Posted on

Review: The Manuscript on Violinmaking by Giovanni Antonio

Review: The Manuscript on Violinmaking by Giovanni Antonio Marchi

Reviewed by Don Overstreet

Originally published in American Lutherie #11, 1987 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000



The Manuscript on Violinmaking
Giovanni Antonio Marchi
Arnaldo Forni Editore Bolgna 1786.
1986

Those of us who make instruments, particularly violins, are always hoping that ancient road maps will surface which will guide us along the mysterious paths that lead to the skill to build consistently good sounding and beautiful instruments. Over the centuries there has developed a considerable body of practical and historical information as well as enough “learned lore” to keep even the most hard-boiled luthier confused throughout his or her entire career. There will never be a substitute for excellent training, and all those who have made a serious study of instrument making have a firm foundation. Yet we cling to the belief that there are secrets, known only to a privileged few.

Thus it was that in the winter of 1986 there was published in Bologna, Italy (for the first time), a translation of a two-century old manuscript on violin making by an Italian violin maker named Giovanni Marchi. Not a familiar name, but there he was in 1786 making instruments, repairing “old” ones, and actually having the wherewithal to commit his thoughts on the subject to paper. Could this work conceal information about 18th-century Italian violinmaking that had been lost?

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

Review: Making Guitar 1 by Daniel Fort and Owen Riss

Review: Making Guitar 1 by Daniel Fort and Owen Riss

Reviewed by Lloyd Zsiros

Originally published in American Lutherie #29, 1992 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Three, 2004



Making Guitar 1
Daniel Fort and Owen Riss
Video tape, 60 min. 1990

Building your first acoustic guitar from scratch with no instructor can be a difficult and intimidating task even for an experienced woodworker. We are now lucky enough to have several fine books on the subject, but I was interested to see how well the information could be presented in a video format. Few of us have the luxury of an experienced luthier to guide us along. A video should be the next best thing to being there.

According to the narration, Making Guitar 1 documents the first attempts at guitar making by two individuals; one makes a traditional nylon-string classic and the other a steel-string acoustic. Although most construction steps are covered fairly well, this should not be considered a complete do-it-yourself guide to building either instrument. It would not be practical to present dimensions or plans on a video, so a good text is still going to be required for the first-time builder.

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

Review: Violin Set-Ups and Adjustments by Dan Erlewine and Paul Newson

Review: Violin Set-Ups and Adjustments by Dan Erlewine with Paul Newson

Reviewed by George Manno

Originally published in American Lutherie #11, 1987 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000



Violin Set-Ups and Adjustments
Dan Erlewine with Paul Newson
VHS videotape (90 minutes)
Stewart-MacDonald
$26.95 from Stewart-MacDonald (1999)

Teaching violin repairs from a television set! This first struck me as a most inane idea. My thoughts quickly changed after watching the first five minutes of this tape.

Paul Newson is a fine repairman, and with Dan Erlewine’s commentary, this tape on violin repair and adjustments is a very good shop aid for a young luthier just starting out.

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

Review: Geometry, Proportion, and the Art of Lutherie by Kevin Coates

Review: Geometry, Proportion, and the Art of Lutherie by Kevin Coates

Reviewed by R.E. Bruné

Originally published in American Lutherie #4, 1985 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000



Geometry, Proportion, and the Art of Lutherie
Kevin Coates
Oxford at the Clarendon Press, 1985
Out of print (1999)

I have avoided reviewing books on the subject of lutherie in the past since most of them didn’t really merit reviewing. Books of the how-to type on the subject seem to find their market in spite of poor writing and illustration, lack of scholarship, and/or incompetence on the part of their authors. This book by Kevin Coates deserves mention for its total lack of any of the above shortcomings and really sits in a class by itself in terms of scholarship in lutherie in the English language.

The book is a study of the application of geometry and proportion as understood by the makers of the Renaissance and Baroque Eras to their instruments. While this seems at face value to be a rather elementary endeavor, in fact it requires more than a superficial understanding of the principles of Euclidian geometry and the historical background of their application in the West, especially as they relate to lutherie. Consequently, one is very hard pressed to encounter ideas and writing on the subject in English from other sources, aside from a few articles on lutes and related instruments in the Galpin Society Journal by Friedman Hellwig and perhaps a handful of others.

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

Review: The New Yorker Special by Frederick Cohen

Review: The New Yorker Special by Frederick Cohen

Reviewed by Tim Olsen

Originally published in American Lutherie #9, 1987 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000



The New Yorker Special
Frederick Cohen
Available from Filmakers Library, Inc

This charming little film is a valentine to a guy who deserves one: Jimmy D’Aquisto. Jimmy was my childhood hero, and visiting him in his shop in 1977 only built my admiration and affection for a man that to me is a genuine paradigm for luthiers.

This film is far above the average coverage that luthiers generally get from journalists. You know the type: They breeze in, ask a few irrelevant questions, then write a piece that makes you seem like something between a wacko and a wizard. Frederick Cohen obviously knows something about guitars, as well as being a fine filmmaker. He has succeeded in producing a film which is perfectly suitable and entertaining for the uninitiated, yet one in which the luthier will find many informative gems half-buried.

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.