Posted on January 12, 2010May 30, 2025 by Dale Phillips Review: From Harp Guitars to the New Hawaiian Family: Chris J. Knutsen, History and Development of the Hawaiian Steel Guitar by George T. Noe and Daniel L. Most Review: From Harp Guitars to the New Hawaiian Family: Chris J. Knutsen, History and Development of the Hawaiian Steel Guitar by George T. Noe and Daniel L. Most Reviewed by Jonathon Peterson Originally published in American Lutherie #62, 2000 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Six, 2013 From Harp Guitars to the New Hawaiian Family: Chris J. Knutsen, History and Development of the Hawaiian Steel Guitar George T. Noe and Daniel L. Most Noe Enterprises, 1999 ISBN 978-0967483306 The first time I ever saw a harp guitar, I was smitten. It was made by a man named Chris Knutsen in the early 1900s in my hometown, Tacoma, Washington. I was so infatuated and curious that, when I began branching out from guitar repair into guitar-building-and-repair journalism, I did some research and wrote a couple of articles about harp guitars (American Lutherie #29 and #34; and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Three). At the time I was doing that research, I was still very active as a repairman, and one day a guy walks into my shop with a Viennese-looking harp guitar with six sub-bass strings. His name was Dan Most, and he shared my fascination. In fact, he had the bug worse than I did. The culmination of his interest is this book, which he co-wrote with George Noe. These guys did their homework. Dan has told me that their basic approach was to disregard conventional attitudes and rumors about these instruments and their maker, and look for hard evidence so that they could reach their own conclusions. Their investigation took more than six years. In the book’s preface the authors write, “We have spent countless hours in libraries, museums, the National Archives, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and visiting all of the addresses known to us as Knutsen’s. We have immersed ourselves in immigration records, census records, city directories, books, magazines, and newspapers. As we progressed, each new clue resulted in facts falling into place like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, permitting us to reconstruct the events of Knutsen’s life in the 20th century.” George Noe’s background is as a patent attorney, so researching public records for evidence of the history of design development is right up his alley. Dan is a luthier and collector of Knutsen instruments, with lots of experience in their repair and restoration. 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 12, 2010May 29, 2025 by Dale Phillips Review: The Acoustic Guitar Guide by Larry Sandberg Review: The Acoustic Guitar Guide by Larry Sandberg Reviewed by Benjamin Hoff Originally published in American Lutherie #65, 2001 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Six, 2013 The Acoustic Guitar Guide: Everything You Need to Know to Buy and Maintain a New or Used Guitar, Revised and Updated Larry Sandberg A Cappella Books, 2000 ISBN 978-1556524189 The Acoustic Guitar Guide is a folksy book, filled with whimsical titles and subtitles, hee-haw humor, and cracker-barrel opinions, asides, and advice. So perhaps a folksy saying can be used to describe it: Jack of all trades and master of none. The book tries to cover too much territory from a limited perspective. The number one rule of writing — Write about what you know — has been ignored in several places by the author, who takes us into this area and that, only to tell us or show us that his knowledge of the area is limited. 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 12, 2010May 28, 2025 by Dale Phillips Review: Dan Erlewine Lutherie Videos 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. 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 12, 2010May 29, 2025 by Dale Phillips Review: The Art of Violin Making by Chris Johnson and Roy Courtnall Review: The Art of Violin Making by Chris Johnson and Roy Courtnall Reviewed by Michael Darnton Originally published in American Lutherie #64, 2000 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Six, 2013 The Art of Violin Making Chris Johnson and Roy Courtnall Robert Hale, 1999 ISBN 978-0709058762 When I first received my copy of the Johnson and Courtnall book Art of Violin Making I found it relatively complete, but for some reason irritating. I put it away and didn’t look at again for months. Now, going back much later for this review, its strengths and weaknesses are much more apparent to me. As a publishing effort, it’s first rate, and by far the best-written and most copiously illustrated violin-making book ever. Each section is well illustrated with many drawings and easy-to-read photographs. Considering the information it contains, the price is low for a violin book of any sort. 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 12, 2010June 11, 2025 by Dale Phillips Questions: Violin refinish Questions: Violin refinish by Michael Darnton Originally published in American Lutherie #103, 2010 Winthrop Eastman from the Internet asks: I have a violin that belonged to my great grandmother. It has been in an attic for many years. We sold the house and I rescued the old violin. I would like to restore or refinish it, but I don’t want to damage its sound quality in any way. Can you direct me to a book or literature on how to restore such stringed instruments. I am quite handy at restoring furniture but have never tackled a violin. There is a dusty old label inside the violin that says “Carl Friedrich Pfretzschner 1773.” 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.
