Posted on June 6, 2024May 22, 2025 by Dale Phillips Letter: Clarification of DVD review in AL#97 Letter: Clarification of DVD review in AL#97 by Ronald Louis Fernández Originally published in American Lutherie #99, 2009 Greetings, I thank Tom Harper for his review of my DVD, French Polishing for Guitarmakers 2.0 in AL#97. I wish to make a few clarifications. My family’s Spanish guitar business in the 1960s never involved Manuel Rodríguez. Rather, we had dealings with Miguel Rodríguez of Cordoba as well as Manuel de la Chica (Granada), Arcángel Fernández, Marcelino Barbero, Felix Manzanero, Hernández y Aguado, Juan Alvarez, and José Ramírez III. My article “Miguel Rodríguez: Some Notes on his Family Tree and Correcting the Historical Record” in AL#68 (Winter 2001) tells about the Miguel Rodríguez family and mentions my dealing with them. In a footnote of that article, I specifically mention the difference between Miguel Rodríguez of Cordoba and Manuel Rodríguez of Madrid. 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, 2024May 23, 2025 by Dale Phillips Questions: Luthier Craig Pederson Questions: Luthier Craig Pederson by Gordon Pritchard Originally published in American Lutherie #96, 2008 Scott Freilich from Santa Fe, New Mexico asks: Have you heard of a guy named Craig Pederson? He built some beautiful acoustics in Santa Fe in the late '80s. Guitar by Craig Pederson. Photo by Scott Freilich. Gordon Pritchard from U.S. Virgin Islands replies: I have a Jazz model by Craig Pederson. The one you have was mine and I sold it to a guy in England. Both guitars were built for and purchased by a terrific guitarist named Steve Katz who now lives in St. Croix, Virgin Islands. Steve is a good friend of mine, and is how I ended up with these guitars. Both were built in the ’80s. From what I can find out, Craig Pederson now teaches school somewhere in New York. ◆ Jazz guitar by Craig Pederson. Both photos by Gordon Pritchard.
Posted on June 6, 2024May 29, 2025 by Dale Phillips Questions: Les Paul Flametop Plans Questions: Les Paul Flametop Plans by Saul Koll Originally published in American Lutherie #70, 2002 David E. Johnson from cyberspace asks: Is it possible to get plans for a 1959–1960 Les Paul Flametop or 1957 Les Paul Custom Black Beauty? Saul Koll of Portland, OR responds: I am aware of plans for a late ’50s Les Paul Custom drawn by Don MacRostie from Stewart MacDonald, part #857 (800-848-2273; www.stewmac.com). I would recommend this to anyone interested in making electric guitars, even for someone who wasn’t particularly interested in making Les Pauls. There are many internal dimensions and construction details that are quite useful. Good luck! ◆
Posted on June 6, 2024May 28, 2025 by Dale Phillips Questions: Workbench Plans Questions: Workbench Plans by Ellis McMullin and Wolodymyr Smishkewych Originally published in American Lutherie #81, 2005 Kevin from cyberspace asks: Where can I find plans for a guitar builder’s workbench? Ellis McMullin of Kent City, Michigan answers: The short answer is that you can use any workbench with the proper jigs and fixtures. I doubt you will find two identical benches unless they are in the same shop. The longer answer: I recommend The Workbench Book by Scott Landis (Taunton Press, 1998; ISBN: 1561582700) as a guide in choosing a workbench style. In Chapter 14, workbenches used by Dan Erlewine, Ervin Somogyi, Mark Stanley, and Richard Schneider are discussed. A general plan of the bench that Richard used is included in the book. The book is a wealth of information and includes four detailed plans of workbenches in the Appendix. Wolodymyr Smishkewych of Bloomington, Indiana adds: In addition to the Landis book, if you have a spare barber’s or dentist’s chair handy, you might take a look at AL#9, “Barber Chair Workbench” by Michael Sanden (also in The Big Red Book of American Lutherie, Volume One, p. 343). In the end, your bench will be a combination of your needs, ideas both yours and others’, and the materials at hand. And your needs will be dictated by what you build, as in my case: what is the best bench height for hurdy-gurdies? Good luck!
Posted on June 6, 2024May 23, 2025 by Dale Phillips Questions: Ossification of Guitar Soundboards Questions: Ossification of Guitar Soundboards by Benz Tschannen Originally published in American Lutherie #93, 2008 see also, Questions: Ossifying Wood by Rick Rubin Benz Tschannen from the Internet asks: Reading the “Secrets of Stradivari” by Sacconi, I wonder if anyone has experimented with using the “ossification” process described in the varnish chapter on a guitar top and with what results. Benz Tschannen from Fallon, NV provides an update to a question he asked in AL#89 about “ossification” of guitar soundboards: I did some experimenting: Two pieces of spruce and two pieces of cedar, ≈2"×4"×.10", washed one each with a solution of sodium silicate, the other with water. Let dry, then coated with two coats of shellac each. After a year the result is inconclusive. Sometimes the silicate pieces seem higher pitched, sometimes the water washed ones do. The big change is in color: the silicate turns the spruce yellow and the cedar a darker brown. I don’t want to find out what it does to the colors of the rosette, so I am abandoning this quest for now. ◆
