Posted on July 8, 2024May 14, 2025 by Dale Phillips Ed Arnold: String-Tie Kind of Guy Ed Arnold: String-Tie Kind of Guy by Nicholas Von Robison Originally published in American Lutherie #7, 1986 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie, Volume One, 2000 Ed Arnold is a crew-cut and string-tie kind of guy. I met him while crewing aboard his son-in-law’s thirty-two foot sloop Iolaire on definitely not a crew- cut and string-tie kind of day. As a storm scudded down on us and I ejected my lunch off to leeward, I watched Ed go forward with the lithe grace of an athlete to hank on the storm jib on that bucking bronco of a foredeck. Ed turned sixty-seven in June. He’s the kind of guy you can picture being at home on a rugged wilderness trail or negotiating a mountain pass on a donkey, and making it look easy. In his sixteen years as an exotic wood importer I’m sure he has ridden a few donkeys and walked a few dusty miles. A one-man operation, he went into Mexico and Central America, selected his trees, oversaw their handling and production, then shipped them home by container. He knows wood in a way that few luthiers ever will, our work beginning with the end result of Ed’s labors. I obtained some answers to things I have pondered over from time to time and even some I haven’t. Anybody know the Mexican name for mahogany? Zopilozontecomacuahitl. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of the Articles Online featured on our website for Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 3 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. MEMBERS: login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on July 8, 2024May 21, 2025 by Dale Phillips de Grassi & Dawgs: Our Hates & Luvs de Grassi & Dawgs: Our Hates & Luvs by David B. Sheppard Originally published in Guild of American Luthiers Quarterly, Volume 9, #3, 1981 I conducted brief interviews with some of the top-notch performers at the 1980 G.A.L. Convention; David Grisman, Mike Marshall, Mark O’Conner, and Alex de Grassi. I asked each of them the same questions: What instruments do you use on stage? As you might expect, this question produced a variety of answers. Alex de Grassi uses three recent instruments; two made by the Guild Guitar Company (a six-string and a twelve-string), and his main guitar made by Ervin Somogyi. The members of the David Grisman Quintet (Grisman, Marshall, and O’Conner) use a number of vintage instruments on stage, most of which are Gibson; F-5 mandolins, H-4 mandola, K-4 mandocello. At the time of the convention Mark O’Conner was using a vintage Martin D-28 guitar, but shortly thereafter he purchased a cutaway flattop guitar from Ervin Somogyi and is now using it most of the time. The Grisman Quintet also uses recent mandolins by Guild member John Monteleone in its performances. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of the Articles Online featured on our website for Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 3 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. MEMBERS: login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on July 8, 2024May 14, 2025 by Dale Phillips Post-Toronto Reflections Post-Toronto Reflections by Jeffrey R. Elliott Originally published in Guild of American Luthiers Quarterly 6, #3, 1978 The Canadian-hosted classic guitar festival “Guitar ’78” has left me with several vivid impressions, some of which I felt might merit hearing through the Guild Quarterly. The range and scope of this event was extensive, and to merely remain with the pace was exhausting. While I had hoped to experience something of several other events also scheduled, I soon discovered that to participate in all the luthiers’ happenings meant to forego nearly every other event on the program. With the scheduled four hours of the guitar makers’ workshop each day, meals, the evening concerts, and precious little sleep, any shop talk or visiting with other luthiers meant overlapping with other classes and events. An expected sacrifice from my “Guitar ’75” experience, but extensive and exhausting nonetheless. Of the 600 or so in attendance perhaps 10% were luthiers: having some 60 luthiers around for 24 hours a day, every day for a week, as well as the scheduled 20 hours of lecture-discussion, rendered me totally susceptible and helpless, and I became absorbed in that unique blend of professional and social camaraderie experienced during both the 1977 G.A.L. convention and the “Guitar ’75” festival. Some fine friendships, and solid professional relationships as well, have had their beginnings at these events. The 1978 G.A.L. Convention/Exhibition and the Carmel Classic Guitar Festival ought to round out this year nicely. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of the Articles Online featured on our website for Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 3 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. MEMBERS: login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on July 7, 2024May 15, 2025 by Dale Phillips Questions: Martin Finish Questions: Martin finish by Walter Carter Originally published in American Lutherie #104, 2010 Kerry Char from Portland, Oregon asks: Exactly what kind of finish were Gibson and Martin using before they switched to nitrocellulose lacquer? How was it applied, and when was the switch. I’m thinking that it was oil varnish similar to violin varnish, because it is resistant to acetone. But if that’s the case, how did Gibson do some of their sunbursts? I know that the earlier ones were rubbed, but later ones from the ’20s and ’30s look sprayed. Walter Carter from Nashville, Tennessee replies: Neither Gibson nor Martin made an across-the-line change from varnish to lacquer. Richard Johnston and Dick Boak note in their recent book, Martin Guitars: A Technical Reference, that Martin finishes were French polish (shellac) until 1918, when they began experimenting with different combinations of varnish and lacquer. Martin first used nitrocellulose lacquer in 1926, and by 1929 it was the standard finish on most Martin guitars. For Gibsons, Stephen Gilchrist offers this information: Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of the Articles Online featured on our website for Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 3 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. MEMBERS: login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on July 7, 2024May 15, 2025 by Dale Phillips Questions: Charango Plans Questions: Charango Plans by C.F. Casey Originally published in American Lutherie #104, 2010 Gerald Mercer from Angels Camp, California asks: I am looking for plans for a South American charango. These are often 10-string, 5-course instruments and made using the shells of armadillos. C.F. Casey from Winnipeg Beach, Canada answers: The website below will get you going on building a charango. The title calls it a ronroco, but it’s the same thing. They even use the two terms interchangeably in the site. http://jlfeijooi.en.eresmas.com/Construccion_de_un_ronroco.htm Here we’re dealing with a charango that’s carved out of solid wood, rather than using an armadillo shell for the bowl. Most charangos I’ve seen lately have been the carved variety, and the last few times I’ve visited my friendly neighborhood wood-pusher, they’ve been fresh out of armadillos. The site is in Spanish, but Google’s translation is no more horrible than such things usually are. In any case, the sketches have the main dimensions, which is the most important thing. ◆
