Making Mandolins at Gibson by Mark French Originally published in American Lutherie #154, 2025   I have a weird job. I’m a professor of Engineering Technology at Purdue, where I have become the guitar guy. This wasn’t what I thought I would do when I arrived in 2004, but I am beyond fortunate that this is how it worked out. […]

Installing a Sideport with a Sliding Door by David Freeman Originally published in American Lutherie #154, 2025   This article is about the way I have seen and done sideports and the coverings that allow them to be opened and closed. The methods vary from no covering to fully adjustable closures. The simplest opening is […]

Meet the Maker: C.F. Casey by Newton Drysdale Originally published in American Lutherie #154, 2025   So, Fred: Were you a musician or a builder from the start? No, actually I began relatively late. But right from the early years I seemed to have a feel for sounds and words. For example, when I was about five, I informed […]

Build a Classical Guitar in a Week: Days Three and Four by Robbie O’Brien from his 2017 GAL Convention lecture Originally published in American Lutherie #154, 2025   We’ll start Day Three by gluing on the fretboard, first thing. The fretboard blank is too thick, and I want to get closer to the specs that […]

Magnetic Pickups: Physics, Math, and Electrickery by Veronica Merryfield Originally published in American Lutherie #154, 2025   At the 2014 gAl convention, I gave a talk on magnetic pickups to a packed auditorium where even the standing room was taken. At the end there was a Q&A session. Some attendees may remember that about the third questioner was […]