Posted on January 6, 2010March 11, 2024 by Dale Phillips Review: Appraisers Reference Manual of Authentic String Instruments and Bows by Thomas E. Florence Review: Appraisers Reference Manual of Authentic String Instruments and Bows by Thomas E. Florence Reviewed by George J. Manno Originally published in American Lutherie #11, 1987 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000 Appraisers Reference Manual of Authentic String Instruments and Bows Thomas E. Florence M & M Distributing Company 2465 South Industrial Highway, Ann Arbor, MI 48106 $175, and $30 for yearly supplements The author’s death has put the continuation of this book in doubt (1999). If there is one book that will be useful to any violin shop or maker who does appraising, this is it! Thomas Florence has compiled a complete sectional directory of authentic violins, violin bows, violas, viola bows, cellos, and cello bows that have been sold in the major auction houses in the United States and England since 1980. Each section is in alphabetical order according to the maker for easy reference. Every entry informs the reader of the catalog lot number, type of instrument, maker’s name, year the instrument was made, selling price (in U.S. dollars), date of sale, and what auction house sold the instrument. The manual can also be used as a price guide for collectors. Yearly supplements will include information concerning that year’s past winter, spring, summer, and fall sales, keeping the manual current at all times. 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, 2010March 11, 2024 by Dale Phillips Review: The Early History of the Viol by Ian Woodfield Review: The Early History of the Viol by Ian Woodfield Reviewed by Christopher Allworth Originally published in American Lutherie #5, 1986 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000 The Early History of the Viol Ian Woodfield Cambridge University Press, 1984 Out of print (1999) This is for the instrument maker or prospective instrument maker with an historical bent who wants to be inspired into making viols. While this book will not tell him or her how to make a viol (see Bottenberg, Building a Treble Viola da Gamba, 1980, Concordia University) it will provide the historical information necessary for an understanding of the instrument’s evolution up to 1700. Thus, it will encourage the discerning maker especially. This book is a very significant one, for not only is it the first major volume on viols in twenty years, it is the first book to address the “new wave” of viol making; when, with Ian Harwood’s article “An Introduction to Renaissance Viols,” Early Music, October 1974, and the articles contributed by Pringle, Harwood/Edmunds, and Hadaway in Early Music’s second viol issue, October 1978, we became aware of the many faces of the viol as distinct from the rather all-purpose one to which we had become accustomed. In other words, the wave of fresh insights into the harpsichord field initiated by Frank Hubbard in his Three Centuries of Harpsichord Making, 1965, is now being repeated here in the field of viols and therefore Woodfield’s contribution is an exceedingly important and useful one. 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, 2010March 11, 2024 by Dale Phillips Review: The Manuscript on Violinmaking by Giovanni Antonio Review: The Manuscript on Violinmaking by Giovanni Antonio Marchi Reviewed by Don Overstreet Originally published in American Lutherie #11, 1987 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000 The Manuscript on Violinmaking Giovanni Antonio Marchi Arnaldo Forni Editore Bolgna 1786. 1986 Those of us who make instruments, particularly violins, are always hoping that ancient road maps will surface which will guide us along the mysterious paths that lead to the skill to build consistently good sounding and beautiful instruments. Over the centuries there has developed a considerable body of practical and historical information as well as enough “learned lore” to keep even the most hard-boiled luthier confused throughout his or her entire career. There will never be a substitute for excellent training, and all those who have made a serious study of instrument making have a firm foundation. Yet we cling to the belief that there are secrets, known only to a privileged few. Thus it was that in the winter of 1986 there was published in Bologna, Italy (for the first time), a translation of a two-century old manuscript on violin making by an Italian violin maker named Giovanni Marchi. Not a familiar name, but there he was in 1786 making instruments, repairing “old” ones, and actually having the wherewithal to commit his thoughts on the subject to paper. Could this work conceal information about 18th-century Italian violinmaking that had been lost? 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, 2010March 11, 2024 by Dale Phillips Review: Making Guitar 1 by Daniel Fort and Owen Riss Review: Making Guitar 1 by Daniel Fort and Owen Riss Reviewed by Lloyd Zsiros Originally published in American Lutherie #29, 1992 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Three, 2004 Making Guitar 1 Daniel Fort and Owen Riss Video tape, 60 min. 1990 Building your first acoustic guitar from scratch with no instructor can be a difficult and intimidating task even for an experienced woodworker. We are now lucky enough to have several fine books on the subject, but I was interested to see how well the information could be presented in a video format. Few of us have the luxury of an experienced luthier to guide us along. A video should be the next best thing to being there. According to the narration, Making Guitar 1 documents the first attempts at guitar making by two individuals; one makes a traditional nylon-string classic and the other a steel-string acoustic. Although most construction steps are covered fairly well, this should not be considered a complete do-it-yourself guide to building either instrument. It would not be practical to present dimensions or plans on a video, so a good text is still going to be required for the first-time builder. 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, 2010March 11, 2024 by Dale Phillips Review: Violin Set-Ups and Adjustments by Dan Erlewine and Paul Newson Review: Violin Set-Ups and Adjustments by Dan Erlewine with Paul Newson Reviewed by George Manno Originally published in American Lutherie #11, 1987 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000 Violin Set-Ups and Adjustments Dan Erlewine with Paul Newson VHS videotape (90 minutes) Stewart-MacDonald $26.95 from Stewart-MacDonald (1999) Teaching violin repairs from a television set! This first struck me as a most inane idea. My thoughts quickly changed after watching the first five minutes of this tape. Paul Newson is a fine repairman, and with Dan Erlewine’s commentary, this tape on violin repair and adjustments is a very good shop aid for a young luthier just starting out. 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.
