Posted on June 6, 2024January 16, 2025 by Dale Phillips Letter: Zimmerman Company Made Old 7-String Guitars Letter to the Editor: Zimmerman Company Made Old 7-String Guitars by Gerhard J. Oldiges Originally published in American Lutherie #78, 2004 Tim, I enjoyed reading Fred Casey’s article about the 7-string “Russian Guitar” and would like to add some information about “Jul. Heinr. Zimmermann, RIGA.” Zimmermann is originally a German wholesale company from Leipzig specializing in dealing with Russia and Eastern Europe. A reprint of a pre-1900 catalog (published 1984) mentions offices in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Riga, and London, and shows all kinds of instruments, including harps from Lyon & Healy, orchestra instruments, lots of plucked instruments, and “7-string guitars, Russian tuning” (p. 34). The guitar shown in this chapter is quite exactly the instrument Fred Casey is writing about. I am not sure if Zimmermann had their own production in Leipzig. Paul de Wit’s World Directory of the Musical Instrument Industry from 1925/26 lists Jul. Heinr. Zimmermann as wholesaler and exporter in Leipzig and a Zimmerman factory in Markneukirchen/Saxony (founded 1919). Although the catalog also shows two photographs of a violin workshop and a brass workshop it also might be possible that Zimmermann bought other instruments like guitars from the makers in Saxony. Anyway, I think that Fred Casey’s guitar was not made in Russia. After reading the Zimmermann catalog and knowing the style of guitars made in Saxony around the turn of the century, it seems obvious to me that this guitar was also, like the other 7-string guitar (with a Zimmermann label), made somewhere in Germany (Leipzig or Markneukirchen) and brought to Russia by Jul. Heinr. Zimmermann. ◆
Posted on June 6, 2024January 16, 2025 by Dale Phillips Letter: Catalyzed Polyester Finish Letter: Catalyzed Polyester Finish by Mike Doolin Originally published in American Lutherie #85, 2006 I’ve switched from waterborne finish to catalyzed polyester. Why? Hardness and speed. Poly provides the durability to which most steel-string players are accustomed. It’s basically 100% solids and cures by catalysis instead of evaporation, so it doesn’t shrink over time. I can rub out a finish after five days cure, and a year later it will look just as good. But those qualities come at the price of toxicity and flammability. I now have a commercial spray booth with an explosion-proof room around it, and a supplied-air full-face respirator. With solvents like acetone and MEK and with MEKP as the catalyst, this stuff is not to be trifled with. Besides, it stinks to high heaven until it’s cured. I still recommend waterborne finishes, particularly KTM-9, to small-production and hobbyist luthiers and anyone unwilling or unable to make this kind of investment in finishing equipment. ◆
Posted on June 6, 2024January 17, 2025 by Dale Phillips Questions: Morales Guitar Questions: Morales Guitar by Tatsuo Miyachi Originally published in American Lutherie #93, 2008 Mark Botten from the Internet asks: I have a 12 string acoustic guitar with the brand name Morales. It has a lovely tone and I am trying to find out more about the guitar's heritage. It was made in Japan. The inside marking does not clearly indicate manufacturer. Can you tell me where I can find more info about this guitar? Tatsuo Miyachi from Tokyo, Japan responds: Morales is a brand of Zen-On Music Company Ltd., a large sheet-music publishing company in Japan which also sells a wide range of musical instruments. They still sell steel string guitars under the Morales brand, but I have no idea whether they still manufacture those inexpensive guitars themselves. They also sell Morales guitar strings and picks. 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 6, 2024January 17, 2025 by Dale Phillips Questions: Bass Theorbo Questions: Bass Theorbo by Gregg Miner Originally published in American Lutherie #88, 2006 Roger G. from Woodlands Australia asks: While on holiday in Venice I ran across a busker playing this instrument, which I think is a bass theorbo. I’d like to make one. Are plans available? Any info on dimensions, tuning, construction, or materials would help. And is there music written for this instrument? Gregg Miner of Harpguitars.net replies: What you saw is a fairly common “hybrid” instrument that, strangely, has yet to have a commonly accepted English name. I have an entire page of them in the Hybrids Gallery of Harpguitars.net, and I classify this one as a “theorboed guitar-lute.” Historically, these were most often sold in German catalogs under the name “basslaute” (English: bass lute). This is a confusing term (and inappropriate, in my opinion) as the instrument is neither a true lute, nor a bass version of same. Similarly, the 6-string guitar-lute (our common American term) without the theorbo-style extension for additional bass strings was simply sold as a “lute.” These instruments were meant to generically emulate the appearance of a historical lute or theorbo. They share the lute’s body, but in every other way are like a guitar. In fact, the theorboed guitar-lute is tuned and played exactly like a harp guitar (similarly called a “bass guitar” in Europe). The six fretted strings (originally gut, now nylon) are tuned to standard guitar tuning, and the four to six bass strings (occasionally two, three, or nine) most commonly tuned DCBA[GF] (descending from the neck’s low E). There is also an alternate “re-entrant” tuning. 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 6, 2024January 21, 2025 by Dale Phillips Questions: String Tension Questions: String Tension by Thomas Knatt Originally published in American Lutherie #95, 2008 John C. from the Internet asks: String tension will deform an instrument in an elastic manner so that when the tension is removed, the instrument will return to its original shape. But over time the tension will also deform the instrument permanently, often requiring repair work to make it playable again. Is this permanent deformation proportionally related to the amount of time the instrument is under tension? If the instrument is tuned to pitch only when it is played, will the time it takes to deform to the point of unplayability be lengthened in proportion to the amount of time the instrument is not under string tension? Thomas Knatt from Groton, Massachusetts responds: The short answer is yes, detuning every time would probably lengthen the life of the instrument. But.... Let’s do a thought experiment. Suppose we significantly loosen one side of a drum or banjo head. The drum would sound duller when struck on the side with the low tension. The sound of the banjo, when played, would change as well, although I won’t predict exactly how. Carleen Hutchins says that you don’t want a lumpy system, because it doesn’t behave well. I have done a glitter test on a well-tuned kettle drum, and the glitter jumped a foot off the head at one frequency. If I went one cycle above or below the tuned frequency, it only jumped an inch. I went ±2 cycles and it barely moved. That is a good example of low damping. A system becomes lumpy by adding lumps (weight) or changing the stiffness in sections. 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.
