Review: Dan Erlewine Lutherie Videos

Reviewed by John Calkin

Originally published in American Lutherie #72, 2002 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Six, 2013



Dan Erlewine’s Lutherie Videos and DVDs
Dan Erlewine’s Guitar Shop, 2001

Dan Erlewine’s Guitar Shop has introduced a new series of lutherie videos that will likely set the standard for such work for some time to come. The most basic volume will help the tyro evaluate a guitar before and after purchase, explain how repairs are dealt with, and give the guitarist a sense of whether he truly wants to enter lutherie or not. It’s easy to conjure up a desire to fix or improve instruments, but it’s much harder to do the actual work. It seems contradictory, but some very fine guitarists are too fumble fingered to cleanly complete even the most basic repair or setup work. The sooner they learn that commercial lutherie is not for them, the better off they’ll be. Which doesn’t mean they won’t enjoy the rest of the series. Any guitar freak might like to watch fine luthiers in action. But any decisions that are potentially life altering ought to be informed and then honestly considered. Once the jump into lutherie has been made — for better or for worse — acquiring the best instruction only makes sense. I’m so book oriented that it’s a hard confession to make, but as a visual learner I believe that video has made books obsolete for many applications.