Posted on August 13, 2021March 5, 2024 by Dale Phillips Activating Hide Glue with Steam Activating Hide Glue with Steam by James Ham Originally published in American Lutherie #102, 2010 A technique of mine that has attracted considerable attention involves the use of fresh hide glue in assembling my basses. Rather than rush to clamp a joint before the glue gels (not an option on a large instrument) or try to work hot glue into a joint with a knife, I coat both surfaces to be joined with glue, and then allow it to dry before clamping. When the pieces are perfectly aligned, I reactivate the glue with a focused blast of steam from a handheld steamer. The idea developed over many years repairing instruments. One of the most common repairs I encountered was that of regluing an open seam. The normal method is to introduce hot water with a thin palette knife and move it around until the glue feels slippery, then add some fresh glue with the knife and clamp it. Sometimes you don’t even have to add fresh glue. New hide glue is perfectly compatible with old. If the seam is open for a long way, you need to put the clamps on before you do this, and loosen just a few at a time so you can get the knife in. 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 August 12, 2021March 5, 2024 by Dale Phillips Bending Sides with Silicone Blankets Bending Sides with Silicone Blankets by Michael Keller from his 1990 GAL Convention workshop Originally published in American Lutherie #25, 1991 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Three, 2004 Althrough I attended the 1977 Guild convention in Tacoma, I exhibited my instruments for the first time at the following year’s convention in Winfield, Kansas. I visited Stuart Mossman’s shop while I was there, and I saw the side-bending mold that he had. It must have cost a fortune. It was about the size of a Volkswagen van standing on end, and it had all sorts of hydraulic pumps and pistons. In a production shop that kind of tooling might make sense, but for a small shop like mine, making twenty to thirty instruments a year and bending wood for repairs, I don’t need that kind of investment. I bent sides for years over a hot pipe I bought at Lewis Music in Vancouver, B.C. I had to work at a regular job and save money for quite a while before I could afford to buy two Overholtzer side-bending molds. A friend of mine had a custom mold made by the Overholtzer company, and it cost $1,000, I believe. That’s a lot of money. I can bend guitar sides with either a hot pipe or a cast mold quickly and accurately, but I am in this to make a living, and if I can save time and money I will do it. That’s why I prefer my new method. By the way, would anybody like to buy two nice Overholtzer molds? 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 August 12, 2021March 5, 2024 by Dale Phillips An Ingenious Epinette An Ingenious Epinette by John Bromka Originally published in American Lutherie #31, 1992 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Three, 2004 While attending a festival of bourdon (drone) instruments in Lissberg, Germany in May of 1991, I saw and heard this ingenious épinette des Vosges, made by Gilles Pequinot, a native of the Vosges region of France. He was interested in hearing about the GAL and very happy to share his design with fellow luthiers through American Lutherie. The traditional soundbox for the épinette is found on this example in the slender, tapered, rectangular box that constitutes the middle portion or upper deck. Gilles has added a fancier and much bigger secondary soundbox underneath the ancestral original soundbox, as seems to be the custom now for the new breed of more cosmopolitan épinette players. It’s rather like what we Americans are doing with hollowed fingerboards on mountain dulcimers, only more so. As you might imagine, the sound of this épinette is hereby amplified to a rich, silvery ringing presence. And it even held its own while Gille’s wife led us through a workshop of dancing bourrées. 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 August 12, 2021March 5, 2024 by Dale Phillips Shortening Schaller Shafts Shortening Schaller Shafts by David Golber Originally published in American Lutherie #33, 1993 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Three, 2004 I’ve been making a Yugoslav folk instrument called prim. It’s something like a small mandolin; the scale is 15 1/4". For tuning machines, I’ve been using Schaller M6 minis, but I’ve been modifying them to solve some problems: the peghead is only 3/8" thick, and the threaded bushings that come with the Schallers don’t tighten down this far; the instrument tends to be too heavy at the head; and I have trouble getting enough string angle over the nut. The photos show what I’ve done to the Schallers. The threaded bushings have been shortened; the metal knobs have been replaced by the proverbial Handsome Pearlescent Plastic; and the shafts have been cut down short and reshaped. 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 August 12, 2021March 5, 2024 by Dale Phillips Some Alternative Lutherie Woods Some Alternative Lutherie Woods by Tom Ribbecke from his 1992 GAL Convention workshop Originally published in American Lutherie #35, 1993 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Three, 2004 My name is Tom Ribbecke and I’m on the staff of Luthiers Mercantile, pretty much the technical guy there. What I’ve brought to this presentation is based on my years of building and repairing guitars along with my four years at Luthiers Mercantile. I’m not a botanist or scientist, no more than any of you are... except for the botanists and scientists who are here. (laughter) I know there are many here as I caught Nick Von Robison’s workshop earlier today. So when I was asked to do this presentation, I thought, what could I do to focus on the alternative woods situation which is pretty much on all our minds these days? I’ve brought woods which have come up in my discussions with customers, things that we sell, and just about anything I could get ahold of on short notice. When I look at materials, and people present them to me, I see things in blocks and 1" thick material and it’s hard to make judgments on what will sound good. Most guitar makers, like myself, like to hold, fondle, mutilate, and bang on the material in dimensions that are appropriate for the guitar. So this is what I’ve brought — woods of many species that could be used or considered for guitar building in appropriate sizes and thicknesses. I’ve brought some things that are commonly available, some not so available, and some which might be considered exotics. Many of these I’ve lacquered — usually with a lacquer gun in one hand and a phone in the other. The lacquer will give you an idea of the color of these materials. 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.
