast for information-hungry luthiers. (AL#9 p.57).
1987
AL#9 p.58
Chris Foss
▪ This is a correction and clarification of the article found on page 48 of AL#8.
1987
AL#10 p.3
Gila Eban
▪ Eban adds a correction to her article in AL#8.
1987
AL#10 p.5 BRB1 p.467
Richard Ennis
▪ Ennis’ letter describes a flattop bass guitar he recently completed, accompanied by 2 photos.
1987
AL#10 p.6 BRB1 p.358
H.E. Huttig
▪ Bobri was an artist and a patron of the arts, a composer and transcriber of guitar music, president of the New York Guitar Society, and editor of Guitar Review. Huttig’s admiration for the man is obvious in this salute following Bobri’s death by fire.
1987
AL#10 p.8 BRB1 p.360 read this article
Fred Calland
▪ LeBovit was an aficionado of the violin all his life, a maker of fine violins, and a self-made recording engineer, all of which he did on his own time while working for the US government. Calland recalls a dynamic individual who touched many important lives.
1987
AL#10 p.10 BRB1 p.362
John Rollins
▪ Recreating these instruments required deep research into antique literature and a search of centuries-old woodcuts and tapestries. Many such drawings and sketches illustrate this long article, as well as photos of instruments by the author and Raphael Weisman. A transcription of Rollins’ 1986 convention lecture.
1987
AL#10 p.20 BRB1 p.374 read this article
Sam Rizzetta
▪ Rizzetta is often called the father of the modern hammered dulcimer. This lengthy lecture transcription from the 1984 GAL convention covers the 19th century dulcimer as made in America as well as Rizzetta’s entry into field in the 1960s. He carefully explains his own innovations, material choices, and construction techniques. With 18 photos.
1987
AL#10 p.28 BRB1 p.482 read this article
George Manno
▪ Manno fields 2 pages of questions about building and repairing the fiddle family, from the basic “What kinda glue?” to “What kind of cello bridge to aid projection?”
1987
AL#10 p.30 BRB1 p.382 read this article
Nasser Shirazi
▪ The tar (or Persian banjo) is a classical Iranian instrument, the body of which is carved from a mulberry log and covered in lambskin. The neck traditionally incorporates rams horn and camel bone. Exotic, fascinating, wonderfully politically incorrect. Some alternate materials are listed for those who can’t wait for their camel to die. With 6 photos, 2 sketches, and a scaled down version of GAL Plan #14.
1987
AL#10 p.32 BRB1 p.385
Nasser Shirazi
▪ A full-scale instrument plan. See the GAL website for a low-rez preview.
1987
AL#9 p.10 BRB1 p.311
Tim Olsen Don Overstreet
▪ A concise description and 3 photos explain a repair done in the Schuback shop.
1987
AL#9 p.14 BRB1 p.312
Steve Grimes
▪ Grimes’ pantograph for routing archtop plates is heavy duty and not real cheap if you have to job out the welding, but it accurately removes 90% of the excess wood. Several drawings accompany the detailed description.
1987
AL#9 p.18 BRB1 p.316
Richard Ennis
▪ Ennis’ carving machine is not as straight forward in use as Grimes’, but its construction should be within the reach of most luthiers. A router mounted in a carriage rides over template rails to cut the contours into the plates of an archtop instrument.
1987
AL#9 p.20 BRB1 p.318
Don Teeter
▪ How does an Oklahoma farm boy become a luthier? How does that same luthier become a writer and mentor to a generation of guitar repairmen? Teeter’s 1985 convention lecture tells all, then goes on to update his neck resetting procedure and his method of eliminating dead notes on the fretboard.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1987
AL#9 p.24 BRB1 p.322
Tim Olsen
▪ Olsen offers the philosophy, theory, construction details, and plans for a new instrument. The plans are a shrunken version of GAL full scale Plan #13. Though Olsen and a few others began building flattop basses in the 1970s, in a real sense this article is the birth certificate of the instrument. The flattop bass is a flattop guitar on steroids, not to be confused with the bass viol.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1987
AL#9 p.30 BRB1 p.329
Tim Olsen
▪ A full-scale instrument plan. See the GAL website for a low-rez preview.
1987
AL#9 p.32 BRB1 p.330
H.M. Kolstee
▪ Kolstee’s adjustable bridge saddle is made of bone, except for the locking set screw. It is easily adjustable for intonation and uses shims to adjust the string height.
1987
AL#9 p.34 BRB1 p.332
Dave Schneider
▪ A ’68 paisley Tele is reborn, complete with Parsons B and E benders and a complete refinishing from the foil on up.
1987
AL#9 p.36 BRB1 p.334 read this article
H.E. Huttig
▪ Have you ever wondered how cat gut strings were named? This article suggests an answer as it delves into some string facts and fictions.
1987
AL#9 p.39 BRB1 p.196 read this article
Frederick-C. Lyman-Jr.
▪ When an articulate violin-family maker discusses his craft he sounds much like a professional wine taster. Lyman is articulate. This segment of his series deals with plate tuning.
1987
AL#9 p.42 BRB1 p.336
Richard Jordan
▪ Jordan’s article outlines all the steps he uses to shape a classical headstock. He cuts the slots with Dremel router, router base, and fence, and they come out very clean.
1987
AL#9 p.44 BRB1 p.201
Tim Olsen Robert Steinegger
▪ Here’s the low down on a trick Washburn bridge from 1897. A photo and drawing explain the plot line, but the mystery remains.
1987
AL#9 p.45 BRB1 p.482 read this article
George Manno
▪ The GAL’s resident violin expert of the time answers questions about cleaning violins, top reinstallation, domestic tool sources, domestic wood, and treating potassium silicate (a wood sealer) with tea to keep it from staining spruce green.
1987
AL#9 p.45 BRB1 p.482 read this article
George Manno
▪
1987
AL#10 p.28 BRB1 p.483 read this article
George Manno
▪
1987
AL#10 p.28 BRB1 p.483 read this article
George Manno
▪
1987
AL#10 p.29 BRB1 p.484 read this article
George Manno
▪
1987
AL#10 p.29 BRB1 p.484 read this article
George Manno
▪
1987
AL#10 p.29 BRB1 p.484 read this article
George Manno
▪
1987
AL#11 p.30 BRB1 p.484 read this article
George Manno
▪
1986
AL#8 p.8 BRB1 p.266
Gila Eban
▪ Eban charts the design evolution of the Kasha system of classical guitars as applied to her own instruments. With many drawings, glitter tests, and a discussion of different materials.
1986
AL#8 p.16
William Conrad
▪ Conrad finds that spruce tops can be graded for density by the color of the light that shines through them, and uses a camera light meter to calibrate them.
1986
AL#8 p.18 BRB1 p.274 ALA3 p.8
Jeffrey-R. Elliott
▪ This lecture transcription presents a chronological overview of the work of Hermann Hauser Sr. 26 photos and 3 drawings complete the article. A major investigation of some important guitars.
1986
AL#8 p.28 BRB1 p.283 ALA3 p.16
Jeffrey-R. Elliott
▪ Elliott offers a scale drawing, dimensions list, and a bill of materials for a Hauser guitar. The drawing is a reduced version of our full-scale Plan #12.
1986
AL#8 p.30
Graham Caldersmith Jim Williams
▪ This interview covers the evolution of Smallman’s guitars as he worked his way toward the lattice bracing system for which he has become famous. Classical guitar lore from the outback of Australia.
1986
AL#8 p.35 BRB1 p.463
Francis Kosheleff
▪ Kosheleff changes the treble quality of his classical guitars by using three steel strings run through the standard bridge and then attached to a tailpiece.
1986
AL#8 p.36 BRB1 p.290
Michael Kasha
▪ Kasha firmly maintains that science has much to offer instrument design, but also claims that the best tone may be simply what the public is used to, and that this interesting variable can be tracked but not predicted. He believes that tone perception is as important as tone production.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1986
AL#8 p.38 BRB1 p.292 ALA5 p.7
Jose Ramirez-III
▪ Ramirez expounds upon his experiments with classical guitar top thickness and bracing patterns and size to achieve the best tone and stability.
1986
AL#8 p.41
Ervin Somogyi
▪ Somogyi relates two tales of dealing with the public.
1986
AL#8 p.42
Brian Derber
▪ Derber tries out “good tone in a can,” a wood treatment that the manufacturers claim instills a vintage tone in your new instruments. He finds it wanting, though his test is hardly scientific. Nor does he believe that further testing is warranted.
1986
AL#8 p.44
David Macias
▪ Macias describes a pleasant festival of lectures, discussion, and music.
1986
AL#8 p.46 BRB1 p.295 read this article
Dick Kenfield
▪ Kenfield’s instrument stand is cheap and easy to build.
1986
AL#8 p.47 BRB1 p.296 read this article
Al Stancel
▪ Stancel offers an interesting potpourri of violin information concerning steel wool, bow bugs, tuning pegs, appraisers and the IRS, appraiser scams, and the dangers of steel strings to old fiddles.
1986
AL#8 p.48 BRB1 p.321
Chris Foss
▪ Foss supplies a formula for calculating the radius of an arc from a known length and deflection. Ever try to make your own radiused jigs for guitar plates? It might help to know this formula. It might also scare you off.
1986
AL#8 p.49 BRB1 p.298
Denny Rauen
▪ Rauen corrects an action problem by changing the fingerboard at a time when most repairmen were correcting the problem in the frets. He uses a multiradius fretboard which is also called a conical fretboard.
1986
AL#8 p.49 BRB1 p.298
Tim Olsen
▪ Editor Olsen figures that for the lowest string action a fingerboard must resemble a cone shape, rather than a cylinder. Find other related articles by searching for the term conical.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.
1986
AL#8 p.52
Tim Olsen
▪ This is the last in the series combining GAL history with a listing of Quarterly back issues. Quarterly was the GAL publication preceding American Lutherie. Volumes 11 and 12 are described.
1986
AL#8 p.54
Robert Stebbins
▪ Stebbins writes briefly about one of his favorite tools.
1987
AL#9 p.3 read this article
Ernest Nussbaum
▪ Nussbaum offers corrections to the “Fiddle Facts” article found in AL#8.
1987
AL#9 p.6 BRB1 p.304 read this article
Paul Schuback
▪ In this fascinating lecture from the 1986 GAL convention Schuback speaks of his apprenticeship to a French violin maker in 1962, then goes on to offer details about instrument construction, wood, and a Q&A session.
1986
AL#7 p.50 BRB1 p.258
George Manno
▪ This is repair advice from an experienced violinmaker. The procedure listed begins after the top has been removed. Top removal was described in AL#5.
1986
AL#7 p.52
Ken Cartwright
▪ Cartwright lists the qualities that he expects in an apprentice, and also details what he expects to offer the apprentice in return.
1986
AL#7 p.53 BRB1 p.260
Denny Rauen
▪ Rauen’s installation procedure is meant to remove as little wood from the guitar body as possible. This is not a procedure for retrofitting the bridge system to guitars using a stock Fender-style bridge, but for dropping it onto a new body or one with a hardtail bridge.
1986
AL#7 p.54 BRB1 p.439 read this article
Alan Carruth
▪ Carruth describes a fixture he uses to hold a violin bridge while it is being tuned. It will save your fingers and help prevent cracking the bridge.
1986
AL#7 p.55 BRB1 p.431
Robert Doucet
▪ Doucet offers slick tricks for removing dried glue from raw wood, replacing spruce pulled up by the bridge, tracing braces to make clamping cauls, and roughing saddle blanks into shape.
1986
AL#7 p.56 BRB1 p.181
Sam Sherry
▪ Sherry claims his “bridge plate” style caul is a universal tool that makes bridge regluing easier.
1986
AL#7 p.57 BRB1 p.331
Fred Campbell
▪ Campbell fixes a chipped fret slot with wood dust and superglue.
1986
AL#7 p.57 BRB1 p.253
Tom Mathis
▪ Mathias adds more tips to the Teeter/Sadowsky fretting method.
1986
AL#7 p.58
Tim Olsen
▪ Editor Olsen again describes a number of Quarterly back issues, volumes 10 and 11 from 1982 and 1983.
1986
AL#7 p.59 BRB1 p.239
Steve Andersen
▪ Anderson built a gridded table that uses the vacuum created by a squirrel cage fan to capture sanding dust.
1986
AL#7 p.60 BRB1 p.497 read this article
James Flynn
▪ The reviewer doubts the book’s conclusions and finds it of no value to the serious luthier. He states, however, that dulcimer enthusiasts may find it interesting.
1986
AL#7 p.60 BRB1 p.498 read this article
George Manno
▪ The reviewer finds the book to be a worthwhile investment for anyone seriously trying to duplicate antique violin finishes.
1986
AL#7 p.61 BRB1 p.498 read this article
Tom Rossing
▪ The reviewer is enthusiastic about this booklet for the nonscientist, finding it useful and accurate.
1986
AL#7 p.62
Bill Hultgren
▪ Answer Man Hultgren asks for help from the readership in this column.
1986
AL#8 p.3 BRB1 p.466
J.G. Molnar
▪ Molnar shares interesting anecdotes about the difference between Spanish guitars made for export, which he maintains reach our shores unfinished, and those finished by the shops for use in Europe.
1986
AL#8 p.3
R.E. Brune
▪ Brune maintains that innovations in the classical guitar have happened on a regular basis in recent history, and do not depend solely on the work of Dr. Kasha to bring the instrument up to date.
1986
AL#8 p.5 read this article
George Manno
▪ Manno makes various points about violinmakers as a society and urges the creation of an information-sharing guild just for violin people.
1986
AL#8 p.5
David Golber
▪ Golber adds information to the Shirazi article about the Persian kamanche (AL#4). Specifically, what kind of skin is traditionally used for the soundboard of the instrument.
1986
AL#8 p.6
Richard Ennis
▪ Ennis defends the plywood bass (and plywood in general in its application to instruments) and goes on to mention a few particular problems with the instrument that need to be addressed.
1986
AL#8 p.7 read this article
Loretta Kelley
▪ Kelley adds to the information fund concerning the Hardanger fiddle (see AL#7).
1986
AL#6 p.52 BRB1 p.496 read this article
Tom Rossing
▪ The reviewer finds that this collection of scientific papers will be of value to instrument builders, though it offers no “how to” advice.
1986
AL#6 p.55 BRB1 p.231
Lawrence-D. Brown
▪ Brown contends that the best luthiers are willing to share their knowledge and that mediocre craftsmen are not, then urges everyone to contribute to American Lutherie.
1986
AL#7 p.5
Olie Erikson
▪ Erikson says he tried to get violin makers to unite around standards for ethical behaviour in the 1940s. He says the field still needs to form a new organization that can do this.
1986
AL#7 p.6 BRB1 p.232 read this article
George Bissinger
▪ This transcription of a lecture by a professor of physics examines how five variables affect the performance of the violin. The variables are loudness curves and student instruments; free plate tuning and testing; humidity effects on plate modes; bass bar tuning; and coupling between enclosed air and plate vibrations.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1986
AL#7 p.13 BRB1 p.240
William Cumpiano
▪ Cumpiano lists his favorite methods of repairing various sorts of broken necks.
1986
AL#7 p.18 BRB1 p.244
James Jones
▪ Jones explains how he converted a mobile home into a complete shop.
1986
AL#7 p.21 BRB1 p.248 read this article
Nicholas-Von Robison Ed Arnold
▪ Robison interviews Arnold about harvesting wood in Mexico and dealing it in America.
1986
AL#7 p.24 read this article
E.M. Peters
▪ A brief description of a typical Norwegian fiddle accompanies Peters’ plans for the same, along with a photo of two Hardangers and a drawing of useful ornamentations. The plans are a reduced version of our full-scale Plan #11. Hardangers utilize a set of sympathetic strings and may be tuned in over twenty ways.
1986
AL#7 p.25
E.M. Peters
▪ A full-scale instrument plan. See the GAL website for a low-rez preview.
1986
AL#7 p.26 BRB1 p.250 read this article
Paul Wyszkowski
▪ Wyszkowski describes his visit to H. L. Wild and provides some background information about the legendary tonewood dealer.
1986
AL#7 p.27 BRB1 p.252
Richard Bingham
▪ Bingham provides a brief anecdote about making a guitar from a “found” guitar kit from H. L. Wild.
1986
AL#7 p.28 BRB1 p.251
Steve Curtin
▪ Curtin shares his impressions of his first visit to H. L. Wild.
1986
AL#7 p.29 BRB1 p.256 ALA6 p.8
Mario Maccaferri
▪ Maccaferri speaks about his life as a musician, luthier, and inventor. Mentions the Selmer company and Django Reinhardt.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1986
AL#7 p.34
Tim Olsen
▪ Editor Olsen highlights the events of the GAL’s 10th convention, which was held near the Guild’s headquarters city of Tacoma, Washington, in 1986. With 20 photos.
1986
AL#7 p.40
Staff
▪ This is a who’s who of the people who starred in the GAL’s 10th convention halls.
1986
AL#7 p.42
Bon Henderson
▪ Henderson provides an insider’s view of convention life outside the halls.
1986
AL#7 p.43 BRB1 p.196 read this article
Frederick-C. Lyman-Jr.
▪ Lyman offers another philosophical look at lutherie and acoustical physics.
1986
AL#7 p.45 read this article
Nicholas-Von Robison
▪ Things look bleaker for the world’s forests.
