Meet the Maker: Alan Carruth

by Tom Harper

Originally published in American Lutherie #112, 2012

If curiosity really did kill the cat, the cat should have talked things over with Alan Carruth before the situation got so desperate. Alan has been curious all his life and has not only survived, but thrives on it. Fortunately for us, Alan’s curiosity has been regularly applied to the musical instrument world for around forty years and he likes to share what he learns. He has been actively involved with the Guild for at least thirty years, researches musical acoustics, teaches lutherie, produced a DVD demonstrating his method of free plate tuning, and can be found providing lots of information in various Internet venues for instrument builders. He also produces a line of imaginary tools, but you will need to go to his website to learn more about them. I got a chance to sit down with Alan several times during the last GAL Convention to find out more about what makes him tick.

Tell us a little about your formative musical interests?

I mostly listened to classical music as a kid, but like lots of other people, I got interested in folk music when the ’60s folk scare happened. That’s when I got my first guitar, which was a cheap nylon-string Japanese import called a Howard, named after the son of the guy who imported it. I wanted a guitar with nylon strings because that’s what Paul of Peter, Paul, and Mary played. Or was that Peter? I can never keep those guys straight.