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The Big Red Books of American Lutherie
Each volume features articles on a wide variety of topics related to the art, science, and history of lutherie. Meet famous makers, learn to build tools, get detailed insight into building instruments, find info on woods, glues, and finishes, explore the mysteries of acoustical physics, and much more. And every volume in the Red Book series also contains a ton of product and book reviews, plus dozens of short how-to pieces. Articles are indexed by topic and by author. These books are built to last, with quality binding and hard covers. They're made to be used, too, and will lie open on your workbench.
Note: The series of articles by Robert Lundberg on Historical Lute Construction which appeared in American Lutherie #12-38 does not appear in the Big Red Book series. See our book, Historical Lute Construction by Robert Lundberg.
THE BIG RED BOOK of American Lutherie, Volume One
Volume One (from American Lutherie #1-12, 1985-87.) Highlights include the Hauser tradition by Jeffrey Elliott; violin sound physics by Carleen Hutchins; pearl inlay by David Nichols; air resonance by W.D. Allen; tuning violin plates by Keith Hill; the business of lutherie with Gruhn, Klein, Lundberg, Krimmel, Brune, Meltz, Grimes, Davis, and Umanov; guitar sound physics by Caldersmith; rosewoods by John Jordan; Ramirez workshop by William Tapia; the Dobro by Bobby Wolfe; guitar frets by Roger Sadowsky; violin acoustics by George Bissinger; Paisley Tele by Dave Schneider; epoxy by Paul Jacobson; vihuela and viola da mano by John Rollins; evolution of the hammered dulcimer by Sam Rizzetta; temperaments by Edward Kottick; bracing and guitar resonance by J. and O. Jovicic; thoughts on new guitar designs by Steve Klein, Gila Eban, and Fred Carlson; flattop bass design thoughts by Harry Fleishman, Tim Olsen, Richard Ennis, Bill McCaw, and David Freeman; detailed drawings of 1918 Martin 1-18, 1932 Martin C-3, Kamanche, Kasha guitar soundboard, 1943 Hauser Sr. classical guitar, flattop bass, tar, modified F-3 mandolin, and sami-sen; and meet makers C.F. Martin III, C.F. Martin IV, Manuel Velazquez, William Del Pilar, John Monteleone, Paul Schuback, Harvey Thomas, Jeffrey Elliott, and Robert Steinegger.
524-page, high-quality hardcover book, shipped in a box.
Members — $45. . . . . . . . Nonmembers — $50
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THE BIG RED BOOK of American Lutherie, Volume Two
Volume Two (from American Lutherie #13-24, 1988-90.) Highlights include voicing the steel string guitar by Dana Bourgeois; making mandolins with Steve Andersen; W.D. Allen on air resonance; Larrivee factory tour; Al Stancel on violin cracks; French polishing with Burton, Byers, Steinegger, and Vineyard; string bass design by Fred Lyman; pickup design by Tim Shaw; lute making by Lawrence D. Brown; small-shop lutherie in Japan; fretted dulcimer design by Bonnie Carol; guitar acoustics by Tom Rossing; the Strad mystique; violin varnish by Geary Baese; new classical guitar family; mandolin orchestra history; folk harp design by R.L. Robinson; D’Addarrio strings tour; a new mandolin family; violin varnish by Michael Darnton; American patent zithers; detailed drawings of D’Angelico New Yorker, prima balalaika, Loar F-5 mandolin, hammered dulcimer, Baroque guitar, low-cost double bass, and Irish bouzouki; and meet makers Manuel Davila, Robert Lundberg, Hammond Ashley, H.E. Huttig, Hermann Hauser II, Victor Gardener, Fred Lyman, Les Paul, Frank "Andy" Johnson, Ralph Rabin, Stewart Pollens, Dana Bourgeois, Hartley Peavey, and Ivo Pires.
524-page, high-quality hardcover book, shipped in a box.