1986
AL#7 p.46 BRB1 p.246
Lawrence-D. Brown
▪ Brown gives advice about the special repair needs of very old instruments.
1986
AL#7 p.48
William Conrad
▪ Conrad gives useful advice about disassembling instruments for repair.
1986
AL#5 p.52
Duane Waterman
▪ The idea of the project is to bring together several members/luthiers to build a guitar cooperatively and sell it for the benefit of the Guild.
1986
AL#5 p.53 BRB1 p.495 read this article
Christopher Allworth
▪ The reviewer finds the book to be “important and useful” to builders who wish to pursue the early viols.
1986
AL#5 p.53 BRB1 p.496 read this article
Gila Eban
▪ The reviewer finds the book to be of interest to the luthier, even though it offers little technical information about guitars.
1986
AL#6 p.3 BRB1 p.149
Dana Bourgeois
▪ Bourgeois comments about in inappropriateness of refretting many old Martin guitars with the “Teeter” epoxy method.
1986
AL#6 p.3
Dick Boak
▪ Boak warns us that luthiers must keep up with the times and a changing market as we pursue our craft, and that complacency is a vice none of us can afford.
1986
AL#6 p.8 BRB1 p.204
Roger Sadowsky
▪ Sadowsky’s convention lecture thoroughly describes his version the Don Teeter system of fretting with epoxy and oversize fret slots.
1986
AL#6 p.14 BRB1 p.190 read this article
William Cumpiano
▪ Cumpiano goes to some length telling of the travails and trials of producing the book, Guitarmaking: Tradition and Technology.
1986
AL#6 p.19 BRB1 p.196 read this article
Frederick-C. Lyman-Jr.
▪ Lyman likens the physical properties of a stringed instrument to those of the earth’s atmosphere (our great spherical friend), and advises us that an understanding of science should underlay our intuitional sensitivities.
1986
AL#6 p.22 read this article
Ted Davis
▪ Davis interviews the great flatpicker about (mostly) nontechnical matters.
1986
AL#6 p.26 read this article
George Manno
▪ Manno describes his method of tuning an out-of-the-box violin bridge for maximum performance. A “personal expansion” upon previously published work by Al Carruth.
1986
AL#6 p.27 BRB1 p.103
Ted Davis
▪ Davis gives a compact history of Martin archtops and offers a blueprint of the C-3 model, then goes on to have a mock interview with Steve Kauffman’s C-3, Suzie. The plan is a reduced version of our full-scale Plan #10.
1986
AL#6 p.28 BRB1 p.106
Ted Davis
▪ A full-scale instrument plan. See the GAL website for a low-rez preview.
1986
AL#6 p.34 BRB1 p.227
John Monteleone
▪ Monteleone’s lecture covers personal background, after which a question/answer segment gets to the specifics of archtop design and construction.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.
1986
AL#6 p.38 BRB1 p.222
Ted Davis John Monteleone
▪ This lengthy interview sheds more light on the archtop maker’s background and furnishes information about his mandolins.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1986
AL#6 p.44 BRB1 p.177
Dana Bourgeois
▪ Bourgeois shares a method of making properly arched top braces for the contemporary “flattop” guitar.
1986
AL#6 p.45
Paul Wyszkowski
▪ Wyszkowski offers a luke-warm acceptance of the potential of the Kasha guitar as interpreted by Richard Schneider.
1986
AL#6 p.45
Carl Margolis
▪ Margolis defends the Kasha guitar system, using the Kasha-influenced instruments of Steve Klein examples.
1986
AL#6 p.46 BRB1 p.230
Dick Boak
▪ Boak shares a Martin company fixture used for gluing bridges on flattop guitars.
1986
AL#6 p.48
Tim Olsen
▪ Editor Olsen submits more GAL history and describes available back issues of the old Quarterly, the previous GAL publication.
1986
AL#6 p.51
Bill Hultgren
▪ Hultgren mentions a source for elephant ivory, though he finds its use unethical. He also warns that anthrax can be contracted from working with infected ivory, and that most American doctors will not recognize its symptoms. St. Croix instrument kits get a nod of approval.
1986
AL#5 p.6
James Flynn
▪ Flynn sends a picture of six Guild members at the Balalaika and Domra Association of America.
1986
AL#5 p.7
Jim Williams
▪ Williams endorses scientific guitar design and refers to the work of Australian guitar maker Greg Smallman. Also brings up the names of Kasha and Brune.
1986
AL#5 p.7
Michael Knutson
▪ Knutson makes a correction to his earlier letter about wire strength and string tension printed in AL#4 (which was a response to an article in AL#2).
1986
AL#5 p.7
Peter Estes
▪ Estes mentions the negative feedback he received about his GAL contribution, Data Sheet #290, in which he recommended a specific method of fitting backs to guitars.
1986
AL#5 p.10 BRB1 p.150
Ted Davis William DelPilar
▪ Davis offers his conversation with a professional luthier who made over 800 classical guitars between 1956 and 1986.
1986
AL#5 p.14 BRB1 p.154 read this article
Bobby Wolfe
▪ Wolfe explains some history of the Dobro-style resonator guitar and mentions John Dopera, then details its construction and lists some commonly seen repairs and how to deal with them. The article is completed by 8 good photos.
1986
AL#5 p.22 BRB1 p.168
Ken Donnell
▪ Donnell gives a thorough description of his methods of bridge removal and regluing. Both classical and steel string guitars are covered.
1986
AL#5 p.26 BRB1 p.172
Ervin Somogyi
▪ Somogyi describes his adventure of buying guitar tops in Germany, and the extent to which bowed instruments dominate the German market.
1986
AL#5 p.27 BRB1 p.176
Ervin Somogyi
▪ Somogyi uses personal experience to compare Sitka and European spruces.
1986
AL#5 p.31
Gary Frisbie
▪ Frisbie states his philosophy of how a luthier should evolve his designs.
1986
AL#5 p.32 BRB1 p.180 read this article
Ernest Nussbaum
▪ Nussbaum describes his “travel cello,” a takedown frame-body/neck which uses a transducer to produce full sound.
1986
AL#5 p.33
George Manno
▪ Manno makes a plea for fairness when buying vintage instruments from unsuspecting owners.
1986
AL#5 p.34 BRB1 p.182 read this article
Robert Cooper
▪ Cooper describes his method of making ribs for a “half round” lute, in which all the ribs are the same.
1986
AL#5 p.36 BRB1 p.184 read this article
Frederick-C. Lyman-Jr.
▪ Lyman compares different makes of strings for the bass viol.
1986
AL#5 p.38 BRB1 p.186 read this article
Alexander-I. Eppler
▪ Eppler describes the most sophisticated member of the hammered dulcimer family, but offers no construction information.
1986
AL#5 p.40 BRB1 p.153 read this article
George Manno
▪ Manno describes a method of removing violin tops that have been improperly attached with contemporary glues.
1986
AL#5 p.41 BRB1 p.195
Tom Blackshear
▪ Blackshear describes his method of thinning the top of an assembled guitar to enhance the tone.
1986
AL#5 p.42 BRB1 p.188
Richard Ennis
▪ Ennis describes how to cut fret slots on a table saw using notches in a fixed bar as depth stops to regulate the fret spacing.
1986
AL#5 p.44
Tim Olsen
▪ Editor Olsen gives a brief history of the GAL and describes the back issues of Vols. 6 and 7 of the GAL Quarterly that were then available.
1986
AL#5 p.51 BRB1 p.185
Elliott Burch
▪ Burch offers a method of binding a mandolin that contributes to the ease of removing the plates at a later date.
1985
AL#4 p.11 BRB1 p.99
William Cumpiano Manuel Velazquez
▪ Velazquez fields a number of questions about the specifics of building the nylon-strung guitar, including types of glue, choice of wood, construction design, and finishing.
1985
AL#4 p.16 BRB1 p.108 read this article
Ted Davis
▪ In this lecture Davis describes his method of making instrument plans from a guitar, then fields questions and takes suggestions.
1985
AL#4 p.20 BRB1 p.114
David Macias
▪ Macias relates an interesting anecdote about the first maple classical guitar he built, then translates a Pujol description of the Tarrega guitar made by Torres.
1985
AL#4 p.22 BRB1 p.116 read this article
Robert Cooper
▪ Cooper’s lecture tracks his own development as a lute maker and the instrument’s return to historically accurate models. Mentions Hermann Hauser II, a number of performers, which designs and glues are preferable, how to remove a neck when necessary, and briefly discusses strings.
1985
AL#4 p.27 BRB1 p.126 read this article
Nasser Shirazi
▪ Shirazi offers a history of the Persian bowed instrument as well as plans and construction advice. The kamanche is a four-stringed neck attached to a gourd. The plans are a reduced version of our full-scale Plan #9.
1985
AL#4 p.28 BRB1 p.131
Nasser Shirazi
▪ A full-scale instrument plan. See the GAL website for a low-rez preview.
1985
AL#4 p.31 BRB1 p.132 read this article
John Jordan
▪ Jordan describes 14 varieties of rosewood, and 14 varieties of false rosewood. Some max out as large shrubs, and only offer interest to wood collectors. Others are of high interest to luthiers, or should be.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1985
AL#4 p.36 BRB1 p.140 ALA5 p.2
William Tapia
▪ Tapia relates the history of Ramirez guitars and tells of his time there learning to properly repair them.
1985
AL#4 p.39 BRB1 p.145 ALA5 p.6
William Tapia
▪ Tapia describes the method used to make guitar nuts in the Ramirez shop.
1985
AL#4 p.42
Gila Eban
▪ Eban takes on Paul Wyzskowski as she champions the design innovations of Michael Kasha. She has incorporated many of Kasha’s changes into her own classical guitars. Her rebuttal mentions Richard Schneider, Jamey Hampton, and Graham Caldersmith.
1985
AL#4 p.42
R.E. Brune
▪ Brune, a defender of traditional values, defends his criticism of the Kasha innovations, along the way mentioning Schneider, Hampton, and Segovia.
1985
AL#4 p.43 BRB1 p.136
William Conrad
▪ Conrad explains how he converted his Dremel moto-lathe into a miniature table saw.
1985
AL#4 p.46 BRB1 p.146
Peg Willis
▪ Willis explains the construction of her unique hollow dulcimer fretboard, which has coved sides that blend into the soundboard.
1985
AL#4 p.48 BRB1 p.148 read this article
Frederick-C. Lyman-Jr.
▪ Lyman champions the use of common materials and low sophistication in the production of serviceable, affordable bass fiddles. Mentions Kay basses and the Richard Ennis design in AL#3.
1985
AL#4 p.50
Bill Hultgren
▪ Hultgren offers quick advice about obtaining instrument kits and why one should use them, and mentions two sources of used instruments.
1985
AL#4 p.51
Paul Wyszkowski
▪ Wyszkowski, a member of the GAL Board of Directors, gives a pep talk about the advantages and philosophy of GAL membership.
1985
AL#4 p.52 BRB1 p.492 read this article
Frederick Battershell
▪ The reviewer examines what has become one of the main-stay catalogs of lutherie and finds that it’s not only chock full of wood, supplies, and tools, it’s a nearly encyclopedic source of lutherie information.
1985
AL#4 p.52 BRB1 p.494 read this article
Kirk-A. Janowiak
▪ The reviewer finds that this book is a necessary addition to any luthier’s library, but especially to one who may not yet be equipped with power tools.
1985
AL#4 p.53 BRB1 p.492 read this article
R.E. Brune
▪ The reviewer finds that this book about Renaissance and Baroque stringed instruments is “the most intense 178 pages of treatise on the art of lutherie. . . . Lots of math, and “exquisite” drawings of 33 instruments.
1986
AL#5 p.3
Bob Benedetto
▪ Benedetto suggests that lutherie schools be taken seriously.
1985
AL#3 p.19
Paul Wyszkowski
▪ Sixty books and articles dealing with guitar acoustics are rated for legitimacy, clarity, and usefulness.
1985
AL#3 p.22 read this article
Lawrence-D. Brown
▪ Brown comments on trends in lute making toward Baroque instruments, all-gut stringing, larger body sizes, and lower pitches.
1985
AL#3 p.24 BRB1 p.88 read this article
Thomas Snyder
▪ Measured drawings are presented for building a jig to facilitate rehairing bows. A detailed method for using the jig is also presented.
1985
AL#3 p.26
Dick Boak
▪ Coverage of the 1985 regional GAL meeting is presented with 29 photos.
1985
AL#3 p.37
Chris Pile
▪ Pile offers tips on using superglue.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1985
AL#3 p.38 BRB1 p.90
Ed Mettee
▪ Photos and sketches fill out a description of a knockdown solidbody guitar that fits into a briefcase.
1985
AL#3 p.41
Chris Pile Tim Earls
▪ Pile contends that Schaller and Badass hardware comes with inferior screws, and that the good screws that come with cheaper machine heads should be swapped for them. Mr. Earls offers a method of cleaning bolt threads after cutting the bolt.
1985
AL#3 p.42 BRB1 p.92 read this article
Richard Ennis
▪ Rough sketches help describe a fast and cheap substitute for a bass viol. It has no scroll or waist, and a flat top and back.
1985
AL#3 p.45
Larry Robinson
▪ Robinson cut an elaborate inlay pattern to the wrong scale, but made it work.
1985
AL#3 p.46
Bill Hultgren
▪ A question/answer format offers sources for micarta, pearloid inlay materials, and small files.
1985
AL#3 p.47
Tim Earls
▪ Earls describes his ordeal of completing a guitar painted by an auto body shop.He finds that even the best auto painter may not understand the intricacies of the guitar.
1985
AL#3 p.48 BRB1 p.489 read this article
Frederick Battershell
▪ The reviewer finds the book to be poorly organized and under-illustrated, making it a poor text for the beginning violinmaker.
1985
AL#3 p.48 BRB1 p.491 read this article
Paul Wyszkowski
▪ The reviewer finds the book to be a complete text on the basics of acoustics that is relatively free of math and technical jargon.
1985
AL#3 p.49 BRB1 p.490 read this article
Edward Kottick
▪ The reviewer finds the journal interesting, yet is nevertheless critical of its informational accuracy.
1985
AL#3 p.50 BRB1 p.490 read this article
Fred Carlson
▪ The reviewer finds the newsletter “thin”, but is enthusiastic about its future.
1985
AL#4 p.3 BRB1 p.147
Patrick-W. Coffey
▪ Coffey describes how to make a small electric glue pot for under $13.
1985
AL#4 p.3
Michael Knutson
▪ Knutson suggests changes to a string tension formula previously published in AL#2.
1985
AL#4 p.7
Peg Willis
▪ Willis makes interesting comments about the musicians’ responsibility to an instrument’s compensation factor. She contends that a musician’s technique can help an instrument play in tune.
1985
AL#4 p.8 BRB1 p.96
William Cumpiano
▪ Cumpiano shares a pleasant visit with Velazquez in Puerto Rico where the conversation is all about classical guitars, wood, compensation factors, and balancing the tone of the instrument.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1985
AL#4 p.10 BRB1 p.98
Manuel Velazquez
▪ Velazquez speaks briefly about the qualities that make a good luthier.
1985
AL#2 p.44
Richard Ennis
▪ Ennis kerfs wide boards on the table saw, then rips them to twice the desired width. He then rips each of these at an angle with a bandsaw to produce (after they are sliced lengthwise) two lining strips.
1985
AL#2 p.45 BRB1 p.135 read this article
Don Musser
▪ Musser describes two Amazon woods with properties similar to Dalbergia nigra.
1985
AL#2 p.46 read this article
Topher Gayle
▪ A jig for holding a natural-skin head at tension while it is being glued to a drum.
1985
AL#2 p.48
Mark Goulet
▪ A thickness sander drum is produced from scrap lumber without the use of a lathe.
1985
AL#2 p.49 BRB1 p.72
Ted Kellison
▪ Kellison presents a safe method for preheating lacquer before spraying, and recommends an anti-static gun.
1985
AL#2 p.49
C.F. Casey
▪ Casey prefers laminate trimmers to Dremels.
1985
AL#2 p.50
Alan Carruth
▪ Philosophical musings. Is lutherie an art or a science?
1985
AL#2 p.51 BRB1 p.487 read this article
John Bromka Ron Lira
▪ Positive reviews praise the text, photos, and ad reproductions in this book about the Larson brothers, who made instruments from the 1880s to 1944.
1985
AL#2 p.51 BRB1 p.487
Frederick Battershell
▪ The reviewer praises the concise approach of the book as it describes one builder’s construction of a violin.
1985
AL#2 p.52 BRB1 p.488 read this article
Edward Kottick
▪ The reviewer calls the book a brilliant overview and analysis of all that can be said about the complex issue of temperament on string instruments between 1520 and 1740.
1985
AL#2 p.53 BRB1 p.488 read this article
C.F. Casey
▪ The reviewer calls this the best of the popular (as opposed to scholarly) histories of the guitar.
1985
AL#2 p.54 BRB1 p.77
Brian Mascarin
▪ They are: an archtop guitar brace jack, a modified 1/4″ phone plug to position an output jack, and a clear plastic square for scribing fret positions on a fretless bass.
1985
AL#3 p.2 BRB1 p.79 read this article
Bob Benedetto
▪ Benedetto offers advice on making a living as a luthier.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1985
AL#3 p.2
Paul Wyszkowski
▪ Wyszkowski rebuts R. E. Brune’s criticism of the work of Dr. Kasha in AL#1 and mentions the work of Richard Schneider, then goes on to counter a criticism of the GAL.
