Posted on July 15, 2025July 15, 2025 by Dale Phillips Meet the Maker: David Rivinus Meet the Maker: David Rivinus by Jonathon Peterson Originally published in American Lutherie #61, 2000 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Six, 2013 David Rivinus is a newcomer to the Pacific Northwest, having recently moved here from Vermont. His lutherie life has taken him from the Midwest, to California, Vermont, and to his current residence in Newberg, Oregon. It has also taken him from building, restoring, and photographing traditional instruments into the laboratory and out to the cutting edge of viola ergonomics, which is where I met him. The following conversation took place at the 1999 Handmade Musical Instrument Exhibit near Portland, Oregon, where he and his innovative work were a welcome addition. What got you into the shop? Was it the music, the woodworking, or just turns of fate? I’ve been interested in both music and woodworking ever since I was a kid. I played violin and viola in school orchestra, and when I went to college I was a music major. I played in the college’s chamber orchestra and did a little conducting. My woodworking actually started with clocks. I was very interested in the gears and the inner workings of clocks, and I did some restorations. My first experience with varnish, for example, was in restoring clock cases. 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 15, 2025July 15, 2025 by Dale Phillips Meet the Maker: Duane Heilman Meet the Maker: Duane Heilman by John Calkin Originally published in American Lutherie #71, 2002 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Six, 2013 Duane Heilman is a quirky luthier. Though he serves his community in the apple-growing country of eastern Washington doing typical repair work in a normal fashion, his creative bent might run off in any direction when he turns his mind to instrument creation. His Spam instruments have been a hit at several GAL Convention auctions. The Spamdolin is a mandolin that uses a Spam can as a body and resonator. The Spamavarius is a violin made in a similar fashion. They are funny, weird, and fully playable instruments that entice fans of the bizarre into the auction room several times a day to sample them. They always sell for surprising amounts of money. I first talked to Duane across the cafeteria lunch table the first day of the 2001 GAL Convention, and after hearing his tale of successfully marketing ukes on eBay, I knew I’d have to get him to repeat it for my tape deck. So here’s Duane, the first luthier I know to leap willingly into the 21st century. 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 15, 2025July 15, 2025 by Dale Phillips The Heretic’s Guide to Alternative Lutherie Woods The Heretic’s Guide to Alternative Lutherie Woods by John Calkin Originally published in American Lutherie #67, 2001 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Six, 2013 Why do we even need alternative wood species for musical instruments? That’s a perfectly valid question, and the answer is that we don’t. Rosewood, mahogany, and maple have served us well for centuries, we know what to expect of them, and our customers have already come to accept them as trustworthy and will pay for them. So why look further? First of all (and speaking from a steel string guitar perspective), let’s discard the notion that some species of wood make good instruments and that others don’t. The concept of tonewood is a hoax. Of the few things we can do to a guitar and still call it a guitar, changing the wood it is made of will have the least impact upon the quality of the sound it produces. The tonal difference between a mahogany guitar and a rosewood guitar is exactly the same as the difference between two mahogany guitars or two rosewood guitars. Can you tell what a guitar is made of while listening to an unfamiliar recording? No one I know claims they can. No one at the blind listening sessions I’ve attended could reliably distinguish between mahogany and rosewood guitars, or maple and koa guitars for that matter. 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 23, 2025June 23, 2025 by Dale Phillips Spring 2025 American Lutherie – Mobile Friendly American Lutherie #154 Spring 2025 Letters and more from our readers Meet Rob Goldberg by Tim Olsen Inlaying Guitar Fretboards with Glass by Rob Goldberg Recreating the Lacôte Pearl Rosette by Simon Burgun Making Mandolins at Gibson by Mark French Installing a Sideport with a Sliding Door by David Freeman Meet C.F. Casey by Newton […] To access this post, you must purchase Guild Membership – United States, 2025, Guild Membership – Canada, 2025, Guild Membership – Outside U.S. and Canada, 2025 Digital Only, Guild Membership – Outside U.S. and Canada, 2025, Guild Membership – United States, 2026-Donation, Guild Membership – Outside U.S. and Canada, 2025 + 2026-Donation or Guild Membership – Outside U.S. and Canada, 2025 Digital Only + 2026-Donation.
Posted on June 23, 2025June 23, 2025 by Dale Phillips Meet the Maker: Rob Goldberg Meet the Maker: Rob Goldberg by Tim Olsen Originally published in American Lutherie #154, 2025 Your website says that you made an electric guitar in high school. That was 1973, still in the Lutherie Dark Ages. The GAL was just getting started. Our newsletters were just a few sheets of paper, and we had […] To access this post, you must purchase Guild Membership – United States, 2025, Guild Membership – Canada, 2025, Guild Membership – Outside U.S. and Canada, 2025 Digital Only, Guild Membership – Outside U.S. and Canada, 2025, Guild Membership – United States, 2026-Donation, Guild Membership – Outside U.S. and Canada, 2025 + 2026-Donation or Guild Membership – Outside U.S. and Canada, 2025 Digital Only + 2026-Donation.