Members — $45. . . . . . . . Nonmembers — $50
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THE BIG RED BOOK of American Lutherie, Volume Three
Volume Three (from American Lutherie #25-36, 1991-93.) Highlights include Jean Larrivee on steel string guitars; Carruth on free-plate tuning; Warmoth guitar factory tour; Al Stancel on violin pegbox repair; organizing work space with Elliott, Somogyi, Brune, Brandt, Schneider, and Wilson; Taylor factory tour; Selmer guitars; harp guitars, old and new; graphite guitars; North American softwoods; Gibson factory tour; Brune restores a Torres guitar; Geary Baese on the finish of the Rawlins Strad guitar; Jeffrey Elliott replaces a guitar top; Michael Darnton on violin setup; alternative lutherie woods; finishing to hide repair work by Dan Erlewine; guitar dynamics and design by Somogyi; Hardanger fiddle by David Golber; detailed drawings of 1973 Romanillos guitar, prima gusli, Dyer harp guitar, Segovia’s 1937 Hauser, Klein harp guitar, kabosy, and 1816 Martinez guitar; and meet makers Dan Erlewine, George Gorodnitsky, Donald Warnock, Herb David, Hideo Kamimoto, Michael Darnton, Maurice Dupont, Richard Schneider, Ren Ferguson, H.E. Huttig, Guy Rabut, Michael Sanden, Tom Ribbecke, and Ervin Somogyi.
524-page, high-quality hardcover book, shipped in a box.
Members — $45. . . . . . . . Nonmembers — $50
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THE BIG RED BOOK of American Lutherie, Volume Four
Volume Four (from American Lutherie #37-48, 1994-96.) Highlights include Jimmy D'Aquisto’s archtop guitar construction; Bryan Galloup resets a neck; Robert Ruck on tailoring classic guitar sound; Dan Erlewine on vintage Fender finishing; hammered dulcimer making; Felix Manzanero's antique guitar collection; Guy Rabut's innovative violin design; flattop guitar manufacturers' forum with Collings, Ferguson, Hoover, Larrivee, and Taylor; Making Baroque guitars with Lawrence K. Brown; Neapolitan mandolin by Robert Lundberg; lattice bracing; classic guitar intonation; flattop guitar brace shaving; detailed drawings of Martin tiple, Segovia’s 1912 Ramirez, Hammered dulcimer, and English treble gamba; Michael Darnton's Violin Q&A series; Rick Turner’s Electronic Answer Man column; and meet makers Nick Kukich, Eric Meyer, Bishop Cochran, Henry Strobel, Leo Fender and Doc Kaufman, Jim Williams, Jess Wells, Manuel Velazquez, Michael Gurian, Saul Koll, Geoff Stelling, Marc Silber, and John Mello.
524-page, high-quality hardcover book, shipped in a box.
Members — $45. . . . . . . . Nonmembers — $50
plus Shipping and Handling
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THE BIG RED BOOK of American Lutherie, Volume Five
Volume Five (from American Lutherie #49-60, 1997-99.) Highlights include: building sound in classic guitars with Jeffrey Elliott; Jimmy D'Aquisto's archtop guitar design evolution; Joseph Curtin updates the viola; French polishing with Eugene Clark; making compensated saddles; resetting a neck with Jeff Traugott; violin scroll carving with Guy Rabut; using hide glue; modern mandolin family; Frank Ford's fretting process; restoration of Barrios' Simplicio guitar; wood identification; detailed step-by-step guitar making tutorials with Charles Fox (flattop), Boaz Elkayam (Kasha/Schneider style), Rene Baarslag (classical), and Tom Ribbecke (archtop); detailed drawings of Martin uke, Barbero flamenco guitar, concert zither, and travel guitar; Michael Darnton's Violin Q&A series; and meet Augie LoPrinzi, Bonnie Carol, David "Kawika" Hurd, David Gusset, Fred Carlson, Gary Southwell, Grit Laskin, Judy Threet, Hermann Hauser III, Joseph Curtin, Paul Jacobson, Joshia de Jonge, Kent Everett, Linda Manzer, Michael Hornick, Paul McGill, Huss&Dalton, R.E. Brune, Shelley Park, and Steve Kauffman.
524-page, high-quality hardcover book, shipped in a box.