1985
AL#3 p.5
Jamey Hampton
▪ Hampton counters R. E. Brune’s criticism of Michael Kasha in AL#1, and draws upon Jose Ramirez III to help defend the scientific philosophy of guitarmaking.
1985
AL#3 p.8 BRB1 p.80
C.F. Martin-IV
▪ Martin, currently head of the Martin Guitar Company, offers some personal history and business advice to luthiers.
1985
AL#3 p.11 BRB1 p.84
C.F. Martin-III
▪ The former head of the Martin Guitar Company reminisces about his life as a guitar maker, offers a short history of the company and certain guitar models, and in the process mentions C. F. Martin Jr., Frank Henry Martin, and Mike Longworth.
1985
AL#3 p.15
Larry Robinson
▪ Robinson suggests methods of getting your name and work into newspapers and periodicals.
1985
AL#3 p.16 BRB1 p.83 read this article
Michael Dresdner
▪ Dresdner relates a story from his early days which illustrates the fact that only the ill informed believe in trade secrets.
1985
AL#3 p.17
Paul Wyszkowski
▪ Wyszkowski submits that the generations of luthiers have intuitively followed the scientific method.
1985
AL#1 p.50 BRB1 p.73
John Jordan
▪ Jordan describes two incandescent lights designed for use inside guitars. One uses a 7½-watt bulb on a standard power cord. The other uses tiny low-voltage bulbs and a step-down transformer.
1985
AL#1 p.51 BRB1 p.29
Joel-Ivan Hawley
▪ Hawley describes a method of sawing part way into a 4×4, then clamping it to the bandsaw table and using it as a table for sawing the outline of a guitar or banjo peghead.
1985
AL#1 p.52
Ervin Somogyi
▪ Somogyi comments briefly on the relative merits of oil stones and water stones.
1985
AL#1 p.53
Carl McFarland
▪ McFarland drilled up through the face of a finished tamburah when drilling holes for string anchors in the tail area of the sides.
1985
AL#1 p.53
William McCaw
▪ McCaw ruined a classic peghead when the cheap collar of his router gave way.
1985
AL#1 p.54 BRB1 p.486
William McCaw
▪ The reviewer praises the book as the most logical of the construction methods he has read, but takes issue with some specific techniques.
1985
AL#1 p.54 BRB1 p.486 read this article
Peter Estes
▪ The reviewer praises the book in general, and especially the quality of the diagrams.
1985
AL#2 p.3 read this article
Tony Pizzo
▪ Where to get gourds and gourd seeds for building ethnic instruments.
1985
AL#2 p.7 BRB1 p.47
Ron Lira
▪ Lira recommends specific routers and bits.
1985
AL#2 p.8 BRB1 p.58 read this article
Ted Davis Steve Grimes Bob Meltz Matt Umanov
▪ This panel discussion from the 1984 GAL Convention features Bob Meltz, Matt Umanov, David Sheppard, Ted Davis, and Steve Grimes. Straight talk on the realities of being a one-man lutherie shop.
1985
AL#2 p.13 BRB1 p.56 read this article
Tim Olsen
▪ An update of the 1980 Lutherie Business panel discussion, featuring George Gruhn, Max Krimmel, Steve Klein, Robert Lundberg, and R.E. Brune.
1985
AL#2 p.20 BRB1 p.68 read this article
Graham Caldersmith
▪ Caldersmith discusses the efficiency and pattern of sound radiation in the classic guitar produced by the four lower resonance modes, which he calls monopole, cross dipole, long dipole, and tripole. Mentions Tom Rossing, Gila Eban, Paul Wyzskowski, Fred Dickens, Michael Kasha, Richard Schneider, and Greg Smallman.
1985
AL#2 p.25 BRB1 p.74
William Cumpiano
▪ Cumpiano discusses wood color and figure on the cellular level.
1985
AL#2 p.25
H.E. Huttig
▪ Humorous fiction. A guitar of continental proportions is constructed with disastrous results.
1985
AL#2 p.32
Michael Dresdner
▪ A brief life history of Mario Maccaferri, including his career as a musician, his work with the Selmer Company and the Django Reinhardt guitars, his plastics manufacturing, his association with John Monteleone, and his projects as he nears retirement.
1985
AL#2 p.35
Mark Humpal
▪ The 1985 annual exhibition of instruments from the area around Portland, Oregon. Some of the people involved are Paul Schuback, Jeffrey R. Elliott, Robert Steinegger, William McCaw, Ken Butler, and Robert Lundberg.
1985
AL#2 p.38
David Macias
▪ Brief overview of the 1985 event. 5 photos.
1985
AL#2 p.40
Jim Williams
▪ Brief overview of the 1985 meeting of the Association of Australian Musical Instrument Makers. Attendees included Graham Caldersmith, Alistair McAllister, Greg Smallman, Mark Lewis, and Gerard Gilet.
1985
AL#2 p.41 BRB1 p.46 read this article
Ted Davis
▪ Davis tells of his long, difficult, and ultimately successful quest to obtain logs of red spruce (Picea rubens).
1985
AL#2 p.42 BRB1 p.78
Graham McDonald
▪ McDonald gives formulae and graphs to determine appropriate steel string gauges for nonstandard scale lengths.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1984
GALQ Vol.12#4 p.37
Alan Carruth
▪
1984
BRB2 p.478
C.F. Casey
▪
1985
AL#1 p.3
Michael Dresdner
▪ Dresdner discusses the availability of files suitable for nut slotting, and supplies an address for the Grobet Company.
1985
AL#1 p.5
Paul Wyszkowski
▪ Wyszkowski defends assertions he made in a previous article (Vol. 12, #4, GAL Quarterly) concerning sound radiation of the (1,0) mode in the classic guitar. His assertion is based on the work of William Strong and Graham Caldersmith. Criticism was made by Gila Eban.
1985
AL#1 p.5
Jose Llorens
▪ Llorens describes methods of fixing mechanical flaws in Schaller classic machines.
1985
AL#1 p.10 BRB1 p.2 read this article
David Nichols
▪ Nichols does a lot of custom inlay work, including ultra-fancy work on new instruments for the Martin Company. He describes his entire process here, illustrated with 15 photos. He also reveals his tool choices and sources of supply.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.
1985
AL#1 p.16 BRB1 p.8 read this article
W.D. Allen
▪ Allen attempts to introduce the nonphysicist to useful concepts of resonance including standing waves, captured air mass, and soundhole size. Illustrated with the author’s own sometimes-whimsical drawings, the article aims at preparing luthiers to understand heavier fare on the physics of musical instruments.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1985
AL#1 p.21 BRB1 p.30 read this article
Keith Hill
▪ Hill theorizes that the violinmakers of the classical period tuned tap tones of certain areas of their instruments to desired pitch relationships. He finds these to be consistent within the work the individual makers, and suggests that the natural resonances of the human body may be a model for this idea. Specific techniques and tools are described.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1985
AL#1 p.27 BRB1 p.38 ALA4 p.7
Ted Davis
▪ The article contains 4 photos, a short text, and a reduced image of our full-scale instrument Plan #8. Both pages of the very thorough drawing are presented. A chance to get an accurate preview of the plan before you buy. This is a very small flattop guitar, less than 13″ at the lower bout.
1985
AL#1 p.31 read this article
Bob Gleason
▪ Gleason admonishes luthiers to respect the ukulele as a legitimate instrument with its own challenges and rewards. Martin and Kamaka ukes are mentioned.
1985
AL#1 p.32 BRB1 p.14 read this article
William Cumpiano Bruce Hoadley
▪ In this interview with well-known author and wood expert Bruce Hoadley, Cumpiano seeks to clear up certain questions about Brazilian rosewood relating to identification and confusion with other Dalbergias and so-called rosewoods.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1985
AL#1 p.36 BRB1 p.18
Mark Stanley
▪ Stanley proposes a lutherie workbench of an unusual stepped-width design and gives thoughts on the materials and carpentry involved in constructing it.
1985
AL#1 p.38 read this article
R.E. Brune
▪ Brune criticizes the theoretical design work of Dr. Michael Kasha, concluding that it is in fact less scientific than the empirical work of luthiers untrained in physics.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1985
AL#1 p.40 BRB1 p.42
Merv Rowley
▪ Rowley describes a method of setting nails into half-round slots in a dulcimer fretboard. The slots are made by passing the fretboard over a veining bit in a router table with a miter fence.
1985
AL#1 p.42 BRB1 p.13
Ted Davis
▪ Davis presents a drawing of a jig for properly forming the sides and lining of a guitar to accept a domed back. The sides are held in a mold while a sanding stick, held by a central post, is passed over them.
1985
AL#1 p.43
Bill Hultgren
▪ Hultgren offers advice to those conducting telephone searches for parts or materials.
1985
AL#1 p.44 BRB1 p.44
Gregory Jackson
▪ Jackson comments on the basic principle upon which electronic moisture meters work, use of the meters, and why you should not try to cobble together your own.
1985
AL#1 p.45 BRB1 p.45
Elliott Burch
▪ Burch describes modifying an automotive part-retrieving claw into a device for positioning small crack-reinforcing studs.
1985
AL#1 p.46 BRB1 p.26
Michael Jacobson-Hardy
▪ Jacobson-Hardy describes devices based on pneumatic cylinders for bending sides, clamping braces to plates, clamping plates to sides, and holding neck blanks in a lathe.
1985
AL#1 p.49 BRB1 p.17
C.F. Casey
▪ Casey briefly describes the construction and use of a long-handled knife designed to be used with two hands.
1984
GALQ Vol.12#1 p.20 BRB2 p.124
Tom Rossing
▪ The way in which the guitar body responds to the driving forces of a vibrating string is a very complex subject.
1984
GALQ Vol.12#1 p.30
J.R. Beall
▪
1984
GALQ Vol.12#1 p.32
John Jordan
▪
1984
GALQ Vol.12#1 p.37
Tim Earls
▪
1984
GALQ Vol.12#2 p.10 BRB1p.386 read this article
Edward Kottick
▪ Nearly every person alive in the western world has grown up with music that sounds the same in every key, but there was once a time when music had no keys, and later a time when each key had its own particular sound. We are perfectly comfortable with how our music sounds, but are we richer for it? More importantly, people once had different concepts of music, and perhaps different expectations. They thought differently. And if they thought differently about music perhaps they thought differently about everything. How can we understand their times if we can’t understand the way they thought? Kottick doesn’t delve into this, but you might be tempted to after reading this article.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1984
GALQ Vol.12#2 p.20
J.R. Beall
▪ Beall comments on the results of a listening test conducted on five classic guitars by Richard Schneider at the 1978 GAL convention.
1984
GALQ Vol.12#2 p.22 read this article
John-E. Philpott
▪ Thomas Blackshear builds world class instruments, but this time it was something special.
1984
GALQ Vol.12#2 p.24
John Meng
▪ Meng quests the solution to a great eternal mystery: the search for the ‘Cremona sound’.
1984
GALQ Vol.12#2 p.25
Paul Wyszkowski
▪ Some inklings garnered over the years of reading, listening, thinking, and building, to make a good guitar.
1984
GALQ Vol.12#2 p.28 BRB1p.410
Fred Carlson
▪ Beards may interfere with the filtering out of toxic stuff in the air by use of a standard respirator.
1984
GALQ Vol.12#2 p.30
Jim Williams
▪ The aims of the Australian Association of Musical Instrument Makers, formed in 1982.
1984
GALQ Vol.12#2 p.31
William Tapia
▪ It’s always been the same; the great luthiers of the world have a growing list of customers waiting for their instruments to be finished, while the rest have a hard time making ends meet.
1984
GALQ Vol.12#3 p.20
Ervin Somogyi
▪ Somogyi promotes steel string guitars through the medium of bluegrass festivals.
1984
GALQ Vol.12#3 p.8 BRB2 p.456
William Tapia Bob Mattingly
▪ Mattingly is one of the best classical guitar makers in the U.S., yet what is it that keeps him and other fine luthiers from reaching international acclaim?
1984
GALQ Vol.12#3 p.9 BRB2 p.456
Duane Waterman
▪ Waterman on his impressions and experiences with Bob Mattingly.
1984
GALQ Vol.12#4 p.10 read this article
Tom Morgan
▪ From his 1984 GAL convention lecture.
1984
GALQ Vol.12#4 p.24
Paul Wyszkowski
▪ A stab at comprehensively pulling together the information on acoustic vibrations of guitars for use by the practical luthier.
1984
GALQ Vol.12#4 p.28 LW p.41 read this article
Ted Davis
▪ Hard North American wood also called bois d’arc.
1984
GALQ Vol.12#4 p.30
Paul Wyszkowski
▪ Of the thousands of varieties of stringed instruments made on this planet, the bdoingbink is one of the least known.
1984
GALQ Vol.12#4 p.36
James Flynn
▪
1984
DS#285 LW p.120
Michael Dresdner
▪ Steam out the neck with a cappuccino machine. See also the previous 2 articles. This variation involves sawing off the fretboard at the body joint.
1984
DS#286 LT p.47
Elliott Burch
▪ Simple steamer rejuvenates gelled glue after it’s been applied and the clamps are in place.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1984
DS#287 BRB1 p.25 read this article
John Meng
▪ Meng suggests bending violin ribs using a backer of sheet aluminum to prevent shattering the wood, then goes on to suggest that tensions in the wood are often inadvertently built into instruments. Given time, the wood relaxes into its new shape, and the tone of the instrument improves at the same rate.
1984
DS#288 LW p.92
Anonymous
▪ Plastic is often recycled in the factory, and various colors may be added to a basic mix. Plastic for instrument adornment is never supposed to be made this way, but it can happen. Your supplier should make good on it.
1984
DS#288 LW p.98
Tim Earls
▪ Here’s a simple trick to keep slack strings out of the way while you work on the saddle. Especially helpful on 12-strings.
1984
DS#288 LW p.111 read this article
Michael Dresdner
▪ Dresdner steals yet another tool from another discipline, this time for polishing frets after they’ve been shaped with a file.
1984
DS#289 BRB2 p.456
Duane Waterman William Tapia
▪ Mattingly was one of the most respected classical builders in America before his death. This article examines some of the unusual construction techniques he used.
1984
DS#290
Unknown
▪
1984
DS#291 LT p.16
Alan Carruth
▪ General process of identifying and heat treating steel for use in edge tools.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1984
DS#292 LT p.36
Alan Carruth
▪ Diagram gives dimensions to make a lute peg reamer.
1984
DS#293 LW p.114
Dave Gentry
▪ Fender’s unorthodox method of installing a truss rod makes the replacement of the rod a strange undertaking. Gentry’s technique is clever, and far less invasive than removing the entire fingerboard. With 2 drawings.
1984
DS#294 BRB2 p.340
Ted Davis
▪ Various theories and attempts to involve more of the top of classical guitar in sound production, including the methods of Robert Bouchet.
1984
DS#295 LT p.40
J.R. Weene
▪ Wooden C-clamp for special uses.
1984
DS#296 LW p.29 read this article
Gregory Jackson
▪ The lowdown on chemically bound water and free water in wood.
1984
DS#297
Jim Williams
▪ The advent of the piezoelectric transducer has provided a relatively simple method of amplifying the sound of an acoustic nylon or steel string guitar.
1984
DS#298 BRB2 p.444
Elliott Burch
▪ Most banjo rims (or pots) are laminated from one long strip of steam-bent wood. An even stronger rim can be made of blocks laid up like a brick wall. Here’s how to make one. With 7 illustrations.
1984
DS#299 LT p.44
Duane Waterman
▪ The go-bar box illustrated in this data sheet is primarily used in clamping braces and plates to a guitar soundboard, is very effective, easy to use, and has many more advantages over a workboard and clamps.
1984
DS#300 LT p.101
Duane Waterman
▪ Simple table saw uses a 3″ blade mounted directly on the shaft of a small motor.
1984
DS#301
Tim Olsen
▪ To have holiday fun, you gotta have a luthier’s snowflake. To make a luthier’s snowflake, you need the following stuff.
1984
GALQ Vol.12#1 p.10 LW p.31 read this article
Nicholas-Von Robison Perry Thomas
▪ In 1984 we were already in trouble. What are the odds that things have gotten better?
1984
DS#269 BRB1 p.264 read this article
Neil Hebert
▪ This guitarmaker has adopted finishing techniques that are often reserved for violins, and claims that in eye and tactile appeal it is superior to lacquer. Particularly important is how he deals with rosewood’s tendency to bleed color, a problem that fiddle finishers don’t have to face.
1984
DS#270
Paul Wyszkowski
▪
1984
DS#271 BRB2 p.400
Graham Caldersmith
▪ The “Young’s Modulus” of any piece of wood can be calculated, giving a result measurable in frequency. Comparing the Young’s Modulus of a wood species with unknown qualities with a chart of other species of known characteristics can tell you what to expect before any instrument work is commenced. Here’s how to calculate the Young’s Modulus of any piece of wood you have on hand. With 1 drawing and a sample wood chart.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1984
DS#272 LT p.50
Duane Waterman
▪ Uses pipe clamp screws.
1984
DS#273 BRB1 p.254 read this article
Frederick-C. Lyman-Jr.
▪ Lyman created a shipping crate for the bass viol that will take abuse without damaging the bass, which is suspended in the crate without touching any of the walls. With 5 good drawings of crate details. It’s not lutherie, but it might save your instrument.
1984
DS#274 LT p.67
George Gawlik
▪ Jointing the center seam of instrument plates with a router.
