Posted on January 4, 2010May 20, 2025 by Dale Phillips Review: Violin-Making as It Was, and Is by Ed. Heron-Allen Review: Violin Making as It Was, and Is by Ed. Heron-Allen Reviewed by Kirk A. Janowiak Originally published in American Lutherie #4, 1985 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000 Violin Making as It was, and Is Ed. Heron-Allen Ward Lock Limited Publishers, 1884 Distributed by Sterling Publishing Co., New York, 1984 Out of print (1999) Some years ago, I discovered this title in a catalog for luthiers. I noted that it was first published in 1884, and promptly filed the title away in the back of my mind as one of those “quaint, historical classics” that I might acquire later, after I had purchased all of the more practical books on the craft. Now, having finally acquired the book, I am pleased to say that I was greatly mistaken about the practical value of this book. While it is a “quaint, historical classic,” it is also a comprehensive and valuable treatise on the history, design, and construction of the traditional violin. Heron-Allen submitted this book to fill the void he saw in his time (mid- to late 1800s) regarding the history and construction of the traditional violin. He had originally published much of the material in serial form in the periodical Amateur Work Illustrated (1882–1884). With this work, he corrected, embellished, and further refined his material. He also added a section of history and lore. 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 4, 2010May 20, 2025 by Dale Phillips Review: The Fine Guitar by José Oribe Review: The Fine Guitar by José Oribe Reviewed by C.F. Casey Originally published in American Lutherie #9, 1987 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000 The Fine Guitar José Oribe Mel Bay Music stores or amazon.com, $19.95 First off, let it be said that this is not a “how-to” book; it gives very little specific information on Oribe’s building procedures. To be fair, this was not the book’s intent; as Aaron Shearer says in his foreword, the book deals with “What to think about relative to creating an exceptionally fine guitar” (emphasis Shearer’s). Oribe talks about his years of experience as a luthier, and dwells on the attitudes, theories, and various generalizations that this experience has led him to. Under the headings of materials, soundboard, scale, adhesives, finish, setup, and strings, he conveys a lot of useful...tips isn’t quite the right word; perhaps attitudes. Oribe has a clear, lucid style, all the more surprising when you consider that a lot of what he’s discussing is intangible. 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 4, 2010May 21, 2025 by Dale Phillips Review: The Strad Facsimile — An Illustrated Guide to Violin Making by Edwin John Ward Review: The Strad Facsimile — An Illustrated Guide to Violin Making by Edwin John Ward Reviewed by Frederick Battershell Originally published in American Lutherie #2, 1985 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2001 The Strad Facsimile — An Illustrated Guide to Violin Making Edwin John Ward S.E. Ward, Kaneohe, Hawaii, 1984 Out of print (1999) Reviewing any book can be a formidable task. Reviewing a book about violin construction can be downright hazardous! Consider for a moment the possible dangers: irreversible brain damage from attempting to understand the logic of the author; hearing loss from attempts by the reviewer at duplicating the electronic plate-tuning tricks so beloved of some contemporary makers; and last, but certainly not least, near blindness from trying to read the incredibly small type of some of these books. Fortunately, the work of a book reviewer isn’t always this bad. Every now and then, a book is written that appears to be a serious attempt at communicating basic knowledge about a subject to its reader. The Strad Facsimile — An Illustrated Guide To Violin Making by Edwin John Ward is just such a book. The Strad Facsimile is a straightforward, but somewhat concise attempt at describing exactly how Edwin John Ward goes about constructing a Strad pattern violin. This book does have some limitations. It assumes the reader has a good grasp of basic hand-woodworking skills. It does not provide the reader with any information on comparative methods of violin making. The reader is left to do his/her own research into the alternative schools of violin-making technique. 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 3, 2010May 20, 2025 by Dale Phillips Out of the Basement Out of the Basement by Richard Bingham Originally published in American Lutherie #7, 1986 and The Big Red Book of American Lutherie, Volume 1, 2000 See also, “H.L. Wild” by Paul Wyszkowski “A Scene from Dickens” by Steve Curtin About five years ago, when I was in the middle of my second C.F. Martin guitar “kit,” (thanks to Dick Boak, who saw me through this madness and was very generous in fitting it out), a good friend of mine who moves houses and buildings for a living presented me with one of his “finds.” It was a cardboard carton with variously-sized pieces of wood; bookmatched slabs of spruce and maple, very rough and indifferent looking pieces of ebony, a few sticks of bass wood, and a rather gaudy rosette glued to a piece of tag-board. The materials were noted on a slip of yellow paper printed by a spirit-duplicator and checked off in pencil, and dated May 12, 1964. The label told that the contents were from “H.L. Wild, New York City.” Apparently the “kit” was too much for the party who requested it. 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 3, 2010May 22, 2025 by Dale Phillips Review: Stradivari by Stewart Pollens Review: Stradivari by Stewart Pollens Reviewed by David Gusset Originally published in American Lutherie #103, 2010 Stradivari by Stewart Pollens ISBN: 978-0521873048 Cambridge University Press, 2010 For over 200 years, Antonio Stradivari has been universally regarded as the greatest violin maker who ever lived, yet it is not widely known that he made virtually every kind of bowed and plucked string instrument popular in the Baroque period, including lutes, guitars, mandolins, viols, harps, and bows. And what do we actually know about the man and about his life and times? For a start, Antonio Stradivari (the Latinized form of his name “Antonius Stradiuarius” can be seen on the labels he inserted in his instruments) lived and worked in Cremona, Italy. He was born sometime between 1644 and 1649 and died in 1737 and was the successor to three previous generations of Cremonese violin makers of the Amati family. What do we know about Stradivari’s working methods, about how he designed and built his instruments? Certainly a lot can be learned from studying the more than 600 of his instruments that still exist, although many of us regrettably may never have the experience of studying firsthand his instruments inside and out. Furthermore, almost all of those surviving instruments have been altered in the process of repair and modernization. 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.
