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Review: Installing Transducer Pickup Systems by Dan Erlewine

Review: Installing Transducer Pickup Systems by Dan Erlewine

Reviewed by John Calkin

Originally published in American Lutherie #65, 2001 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Six, 2013



Video: Installing Transducer Pickup Systems
Dan Erlewine
Stewart-MacDonald, 1999

The music stores for which I used to do guitar repairs used to sell transducers at a hefty discount, then charge a flat $25 installation fee. Their normal hourly rate was $33. It’s easy to put in a transducer in an hour or less. Making it function properly is another matter, and many of those guitars came back for adjustments that would never have been necessary had the time been granted to do the job right in the first place.

This video is about doing the job right the first time. The guitar top is precisely jacked up to simulate string tension, the saddle slot is routed accurately and with a flat bottom, a new saddle is made, and adjustments are made to the bridge to correct the string angle as it comes off the saddle.

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Questions: Bass Scroll

Questions: Bass Scroll

by Guy Rabut, Roman Barnas, and Tim Olsen

Originally published in American Lutherie #89, 2007



Paul W. from the Internet asks:

Do you have any advice for someone who is carving his first bass scroll? I have read instructions and seen pictures, but I’m having trouble figuring out what to do after the first turn of the scroll is blocked out.

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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.

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Review: Spray Finishing Basics by Dan Erlewine and Don MacRostie

Review: Spray Finishing Basics by Dan Erlewine and Don MacRostie

Reviewed by John Calkin

Originally published in American Lutherie #61, 2000 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Six, 2013



Video: Spray Finishing Basics
Dan Erlewine and Don MacRostie
Stewart-MacDonald, 1999

This video is broken into two distinct segments, each of which covers the complete finishing process in its own manner. In the first portion, Dan Erlewine finishes an ash strat-style body in a Fender blonde color. This is a white finish that allows the wood grain to show through. In furniture work it’s usually called a pickled finish. In the second segment, Don MacRostie paints a bound alder tele-style body pink on the face and black on the back and sides. All colors are mixed in the shop from a clear lacquer base, and a good amount of time is expended demonstrating the process. Alder and ash require different prep treatments, and this is also a feature of the tape. Builders of acoustic guitars shouldn’t feel left out, since the color coats are followed by clear finish, and working with clear is the same, regardless of whether it goes over sealed wood or colored lacquer. The idea was to pack as much information into the allotted time as possible.

The application methods used by the two men differed drastically. The three basic steps of wood finishing are wood prep, finish application, and sanding/buffing. It often baffles beginners to find out that if any step is less important than the others it’s the second, the application. The acquisition of a compressor and a quality spray gun hardly guarantees a good finish, but a talented luthier can do a good job with the unlikeliest gear. To prove it, Erlewine finishes his guitar entirely with aerosols.

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Questions: Violin Tailpiece

Questions: Violin Tailpiece

by Marilyn Wallin

Originally published in American Lutherie #90, 2007



Douglas Edgar from the Internet asks:

I’m an amateur violin maker having some trouble with violins coming unglued near the tailpiece. The saddle, top, and block all seem to be fitted correctly. I’m using granular hide glue with a dash of salt in it.

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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.

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