1984
DS#275 BRB2 p.418
Nicholas-Von Robison
▪ This is a physics of sound primer for the hammered dulcimer.
1984
DS#276 BRB1 p.262 read this article
Graham Caldersmith
▪ The Sacconi technique of sealing fiddles with silicates has not been widely accepted. Nevertheless, the author explains how he has successfully used silicates to seal and harden violin wood before varnishing, as well as the use of vernice bianca (basically whipped egg whites) to act as an interface between the silicate and the varnish.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1984
DS#277 LW p.121 read this article
Jim Williams
▪ Make your own Rickenbacker-style double rod. With 3 illustrations.
1984
DS#278 BRB2 p.367
Duane Waterman
▪ This is a trick method of laminating wood purfling strips and bending them to shape at the same time. With 5 photos.
1984
DS#279 LW p.62 ALA6 p.2
Ted Davis
▪ This rare Martin required the creation of a new harp neck as well as the repair of many top and side cracks. The plans included are also available as GAL full-scale blueprint #7. Includes 5 photos.
1984
DS#279 LW p.64 ALA6 p.4
Ted Davis
▪ A full-scale instrument plan. See the GAL website for a low-rez preview.
1984
DS#280 LW p.86 read this article
Michael Dresdner
▪ There are several ways to lay out an inlay pattern before routing, but this one might be the most accurate.
1984
DS#281
Fred Carlson
▪ Procedure for repairing a basic heel/neck crack with butterfly patches.
1984
DS#282
Michael Dresdner
▪ Spot spraying, French polish clothes marking intricate inlays, cyanocrylate glue. From his 1982 convention lecture.
1984
DS#283 BRB1 p.20 read this article
Keith Hill
▪ Hill advocates tuning different portions of the plates to segments of the overtone system, using various tonic notes to suit the particular wood before you. No measuring tools are necessary during tuning since the actual thickness of the plate portions is of no consequence. He maintains that this is the tuning system used by the Italian masters.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1984
DS#284 read this article
James Flynn
▪ Essential dimensions for all sizes of the Balalaika, a Russian folk instrument.
1984
DS#285 LW p.97
Michael Dresdner
▪ Dresdner studs the crack, then compresses the edges of the top crack into a wedge shape into which a tapered spline is glued. This technique has become routine, but this is one of the first times it reached print. He also offers a recipe for touching up the new wood to a “vintage” color.
1984
DS#285 LW p.106
Michael Dresdner
▪ In the “old days” you couldn’t buy a set of nut slotting files. They didn’t exist. The author used pattern makers files with parallel safety sides. He recommends learning about and adapting the tools from every trade that crosses your path.
1984
DS#285 LW p.107
Michael Dresdner
▪ All right, so you got the neck off of your flattop and you’re about to reset it. How much wood do you have to remove from the heel to achieve the proper correction? It turns out that you can calculate that figure, and here’s how to do it. With 1 sketch.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1983
GALQ Vol.11#2 p.24
Frederick-C. Lyman-Jr.
▪ The violin is a historical entity, an object of a very special and esoteric scholarship, an artifact with extremely subtle and critically variable properties.
1983
GALQ Vol.11#2 p.27
Jim Williams
▪
1983
GALQ Vol.11#2 p.30
Duane Waterman
▪
1983
GALQ Vol.11#3 p.10 BRB2 p.154
H.E. Huttig
▪ The author visited Hauser in Germany in 1966. This short biography and remembrance adds a bit of humanity to a man who is usually only thought of in terms of the guitars he left behind when he died. With 2 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1983
GALQ Vol.11#3 p.18 LW p.68
Gerald-W. Aquino
▪ Just like it says. With 4 photos and a drawing.
1983
GALQ Vol.11#3 p.22
John Judge
▪ A response to the directions column by Duane Waterman in Vol. 11 #2, concerning the future of lutherie as a profession.
1983
GALQ Vol.11#3 p.25
Ted Davis
▪ Hard North American wood also called bois d’arc.
1983
GALQ Vol.11#3 p.27
Jeff Feltman
▪ Three major lectures, a Sunday discussion of business, and a public exhibition on Saturday were highlights of the two day conference.
1983
GALQ Vol.11#3 p.30 BRB2 p.176
Don Alfieri
▪ The goal and duties of the instrument restorationist are not always clear cut since the philosophy of restoration is not universally agreed upon. The author makes a good case for a conservative approach to the subject and the work.
1983
GALQ Vol.11#4 p.12 BRB2 p.124
Tom Rossing
▪ A simple explanation of how the guitar ‘works’.
1983
GALQ Vol.11#4 p.20 read this article
Frederick-C. Lyman-Jr.
▪ Gary Karr’s great achievement: performing a solo classical concert on the double bass.
1983
GALQ Vol.11#4 p.26
Larry Robinson
▪
1983
GALQ Vol.11#4 p.30 LW p.127 read this article
Nicholas-Von Robison
▪ Amateurs, by definition, love what they do. Professionals may start out that way and then find out that it’s not so hunky-dory. Amateurs are free to discover, but professionals are locked into the expectations of their clientele. Are we building instruments or are we building a life? Just something to think about.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1983
GALQ Vol.11#4 p.37
Chris Pile
▪
1983
DS#264 LW p.60
Ted Davis
▪ New top, fingerboard, and headstock veneer. GAL plan #6.
1983
DS#264 LW p.61 ALA4 p.2
Ted Davis
▪ A full-scale instrument plan. See the GAL website for a low-rez preview.
1984
DS#265
Terry Herald
▪ Installing PZT crystals (materials that generate a small electric current when subjected to pressure) in a guitar bridge and elsewhere.
1984
DS#266 LW p.94
William Cumpiano
▪ Yet another way to make your own kerfed lining, with 4 diagrams of the procedure. More sophisticated than the previous two articles, but not necessarily a better way to go about it.
1984
DS#267 BRB2 p.356
Peter Psarianos
▪ There are two main styles of commercially available bass bridge adjusters. Here’s how to fit them to a bridge. With 6 drawings and a handy spec chart of the two adjusters.
1984
DS#268 LW p.42 read this article
Roger Sperline
▪ This is one of the first descriptions of this fine wood as a tonewood.
1983
DS#256 LT p.58
Robert Steinegger
▪ Wedges to drive pressed-on plastic tuner knobs off the shafts.
1983
DS#257 BRB2 p.450
Frederick-C. Lyman-Jr.
▪ The rude construction of many basses prevents them from being as subtle an instrument as a violin, but they have their own setup requirements that may not be obvious to the uninitiated. Lyman shares his years of experience with bass creation and repair to help us get the most from any bass, however crudely fashioned or maintained.
1983
DS#258 LT p.102
Ron Lira
▪ Swinging a fretboard over the table saw blade cuts the radius.
1983
DS#259 BRB1 p.122
Ervin Somogyi
▪ Somogyi wrote this scary little article in 1983, but if you think that the chemicals luthiers encounter have gotten friendlier you better think again. The compounds that have been making people sick for decades are still out there, and regulation doesn’t seem to have made much of an impact. You’ll have to be your own safety cop, and this article is a good place to begin.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1983
DS#260
Ken Ellis
▪ Why is the event tempered scale necessary? Why is a scale based on pure intervals faulty, thus requiring the artificial construction of a scale based on equal rather than pure intervals?
1983
DS#261 LT p.49
J.C. Nelson
▪ Saw two layers at an angle and the pieces fit together with no gaps.
1983
DS#262 BRB1 p.37 read this article
Ron Lira
▪ How to deal with lacquer in less than one page. Heavy on Sherwin-Williams products and short on details, it is nevertheless interesting for his use of heated lacquer.
1983
DS#263 read this article
S.L. Mossman
▪ Mossman guitar truss rod adjustment.
1983
DS#263 LT p.90
Ken Ellis
▪ correction to data sheet #240, section 2.
1983
DS#263 LT p.48
Joyce Westphal
▪ Cuts 2-liter anesthesia bags into big rubber bands.
1983
GALQ Vol.11#1 p.8 BRB1p.372 read this article
Nicholas-Von Robison
▪ Robison offers a convincing, multi-pronged philosophical stance for using natural dyestuffs that should lodge firmly among the luthiers that build ancient instruments or see them on their repair bench. Or anyone else who admires subtlety more than bright pizzazz.
1983
GALQ Vol.11#1 p.12 BRB2 p.109
David Fisher H.E. Huttig
▪ H.E. Huttig, wood merchant, writer, world traveler, experimenter, practical musicologist, lover of life, guitar maker.
1983
GALQ Vol.11#1 p.16
R.L. Robinson
▪ This piece of motivational philosophy is reprinted from the Folk Harp Journal, March 8 1975.
1983
GALQ Vol.11#1 p.18
John Jordan
▪
1983
GALQ Vol.11#1 p.20
Nicholas-Von Robison
▪ Humorous fiction.
1983
GALQ Vol.11#2 p.8 BRB2 p.142
Charles Prouty
▪ A short visit with a man who makes superb banjos; Mr. Robert p.Rock.
1983
GALQ Vol.11#2 p.12 LW p.123
Nicholas-Von Robison
▪ The author maintains that if we knew that each piece of work was going to turn out perfectly there would be no reason to continue building. Maybe, maybe not. It depends on how narrowly our lives are focused. We should always be a beginner at something.
1983
GALQ Vol.11#2 p.15
Bob Gleason
▪ Lutherie: the hours are long and the dollars short.
1983
GALQ Vol.11#2 p.16
Paul Wyszkowski
▪ Richard Schneider accepts Wyszkowski as his ‘outhouse apprentice’.
1983
GALQ Vol.11#2 p.20
Ervin Somogyi
▪ On February 26 and 27, the Western Forestry Center presented its annual handmade musical instruments show.
1983
DS#238 BRB2 p.340
Ted Davis
▪ The author began building classical guitars before there was much written help out there, and he evolved his design specs by making a lot of guitars. Some of these have been absorbed into the general body of classical guitar literature, other remain unique. With 14 drawings and 2 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1983
DS#239 LW p.102
Lester DeVoe
▪ The author likes transparent pickguards but doesn’t like commercial pickguard stock. Here’s how he makes his own.
1983
DS#240 LT p.90
Carl McFarland
▪ Set up a bandsaw fence formed of two boards at a shallow angle and the apex at the blade. Run a board through the saw such that each end of the board touches it’s half of the fence at all times. You get a nice smooth curve. McFarland explains why it works.
1983
DS#241 BRB2 p.361
C.F. Casey
▪ The laminated, hollow fretboard is one of the standard designs of the dulcimer industry. Casey’s is a bit nicer than most. With 6 drawings.
1983
DS#243 BRB1 p.214
Gila Eban
▪ Eban offers an eloquent argument for trying the Kasha system in your own shop, as well as many details of her own guitars. A page-sized blueprint is included. She maintains that there is a philosophy and an aesthetic behind the Kasha design that is self-revealing and pleasing to work with, and that the design will always be under-realized until a larger number of builders have come to understand and absorb it.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1983
DS#244
Duane Waterman
▪ The synthesis of the traditional (Martin) X-brace system and parts of the present radial bracing theory.
1983
DS#245 LT p.86
Al Leis
▪ Customized bandsaw from a kit.
1983
DS#246 BRB2 p.455
Bruce Day
▪ Tuning pins on antique zithers are different and larger than modern steel pins. Fortunately they are not hard to make. Here’s how, including 2 drawings.
1983
DS#247 BRB2 p.394
Lawrence-D. Brown
▪ It is perhaps true that a good playing action must be built into the instrument, and that less adjustment can be done to a finished lute than to other instruments. Brown explains lute action adjustment from the perspectives of both the builder and the repairperson. With 9 illustrations.
1983
DS#248 LT p.48
John-M. Colombini
▪ Brass block on a C-shaped handle is heated and placed inside the guitar against the bridge plate.
1983
DS#249
Paul Wyszkowski
▪ One way of finishing rosewood, for those who prefer a varnish finish to lacquer or don’t have lacquer spray facilities.
1983
DS#250 LT p.29
Donald-L. Brown
▪ Made from a Blitz saw blade and used to clean out fret slots on a bound neck.
1983
DS#250 LT p.31
Donald-L. Brown
▪ Saw frame with one-inch throat for tight places.
1983
DS#251 LT p.7
Tom Mathis
▪ Mike stand, a gooseneck, and a swivel lamp.
1983
DS#252 LT p.3
Frederick-C. Lyman-Jr.
▪ Lyman was the GAL’s bass guru for years.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1983
DS#253 LT p.49
Phillip-W. Walker
▪ Simple devise makes it easy to glue an overlay on the tip of a bow.
1983
DS#254 LT p.46
Wesley Wadsworth
▪ A baby bottle warmer makes a good heater for hide glue.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1983
DS#255 LT p.5
Donald-L. Brown
▪ Simple tool for marking lines square to the centerline of a flattop instrument.
1983
DS#255 LT p.11
Tom Mathis
▪ Heat small pieces of binding on a laundry iron.
1983
DS#255 LT p.40
Phillip-W. Walker
▪ A kidney-shaped chunk of plywood rotated inside a guitar body until it jams a brace back into place.
1982
GALQ Vol.10#2 p.12 LW p.74
Steve Klein
▪ This is a history of Klein’s unusual steel string guitars, as well as a window into the mind of one of lutherie’s most creative thinkers. Includes 5 photos as well as a plan of the top of the guitar Klein built for Joe Walsh.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1982
GALQ Vol.10#2 p.22
Lawrence-D. Brown
▪ Brown is the owner of Lute and Guitar Shop in Cincinnati, Ohio.
1982
GALQ Vol.10#3 p.8
Paul Wyszkowski
▪ Wyszowski spends 4 days in Richard Schneider’s studio, where he works with his 3 apprentices.
1982
GALQ Vol.10#3 p.16 BRB2 p.158
Frederick-C. Lyman-Jr. Victor Gardener
▪ Gardener was an independent sort from Oregon who built closely in the style of the violins of the classic period in Italy. Mentions Hans Weishaar. With 2 photos.
1982
GALQ Vol.10#3 p.33 LW p.37 read this article
Jan Callister
▪ Another example of what a small specialty lumber company has to go through.
1982
GALQ Vol.10#3 p.35 read this article
H.E. Huttig
▪ Huttig visits 3 fine craftsmen: Allen Chester, Robert S. Cooper, and George Wilson.
1982
GALQ Vol.10#3 p.36
Lawrence-D. Brown
▪ Brown dissolves the Lute and Guitar Shop and expands his instrument making business into a larger building.
1982
GALQ Vol.10#3 p.40 read this article
William Eaton
▪ An early statement of philosophy by William Eaton, who went on to be the key man at the Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery.
1982
GALQ Vol.10#4 p.8 BRB1p.346 read this article
Graham Caldersmith
▪ Caldersmith loves the scientific aspects of instrument design, and offers this primer to help explain what’s going on in an excited classical or steel string guitar without going off the scientific deep end. The most interesting part is that in his update (17 years later) he has reversed is position on how to use this information. Information doesn’t change as much as how we use it, and we can’t use it if we don’t understand it. That, in a nutshell, is the acoustician’s tenant.
1982
GALQ Vol.10#4 p.17 read this article
H.E. Huttig
▪ It wasn’t easy being a lutherie wood dealer back when there were hardly any luthiers and they were mostly broke hippies.
1982
GALQ Vol.10#4 p.20
Michael Dresdner
▪ From his 1982 GAL convention lecture.
1982
GALQ Vol.10#4 p.22
Bonnie Robiczek
▪ Robiczek’s husband Robert Meadow makes lutes, violins, and classical guitars; they also run a school teaching woodworking and instrument making.
1982
GALQ Vol.10#4 p.28 read this article
Dennie Siler Doc Watson
▪ At age 13, with two years of banjo experience already under his belt, Doc began to learn the guitar.
1983
DS#232 LT p.54
Duane Waterman
▪ Side-bending form is made from the waste of the mold.
1983
DS#233 BRB2 p.242
Alan Carruth
▪ A drawing, a photo, and a one-page blueprint help explain the unique way Carruth constructs his hammered dulcimers.
1983
DS#233 BRB2 p.243
Alan Carruth
▪ A full-scale instrument plan. See the GAL website for a low-rez preview.
1983
DS#234 BRB2 p.335
Edward Damm
▪ Some of these tricks need to be built into the instrument. The others are useful after it’s complete. With hammered dulcimers you need all the tuning help you can get. With 5 drawings.
1983
DS#235 BRB2 p.452
Paul Wyszkowski
▪ It’s well known that designing a guitar for longevity and designing a guitar for best performance may drag the designer in opposite directions. Guitar construction is a compromise (like life itself). The author takes a closer look at the situation. With 1 drawing.
1983
DS#236 BRB1 p.210 read this article
Nicholas-Von Robison
▪ The dyestuffs are from bugs, flowers, and tree parts. Mordants are chemicals that set the colors and may shift the hue. Dyers’ hip talk is a lot of fun, and the bits of dye history Robison includes add sparkle to a colorful article. Working with these materials could add mountains of snob appeal to a guitar. Rather than describe a three-color ‘burst as yellow/red/brown it might be described as fustic/madder/walnut hull. Be the first on your block to give it a go.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.
1983
DS#237
John Jordan
▪ The various types of potentiometers you are likely to encounter, and selecting the right one for the job.
1982
DS#219 LT p.82
James Cassidy
▪ Adjustable work surface for an edge-mounted belt sander assures perpendicularity.
