Posted on January 10, 2010May 22, 2025 by Dale Phillips Questions: Sadolin Varnish Questions: Sadolin Varnish Originally published in American Lutherie #32, 1992 George Rizsanyi from Greenbank, Ontario responds to Weldon Kirk’s inquiry about a source for Sadolin varnish: There is a Chemcraft Sadolin here in Ontario, Canada in a town called Port Hope. I buy all my lacquer and sealer there: (416) 885-6388.
Posted on January 10, 2010May 16, 2025 by Dale Phillips Product Reviews: Acoustech Dynamic Field Pickup Product Reviews: Acoustech Dynamic Field Pickup by Harry Fleishman Originally published in American Lutherie #29, 1992 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Three, 2004 Acoustech Dynamic Field Pickup Acoustech Orangeburg, NY My first attempt at guitar amplification was an early ’60s DeArmond pickup on my f-hole Gibson acoustic. It attached with little difficulty or damage and sounded great to me at the time. That was 1962 and my expectations were not terribly high. I plugged straight into a portable Wollensak tape recorder and used it as an amp until I got a used Gibson Falcon as a Christmas gift. A few years later, I installed a roundhole DeArmond in my Gibson J-45. Again, it sounded pretty good, all things considered. But all the things I considered didn’t amount to much. What choices did I really have, after all? Those little contact mikes, which stuck on the face of a guitar, weren’t very good; I learned that soon enough. And the good-sounding microphones were expensive, unwieldy, and restricting. Like many guitarists, I wanted the freedom of movement that a pickup could give. When the first piezo transducer came out, I stuck one on and boogied. By that time, however, I was more sophisticated, more discerning, more caught up in the folk boom, and wanting a pickup that sounded like an acoustic guitar, only louder. The first I tried was the Barcus-Berry. Not too bad if you didn’t mind sounding like you were inside a bucket. The similar piezos weren’t much better. The Hot Dot sounded great to me when it came out. Like many technological improvements, its refinements masked its shortcomings for a while. I probably installed a hundred of them while continuing my search for a better sounding, easier installing pickup for myself and the customers I was attracting to my repair and building business. 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 10, 2010May 23, 2025 by Dale Phillips Questions: Lute Strings Questions: Lute Strings by Robert Lundberg Originally published in American Lutherie #39, 1994 Robert Lundberg from Portland, Oregon responds to the oft-asked question, “Where do I get lute strings?” AQUILA String-Makers S.a.s., Via Costantini 16, 36100 Vicenza, Italy. Gut strings and plain nylon. Boston Catlines (Olav Chris Henriksen), 34 Newbury Street, Sommerville, MA 02144 (716-776-8688). Savarez nylon strings, catlines, and plain gut strings. Donna Curry’s Music, 1780 Fort Union Drive, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501. Pyramid and gut strings. E. & O. Mari, Inc., 256 Broadway, Newburgh, NY 12550. La Bella nylon and gut strings. Gamut Musical Strings (Daniel Larson), 26 N. 28th Ave. E., Duluth, MN 55812 (800-723-8011). Makes many types of gut strings. Pyramid Strings, Saiten und Stimmpfeifenfabrik Junger GmbH, P.O. Box 6, 91088 Bubenreuth/Erlangen, Germany. Overspun and plain nylon strings, gut strings, and frets. Savarez, B.P. 4356, 69242 Lyon Cedex 4, France. Sofracob S.A., Zone Industrielle, 38121 Reventin-Vaugris, France. Plain gut strings and frets.
Posted on January 10, 2010May 19, 2025 by Dale Phillips Letter: Koestler’s “The Act of Creation” Letter: Koestler’s “The Act of Creation” by Richard Schneider Originally published in American Lutherie #17, 1989 Tim: In my lecture to the 1978 GAL convention, I made a strong pitch for Arthur Koestler’s 1964 work The Act of Creation as a useful and great book. The Guild ran an interview with me in which I was quoted as recommending it. More than 10 years later, in SIGNAL: Communication Tools for the Information Age, a Whole Earth Catalog, Stewart Brand had the following to say about it: “Koestler takes his notion of bisociation to be the root of humor, discovery, and art. I take it to be one of the roots of learning, subject to applications of method (on yourself or whomever). Koestler is a scientist of some reputation by now. This is the book — on how discovery of every kind really occurs in the mind — that gave him the reputation. His most lasting contribution. Get this book back in print!”
Posted on January 10, 2010May 23, 2025 by Dale Phillips Questions: Weissenborn Guitar Questions: Weissenborn Guitar by Marvin E. Shaw Originally published in American Lutherie #39, 1994 Marvin E. Shaw from Gainesville, Florida responds to Bob May’s inquiry regarding his Weissenborn guitar: Herman W. Weissenborn built koa wood guitars designed for Hawaiian-style playing. He built them from 1916 until his death in 1936. I believe his shop was in Los Angeles, CA. His designs were unique and rather interesting, but apparently were not widely accepted.
