Posted on January 16, 2010June 6, 2025 by Dale Phillips In Memoriam: Ken Goodwin In Memoriam: Ken Goodwin 1948 – 2013 by Harry Fleishman Originally published in American Lutherie #117, 2014 One of my oldest friends in the lutherie community died recently. Kenny Goodwin, a Guild member when he could afford it, and a one-time convention attendee, died suddenly in August of leukemia. He and I met in the early ’70s when he came in to my first shop to ask for help with a guitar he was making. He and I became close friends and mutual advisors and ignorers. We gave and received advice from each other for decades about life, love, depression, acoustics, coffee, Chinese food, and hot water. We even took that advice sometimes. We spent hours turning to prunes as we bounced ideas back and forth while soaking in the Boulder Rec Center hot tub. He was the best person I’ve ever known for providing a sounding board for concepts about pickups, guitars, basses, and processes. Ken Goodwin (center) with Bob Benedetto (left) and Harry Fleishman at the 2001 GAL Convention in Tacoma. Photo by John Leach. Kenny was also a very fine guitar player, described in a review in the Denver Post as a guitarist who could “make the guitar lovely.” And this was in punk bands! He was also a self-taught organist. I believe Kenny only made one guitar, but he was a true luthier in spirit.
Posted on January 16, 2010May 12, 2025 by Dale Phillips In Memoriam: Peter Kyvelos In Memoriam: Peter Kyvelos November 2, 1943 – April 2, 2017 by R.M. Mottola Originally published in American Lutherie #130, 2017 Luthier Peter Kyvelos, one of the foremost experts on the Middle Eastern oud, died on April 2, 2017, after a series of illnesses. He grew up in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, during the ’40s and ’50s. He credits his early interest in woodworking and other craft to his parents, who involved him in home repair and craft projects from an early age. He attended San Francisco State University, majoring in fine art and graduating with a BFA degree. He studied woodworking in college and completed his first oud in a woodworking class. He graduated in 1970 and moved back to Massachusetts to open his shop, Unique Strings, in Belmont in 1971. In over forty years he built hundreds of ouds by hand, using primarily hand building methods. As is often the case with luthiers that dedicate themselves to one particular instrument, Peter’s intense study of the oud resulted in worldwide recognition as the expert of that instrument. It also earned him a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts in 2001. Photo by R.M. Mottola I spent considerable time with Peter in his shop over the course of the two years I collected information for the two part American Lutherie article, “Constructing the Middle Eastern Oud with Peter Kyvelos,” that appeared in AL#94 and AL#95 in 2008. His shop was something of a clubhouse for the many Middle Eastern musicians that lived in the area. He sold and repaired both bowed and plucked instruments, but it was oud building that was his real passion. The highly prized ouds Peter Kyvelos built were of his own design, a design which was influenced by those makers he considered to be the best of the historical builders. He now has joined their ranks.
Posted on January 15, 2010May 14, 2025 by Dale Phillips In Memoriam: James L. D’Aquisto In Memoriam: James L. D'Aquisto November 9, 1935 — April 18, 1995 by Gila Eban Originally published in American Lutherie #42, 1995 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Four, 2006 James L. D’Aquisto passed away unexpectedly on the night of April 18, 1995. An unassuming man working mostly alone on Long Island, he has affected many lives and the work of many luthiers in different instrument-making disciplines. Photo by Tim Olsen I first visited Jimmy’s workshop in 1978. That visit led to many others as I divided my time between studying with him and making my own classical guitars in Michigan. Jimmy is at the very core of my guitar making. We made different types of guitars, but the way he understood them so well and the way he understood sound and tone so well could readily apply to any string instrument. I am certain that were it not for him, I would have only the faintest idea of how to evolve my guitars to the fullest extent I am able to. When I was growing up, my father used to emphasize that there is a huge difference between schooling, in the sense of formal training, and education, meaning wisdom and knowledge. Jimmy, who loved to work and loved to have a good laugh, who brought an abundance of common sense and penetrating insight to all things he saw, did, or said, was one of the most educated men I ever knew. He was a great teacher who has changed me as a person as well as a guitar maker. I am sure he has had that strong and intense influence on other luthiers, however briefly or intermittently they might have known him. Farewell, dear James. We miss you. You are always in our thoughts. You are always in our hearts. You are always in our work.
Posted on January 14, 2010May 12, 2025 by Dale Phillips In Memoriam: Hart Huttig II In Memoriam: Hart Huttig II 1912 — 1992 by R.E. Bruné Originally published in American Lutherie #31, 1992 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Three, 2004 It is with great sadness that I report the passing of my good friend and mentor Hart Huttig II this past July after a long illness. No stranger to this journal, Hart was a selfless contributor since the inception of the GAL and his aficion for the guitar and its construction has been conveyed to all who have read his numerous writings. My first contact with Hart was in 1965, when his article “Guitar Construction from A to Z” appeared in Guitar Review #28. I had just begun trying to make guitars, and in those days, information was very hard to come by. His article was like manna from heaven, and lifted me up from the informational despair I was caught in at the time. Hart Huttig II in Arles, France at a Gypsy pilgrimage being received by the elder Gypsy of the clan. All photos courtesy of H.E. Huttig II. H.E. Huttig on his boat. Shortly after the appearance of that issue, I contacted him on the phone and was delighted to find he was also in the wood business, thus beginning not only a business relationship, but a lifelong friendship. Hart was an avid aficionado of flamenco, and made every effort to meet artists and invite them to his home. I fondly remember many a juerga in his front yard, where in the heat of inspiration, Hart would become so emotionally linked with the flamencos that he would tear his shirt off and cast it into the bushes. I will miss his paella Valenciana, his unique rajo cante jondo, but most of all I will miss Hart. He is survived by a daughter Beth, and his wife Rosa. H.E. Huttig's handwritten recipe for Paella.
Posted on January 14, 2010May 14, 2025 by Dale Phillips In Memoriam: Richard L. Schneider In Memoriam: Richard L. Schneider March 5, 1936 — January 31, 1997 by Jeffrey R. Elliott Originally published in American Lutherie #49, 1997 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Five, 2008 I first met Richard in 1964 while accompanying a long-time friend on a chance visit to his Detroit workshop. The three of us spent an enjoyable afternoon taking turns playing his guitars, and I fondly remember Richard’s Mexican folk songs. That afternoon changed my life. My friend left knowing he would have a new guitar, and I left knowing I had to make them. Fate smiled and eventually Richard accepted me as an apprentice, fulfilling my dreams. Many months later Richard began my friend’s guitar. One day Richard asked if I’d like to work on it. I was surprised and delighted with the prospect of contributing to the realization of my friend’s instrument. This thoughtful gesture is typical of the generosity, trust, consideration, and a sense of the poetic that was Richard’s. Photo by Ivan-Roger Sita. I was the first of many who Richard taught over his thirty-five years of guitar making. He was a great teacher, and his enthusiasm was infectious and inspiring. His work exemplified his standard of fine craft and aesthetic harmony combined with imagination and the eternal search for the ideal sound. He was one of the most innovative people I have ever known, and his contribution to guitar making will continue to influence generation after generation of luthiers. Via con Dios, Richard, you will be missed.
