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 Meet the Maker: James Ham Meet the Maker: James Ham by Roger Alan Skipper Originally published in American Lutherie #102, 2010 Professional luthier James Ham operates from a shop in Victoria, British Columbia. Though he continues to repair and restore violin-family instruments and bows, he is perhaps best known for his construction of world-class double basses. Mr. Ham is a board member of the Catgut Acoustical Society and a founder of the VSA Festival of Innovation. His time and talents are in great demand, but he graciously found the time to respond to yet another inquiring writer. You’ve been involved with lutherie for a long time, and you’ve achieved some real success. Your name appears often in the upper echelons of the double bass and cello worlds, where you’re widely known as a superb craftsman and a remarkable innovator. Tell me a bit about how you started. 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 March 4, 2022May 8, 2025 by Dale Phillips The Piccolo Bass The Piccolo Bass by Frederick C. Lyman, Jr. Originally published in Guild of American Luthiers Quarterly, Volume 8 ,#1, 1980 In the last ten or fifteen years there has been a virtual explosion of interest in the string bass. Many bassists now use their instruments in ways that were hardly thought of just a few years ago. Especially, solo playing employing the extreme upper register of the bass is a prominent technique among soloists in the classical and jazz fields. Modern string technology permits a brilliance, solidity, and assurance of sound in this register that was hard to obtain previously. Electronic means of recording and amplification have brought the sounds closer to the consciousness of a large audience. Most existing basses, build in other eras for other not necessarily good( reasons, are not much help to the skilled and ambitious player of today. They are hard to play and hard to hear, except in the limited roles they were designed to fulfill. This situation suggested a new instrument which would fill the large gap between the bass and the ‘cello’ and which could be used in the melodic register but with the tonal density of the bass rather than the thinner sound of the ‘cello. I think many people had this idea, and of course we know of Mr. Hutchins’ work which approached the problem from a scientific direction. However, I had never seen a small bass that had the musical properties which were needed. 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 May 6, 2021May 16, 2025 by Dale Phillips Space Bass Space Bass by David Riggs Originally published in American Lutherie #28, 1991 We have all benefited from advances in technology resulting from the exploration of space. Brave Americans, along with those of other nations, have risked their lives to study the effects of weightlessness in the fields of metallurgy, botany, and others of interest to luthiers. It has, therefore, become my mission to pursue a role in which I may participate directly in this arena of endeavor. One fascinating experiment is conspicuously lacking; the advantages of its execution in a weightless environment are so obvious it is astounding that nobody has yet done it. Yes, you know what I’m thinking — I want to build a bass in space! They’ve sent teachers, congressmen, and the towel boy from the Y-Not Bath House. They’ve probably even sent lawyers. But have you seen one newspaper headline that read, “Luthier Loops Into Lunar Orbit”? Well, I aim for you to see that little number splash down in your bird bath one of these bright mornings. 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 March 5, 2020May 14, 2025 by Dale Phillips Building a Plywood Bass Building a Plywood Bass by Richard Ennis Originally published in American Lutherie #3, 1985 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000 see also, In Praise of the Plywood Bass by Frederick C. Lyman, Jr. Here is the basic design of one of the more unusual instruments I build in my workshop. This plywood three-quarter double bass of approximately 90 liters is built to a design that increases durability and ease of transport with reduced cost and maintenance. It has proved to be very popular with musicians and attracts the attention of nonmusicians as well. The demand for an instrument such as this is widespread. Quality double basses are scarce and very expensive, and certainly beyond the reach of beginners, schools, part-time bands, and those musicians who might take it up as a second instrument. An instrument of this design can be easily purchased and cared for and makes an ideal community instrument. 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.
