Tag Archives: Beltran¸ Thomas

Meet the Maker: Thomas Beltran

2025
AL#155 p.6               
Samuel Barnes   Thomas Beltran                                                                                       

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

An Overview of Richard Schneider’s Guitar Assembly Process

2025
AL#155 p.13               
Thomas Beltran                                                                                           

▪ One of the generous mentors in Tom Beltran’s life was Richard Schneider. Richard shared information about his innovative methods and designs in real time as they developed over the decades, in talks and demonstrations at GAL Conventions, and in numerous intensive seminars. Tom attended a seminar in the summer of 1983 and now, forty-two years later, he covers that event and shares eighteen never-before-seen photos.