Posted on January 9, 2020May 26, 2025 by Dale Phillips Wood Terms and Taxonomy Taxonomy and Nomenclature by Nicholas Von Robison previously published in Lutherie Woods and Steel String Guitars, 1994 See also, “Glossary of Basic Wood Terms” by Nicholas Von Robison “Top 40 Wood List” by Nicholas Von Robison The art and craft of lutherie is a set of skills and knowledge that one acquires through study, practical experience, and, too frequently, bone-headed obstinacy. Like many of the more interesting human endeavors, its learning curves never really reach a plateau simply because these are curves of multidimensions. Branches of erudition and arcane knowledge shoot off all over the place leading who knows where. It is not uncommon for the luthier, in the quest to build the perfect instrument, to wind up acquiring some knowledge of such diverse subjects as physics, metallurgy, chemistry, computer science, industrial design, economics, and so on. Since lutherie involves more than a generalized knowledge of wood and timber, some awareness of botanical and taxonomic naming systems is needed, especially in these days of alternative and vanishing wood species. The practice of classifying and assigning names to living things is called taxonomy. It is a system that is hierarchical in nature and begins very broadly by placing all organisms in either the plant or animal kingdom. Actually, taxonomists have concluded that there should be five separate kingdoms, but for our purposes, let’s keep it simple and only ask whether an organism is a plant or an animal. The plant kingdom is subdivided into major divisions or phyla (phylum when singular). The division Spermatophyta, which contains all seed plants (and the only one we are interested in here), is separated into two broad groups based on seed type. One group is the gymnosperms, which have exposed seeds; the other is the angiosperms, whose seeds are covered or encapsulated. These groups are further divided into orders, families, genera (genus when singular), and species (also species when singular). Thus, the classification of Sitka spruce is: Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on January 6, 2020May 21, 2025 by Dale Phillips Devolution of the Modern Lute Devolution of the Modern Lute by Robert Cooper from his 1984 GAL Convention lecture Originally published in American Lutherie #4, 1985 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie, Volume One, 2000 The other way to do it is with a dovetail extension on the neck, which slides into the block. But that is not really the historical way. Here again, we’re getting back to the historical method, and it seems to be perfectly adequate. It is common in old lutes to use no tail block whatever. Also, a lute has no edge binding or lining; the top is simply glued right to the rib. The bracing of the lute top is almost entirely composed of transverse bars, with just a J-shape bar and two smaller bars behind the bridge. The transverse bars run directly across the instrument and are butted and glued directly to the sides. The grain of those transverse bars is horizontal; it runs parallel to the top. You may wonder why in the world didn’t they do it logically, like guitar builders, and run it vertically. The probable reason is that when you make a lot of lutes you have a lot of top wood left over from pieces that you broke. Vertical grain top scraps would make horizontal grain braces. Also, if you split braces out of a billet, they split better this way than otherwise. These braces are rather high. The main brace is a little over an inch tall, by maybe 5MM. They are quite substantial, so the fact that the grain runs flat does not pose a strength problem. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on January 6, 2020May 12, 2025 by Dale Phillips Meet the Maker: Bart Reiter Meet the Maker: Bart Reiter by Paul Hostetter previously published in American Lutherie #34, 1993 and Big Red Book of American, Volume Three, 2004 As a card-carrying guitar nut, guitar player, and luthier, I’ve always felt a bit like a turncoat because of my jaundiced view that our current vibrant lutherie world is somewhat top heavy with guitar nuts. It’s one reason I like the GAL so much: there are all these wild cards who have a very nonflattop agenda. I love it! But it seems that every time I go to a Guild convention someone I really want to meet doesn’t show up for some reason. It happened again last summer, though I knew I’d find dozens of other surprises amongst the corn fields and bomb threats ‘way over there in Vermillion. Among them were two of the very top figures in the world of banjo, Bart Reiter and Ron Chacey. Dan Erlewine issued me a blank cassette and commanded: “Go forth and interview!” Dutifully, and happily, I did. I’d always wanted to meet these guys anyway. Here’s the first one I talked to. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on January 2, 2020May 14, 2025 by Dale Phillips New Directions in Violin Making New Directions in Violin Making by Joseph Curtin from his 2008 GAL Convention lecture Originally published in American Lutherie #97, 2009 I started violin making as a frustrated player. My viola teacher’s husband was a viola maker, and at some point I just switched rooms. Otto Erdesz was his name, and he was a kind of crazy genius. I had a very informal education with him, which I realize now was good in some ways. He used to say, “If you take my advice, you do what you want.” The first instrument I made was a viola based on an asymmetrical model of his which had the upper bout cut away so you could reach higher positions. It seemed like a very good idea. He made about twenty of them, and then got frustrated at the resistance of musicians. Just the fact that it was different was a disadvantage. I moved into traditional violin making, which means more or less making copies of instruments from the 17th and 18th centuries. Trying to do that well, trying to do that in a beautiful way and a faithful way and a way that sounds good, is an absolutely fascinating technical challenge. It’s very useful to have the limits provided by these traditions. But after twenty years I started to feel that making another Guarneri copy was a little boring. My mother is a painter and my father is a photographer, so I come from a visual arts background. In the visual arts, the general idea is to do something different each time. It would be embarrassing to do the same painting twice. With crafts, there’s an emphasis on repetition of forms. I think there can be a balance between those approaches in instrument making. And I think there is much more openness now to new design ideas among violin makers, and I’m sure among guitar makers too. I’ll show the work of various makers, including myself. I don’t want to give the impression that this is a major movement. It’s small, but hopefully it will grow. It’s fun to spend some of your time following your imagination as much as the traditions. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on January 2, 2020May 21, 2025 by Dale Phillips Harvesting Engelmann Spruce Harvesting Engelmann Spruce by Dennis Coon previously published in Guild of American Luthiers Quarterly Volume 10, #1, 1982 and Lutherie Woods and Steel String Guitars, 1998 Visualize for a moment a fine handmade guitar, the essence of precision and elegance. Behind it picture the raw beauty of an immense tree, cloaked in scaly bark, bristling with blue-green needles and gnarled cones. The contrast between guitar and tree is striking. And yet, the link between the two is powerful. As a luthier’s skill and appreciation for materials grows, a deeper respect for wood inevitably develops. Often the luthier begins to take a greater interest in the chain of events that provides his or her materials. Perhaps the luthier buys a billet or a log, visits a saw mill, dries and splits a local wood, or finds out exactly how the wood he or she uses was prepared. The gap between tree and instrument narrows and quite often, a life-long romance with wood is born. It was just such a romance that carried me to the arid highlands of New Mexico to visit Santa Fe Spruce, a company specifically geared to preparing wood for musical instruments. My tour of Santa Fe Spruce was conducted by Tom Prisloe, president of the company. Tom, a musician (classical guitar and lute) with a background in forestry, shares the work at Santa Fe Spruce with partners Suzanne MacLean and David Bacon. As our discussion of timber and instrument making unfolded, it became clear that these three are dedicated to providing premium quality wood, prepared in a way that few other suppliers are willing or able to duplicate. The work demanded by their approach is formidable. Nevertheless, I believe their methods, successes, and problems are instructive. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
