Posted on July 15, 2025July 15, 2025 by Dale Phillips The Heretic’s Guide to Alternative Lutherie Woods The Heretic’s Guide to Alternative Lutherie Woods by John Calkin Originally published in American Lutherie #67, 2001 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Six, 2013 Why do we even need alternative wood species for musical instruments? That’s a perfectly valid question, and the answer is that we don’t. Rosewood, mahogany, and maple have served us well for centuries, we know what to expect of them, and our customers have already come to accept them as trustworthy and will pay for them. So why look further? First of all (and speaking from a steel string guitar perspective), let’s discard the notion that some species of wood make good instruments and that others don’t. The concept of tonewood is a hoax. Of the few things we can do to a guitar and still call it a guitar, changing the wood it is made of will have the least impact upon the quality of the sound it produces. The tonal difference between a mahogany guitar and a rosewood guitar is exactly the same as the difference between two mahogany guitars or two rosewood guitars. Can you tell what a guitar is made of while listening to an unfamiliar recording? No one I know claims they can. No one at the blind listening sessions I’ve attended could reliably distinguish between mahogany and rosewood guitars, or maple and koa guitars for that matter. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of the Articles Online featured on our website for Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 3 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. MEMBERS: login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on June 23, 2025June 23, 2025 by Dale Phillips Spring 2025 American Lutherie – Mobile Friendly American Lutherie #154 Spring 2025 Letters and more from our readers Meet Rob Goldberg by Tim Olsen Inlaying Guitar Fretboards with Glass by Rob Goldberg Recreating the Lacôte Pearl Rosette by Simon Burgun Making Mandolins at Gibson by Mark French Installing a Sideport with a Sliding Door by David Freeman Meet C.F. Casey by Newton […] To access this post, you must purchase Guild Membership – United States, 2025, Guild Membership – Canada, 2025, Guild Membership – Outside U.S. and Canada, 2025 Digital Only, Guild Membership – Outside U.S. and Canada, 2025, Guild Membership – United States, 2026-Donation, Guild Membership – Outside U.S. and Canada, 2025 + 2026-Donation or Guild Membership – Outside U.S. and Canada, 2025 Digital Only + 2026-Donation.
Posted on June 23, 2025June 23, 2025 by Dale Phillips Meet the Maker: Rob Goldberg Meet the Maker: Rob Goldberg by Tim Olsen Originally published in American Lutherie #154, 2025 Your website says that you made an electric guitar in high school. That was 1973, still in the Lutherie Dark Ages. The GAL was just getting started. Our newsletters were just a few sheets of paper, and we had […] To access this post, you must purchase Guild Membership – United States, 2025, Guild Membership – Canada, 2025, Guild Membership – Outside U.S. and Canada, 2025 Digital Only, Guild Membership – Outside U.S. and Canada, 2025, Guild Membership – United States, 2026-Donation, Guild Membership – Outside U.S. and Canada, 2025 + 2026-Donation or Guild Membership – Outside U.S. and Canada, 2025 Digital Only + 2026-Donation.
Posted on June 23, 2025June 23, 2025 by Dale Phillips Inlaying Guitar Fretboards with Glass Inlaying Guitar Fretboards with Glass by Rob Goldberg Originally published in American Lutherie #154, 2025 Using glass as an inlay material has opened up a world of possibilities for me. I now have a full color palette that I can use to create “paintings” on my instruments. Glass has its challenges, though, which I will describe. As […] To access this post, you must purchase Guild Membership – United States, 2025, Guild Membership – Canada, 2025, Guild Membership – Outside U.S. and Canada, 2025 Digital Only, Guild Membership – Outside U.S. and Canada, 2025, Guild Membership – United States, 2026-Donation, Guild Membership – Outside U.S. and Canada, 2025 + 2026-Donation or Guild Membership – Outside U.S. and Canada, 2025 Digital Only + 2026-Donation.
Posted on June 23, 2025June 23, 2025 by Dale Phillips Recreating the Lacôte Pearl Rosette Recreating the Lacôte Pearl Rosette by Simon Burgun Originally published in American Lutherie #154, 2025 In my workshop, I specialize in replicas of Romantic guitars along with the restoration of 19th-century instruments. A guitar by René Lacôte, dated 1839 (Photo 1), came through my workshop for a minor checkup a few years ago, and I had the […] To access this post, you must purchase Guild Membership – United States, 2025, Guild Membership – Canada, 2025, Guild Membership – Outside U.S. and Canada, 2025 Digital Only, Guild Membership – Outside U.S. and Canada, 2025, Guild Membership – United States, 2026-Donation, Guild Membership – Outside U.S. and Canada, 2025 + 2026-Donation or Guild Membership – Outside U.S. and Canada, 2025 Digital Only + 2026-Donation.