1982
DS#220 BRB1 p.178
Glenn Markel
▪ These are finishing tips picked up while Markel worked at Guild. The best of them involve heating the lacquer and building a stationary buffing wheel.
1982
DS#221 LT p.61
Don Alfieri
▪ Adds nylon bolts to the bottom corners of a Dremel base. The tool rides on the bolt heads, raising the router above the level of the bridge.
1982
DS#222 LT p.26
Nicholas-Von Robison
▪ Traditional native American knife cuts on the pull stroke.
1982
DS#223 LW p.92
Michael Breid
▪ The author has had good luck heating and stretching shrunken binding back to its original configuration. Here’s how.
1982
DS#224 BRB2 p.349
Alan Carruth
▪ Unhappily, a new violin bridge is just an unusable flake of wood. You not only need to adjust it for proper action but tune it to help bring the most out of the instrument. Here’s how. With 5 drawings.
1982
DS#225 LT p.7
C.F. Casey
▪ This inspection light will even fit through a mandolin f-hole.
1982
DS#225 LT p.7
C.F. Casey
▪ Uses a night light bulb.
1982
DS#226 BRB1 p.167 read this article
Louis DeGrazia
▪ Rosin varnishes preceded the varnishes developed by the Cremonese violin masters. Though they are often scorned by experienced luthiers, DeGrazia maintains that the ease with which they can be mixed and applied makes them a good starting point for the budding violin builder.
1982
DS#227 LW p.88
Al Leis
▪ Bending sides can be an intimidating process. It was especially so before the advent of the Fox bender. The author found a new method of applying heat to the wood to coerce the bend. With 6 photos to prove it works.
1982
DS#228 LT p.66
J.V. Buehrer
▪ Uses an oversize template to index of the outsides of the router base.
1982
DS#229 BRB1 p.265 read this article
Lawrence-D. Brown
▪ Historically, lute soundboards were left unfinished in order to produce the best sound. However, the raw wood collected dirt at a rate that is unacceptable to contemporary musicians. Brown has found a compromise using lacquer that doesn’t affect the sound production of the instrument.
1982
DS#230 BRB2 p.462
Rich Westerman
▪ Westerman was among the first to produce quantities of Irish bouzoukis, or citterns. Here he offers an explanation of his design, as well as a blueprint for the instrument. The plans are available as GAL Instrument Plan #3.
1982
DS#231
Dick Boak
▪ The C.F. Martin guitar with its 149 year history has had plenty of time and experience to evolve a system of finishing that works.
1982
DS#242 LT p.53
Bo Walker
▪ A deep plywood frame with a guitar-shaped hole in it. Uses no hardware other than a few screws.
1982
GALQ Vol.10#1 p.10
Tim Olsen
▪ The GAL was ten years old, and doing surprisingly well.
1982
GALQ Vol.10#1 p.18 LW p.34 read this article
Dennis Coon
▪ Tonewoods are required to be nearly perfect, but first perfect trees must be found, felled, and hauled.
1982
GALQ Vol.10#1 p.23
Paul Wyszkowski
▪ In all the languages of the world, the word guitar is of the feminine gender.
1982
GALQ Vol.10#1 p.26 read this article
H.E. Huttig
▪ Huttig’s introduction to the mystery of beauty of musical instruments.
1982
GALQ Vol.10#2 p.8 read this article
Nicholas-Von Robison
▪
1982
DS#203 read this article
Daniel-P. Coyle
▪ The use of dual-coil or ‘humbucking’ pickups enables a wide range of samples of string sounds, along with a heightened complexity of switching problems.
1982
DS#204 BRB2 p.289
Kent Rayman
▪ The author uses a table saw and no jigs to help speed up the creation of classical guitar bridges. With 5 drawings.
1982
DS#205 BRB2 p.315
Jeff Feltman
▪ Feltman offers a dulcimer bridge design that hardly changes the traditional look of the instrument but is said to dramatically improve the volume of the instrument. It’s a sad commentary on our noisy society that the only way to improve volume is by making it louder. Oh, well. With drawings enough to make things clear.
1982
DS#206 LT p.30
Frederick-C. Lyman-Jr.
▪ Electric chainsaw, cheap block plane, and Japanese saw rasp.
1982
DS#207 LT p.57
John-M. Colombini
▪ Seat a tapered tuning gear with a C-clamp, rather than a hammer.
1982
DS#208 LW p.106
Michael Trietsch
▪ The cheapo way to cut perfect nut slots is to use the wound string that will sit in the groove as a saw. It doesn’t work while the nut is mounted on the guitar, though. The unwound string slots are cut with an X-acto saw. With 1 drawing.
1982
DS#209 LT p.60
Ted Davis
▪ Adjustable pin on the router base registers to a center hole.
1982
DS#210 LW p.99
Jim Williams
▪ Clean bridge removal is almost an art, but the right heat source and the proper tools can give even the first-timer a fighting chance. Williams offers a dedicated lamp setup for heat and a modified cabinet scraper to slide through the glue joint. With 3 drawings.
1982
DS#211 LW p.120
Kent Rayman
▪ Steam out the neck with a pressure cooker. With 1 drawing. See the previous article and the next article.
1982
DS#212 LT p.83
John Zuis
▪ Make a peghead splice with a disk sander.
1982
DS#213 LT p.8
Ted Davis
▪ Uses a hot water heater element. A bit of the work is jobbed out to a machine shop.
1982
DS#214
Paul Wyszkowski
▪ Calculating fret scales with standard calculators with constant divisor and four key memory.
1982
DS#215 LT p.28
Louis DeGrazia
▪ Made from table knives.
1982
DS#216 LT p.96
Robert Lenhardt
▪ Cut the taper on a fretboard using a table saw or bandsaw.
1982
DS#217 LT p.18
Lawrence-D. Brown
▪ Clean work requires sharp tools.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1982
DS#218 LT p.41
Bob Gleason
▪ Caul for clamping frets into slots before supergluing.
1981
GALQ Vol.9#4 p.26
H.E. Huttig
▪ Guitarist William Foden could compare in technique with any artist of any era.
1981
GALQ Vol.9#4 p.29
Paul Wyszkowski
▪ Where does it begin? With sound.
1982
DS#201 LT p.88
Brian Derber
▪ Bandsaw jig cuts the facets on a neck block to which the ribs of a lute are glued.
1982
DS#202 LW p.90
Eric Berry
▪ Florentine cutaways are the pointy kind. This instruction is for adding the cutaway to your basic design as construction progresses, not for adding a cutaway to an already completed guitar. With 3 drawings.
1981
DS#200 read this article
Paul Wyszkowski
▪
1981
GALQ Vol.9#1
Nicholas-Von Robison
▪ Our very first full-scale instrument plan was an autoharp.
1981
GALQ Vol.9#1 p.8 LT p.106
John Judge
▪ This depiction of life in the Guild guitar factory in the ’60s may open some eyes.
1981
GALQ Vol.9#1 p.12 read this article
David Fisher George Sakellariou
▪ Sakellariou brings an uncommonly alive and musical warmth to his performance.
1981
GALQ Vol.9#1 p.18 read this article
Leo Bidne
▪ Thoughts on the nature of musical expression are couched in a sci-fi story.
1981
GALQ Vol.9#2 p.10 LW p.70
Rick Turner
▪ Turner started his lutherie life as part of the Grateful Dead’s clan of artists, engineers, and craftsmen, but ended up with his own company which built distinctive electric guitars. This shop tour includes 11 photos.
1981
GALQ Vol.9#2 p.20 LW p.56 read this article
Francis Kosheleff
▪ A dozen ways to hinge or detach the guitar neck in order to make it travel-friendly.
1981
GALQ Vol.9#2 p.24 LW p.126 read this article
William Cumpiano
▪ An instructor of guitar making examines the potential impact of his students upon the lutherie world, and decides that it may not be all positive. There’s no accounting for human nature, no matter how good a teacher you may be.
1981
GALQ Vol.9#2 p.30
Staff
▪ The GAL editor explains why it is LUTHERIE, not LUTHIERY.
1981
GALQ Vol.9#3
Ken Ellis
▪ No longer available.
1981
GALQ Vol.9#3 p.8
Duane Waterman
▪ From June 22 to June 27 summer 1981, the Guitar Society of Toronto presented Guitar 81, its third international guitar festival. We received these 4 reports from GAL members in attendance.
1981
GALQ Vol.9#3 p.8
R.E. Brune
▪ From June 22 to June 27 summer 1981, the Guitar Society of Toronto presented Guitar 81, its third international guitar festival. We received these 4 reports from GAL members in attendance.
1981
GALQ Vol.9#3 p.9
Duane Waterman
▪ From June 22 to June 27 summer 1981, the Guitar Society of Toronto presented Guitar 81, its third international guitar festival. We received these 4 reports from GAL members in attendance.
1981
GALQ Vol.9#3 p.9
Paul Wyszkowski
▪ From June 22 to June 27 summer 1981, the Guitar Society of Toronto presented Guitar 81, its third international guitar festival. We received these 4 reports from GAL members in attendance.
1981
GALQ Vol.9#3 p.20 BRB2 p.458
Hardy-B. Menagh
▪ The cobza is an obsolete, nearly-neckless lute from Romania. The author capitulates his efforts to track one down while touring the cobza’s homeland. With 3 photos.
1981
GALQ Vol.9#3 p.26 read this article
Rachael Brent Roger McGuinn
▪ Anyone that has ever seen Roger perform knows that unlike many other musicians, he will never disappoint an audience.
1981
GALQ Vol.9#3 p.32 read this article
David-B. Sheppard
▪ Brief interviews with some of the top notch performers at the 1980 GAL convention: David Grisman, Mike Marshall, Mark O’Conner, and Alex DeGrassi.
1981
GALQ Vol.9#3 p.36 LW p.122 read this article
Raphael Weisman
▪ Build your Self while you build your instruments. Without the one, the other would be a pretty empty achievement.
1981
GALQ Vol.9#4 p.10 BRB1 p.48 read this article
R.E. Brune George Gruhn Steve Klein Max Krimmel Robert Lundberg
▪ The economic atmosphere surrounding lutherie has changed a lot since this 1980 panel discussion, but tapping into the lutherie boom is no easier than it ever was. Max Krimmel followed his genius out of guitarmaking many years ago, but the rest of these gentlemen are still active, and their longevity suggests that they knew what they were talking about so long ago. Panel discussions aren’t often as much fun as this one.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.
1981
GALQ Vol.9#4 p.22 read this article
Gregory Smith
▪ The collective power and influence of a large group of craftsmen or businessmen could wield enough force to effectively combat the oppression of the feudal lords in the Europe of the middle ages.
1981
DS#183 BRB2 p.282
Duane Waterman
▪ The author uses a series of drawings to help explain the creation of a unique but tradition method of attaching the headstock to a guitar neck.
1981
DS#184 LT p.36
Henry Aitchison
▪ You must first have a reamer. The shaper blade is a reground hacksaw blade.
1981
DS#185 LT p.2
T.E. Owen
▪ Aluminum frame, dial indicator.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1981
DS#186 LT p.65
Rion Dudley
▪ This guide registers on the sides of the guitar rather than the plates. It is intended for the Dremel tool, but will work with a larger router.
1981
DS#187
Rev-R. Rienks
▪ A control method that gives an accounting of parts on hand, and those used on any given job.
1981
DS#188
Duane Waterman
▪ An outline of the French polishing process used by Jose Romanillos.
1981
DS#189 LT p.17
David-W. Shell
▪ Knife maker describes a simple forge.
1981
DS#190 LW p.107 read this article
Larry Robinson
▪ Put a hinge on your guitar neck and change the angle any time you please. Really. The design leaves the fingerboard floating over the body, though. With a pair of illustrations.
1981
DS#191 LT p.34
Brian Watkins
▪ Before there were fret nippers on the market.
1981
DS#192 LT p.25
David-W. Shell
▪ Make a chisel from a file. You’ll need a forge.
1981
DS#193 BRB2 p.292
Scott McKee
▪ So, your brand new gadget is about to change music forever, huh? You’d better know how to protect it and yourself. McKee explains the patent process and how to do much of your own footwork.
1981
DS#194 LW p.45
James-E. Patterson
▪ Convert a Sears 12″ bandsaw to cut guitar sets.
1981
DS#195 BRB2 p.258
John Taye
▪ There must certainly be more than one way to make a lyre, especially since the instrument was never standardized. Taye uses a series of drawings, a blueprint, and a photo to help explain how he chose his version and how he builds them.
1981
DS#196 LT p.77
Art Smith
▪ Uses a 10″ sanding drum. With 3 drawings.
1981
DS#197 read this article
Michael Mann
▪ Illustrated procedure for building up hammered dulcimer pin blocks butcher-block style.
1981
DS#198
Mayne Smith
▪ Diagnosis, cost estimate, exact job description, scheduling, and final documentation.
1981
DS#199
T.E. Owen
▪ Several glue tricks, sanding board technique, horsetails, and gluing dulcimer blocks.
1981
DS#199 BRB2 p.479
Chris Burt
▪ Horsestail weed makes a natural fine sandpaper. Stradivari used it. So can you.
1981
DS#199 LW p.95
Alan Carruth
▪ The author offers a simple trick for making flat-bottom sanding blocks. Includes a drawing.
1981
DS#199 BRB1 p.171
Tim Earls
▪ Handy tips for spreading and cleaning up Titebond and epoxy.
1981
DS#166 LW p.104
Bob Petrulis
▪ a computer program to calculate any fret scale in any unit of measurement and round the answers to almost any desired resolution.
1981
DS#167 LT p.38
James Cassidy
▪ Light duty deep throat clamps.
1981
DS#168
John-M. Colombini
▪ For soldering ground wires to the cases of electric guitar pots.
1981
DS#169 LT p.108
John Judge
▪ From the Guild factory in the ’60s: a power-sanding table and a huge pin router.
1981
DS#170 LT p.95
Glenn Markel
▪ Uses a drill press and an index point.
1981
DS#171 BRB2 p.201
Paul Wyszkowski
▪ The author uses a light approach to science to explain the function of the classical guitar top and attempts to translate the functions of physics into a form the luthier can use at the bench.
1981
DS#172 LW p.100 read this article
Don Musser
▪ Get rid of those scalloped braces and the bulge in the top of the guitar in one operation. Musser’s design is asymmetrical and pretty radical from a “vintage” view point, but a number of luthiers have confessed that it has improved their guitars.
1981
DS#173 read this article
A.F. Standing
▪ The results of the author’s cogitations are presented in the hope that a different and unbiased viewpoint will aid in the understanding of the violin, its operation and adjustment.
1981
DS#174 BRB1 p.162 read this article
Lawrence-D. Brown
▪ Brown urges luthiers not to use white glue, to be careful where we use yellow glue, and to explore the possibilities of hide glue. As a maker of instruments that are commonly disassembled during repair, his stilt is natural. His advice is well grounded, though, and you’ll do well to examine his arguments before you build anything.
1981
DS#175
Michael Breid
▪ Procedure for making ‘Parisian eyes’, a type of inlay resembling a pearl dot, surrounded by ebony and encased in a gold or brass ring.
1981
DS#176 BRB2 p.260
Lawrence-D. Brown
▪ Lute pegs are different than violin pegs and have their own requirements if they are to function properly. Brown gives a thorough explanation.
1981
DS#177
Bo Walker
▪ Make a nut that acts like a zero fret.
1981
DS#177
Michael Jacobson-Hardy
▪ Touch up tip.
1981
DS#177
Dennis Humfleet
▪ A fiddle re-finish method.
1981
DS#177 read this article
Michael Breid
▪ Dots, Micarta, Trigger Cloth.
1981
DS#178 LT p.78
Al Leis
▪ Open-sided sander utilizes a 6″ drum arbor-mounted on an electric motor and covered with a dust collection system.
1981
DS#179 BRB2 p.135
D.R. Patton
▪ A drawing of the much sought-after English boxwood violin peg.
1981
DS#180 LT p.94
Brian Watkins
▪ Bends individual frets by using a drill press as an arbor press.
1981
DS#181 LW p.117
William Hatcher
▪ Try this method of repairing a headstock break when you don’t trust Titebond to do the job. It involves extensive touchup work, however.
1981
DS#182 BRB2 p.292
Scott McKee
▪ Copyright interest, remedies for infringement, period, and ownership.
1980
DS#164 LT p.62
J.D. Mackenzie
▪ One is a Dremel base for cutting binding channels. The second is another base used to inlay decorative stringing of the face of headstocks.
1980
DS#164 LT p.62
J.D. Mackenzie
▪ Another design for routing rosette slots, this one uses a full-size router.
1980
DS#165 LW p.98
Bill Colgan
▪ This procedure solves the problems in studding top cracks in guitars.
1980
GALQ Vol.8#2 p.10 LW p.66
Richard Irwin
▪ Irwin found a small gold-painted guitar in a junk shop that turned out to be an 1850 2-24 Martin. Removing the gold paint revealed a nearly pristine guitar marred only by some pick wear. With 3 photos and a diagram of the pyramid bridge.
1980
GALQ Vol.8#1 p.12
R.E. Brune
▪ From his 1979 convention lecture.
1980
GALQ Vol.8#1 p.26 BRB2 p.68
Lawrence-D. Brown
▪ During the ’70s it was common for guitarmakers to build lute-shaped instruments utilizing the technologies of the guitar, even to the point of designing their own shapes. Brown offers a large number of reasons why this was a mistake and a disservice to the instrument and modern lutenists, citing the many factors of historical lutes that should be retained rather than messed with. It’s interesting to note that in the years following this article the emphasis of lute making returned to following historical guidelines. With 2 photos.
