Posted on June 30, 2024May 12, 2025 by Dale Phillips The Great White Sitka The Great White Sitka by Jeffrey R. Elliott Originally published in American Lutherie #32, 1992 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Three, 2004 In February 1992 friend and fellow luthier John Sullivan and I drove from Portland, Oregon to Elma, Washington to pay a hands-on visit to Steve McMinn’s Pacific Rim Tonewoods, Inc. (The business has since relocated in Bellingham, Washington.) We went for the experience. Steve suggested we bring some rugged clothing and a camera. We discovered why when we arrived to the incredible sight of a gigantic Sitka log 26' long by 11' across at the larger end. A great white whale came to mind. The photos tell the story. For the next couple days, my body reminded me I’d had a real workout. But it felt good because it reminded me of what a great time we had and how fortunate we were to have a hand in turning this huge spruce log into top wood. Steve’s whole operation is very well thought out, very organized, and a pleasant place to work. He’s obviously committed to producing high quality instrument woods and nothing is wasted. This experience also gave me an appreciation for how much work goes into producing one top and why “ideal” tops are so rare. ◆ 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 June 30, 2024May 14, 2025 by Dale Phillips Meet the Maker: Bernard Millant Meet the Maker: Bernard Millant by Jonathon Peterson Originally published in American Lutherie #86, 2006 In 1973 I was a dance student at Juilliard, in New York. One of the best parts of going to school there was walking past the practice rooms and hearing some of the finest student musicians in the world at their work. One day I passed a couple of violin students who were inspecting a bow that one of them had recently acquired. I heard the other student gasp, “How much? $2,400?? I can’t believe it! What a deal!” I was living hand-to-mouth, and I was shocked. I knew that fine violins were expensive, but $2,400 in 1973 dollars for a hank of hair and a stick? Then the blinding light of stupidity hit me, and I realized that without a bow there is no violin, no cello, no viola, no orchestra, and none of the musical literature which relies so heavily on those instruments. I have been curious about bow construction ever since. Paul Schuback hosted the 2004 Violin Society of America Meeting and Competition in Portland, Oregon. When he invited me to attend and gave me the opportunity to meet Bernard Millant, an internationally recognized authority in the field of bow making, I jumped at the chance. Mr. Millant was both lecturing and judging, so he was a very busy man during the conference, but he was kind enough to meet with me one evening in his hotel room and tell me a little about his life in the craft. 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 June 30, 2024May 14, 2025 by Dale Phillips Meet the Maker: Dmitry Zhevlakov Meet the Maker: Dmitry Zhevlakov by Federico Sheppard Originally published in American Lutherie #89, 2007 I first became acquainted with the name of Russian luthier Dmitry Zhevlakov when I received an inquiry from a guitar maker looking for veneers to duplicate one of his famous rosettes. After some research, I discovered that Dmitry is well known in some parts of the world, such as Paraguay and Australia. In the Soviet days, Dmitry’s family was extremely limited in who they could do business with, but the Internet has done wonders to increase his contacts. Although I attended medical school in Russia before the iron curtain came down, I don’t really speak Russian. Dmitry and I communicate through a translation program, and sometimes interpreters. And his English is getting better all the time. I was impressed with Dmitry’s guitars as well as his decorative work. I decided to visit his shop in Tula, Russia. And when the guitarist I was traveling with had his guitar damaged by the airline, I found that Dmitry’s skills extended to guitar repair too! 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 June 30, 2024May 14, 2025 by Dale Phillips Aluminum Sonatas: A Brief History of Aluminum Stringed Instruments in the Last 120 Years Aluminum Sonatas: A Brief History of Aluminum Stringed Instruments in the Last 120 Years by James Condino Originally published in American Lutherie #89, 2007 Over the last two decades I have had the fortunate circumstances to be able to spend my winters in the shop building instruments and my summers outside playing in some of the world’s great rivers and mountain ranges. In preparation for my second 300-mile river trip through the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River, we made plans to include a five-piece band. I searched for a 3/4-sized standup bass that would resonate through the halls of Redwall Cavern and yet withstand the carnage of Lava Falls and the river’s other huge rapids. After a lot of searching, I discovered that during the early part of the 20th century, several different manufacturers found fame in pursuit of making incredible string instruments of aluminum, and then faded into obscurity. The Paris world trade show of 1855 unveiled the first public display of a pure aluminum ingot. Within a decade the means to cheaply extract the pure metal by electricity had resulted in wide availability of aluminum and generated great interest in its potential uses. 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 June 30, 2024May 14, 2025 by Dale Phillips Mechanical Compliance for Soundboard Optimization Mechanical Compliance for Soundboard Optimization by David Hurd from his 2006 GAL Convention workshop Originally published in American Lutherie #90, 2007 People say, “You’ve got to make fifty or a hundred guitars before you get it right.” That makes me crazy. I feel that if you can do the carpentry of putting an instrument together and have idea of what it should look like, you can get 80% or 90% of the way there in terms of top optimization with a mechanical compliance approach. I build many sizes of guitars and ukuleles using different top woods. I have developed an easy method of testing the compliance of a top, that is, how far it flexes under a given force, with a simple fixture. Being able to measure and compare the compliance values has proved to be a very useful thing in optimizing these soundboards for the best sound and stability when I graduate the edges of the tops and carve the braces. After building and measuring many instruments, I have developed a mathematical model that does a very good job of estimating what the target compliance measurements should be for a given instrument size and string tension. I have integrated the model into a spreadsheet which you can use by plugging in just a few simple measurements. 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.
