Posted on June 13, 2024May 14, 2025 by Dale Phillips Dulcimers as a Business (or Running Dogs, Part 2) Dulcimers as a Business (or Running Dogs, Part 2) from his 1975 GAL Convention lecture by J.R. Beall Originally published in Guild of American Luthiers Newsletter, Volume 3 #4, 1975 I believe that a luthier ought to be able to make a living at what he does, if at all possible. I build dulcimers in the summertime starting (depending on how I feel after Christmas) February, maybe March. Every year I design and put out a new model, and that’s purely to alleviate the boredom, with also an eye toward improving the breed a little bit. It will last up until fall, maybe September, October by the time I finish building dulcimers, and by that time I’m ready to finish building dulcimers. Then I go on to building other things. Folk Philosophy I think to me at least, it seems the important thing about an instrument is that it plays and sounds well. If one spends too much time in decoration, you get into a financial situation where you can’t afford to sell it for the amount of time you’ve got into it. And again, this is my basic philosophy: To build things and build them well, and yet build them fast enough that you can make a pretty good living doing it. Now, there are probably some other people who’ve built dulcimers fairly rapidly. But frequently you can see signs of that in the inferior quality of the product. 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 June 13, 2024May 15, 2025 by Dale Phillips Kiaat and Tambotie Kiaat and Tambotie by Ron Bushman Originally published in American Lutherie #90, 2007 During a trip to South Africa in 2002, I was fortunate to spend some time with Rodney Stedall, president of the Guild of South African Luthiers. Rodney gave generously of his time and took me to a local lumber dealer where we climbed atop huge stacks of indigenous woods. I selected several planks of kiaat and tambotie which he helped me prepare to carry back to California. 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 13, 2024May 15, 2025 by Dale Phillips Kiaat Kiaat by Rodney Stedall Originally published in American Lutherie #90, 2007 Kiaat (Pterocarpus angiolensisis) is found in south-central Africa. It is from the same family as padauk (Pterocarpus soyauxii) which is known to be a good tonewood with sound properties somewhere between Brazilian and Indian rosewood according to the LMI catalog. It does not have as intense a red coloring as padauk but varies in color from a pale uniform brown to having irregular reddish/orange streaks and occasional flame. It has a fairly large percentage of oatmeal-colored sapwood of an inferior quality. This is generally eliminated when building guitars. Grain can be quite variable, from wavy to straight. It has excellent drying properties and dry weight is about 640KG/M3. Its strength is generally about 30% lower than padauk. It cuts, sands, and bends easily. It is moderately porous and takes any finish or polish well. Kiaat is freely available in lumberyards in South Africa but it is very seldom quartersawn and of the necessary guitar back dimensions as is required for guitar making. Luthiers spend hours searching through piles of wood stock to find suitable size, grain, and cut. The sap of the kiaat tree has cultural and medicinal significance. The red sap is mixed with fat and used as red face paint in tribal rituals. It has been believed to have magical healing powers especially concerning blood disorders as well as other medicinal uses. ◆ Seeking lutherie wood in southern Africa. Camel thorn trees in Botswana. Both photos courtesy of Mervyn Davis. Crossing the Zambezi River.
Posted on June 13, 2024May 15, 2025 by Dale Phillips Quick Cuts: The “Wintonbeast” 7-String Lap Steel Guitar Quick Cuts: The “Wintonbeast” 7-String Lap Steel Guitar by David Worthy Originally published in American Lutherie #87, 2006 I don't know how the more unusual projects get off the ground for most people, but I vaguely remember a campfire beside the Guinness tent at the Fairbridge Folk Festival (about an hour’s drive south of Perth in Western Australia), and the usual guitar-head beer-talk that naturally ensues. Somehow eighteen months later I sent Andrew Winton a drawing with (almost) every silly idea I could think of for him to consider — and to my surprise he said, “Yeah, looks great!” So I built it. Andrew lives in Perth. I live in Melbourne, 2500 miles away. The brief proposed seven strings, the word “orchestral” was in there, and “piano,” and, of course, “lap steel.” Andrew’s final preferred tuning was A a E a e a´ b´. String gauges run (low to high) .082", .045", .056", .045", .032", .017", and .017". The first six strings have a 27" scale; the 7th has a 36" scale. The top is western red cedar; the back and sides are Australian blackwood, as is the neck. It is bound in curly maple, and all the black is ebony. It was built in the Spanish style and required a few little inventions on the way. 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 June 13, 2024May 16, 2025 by Dale Phillips Fourth International Puerto Rican Tiple Conference Fourth International Puerto Rican Tiple Conference by C.F. Casey Originally published in American Lutherie #86, 2006 What am I doing here? I’ve never been a speaker at an international conference before! And it’s not in my native language! These thoughts raced through my head on the evening of February 11, 2006, as I sat at a long table in a restaurant in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. Others present were my wife, singer-songwriter Kate Ferris; Tiple Conference founder José “Pepito” Reyes; and two dozen other Tiple Movement officials, conference organizers, speakers, and spouses. It was the pre-conference supper. It all started a year earlier, when American Lutherie editor Tim Olsen asked me to review a couple of books, one of which was in Spanish. As I had spent four years studying music in Mexico and still have a great love for the language, I was delighted. The book was El Tiple Puertorriqueño (see review in AL#81). In the course of writing the review, I needed the answers to a couple of questions and contacted author Pepito Reyes by phone. Thus began a correspondence that led to his inviting me to be a guest speaker at the Conference. 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.