1980
GALQ Vol.8#1 p.36 read this article
Frederick-C. Lyman-Jr.
▪ A new instrument which fills the gap between the bass and the cello and which can be used in the melodic register but with the tonal density of the bass, rather than cello.
1980
GALQ Vol.8#1 p.40
Robert-O. Larson
▪ The extreme shortage of rosewood and ebony supplies for the luthier is not as glum as it appears from the articles in trade journals.
1980
GALQ Vol.8#2 p.12
Max Krimmel
▪ Max Krimmel gives a thorough rundown on exactly how he was scammed and how you can avoid a similar episode.
1980
GALQ Vol.8#2 p.16 read this article
David-B. Sheppard Donald Warnock
▪ Instrument maker Donald Warnock was a major figure in the early-music revival of the 1960s and ’70s.
1980
GALQ Vol.8#2 p.28
David Fisher
▪ A guitarist talks about working with luthiers.
1980
GALQ Vol.8#3 p.8 BRB1 p.300 read this article
Carleen Hutchins
▪ Carleen Hutchins gives an introduction to the work of the Catgut Acoustical Society at the GAL’s 1979 Convention in Boston.
1980
GALQ Vol.8#3 p.14
Jim Williams
▪ A report on the acoustics of stringed musical instruments seminar at Wollongong University in Australia.
1980
GALQ Vol.8#3 p.36 read this article
Wally Eubanks
▪ The vihuela (Spanish name for a stringed instrument of the renaissance age) is a guitar-like instrument and was used in Italy and Western Europe in the late 1400s to the early 1600s.
1980
GALQ Vol.8#4 p.8 BRB2 p.52
Frederick-C. Lyman-Jr.
▪ Lyman has made basses for several contemporary bass luminaries and has decided that they need qualities in the bass that weren’t called for in the past. He offers specific ways to match a bass to the requirements of the player. With one photo of the author.
1980
GALQ Vol.8#4 p.14 read this article
David Fisher David Tanenbaum
▪ 24 year old virtuoso David Tanenbaum of Oakland, CA is already a veteran of New York solo recitals and concerts and tours with the Jeffrey ballet.
1980
GALQ Vol.8#4 p.18 read this article
R.L. Robinson
▪ From his 1980 convention lecture.
1980
GALQ Vol.8#4 p.21 read this article
Thomas Greene
▪ A particular symmetry of adornment with which Greene is quite taken.
1980
GALQ Vol.8#4 p.22
George Gruhn
▪ Luthiers, both repair craftsmen and builders, tend to exhibit ‘temperamental artist syndrome’.
1980
DS#165 LW p.96
Mike Janosko
▪ Problem: since you began pumping iron your arms are too big to fit through a guitar soundhole. Here’s another way of reinforcing top crack repairs without asking help from your pencil-arm brother-in-law. With 1 drawing.
1980
DS#147 LT p.76
Peter Estes
▪ All-wood thickness sander.
1980
DS#148 LT p.2
Mark Rische
▪ A simple wood-frame gauge.
1980
DS#149 LT p.61
Bruce Scotten
▪ Try end mill cutters to machine channels for rosettes and binding.
1980
DS#150 BRB1 p.121 read this article
Nicholas-Von Robison
▪ Robison insists that as an instrument finish seedlac is superior to shellac in every sense. You never heard of seedlac? Jeez, you better get on the bus! If French polish thrills you but it’s fragility gets up your nose, seedlac could make your day.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1980
DS#151 LT p.68
Jim Williams
▪ With a router and this jig, splines can be added on either side of the truss rod.
1980
DS#152 LT p.68
James Cassidy
▪ Templates of this kind use oversized bushings on the router base as a cutting guide.
1980
DS#153 LT p.52
Glenn Markel
▪ Basic mold holds the developing instrument body inside a frame of layered wood.
1980
DS#154 BRB1 p.411 read this article
Ken Cartwright
▪ This solution paints on easily, dries quickly, and is an effective sealer.
1980
DS#155 LT p.90
Carl McFarland
▪ This device cuts a very precise curve: the lumpless curve cutting bandsaw fence (patent pending).
1980
DS#156 BRB2 p.284
R.L. Robinson
▪ Robinson was a champion of the folk harps long before the current Celtic music craze. He built a lot of harps, and had some strong opinions about how it should be done. With a photo and 14 drawings.
1980
DS#157 LT p.4
Tom Peterson
▪ copy fretboards with a miter box.
1980
DS#157 BRB1 p.166
Glenn Markel
▪ Markel offers a simple trick for sealing off instrument ports before finishing.
1980
DS#157 BRB1 p.458
Bill Colgan
▪ Bend a hunk of coat hanger wire and put it in the peghole. And other tips.
1980
DS#158 read this article
Bob Meltz
▪ Installing an onboard preamp is a viable, preferable alternative to the distortion box, in Les Paul type guitars.
1980
DS#159 BRB2 p.290
Hardy-B. Menagh
▪ Menagh’s dulcimer utilizes a shortened fretboard, a banjo-ish bridge, and a tailpiece to help make the instrument louder. He also employs an X brace under the top.With 2 photos and a drawing of his dulcimer innards.
1980
DS#160
Ervin Somogyi
▪ A list of the most common chemicals used by luthiers which have a high rating for chemical toxicity, including acetone, benzene, aniline, lacquer thinner, esters, methanol, and paint strippers.
1980
DS#161 LW p.46
Tim Olsen
▪ Pretty big saw for a little shop.
1980
DS#162 read this article
Roy Woltz
▪ The simplified method of making dovetail neck joints with a router and dovetail bit.
1980
DS#163
James Cassidy
▪ A variety of operations for clamping kerfing in place and a sharpening wheel and guide.
1980
DS#163 LT p.42
Bruce Scotten
▪ Modify clothespins.
1979
GALQ Vol.7#4 p.26
Robert Webb
▪ Like the great blue whale, the harp-guitar remains on the threshold of commercial, if not biological, extinction.
1979
GALQ Vol.7#4 p.30
Tim Olsen
▪ The sixth in a six part series, brought on by a rapidly growing interest in the subject.
1979
BRB2 p.478
James Toomey
▪ Use a hair dryer to heat up a piece of plastic binding without burning it.
1980
DS#133 LT p.27
James Fagan
▪ Sharpen your scrapers with a power grinder.
1980
DS#134 BRB2 p.298
Alan Carruth
▪ There’s nothing like a hurdy-gurdy to help you win the hearts of the damsels at a Renaissance fair. Carruth offers helpful advice about making one that even plays music! Turn that crank and relive the Middle Ages! With 5 drawings.
1980
DS#135 read this article
James Gilbert
▪ This attachment plate is used on the Dremel moto tool in place of the regular router base plate.
1980
DS#136 BRB1 p.213
Peter Estes
▪ Don’t get finish inside your flattop when you spray, use this handy, easy-to-make gizmo. With diagram.
1980
DS#137 LW p.99
William Hatcher
▪ This classic piece of guitar hardware suffers from its share of rattles and loose parts, even on new units. You can tune it up and quiet it down. Here’s how. Includes 2 illustrations.
1980
DS#138 LW p.118
Larry Stevens
▪ The author borrowed this dovetail system from Max Krimmel. The routing jigs are fully described, and it is recommended that the head block be routed before the body is assembled, Martin-style.
1980
DS#139 LT p.44
David-B. Sheppard
▪ Simple system is cheap and easy to make.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1980
DS#140 LW p.80
Larry Stevens
▪ A drill press only wants to make holes, but you can train it to do a lot of tricks. For instance, why not use it to mill the slots for rosette rings to snuggle into? Groovy! With diagrams of the cutting bits.
1980
DS#140 LW p.111
Marvin Tench
▪ Yet another substitute for messy steel wool on your bench (not to mention your pickups). Doodlebug pads are a 3M scouring pad made of nylon. Polish your frets with impunity.
1980
DS#140 BRB2 p.209
Bud Ingraham
▪ Ingraham uses guitar bridge pins to fasten the ends of his dulcimer strings. With a pair of drawings.
1980
DS#141
Robert Steinegger
▪ This inlay pattern is from a carved top C-2 Martin guitar made during the first part of 1932.
1980
DS#142 BRB1 p.112
Donald Warnock
▪ Luthiers returning to hide glue have begun a movement, and if you wish to join you’ll need all the help you can get. The stuff can be pretty fussy. Warnock explains the varieties of hide glue, how to live with it, and how to apply it to several different instruments. Where else can you get information about veneering the back of a neck?
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.
1980
DS#143 LW p.96
Tim Olsen
▪ Finish your guitar, clean off a footprint for the bridge, then glue it on. It’s easy, here’s how. With 1 sketch.
1980
DS#143 LW p.97
John-M. Colombini
▪ The author couldn’t reach through the small soundhole of a guitar to bolt the bridge on, so he devised a nifty cam clamp that not only holds the socket but aids in lining up all the pieces during the operation. With 3 diagrams.
1980
DS#144 LW p.106 read this article
Max Krimmel
▪ To use this article you’ll need a gram scale, a Hz frequency chart, and a calculator. You can figure for yourself what some of the string makers won’t tell you.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1980
DS#145 BRB2 p.99
Roger Siminoff
▪ The author considers X braces as structural elements and tone bars as tone adjusters, and that tone color can be altered by the stiffness of the tone bars and the size of the soundhole. Despite the possibilities, no examples for use are given.
1980
DS#146 LT p.50
Charles Wearden Robert Lenhardt
▪ Foot-operated, spring-loaded vise.
1979
GALQ Vol.7#1 p.34 read this article
David-Russell Young
▪ The Carmel Classic Guitar Festival (Nov. 3,4,5) provided a valuable opportunity to exhibit guitars to a large number of interested amateurs and accomplished professionals.
1979
GALQ Vol.7#1 p.36
Jeffrey-R. Elliott
▪ Portland Oregon’s Western Forestry Center hosted over 2,000 paid visitors who came to view and inspect more than 30 instruments exhibited by 24 local area luthiers.
1979
GALQ Vol.7#2 p.8 BRB2 p.96
Bonnie Carol
▪ Despite its simplicity, the lap dulcimer can be ruined by poor design as easily as any other stringed instrument. The author describes ways to deal with different varieties of wood and fingerboard design to achieve maximum tone and volume from a given shape and size dulcimer. With 3 photos and 2 drawings.
1979
GALQ Vol.7#2 p.14 LW p.54
Jimmy D’Aquisto
▪ From the 1978 convention lecture.
1979
GALQ Vol.7#2 p.17 LW p.111 read this article
Randy Stockwell
▪ Once again finesse in refretting is used to match the shape of the fingerboard to the arc of the plucked strings. Stockwell’s method calls for experience rather than formulae, however. Compare this to the method on p.108.
1979
GALQ Vol.7#2 p.24
Keith Davidson
▪ A successful non-Guild musical instrument exhibition held in Tacoma, WA.
1979
GALQ Vol.7#2 p.32
Thomas Rein
▪
1979
GALQ Vol.7#2 p.33
Paul Jacobson
▪
1979
GALQ Vol.7#3 p.8 LW p.21 read this article
Michael Gurian
▪ Gurian’s 1979 forecast for the future of lutherie woods was pretty much on the money.
1979
GALQ Vol.7#3 p.13
David-B. Sheppard
▪ A visit to the Galpin Collection of Instruments at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
1979
GALQ Vol.7#3 p.14 read this article
Matt Umanov
▪ From his 1979 convention lecture.
1979
GALQ Vol.7#3 p.32
Harold Snyder
▪
1979
GALQ Vol.7#3 p.33
Tim Olsen
▪ The fifth in a six part series, brought on by a rapidly growing interest in the subject.
1979
GALQ Vol.7#3 p.36
Keith Davidson
▪ A successful non-Guild musical instrument exhibition held in Tacoma, WA part 2.
1979
GALQ Vol.7#3 p.39
Kevin Hall
▪ Kevin calls out to Canadian luthiers, exhorting them to form a new organization of mutual aid and enlightenment. They didn’t.
1979
GALQ Vol.7#3 p.41
William Conrad
▪ Tone is not an exact science and a so-called expert is unqualified to make a positive judgment as to which tone is correct.
1979
GALQ Vol.7#3 p.42
Patricia Jaeger
▪ A long time ago, a harp club had a meeting.
1979
GALQ Vol.7#4 p.10 BRB2 p.68
Lawrence-D. Brown
▪ Discussion of lute soundboard, bridge, neck, fingerboard, and frets.
1979
GALQ Vol.7#4 p.20 read this article
David Macias
▪ Macias on authentic flamenco guitar and the art of lutherie.
1979
GALQ Vol.7#4 p.20 BRB2 p.62
Tim Shaw
▪ This is just about as good a description of how pickups work as you are going to find. Shaw was a main man at Gibson, and relates several of the design considerations to specific guitars. If pickups are really this easy to understand why do they seem so mysterious? Includes 4 diagrams of how pickups are built.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1979
DS#118 LT p.43 read this article
Leo Anway
▪ Uses a guitar string and tuner.
1979
DS#119 LT p.6
Kent Rayman
▪ This lamp even fits through f-holes.
1979
DS#120 LT p.21
Bill McCall
▪ Sharpen the blades while they are mounted in the machine.
1979
DS#121
Warner-W. Schultz Jack Frarey
▪ This study was undertaken in the hope of furnishing a simple and inexpensive method of following the resonance characteristics of guitars during the process of construction.
1979
DS#122 BRB2 p.108
Dick DeNeve
▪ A method for coping with grain irregularities in curly maple which cause small radius bends.
1979
DS#123
Leo Bidne
▪ The fretless bass, unlike the vertical standing double bass, is played horizontally and the long, slim neck is too wide for ‘sighting’ down the neck, thus a system of marking is necessary.
1979
DS#124 LW p.108 read this article
Phillip Mayes
▪ The arc of a plucked string can be calculated. Therefore, it stands to reason that that arc could be built into the neck relief, giving the lowest possible buzz-free action. Yup, but it’s tough to make such minute adjustments to a flexible stick like a guitar neck. Still, the concept is interesting, and on a graphite neck might be entirely practical. With 4 illustrations and a pair of charts.
1979
DS#125 LW p.86 read this article
Robert Steinegger
▪ The author keeps a comprehensive file of all the cool patterns that cross his bench, and here’s how he does it. It’s not quite as easy and obvious as you might think.
1979
DS#126 LW p.98 read this article
Tim Olsen
▪ How to use bolts and wing nuts to align a bridge through the pin holes and form part of the clamping force. With 1 drawing.
1979
DS#127 LT p.84
Boyd Butler
▪ A tool that aids in tearing sandpaper sheets into useful sizes, and a sanding board for close places.
1979
DS#128 LT p.92
Tim Olsen
▪ Use a Dremel and a drill press to put brad points on standard bits.
1979
DS#129 LW p.86 read this article
Tim Shaw
▪ Sometimes a little finesse in the way we work can be as important as the basic job. In fact, lutherie is all about finesse. If you glue your pearl pieces in place before tracing them Shaw’s bit of finesse may save you some broken shell.
1979
DS#129 LW p.98
Ted Davis
▪ This is a method for mending cracks in free, unbraced plates using only small nails and a workboard. Includes a drawing of the technique.
1979
DS#130
Ted Davis
▪ Use of this tool will reduce the time of changing strings by half.
1979
DS#131 LW p.50
Jimmy D’Aquisto
▪ D’Aquisto pioneered the maturation of the archtop guitar into a versatile instrument. Here he runs down a list of design factors and what they do for the sound.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1979
DS#132 LW p.102
Robert Steinegger
▪ Here’s a good trick for gluing pickguards to raw wood that let’s the ‘guard shrink without cracking the soundboard.
1979
GALQ Vol.7#1 p.14
R.E. Brune
▪ Is Torres the creator of the modern classical guitar? This article seeks to answer this and other questions.
1979
GALQ Vol.7#1 p.20
Tim Olsen
▪ The fourth in a six part series, brought on by a rapidly growing interest in the subject.
1979
GALQ Vol.7#1 p.29 LW p.39 read this article
Lindsay Hewson
▪ If guitars had been invented in Australia, we’d be struggling to get Sitka to sound like celery top pine.
1979
GALQ Vol.7#1 p.32
Andrew Schulman
▪ A guitarist muses about the economics of his chosen career.
1979
DS#101 BRB2 p.31
Bob Petrulis
▪ The author discusses ways to diagnose various electric guitar repairs before the instrument is even disassembled.
1979
DS#102 LW p.87 read this article
Nicholas-Von Robison
▪ Traditional ways of decorating instruments follow a narrow path. The author uses gold leaf to enhance his inlays. The path grows a little bit wider. Includes 3 illustrations of the steps involved.
1979
DS#103 read this article
Sylvan Wells
▪ An explanation of the method for proper spacing for cutting slots for strings in the nut and laying out centers in order to drill the holes for bridge pins, concluded with the mathematics already completed in an easy to use table.
1979
DS#104 LT p.29
David Newton
▪ Wear them while using a cabinet scraper.
1979
DS#104 LW p.87 read this article
Steve Goodale
▪ The author offers a way to attach the pattern to the pearl, and a method of coloring the pearl.
1979
DS#105 LT p.23
Dick DeNeve
▪ Belts that are already worn by wood may have a life left for grinding metals.