Members — $45. . . . . . . . Nonmembers — $50
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Historical Lute Construction
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By far the most comprehensive and authoritative work on the subject of understanding and constructing authentic lutes. Quality hardcover book of over 250 pages. Historical section covers the development of the lute from the 15th through the 18th centuries with over 100 photographs of ancient lutes by Robert Lundberg and 50 diagrams. Practicum section covers the construction of the lute in minute detail with over 600 step-by-step photographs by Jonathon Peterson and a dozen diagrams. Robert Lundberg's encyclopedic knowledge, insightful analysis, and mastery of woodworking techniques grew out of a distinguished 30-year career in which he examined and measured over 250 extant ancient lutes and built hundreds of fine instruments. Appendices include list of historic makers; catalog of extant historic lutes; bibliography; index. Contains complete reduced images of seven lute plans drawn for the GAL by Robert Lundberg. A work of great value to makers of all kinds of string instruments.
Historical Lute Construction is a resource that every luthier will want to own. It is drawn from a series of nineteen articles which ran in American Lutherie over a seven-year span from 1987 to 1994. About half of those issues are permanently out of print. Considerable effort was expended by Mr. Lundberg and the GAL staff to revise, expand, and augment the material into its present definitive form before Mr. Lundberg passed away in 2001. Historical Lute Construction has the same high-quality sewn binding in gold-stamped hard covers as our other four books. These books are built to last, and built to be used; they will lie open on a workbench.
280-page, high-quality hardcover book, shipped in a box.
Members — $65 . . . . . . . . Nonmembers — $72
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G.A.L. Resource Books
The Guild began publishing in 1973 and soon instituted a series of technical articles printed on 8 1/2" x 11" paper punched for a 3-ring binder. The Data Sheet series, as it was called, eventually ran to 300 titles across ten years.
As early as 1978 the Guild's Board of Directors was discussing plans to republish the data sheets arranged by topic. The Resource Book Series meets that goal by presenting, in an orderly and streamlined form, material of lasting practical value from the Data Sheet series as well as the GAL Quarterly, which we published from 1973-1984. (Beginning in 1985 all GAL publications were combined into our present format, American Lutherie.) The Resource Books feature quality sewn binding in gold-stamped hard covers. These books are built to last, and built to be used; they will lie open on a workbench.
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Lutherie Tools is the first of the Resource Books, published in 1990. It is about designing, making, and maintaining lutherie tools and is a summary of contemporary jigs, short-cuts, day-to-day operational techniques, and sources of supply. It consists of ten chapters including: measuring and inspection tools; bending irons; knives, chisels, scrapers, and planes; clamps, gluing, and holding devices; routers; sanding machines; bandsaw and drill press; circular saw; and approaches to tools. Each section is replete with high-quality black-and-white photographs as well as line drawings, many with detailed measurements. Interspersed are full-page photographs showing the workshops of various well-known luthiers. The appendices are comprehensive including references, sources of supply, and further reading. A survey of 17 respected luthiers is particularly interesting since each one discusses his or her main focus as a luthier as well as the hand and power tools they prefer. Some of the most preferred tools are surprising, such as a microscope, dental tinfoil, and beer (for attitude adjustment!)
128-page, high-quality hardcover book, shipped in a box.
Members — $28. . . . . . . . Nonmembers — $33
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Lutherie Woods and Steel String Guitars is the second of the Resource Books and began to roll off the press in February, 1998. This matching volume to our popular Lutherie Tools book contains information collected from the Guild's 1973-1984 publications, plus new and updated material that will appear only in Lutherie Woods and Steel String Guitars. There are fifty pages of mostly new material on lutherie woods, including an introduction to taxonomy, the "Top Forty Lutherie Woods," information on resawing, and an extensive commented bibliography of wood identification books. The book also features over 60 articles and tips on a wide variety of topics related to building and repairing the steel string guitar including D'Aquisto's "Variables in Archtop Design," resonator guitars, vintage restorations, Gallagher, Turner and Klein guitars, inlay patterns and tips, side bending, binding, linings, cracks and joints, bridge gluing, bracing design, fret scales, neck and head repairs, and more. The book is fully indexed and also has a number of useful appendices including philosophical approaches to lutherie, thumbnail reviews of over 80 lutherie books, an updated sources of supply list, a list of lutherie schools, and references to further reading in American Lutherie magazine.
160-page, high-quality hardcover book, shipped in a box.
Members — $28. . . . . . . . Nonmembers — $33
plus Shipping and Handling
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