Review: Building a Herringbone Style Acoustic Guitar by Don MacRostie and Dan Erlewine

Reviewed by Dave Maize

Originally published in American Lutherie #33, 1993 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Three, 2004



Building a Herringbone Style Acoustic Guitar
Don MacRostie and Dan Erlewine
Stewart-MacDonald Guitar Supply Shop
Video tape, 90 minutes

Building a Herringbone Style Acoustic Guitar is a 90-minute video sold by Stewart-MacDonald originally to accompany their Herringbone Guitar Kit. The kit has since been discontinued but individual parts are still available. The video guides the beginning luthier through the process of building a rosewood and spruce Herringbone dreadnaught.

The video is well-organized, dividing its time between constructing the body, finishing and fitting the neck to the body, sanding and finishing and setup. The producers of the video have realized that the viewer may be building their one and only guitar. Therefore, they have successfully attempted to demonstrate the process using a fairly modest array of tools (razor knife, straightedge, chisel, coping saw, router, and a few clamps). In addition, the video avoids requiring the novice to build elaborate jigs just to get their first taste of lutherie. A clever heavy-cardboard inside form and outside U-shaped holder keep the rim in the correct shape until top and back are attached, avoiding having to build a more time-consuming outside mold. A nice feature of the tape is the use of a simply built, versatile workboard which is used in a variety of configurations throughout the process.