1979
DS#105 LT p.27
Dick DeNeve
▪ Recycle worn bandsaw blades into scrapers, handsaws, and knives.
1979
DS#105 LT p.87
Tim Olsen
▪ Extend the life of your bandsaw blades by five of six times using a Dremel tool.
1979
DS#106
Bob Petrulis
▪ Investigating some other important business things, including inventories, and depreciation methods
1979
DS#107 LW p.93
Boyd Butler
▪ How to jig up a bandsaw to kerf linings one strip at a time. With 1 diagram.
1979
DS#108 LW p.43
Ervin Somogyi
▪ If the dust in your shop is out of control, then so is your health.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1979
DS#109
Bob Petrulis
▪ Nodes and loops, pickup and polarity, bucking hum, and switchable phasing.
1979
DS#110 LW p.46
Peggy Stuart
▪ Set up a Rockwell bandsaw for best resawing performance.
1979
DS#111 LT p.32
Al Leis
▪ Four shop-made planes.
1979
DS#112 BRB2 p.203
Matt Fichtenbaum
▪ The author supplies schematics for anyone wishing to build their own tone generator.
1979
DS#113 LT p.41
Frederick Battershell
▪ Humongous spool clamp.
1979
DS#114 BRB2 p.236
Edward Damm
▪ By using a collection of drawings the author demonstrates many ways to string the hammered dulcimer.
1979
DS#115 BRB1 p.94
Thom Lipiczky
▪ Sitars are wonderful to look at, strange to hold, lovely to listen to, and peculiar to repair and set up.These days, when vintage instrument values make repair a high-risk endeavor, Lipiczky’s offbeat cures for broken gourds and loose frets are a breath of fresh air. Sitar repair has no doubt advanced since 1979, but we’ll have to take what we can get as far as instruction is concerned. The Indian words make for exotic reading, and the chart of string gauges may save your bacon one strange day.
1979
DS#116 LW p.95
Al Leis
▪ So how does one reach w-a-y back there to reinforce top crack repairs? By making a special clamp, and by evolving a slick method of using it. Here’s how it’s done. Includes 2 photos.
1979
DS#117 LT p.12
Hugh Manhart
▪ Bend sides on a cold form after boiling them, but add heat to the form to dry them quickly.
1978
GALQ Vol.6#1 p.32
Joe Chromey
▪ Choosing the best lutherie school or course for one’s investment.
1978
GALQ Vol.6#1 p.34 LW p.125 read this article
Harry Coleman
▪ Coleman built knives around 1968 and 1969 which led naturally to an interest in guitar building.
1978
GALQ Vol.6#1 p.35 read this article
Theron McClure
▪ All the viols made and played today are copied from those made during the final 75 years of the 3 century span of viol playing.
1978
GALQ Vol.6#1 p.37
John Thierman
▪ Organizational housekeeping stuff. No lutherie content.
1978
GALQ Vol.6#2 p.14 read this article
Lawrence Lundy
▪ Warranties, delivery deadlines, return of instruments, care and feeding, payments and pricing, customer info, and happy transactions.
1978
GALQ Vol.6#2 p.19 read this article
David-Russell Young
▪ Many instruments, when compared together in a forum such as Carmel, provide a good basis for determining the strong and weak points of each individual instrument.
1978
GALQ Vol.6#2 p.20
Tim Olsen
▪ The first in a six part series, brought on by a rapidly growing interest in the subject.
1978
GALQ Vol.6#2 p.25
Rolfe Gerhardt
▪ The Marlin is a sign carving pantograph router with a lettering template clamped on one side and the sign board the other.
1978
GALQ Vol.6#2 p.26 read this article
Phil Boulding
▪ Philip Boulding on his love for the harp.
1978
GALQ Vol.6#2 p.28 LW p.38 read this article
Des Anthony
▪ Tonewood is where you find it, even if you find it in another instrument.
1978
GALQ Vol.6#2 p.30 BRB2 p.61
H.E. Huttig
▪ Hutting happens across Manuel Davila in Guatemala City, who builds guitars that are completely original and do not follow tradition in construction and decoration.
1978
GALQ Vol.6#2 p.32 read this article
Rolfe Gerhardt
▪ Finding a good and consistent supplier of fine fiddleback of maple has been one of the greatest problems in mandolin building.
1978
GALQ Vol.6#2 p.34
Wilfrid-M. Appleby
▪ Stradivari also made guitars. This one is in the museum of the Paris Conservatoire.
1978
GALQ Vol.6#3 p.8 LT p.104
H.E. Huttig
▪ A tribute to the late George Vogl of Bubenreuth, Germany, maker of special luthier’s tools.
1978
GALQ Vol.6#3 p.14 read this article
Jeffrey-R. Elliott
▪ Elliott shares his impressions of the Canadian-hosted classic guitar festival “Guitar 78”.
1978
GALQ Vol.6#3 p.18
Tim Olsen
▪ The second in a six part series, brought on by a rapidly growing interest in the subject.
1978
GALQ Vol.6#3 p.28
William Conrad
▪ Certification adds prestige to the product and protects you and the owner in case of loss, theft, or damage.
1978
GALQ Vol.6#4 p.10
Michael Keller Richard Schneider
▪ A brief interview with the renowned luthier, maestro Richard Shneider, known for his development of the radically innovative Kasha Design soundboard guitar.
1978
GALQ Vol.6#4 p.19
Tim Olsen
▪ The third in a six part series, brought on by a rapidly growing interest in the subject.
1978
GALQ Vol.6#4 p.24 read this article
Mike Longworth
▪ From his recent convention lecture.
1978
DS#85 BRB1 p.41
Rolfe Gerhardt
▪ That is, setting up the actual spray system from compressor to gun, with additional information about spray room accessories. It’s worth noting that in his update the author (a maker of top quality mandolins) mentions that he has abandoned lacquer in favor of waterborne products.
1978
DS#86 LW p.110 read this article
Tim Olsen
▪ No, you don’t press a neck to take the wrinkles out. Sometimes it’s necessary to heat a crooked neck, overbend it with clamps, then hope it cools and relaxes into some semblance of straightness. This sort of caveman lutherie is still called upon from time to time, and you probably won’t find a more detailed description of the operation than this one. With 5 illustrations.
1978
DS#87 LT p.45
Reagan Cole
▪ Old refrigerator compressor and a shower curtain.
1978
DS#88 LW p.78
Tim Olsen
▪ Are you tired of rosettes that are just rings around the soundhole? Here’s a jumping off point if you want to take the plunge. The next step is to get rid of the round soundhole. With 3 diagrams.
1978
DS#89 BRB1 p.284 read this article
David Rolfe
▪ Violinmakers can (and do) talk at length about varnish formulas. Rolfe leaves that to others, and instead describes at length the process of getting the varnish onto the instrument with a minimum of fuss and a maximum of cleanliness. Included is a discussion of brushes, rags, rubbing down and polishing materials, drying boxes, and where in your shop to varnish.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1978
DS#90 BRB1 p.353 read this article
Paul Jacobson
▪ There is a small but vocal movement afoot to return lutherie to a “purer” state by (among other things) reverting to hide glue and French polish. Don’t be too quick to sign on until you’ve read this thought-provoking article. There is no such thing as “pure” lutherie, and you should understand what you’re surrendering before you relinquish modern techniques. Epoxies have advanced since this was written in 1978, but the reasons for using them remain the same.
1978
DS#91 read this article
Tim Olsen
▪ Substituting glass jars for aluminum cans for commercial spray guns, many advantages can be realized, and they’re cheap.
1978
DS#91 read this article
Jimmie Van
▪ Substituting glass jars for aluminum cans for commercial spray guns, many advantages can be realized, and they’re cheap.
1978
DS#92 LT p.92
Thomas Rein
▪ Jig uses and end mill in a drill press.
1978
DS#93
Jeffrey Covill
▪ This program is designed to compute measurements more accurately and faster than is manually possible when calculating fret placement.
1978
DS#94
Chuck Morrison
▪ Using watered down type hide glues, such as Franklin’s Liquid Hide Glue, will lead to trouble. Preparation of the real stuff is easier than you think.
1978
DS#95 LW p.90
Don Musser
▪ Some wood ripples when it is wetted for bending. Musser describes how to remove the ripples, but you’ll have to have a metal bending form to use his method. With 2 photos.
1978
DS#96
John Thierman
▪ Comprehensive instrument refretting, from preparation of the fret board to fret wire types.
1978
DS#97 BRB1 p.352 read this article
Jimmie Van
▪ Discusses the advantages of cleaning instruments with lemon oil and resealing the finish with carnauba wax.
1978
DS#98 LW p.120
John Thierman
▪ Steam out the neck with a tea kettle. With 2 illustrations. See also the next article.
1978
DS#99 LW p.101
Tim Olsen
▪ Build a simple shooting board to make plate joints with a plane, then use one of 3 tried-and-true forms of clamping workboards to glue them together.
1978
DS#100 read this article
Dan-Neil McCrimmon
▪ The basic idea behind this geometry jazz is to have the elements of design organized in such a way as to give a sense of cohesion to the total design.
1978
GALQ Vol.6#1 p.10 BRB2 p.78
Kent Rayman Aggie Rayman Robert Lundberg
▪ Lundberg is a classic example of a man who couldn’t fit into any of the slots society tried to force him into, yet who went on to become an important individual in his field. Lute players of the world couldn’t be happier about it. With 4 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.
1978
GALQ Vol.6#1 p.16
Tim Olsen
▪ Olsen dreams up six new instruments. Decades later, he still has not built them. Admittedly,the teepee-gurdy would be a bit of a project.
1978
GALQ Vol.6#1 p.26 read this article
J.R. Beall
▪ 1978 marks Beall’s tenth anniversary as a practitioner of the luthier’s art.
1978
DS#68 LT p.91
William Spigelsky
▪ Binding cutter is comprised of a stack of small slitting saw blades mounted in the drill press.
1978
DS#68 LT p.99
William Spigelsky
▪ Jig for a radial arm saw.
1978
DS#69 LT p.61
John Spence
▪ Spence uses sub-bases for his router to make rosette cavities. The sub-bases are drilled with holes that fit over a pin mounted in the center of what will be the soundhole.
1978
DS#70 LT p.42
Tony Pizzo
▪ Adjustable-shape mold for dulcimer assembly.
1978
DS#71 LW p.92 read this article
Rolfe Gerhardt
▪ The author uses a gang saw to produce kerfed lining strips in quick fashion. With a drawing and a photo.
1978
DS#72 LT p.98
Des Anthony
▪ Combination tool is useful in a lutherie shop.
1978
DS#73
Paul Estenson
▪ While the traditional French polish method uses shellac and oil, with olive oil as a lubricant, qualasole is a relatively new finish material that is almost complete by itself and also seems more durable than shellac.
1978
DS#74
Norman-L. Hills
▪ A footnote to data sheet #11, fret spacing part 2: notes on hygrometers and another method of joining the neck to the body.
1978
DS#74 LW p.31
Anonymous
▪ Make a wooden humidity gauge. But you’ll need a hygrometer to build it by.
1978
DS#74 LW p.121 read this article
Garth Fleming
▪ How about a locking mortise-and-tenon joint? Works like a dovetail with only half the hassle. With 2 drawings.
1978
DS#75
Bob Petrulis
▪ Getting your cash receipts journal started, in which all transactions (including non sales) in which you receive cash are recorded.
1978
DS#76 BRB2 p.244
Kirk Hogan
▪ Mounting a skin head on a banjo has become a lost art. Here’s how to do it. Includes 4 drawings.
1978
DS#77 LT p.101
Tim Olsen
▪ Table saw jig to evenly cut kerfs in rectangular strips of lining.
1978
DS#78 LT p.63
Al Leis
▪ Close-tolerance adjustability with a full-size router to create binding and rosette slots.
1978
DS#79 read this article
Leo Bidne
▪ The determining factors besides the obvious ones for making a guitar the shape that it is and a possible formula that produces an ideal outline.
1978
DS#80 read this article
Reagan Cole
▪ The plug mold is the best method of fabricating a vaulted back when one is building a number of identical instruments.
1978
DS#81 LT p.82
Rolfe Gerhardt
▪ Remount a 6×48 belt sander on edge to find a variety of new uses.
1978
DS#82 read this article
Don Alfieri
▪ Two photographs by Schuab photo: a German guitar from the early 1800s and an American guitar signed and dated Schmidt and Maul, 1844, New York.
1978
DS#83
Phillip Mayes
▪ Recutting the saddle slots on a “badass” adjustable bridge fitted to a Gibson SG.
1978
DS#84 LT p.29
Tim Olsen
▪ Regrind single-edged razor blades into good little scrapers.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1977
GALQ Vol.5#4 p.11
Wilfrid-M. Appleby
▪ A book review/lengthy digression on the dearth of guitar construction literature in the mid 60s.
1977
GALQ Vol.5#4 p.12
Wilfrid-M. Appleby
▪ Parts 4, 5, and 6 of this series from the old Guitar News magazine of England. You can find it at www.digitalguitararchive.com/2019/11/guitar-news
1977
GALQ Vol.5#4 p.29 read this article
Byron Will
▪ The music of the renaissance and baroque has undergone a rebirth in the 20th century, with musicians and makers attempting to rediscover the high level of art that was reached.
1978
DS#61 LT p.24
Chris Burt
▪ Violin maker’s knife made from a straight razor.
1978
DS#62 read this article
Reagan Cole
▪ These paper-styrene laminates are very strong and make good forms for laminating forms in vacuum presses.
1978
DS#63 LT p.41
Charles-A. Palis
▪ Spool clamp for violins and a handscrew.
1978
DS#64 BRB1 p.373 read this article
Harry Coleman
▪ If you’re hurting for space or can’t yet afford a compressor, you may find that spraying with a tank of nitrogen makes sense. You may find that it makes sense no matter what, depending on the volume of your finish work.
1978
DS#65
Rich Westerman
▪ A cheapo cheapo dust catcher and another method of sawing fret slots.
1978
DS#65 LT p.88
Tim Olsen
▪ Machine manufacturers have become hip to the health problems that accompany the use of their equipment, and most incorporate dust collection ports into their new machines. This was hardly the case in the old days, and there are still tons of old machines in use. If you have one you are responsible for your own health, and thus the modification of your machine. The author’s ideas can be adapted to almost any bandsaw.
1978
DS#66 LT p.74
Hank Schrieber
▪ The power feed for this drum sander uses a separate motor.
1978
DS#67 LT p.100
James Gilbert
▪ Radial arm saw jig will radius the face of a banjo neck to 10″ and cut it to the desired angle.
1978
DS#68 LT p.88
William Spigelsky
▪ Use this bandsaw jig to cut rectangular stock into triangular unkerfed lining blanks. This tip is confusing until you realize that the box is a permanent part of the jig, and that the jig should be clamped to the saw table. The binding stock is fed through, and supported by, the box.
1977
GALQ Vol.5#3 p.16
Staff
▪ Photos, lists, and captions about the GAL’s fourth national convention.
1977
GALQ Vol.5#3 p.25
John Thierman
▪ Organizational housekeeping stuff. No lutherie content.
1977
GALQ Vol.5#3 p.26
Thomas-H. Corcoran
▪
1977
GALQ Vol.5#3 p.27
Wilfrid-M. Appleby
▪
1977
GALQ Vol.5#3 p.28 read this article
Vicki Runnion
▪ The first of many annual dulcimer conventions held at the Folklife Center of the Smokies in Cosby, Tennessee.
1977
GALQ Vol.5#3 p.29 read this article
Donald Curry
▪ The final step in the making of an instrument is the finish, which includes preparation of the wood, applying material, and final polishing.
1977
GALQ Vol.5#4 p.7
John Thierman
▪ Organizational housekeeping stuff. No lutherie content.
1977
GALQ Vol.5#4 p.8 read this article
Dake Traphagen
▪ Traphagen’s European experience.
1977
DS#47 LT p.59
Kent Rayman
▪ Used inside the guitar while gluing braces or to support the top for bridge work.
1977
DS#48 LT p.73
Kent Rayman
▪ Again, this is a variation in the Ruck-Brune sander. You need to read all these articles before beginning construction of your sander in order to avoid mistakes that others have already made.
1977
DS#49 LW p.50
Tim Olsen
▪ Tim recalls how Jimmy D’Aquisto carves a soundboard.
1977
DS#50 LW p.112 read this article
Tim Olsen
▪ Necks fashioned from one hunk of wood are beautiful but wasteful. Laminated designs intended to conserve the most wood are often considered unsightly, so Olsen tackled the problem with a laminated design that offers the prettiest wood, the highest strength, and that makes the installation of a curved truss rod a snap.Pretty cool. With 7 drawings.
1977
DS#51
Bob Petrulis
▪ Bookkeeping in a small business, such as the one you’re into or will be if the lutherie bug continues to bite.
1977
DS#52 read this article
Jeffrey-R. Elliott
▪ Potassium dichromate is the base of ‘beizes’ and ‘collies’ which are commonly used by European luthiers to give that nice brown ‘aged’ look to lighter woods.
1977
DS#53
Bob Petrulis
▪ Methods for keeping track of petty cash.
1977
DS#54 read this article
Reagan Cole
▪ One man’s opinion about the theoretical whys and wherefores of the transducer for acoustic instruments.
