Posted on June 13, 2024May 16, 2025 by Dale Phillips Fourth International Puerto Rican Tiple Conference Fourth International Puerto Rican Tiple Conference by C.F. Casey Originally published in American Lutherie #86, 2006 What am I doing here? I’ve never been a speaker at an international conference before! And it’s not in my native language! These thoughts raced through my head on the evening of February 11, 2006, as I sat at a long table in a restaurant in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. Others present were my wife, singer-songwriter Kate Ferris; Tiple Conference founder José “Pepito” Reyes; and two dozen other Tiple Movement officials, conference organizers, speakers, and spouses. It was the pre-conference supper. It all started a year earlier, when American Lutherie editor Tim Olsen asked me to review a couple of books, one of which was in Spanish. As I had spent four years studying music in Mexico and still have a great love for the language, I was delighted. The book was El Tiple Puertorriqueño (see review in AL#81). In the course of writing the review, I needed the answers to a couple of questions and contacted author Pepito Reyes by phone. Thus began a correspondence that led to his inviting me to be a guest speaker at the Conference. 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 June 13, 2024May 15, 2025 by Dale Phillips A Future Fable A Future Fable by Leo Bidne Originally published in Guild of American Luthiers Quarterly, Volume 9, #1, 1981 A bell softly chimed. The girl and her guitar sank back into the practice stool, letting out a sigh. Six hours! I must really be worried about performing tomorrow, she thought. “What’s wrong Sandy?” asked Martin. “Why did you stop? You were doing very well.” “Nothing. Just tired.” She put down her guitar and slid off the stool. Her naked feet made a soft thud on the padded deck. She punched in her room code and ordered up breakfast. What am I doing here, she asked herself. Three boring hours on a smelly, bumpy shuttle cruiser, watching some old flat-screen epic called Star something. A-lock customs, then a transfer bus to this crummy hotel. Even the service buttons stick! She banged her fist on the console. 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 June 13, 2024May 15, 2025 by Dale Phillips Sealing with Shellac and Varnishing Rosewood Sealing with Shellac and Varnishing Rosewood by Neil Hebert Originally published in Guild of American Luthiers Data Sheet #269, 1984 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie, Volume One, 2000 I have been using oil varnish on my instruments for years and have always found the finishing stages to be long and tedious. Still, I find the results of a good rubbed varnish job to be superior to lacquer; it gives the nicest “feel” to the guitar as well as showing the wood to the best advantage. One of the most ticklish problems in my experience is the seal coat of shellac, especially the first coat. The seal coat must be applied evenly in order to maintain consistent color on rosewood. The resins in the wood tend to wash out over the surface, which can result in irregular staining. I have tried three methods for applying this coat: 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 June 13, 2024May 30, 2025 by Dale Phillips Routing Neck Dovetails, Part 2 Routing Neck Dovetails, Part 2 by Roy Woltz Originally published in Guild of American Luthiers Data Sheet #162, 1980 Here is the simplified method of making dovetail neck joints with a router and dovetail bit. First, figure the depth of the guitar body at the heel. Mine are usually 3 3/8", so I make the dovetail 3" long. It will taper about 1/4" to the inch. The female jig is designed to be used with a holding mold attached to a table. The mold must be fastened to form a 90° angle to the table top and to bring the heel surface of the body into such a position that the jig can be extended over it. The body is put in the mod with the soundboard facing out, and is held in working position with the wedges and rubber bands. 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 June 13, 2024May 15, 2025 by Dale Phillips Quick Cuts: The Making of a Maker Quick Cuts: The Making of a Maker by Tobias Berg Originally published in American Lutherie #87, 2006 (After weeks of intense work Tobias is tuning his first guitar) Tobias: Wow! This is it! This is what I want to do when I grow up! I want to become a guitar maker! Kerstin: Oh, don’t you know that it takes ten years to learn a craft? Tobias: Hmm.... (Tableau) (Curtain) That scene actually took place just ten years ago. I had just built my first guitar in a four-week course under the tutelage of Michael Sandén, and I was overwhelmed with both pride and joy. Michael’s wife at the time, Kerstin, said the above words to me, not in a harsh or unfriendly way, but simply as a matter of fact. Well, she was right. I don’t live in Sweden anymore. The path that I decided to follow took me to Canada, England, the USA, and since 1998 I live and work in Germany. Lutherie is not as “romantic” to me as it was in the beginning. I soon realized that it is really hard work and you need patience, a lot of patience. On the other hand, the personal rewards are also much more plentiful than I was able to dream of in the beginning. Apart from the monetary aspect of course. 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.