1977
DS#55 BRB1 p.36 read this article
Jeffrey-R. Elliott
▪ Various chemicals have been used for centuries to color (or de-color) wood. Fiddle makers are hip to tons of these, but Elliott describes a couple that he finds useful on his guitars. He also advocates lubricating tools and work surfaces with carnauba wax, which will not contaminate your wood.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1977
DS#56 BRB1 p.288 read this article
Ian Noyce
▪
1977
DS#57 LT p.20
Shelly Sax
▪ Get the right wheels for your grinder.
1977
DS#59 LT p.33
Paul Estenson
▪ The form of construction will lend itself to any type of wooden plane.
1977
DS#60 LT p.58 read this article
James Gilbert
▪ Uses toggle clamps.
1977
GALQ Vol.5#1 p.5
S.L. Mossman
▪ Problems in these areas are the main reasons for small shops having a difficult time making ends meet; location, personnel management, and dealing with professional people.
1977
GALQ Vol.5#1 p.11
Donald Curry
▪ The subject of molds is one which the novice might approach with some apprehension, but is an integral part of lutherie.
1977
GALQ Vol.5#2 p.3
John Thierman
▪ Organizational housekeeping stuff. No lutherie content.
1977
GALQ Vol.5#2 p.4
Kent Rayman
▪ A basic outline of who was at the festival and what was shown in the way of handmade guitars.
1977
GALQ Vol.5#2 p.10
Joe Chromey
▪ The Catgut Acoustical Society was founded in 1963 by the late Frederick A. Saunders, formerly professor of physics at Harvard University.
1977
GALQ Vol.5#2 p.18 read this article
Fred Carlson
▪ Even the simplest instruments must be built with love and care, and treated as magical things, or they are nothing.
1977
GALQ Vol.5#3 p.6
Wilfrid-M. Appleby
▪ This lengthy article originally appeared in a six part version in Guitar News, which has long since ceased publication. But you can find it at www.digitalguitararchive.com/2019/11/guitar-news.
1976
GALQ Vol.4#2 p.18
Rick Boling
▪ A thrifty violin maker selects from the woodsmen’s discards.
1976
GALQ Vol.4#2 p.20
John Roberts Robert Venn Scott Thompson
▪ Response to the article, ‘Scrutiny: Roberto-Venn School of Lutherie’, which may have presented a very unfair picture of school activities.
1976
GALQ Vol.4#2 p.23 read this article
Theron McClure
▪ How the English luthiers created and developed a healthy market for stringed instruments.
1976
GALQ Vol.4#3 p.6
Kent Rayman Jeffrey-R. Elliott
▪ Elliott discusses his teacher Richard Schneider, opening his own shop in Michigan, and classical guitars.
1976
GALQ Vol.4#3 p.13
Steve Andersen John Thierman
▪ The third installment of our little forum on the Roberto-Venn School of Lutherie.
1976
GALQ Vol.4#3 p.14 read this article
Donald Curry
▪
1976
GALQ Vol.4#3 p.15
John Thierman
▪ Organizational housekeeping stuff. No lutherie content.
1976
GALQ Vol.4#4 p.9 read this article
Donald Curry
▪
1976
GALQ Vol.4#4 p.10
John Thierman
▪ Organizational housekeeping stuff. No lutherie content.
1976
GALQ Vol.4#4 p.11 read this article
Bonnie Carol
▪ A report on the “In Search of the Wild Dulcimer, Kindred Gathering II”, held August 13, 14,15 1976.
1976
GALQ Vol.4#4 p.12
Gordon Litster
▪ The last say on the Roberto-Venn issue.
1977
DS#40 LW p.58
Dick DeNeve
▪ Variations on the basic Dobro design.
1977
DS#41 LT p.72
Tim Olsen
▪ Variation on the Ruck-Brune sander, that is.
1977
DS#42
Tim Olsen
▪ Tim Olsen’s primitive steam injector was made from an oil can.
1977
DS#42
Frederick Battershell
▪ A simple tool for beveling linings after they are glued in.
1977
DS#43 read this article
Leo Bidne
▪ Heat pressing is the art of forming wood to a new and permanent shape with heat and pressure.
1977
DS#44 BRB2 p.200
Thomas Knatt
▪ Knatt discusses the elements of classical guitar construction that help create the sound he is after, such as thinning the top, the characteristics of the action and saddle, accuracy of fret placement, and the effects of brace shaving. Mentions Carleen Hutchins.
1977
DS#45 BRB1 p.288
Ian Noyce
▪ ‘Bet you thought you knew how to tune a guitar. Some are fussier than others, right? Noyce explains that fussiness, and by examining the fussiness it can in part be designed out of the guitar. On the other hand, part of the problem is psycho-fussiness, meaning that you have to tune to suit the peculiarities of human hearing. They say that horses have perfect pitch, so tuning up must be much less of a chore for them.
1977
DS#46 BRB2 p.25
Don Alfieri
▪ Flamenco guitars are very light in weight, and a conventional capo could unbalance them and even change their sustain. This all-wood capo should correct the problem.
1977
DS#47 LT p.59
Kent Rayman
▪ Taper attachment and protective jaws.
1976
DS#24
Tim Olsen
▪ Utilizing 12 gauge plastic coated copper wire to hang an object for spraying with lacquer and other finishes.
1976
DS#25 LT p.10
Tim Olsen
▪ Four variations on the propane torch and water pipe.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1976
DS#25 LT p.11
Dick DeNeve
▪ The best thing you can do with a beer can is empty it. The next best thing might be to put a heating element in the empty can and then fill it with lead to make a bending iron.
1976
DS#25 LT p.12
Tim Olsen
▪ There is probably a heat element that you can find locally and adapt for the purpose.
1976
DS#26 LT p.91
Derek Iverson
▪ Jig for drilling tuner holes in the headstocks of classical guitars.
1976
DS#27 LT p.4
Tom Peterson
▪ Lay out one fret scale accurately, then very quickly plot the fret positions for any larger scale length with no math or measuring tools.
1976
DS#28 read this article
Tom Morgan
▪ Recent popularity of the banjo and need for dissemination of bits of info have prompted this writing, in which the topics, types of shell, wood rim construction, tone rings, adjustment of string height, and correcting neck wrap are discussed.
1976
DS#29 read this article
John Thierman
▪ Inlay is the process by which one substance is inserted into a background, then sanded off flush, creating a pattern within the background substance.
1976
DS#30
Leo Bidne
▪ The function of this portable tool is to hold a guitar stationary and support the neck while fret leveling.
1976
DS#31
Dick DeNeve
▪ A wood storage cabinet and a simple device for temperature control.
1976
DS#32 LT p.14
H.E. Huttig
▪ Short history of steel and its principal alloys, plus a description of sharpening stones, and how to use and maintain them.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1976
DS#33 LT p.11
Lawrence Lundy W. Daum
▪ Roll up a thick tube of copper and shoot a propane torch into the back of it. that’s yet another way to make a bending iron.
1976
DS#34
John Thierman
▪ The tops of many older flat-top steel string guitars will bulge up at the bridge due to the high tension of the steel strings.
1976
DS#35 read this article
H.E. Huttig
▪ PEG is a chemical that resembles Paraffin, is non-toxic, non-corrosive, colorless and odorless, and when applied to wood, greatly improves the dimensional stability and eliminates splitting and warp problems.
1976
DS#36
E.O. Witt
▪ This comprehensive article first appeared in The Journal of the Audio Engineers Society, October 1975.
1976
DS#37 LT p.70
Derek Iverson
▪ Iverson’s was the first report on a truly useful shop-made thickness sander at a time when there were no inexpensive commercial units to be had.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1976
DS#38 read this article
Tony Pizzo
▪ Plans for a small, simple bow with a shape adapted from an illustration in Lynn Elder’s, ‘How to Play the Bowed Psaltery’.
1976
DS#39
Derek Iverson
▪ Some information that may be of use when planning out a guitar.
1976
GALQ Vol.4#1 p.8 read this article
Kent Rayman Alexander-I. Eppler
▪ Seattle-born Alexander Illitch Eppler is an established virtuoso, and a maker and player of balkan end-blown flutes.
1976
GALQ Vol.4#2 p.16
Irving Sloane
▪ A comment on the article ‘Museum Services for Luthiers’ in volume 3 #5 and #6.
1975
DS#17 BRB2 p.105
Joseph Valentich
▪ The scale of instrument and string tension, string materials and string winding, core wire and wrapping wire size, and acoustic and electric strings for application to ethnic fretted instruments.
1975
DS#18 read this article
Nick Hayden
▪ A rundown on the Tamuritza family, which came first from Yugoslavia, from the smallest Prim (transposing instrument) to the Brach (alto member) to the Berda (bass member).
1975
DS#19 LW p.5 read this article
H.E. Huttig
▪ Terminology of lumber biz.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1975
DS#20
Robert-F. Gear
▪ Since the late 60s the national metal-bodied guitars and Dobros have become one of the hottest items among collectors, blues players, and bluegrass enthusiasts alike.
1975
DS#21 read this article
Anonymous
▪ This pair of informative pictures was contributed to the Guild by a repairman of long experience and excellent reputation.
1975
GALNL Vol.3#2 p.1 BRB2 p.61
H.E. Huttig
▪ Hutting happens across Manuel Davila in Guatemala City, who builds guitars that are completely original and do not follow tradition in construction and decoration.
1975
GALNL Vol.3#2 p.10
H.E. Huttig
▪ A visit to the Applebys in Cheltenham on the occasion of their publication, Guitar News, coming to an end. You can find Guitar News at www.digitalguitararchive.com/2019/11/guitar-news.
1975
GALNL Vol.3#2 p.11 read this article
J.R. Beall
▪ Commercial sales offer an opportunity to add to an income without adding to your time.
1975
GALNL Vol.3#3 read this article
Staff
▪ The 1975 GAL Convention was a small event by any standard, but it set the pattern for the successful GAL Conventions which followed. It had embreonic forms of the features of a modern convention: exhibition, lectures, demos, concerts. R.E. Brune hosted it at Northwestern University.
1975
GALNL Vol.3#4 read this article
J.R. Beall
▪ From his convention lecture, May 29, 1975.
1975
GALNL Vol.3#5,6 p.3
Staff
▪ The GAL purchased a very-used AB Dick offset press which they used for years to print the Guild’s publications.
1975
GALNL Vol.3#5,6 p.17 read this article
Frederick Battershell
▪ The Successful Craftsman: Making Your Craft Your Business by Alex Bealer, is a book that promises a great deal and delivers nothing of lasting value, thus betraying its author’s profession, advertising.
1975
GALNL Vol.3#5,6 p.19 BRB2 p.48
Laurence Libin
▪ Luthiers who deal in restoration and re-creation of old instruments may find that museums may harbor help that is otherwise unavailable, and you may not have to visit the museum to avail yourself of its services. Libin discusses what museums are usually prepared to do to help researchers, and how to deal with museums when you need their help.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1975
GALNL Vol.3#5,6 p.25 BRB2 p.23
H.E. Huttig
▪ A number of builders impacted the lutherie scene simply by keeping the craft alive during the dark days of the ’50s and early ’60s, even though they are all but forgotten today. Company fled Castro’s Cuba to Florida, where he made all manner of guitars and Latin instruments.
1975
GALNL Vol.3#5,6 p.26 read this article
Theron McClure
▪
1975
GALNL Vol.3#5,6 p.30
Tim Olsen
▪ Three illustrated humorous poems that will only mean anything to luthiers.
1975
GALNL Vol.3#5,6 p.31
Hank Schrieber
▪
1975
GALNL Vol.3#5,6 p.33
Jeremy Montagu
▪ The Fellowship of Makers and Researchers of Historic Instruments (FoMRHI) is a Brittish organization which formed shortly after the GAL. They are still in business as of 2016.
1976
DS#22 LT p.7 read this article
Tim Olsen
▪ Tape a tiny flashlight to your inspection mirror.
1976
DS#23 LT p.37
Hank Schrieber
▪ A file mounted in a wooden block.
1974
GALNL Vol.2#3 p.9 read this article
Robert-S. Anderson
▪
1974
GALNL Vol.2#3 p.10
Robert-S. Anderson
▪
1974
GALNL Vol.2#4 p.4
Scott Antes J.R. Beall
▪
1974
GALNL Vol.2#5 p.6 LW p.16
David Sturgill
▪ TK-Season-02_Number-01
1974
GALNL Vol.2#6 p.8 read this article
R.E. Brune
▪ If anyone can be said to be a successful luthier, it’s R.E. Brune. Here’s what he said about the subject in 1974.
1975
DS#5
Bob Petrulis
▪ Of the 68 responses to the luthier questionnaire, 13 claimed to be amateurs, 24 part time professionals, and 23 professionals.
1975
DS#6 LW p.16 read this article
David Sturgill
▪ Centuries ago, the selection and cutting of musical instrument wood was a specialized profession, and still is to some extent today.
1975
DS#7 read this article
Nick Hayden
▪ Tips, methods, and procedures for separating glued joints.
1975
DS#7
Tim Olsen
▪ Use fine wood dust and epoxy for inlay. Duh. But this was 1975, and the first time anybody said it in print.
1975
DS#7
Leo Bidne
▪ Quick and dirty patch for spruce.
1975
DS#7 read this article
Eric Henderson
▪ Bridge positioning.
1975
DS#8
R.E. Brune
▪ An elaboration on the French polish portion of the finishes data sheet, by popular demand.
1975
DS#9 LW p.16 read this article
David Sturgill
▪ The function of the soundboard in any musical instrument is to convert the mechanical energy produced by the strings to sound waves in the atmosphere.
1975
DS#10 read this article
R.W. Burhans
▪ Information and resources for string-sound transducers, low power audio, amplifiers, electronic filters, resonant boxes, and parts and supplies.
1975
DS#11 read this article
Scott Antes
▪ A quick, accurate method of locating any fret on any string length using figures in this table.
1975
DS#12
R.E. Brune
▪ French polishing, after mixing and properly preparing the shellac as per the instructions in the last installment.
1975
DS#13 BRB2 p.19
Doc Kauffman
▪ One of the pioneers of the solidbody guitar gives a brief description of one of the first successful pickups, complete with 3 full-scale drawings of the pickup and a sketch of its flux pattern compared to a more contemporary pickup.
1975
DS#14 LW p.114
Tim Olsen
▪ Sometimes a peghead break is so traumatic that the best plan is just to toss the old one in the trash and start over. Here’s how (using mostly hand tools), and don’t be surprised if the rebuilt neck is better than the original. With 13 illustrations.
1975
DS#15
Bob Petrulis
▪ The first of a series of articles on basic instrument electronics, this time covering magnetic pickups, transducer pickups, contact mics, volume and tone controls, and soldering.
1975
DS#16
R.E. Brune
▪ After initial finish application, the surface of the instrument will appear rough and unrefined, therefore it is necessary to rub out the finish to produce a perfect surface, then apply the final polish.
1973
GALNL Vol.1#1 p.1 read this article
J.R. Beall
▪ A growing number of intelligent people are looking for work that is individual, creative, challenging, and fulfilling in the stringed instrument world.
1973
GALNL Vol.1#2 p.1 read this article
J.R. Beall
▪ Beall gives here the sum of what information he has found on the subject.
1973
GALNL Vol.1#1 p.3
R.E. Brune
▪ The first mention of an abrasive planer in our literature. We eventually printed a lot of suggestions for different versions.
1973
GALNL Vol.1#2 p.3
H.E. Huttig
▪ Eight step process for the Spanish luthier bridge gluing method.
1973
GALNL Vol.1#1 p.4 read this article
J.R. Beall
▪ The Modern Harpsichord by Wolfgang Joachim Zuckermann is a large, well illustrated, intelligently written and edited volume that lists and comments of most of the known makers of today.
1974
DS#1 BRB2 p.104
H.E. Huttig
▪ Traditional Spanish style rosette making for soundholes, starting with veneer preparation.
1974
DS#2 LW p.16 read this article
David Sturgill
▪ Why certain varieties are most often chosen. Harvesting and processing info.
1974
DS#3 read this article
R.E. Brune
▪ As a hobby, Brune has collected many obscure and archaic recipies for varnishes and other potions, which he discusses here.
1974
DS#4 LW p.104 read this article
Bob Petrulis
▪ The author gives you the math to lay out the frets for any scale length and demonstrates how to use a computer spread sheet to do the same operation a lot faster. With a drawing and two charts.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1974
GALNL Vol.2#1 p.3 read this article
James Arial
▪
1974
GALNL Vol.2#1 p.8
James Arial Barry Murphy R.E. Brune
▪
1974
GALNL Vol.2#1 p.10
J.R. Beall
▪
1974
GALNL Vol.2#1 p.11 LW p.16 read this article
David Sturgill
▪
1974
GALNL Vol.2#1 p.12
Tim Olsen
▪ Early and hopeful musings. [01-21-2022]
1974
GALNL Vol.2#2 p.4
J.R. Beall
▪
1974
GALNL Vol.2#2 p.5
Harry Misuriello
▪ Anyone wishing a formal and traditional luthier education, and its attendant seriousness, should investigate the following utilities.
1974
GALNL Vol.2#2 p.6
R.E. Brune
▪
1974
GALNL Vol.2#2 p.12 LW p.16 read this article
David Sturgill
▪ Sturgill expounds on his knowledge of wood and the influence of luthier Herman Weaver on his thinking.
1974
GALNL Vol.2#2 p.14 read this article
Leo Bidne
▪
1974
GALNL Vol.2#3 p.4
R.E. Brune
▪