Posted on August 23, 2019May 23, 2025 by Dale Phillips Intonation in the Real World Intonation in the Real World by Mike Doolin from his 2006 GAL Convention lecture previously published in American Lutherie #92, 2007 Getting guitars to play in tune has been a major topic of interest for many years, both for guitar players and guitar makers, and it has been a major source of frustration as well. During our current “Golden Age of Lutherie” the bar has been raised for standards of craft, playability, and tonal quality, as players have become more sophisticated in their expectations and builders have become better educated and more demanding of their own work. Expectations for accurate intonation have come along with all that: it’s no longer acceptable for a guitar to only play in tune for the first five frets, or in a few keys. Modern players are using the whole neck, exploring extended harmonies, and playing in ensembles with other instruments. They are looking for instruments that play in tune with themselves and with the rest of the musical world. It turns out that guitar intonation is a huge can of worms, because it is really two topics: ▶ What does it mean to be “in tune?” ▶ How do I make a guitar do that? 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 January 12, 2010May 29, 2025 by Dale Phillips Review: Archtop Guitar Master Class Series Part 1: Focusing on Bridges and Tailpieces by Bob Benedetto Review: Archtop Guitar Master Class Series Part 1: Focusing on Bridges and Tailpieces by Bob Benedetto Reviewed by John Calkin Originally published in American Lutherie #64, 2000 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Six, 2013 Video: Archtop Guitar Master Class Series Part 1: Focusing on Bridges and Tailpieces Bob Benedetto, 1999 As a hard-core advocate of video learning, I wish I could give this tape the hearty recommendation I gave to Benedetto’s multi-tape series about archtop construction. I’d like to confess that I’m not a builder of archtops, nor do I intend to become one, so it’s likely that I’m not the best judge of advanced information about the subject. It seems to me, however, that there just isn’t $40 worth of information here. There’s an unwritten rule that a reviewer should never divulge so much that the reader feels justified in not making a purchase, but just for one time I’m going to violate that rule. Here’s the gist of this video: First, the break angle of the strings as they pass over the bridge has nothing to do with the tension of the playing length of the string, nor does the length of the string between the bridge and the tailpiece. Second, the standard Gibson-style adjustable bridge is the appropriate one for the archtop guitar, and any change to its footprint or the adjustment mechanism is bound to have an adverse effect upon the tone and/or volume of the guitar. Third, metal tailpieces by their very nature damage the tone of archtop guitars. Why are these things true? They just are, that’s all. The video isn’t much more specific than that. 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 January 6, 2010May 20, 2025 by Dale Phillips Review: Violin Set-Ups and Adjustments by Dan Erlewine and Paul Newson Review: Violin Set-Ups and Adjustments by Dan Erlewine with Paul Newson Reviewed by George Manno Originally published in American Lutherie #11, 1987 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000 Violin Set-Ups and Adjustments Dan Erlewine with Paul Newson VHS videotape (90 minutes) Stewart-MacDonald $26.95 from Stewart-MacDonald (1999) Teaching violin repairs from a television set! This first struck me as a most inane idea. My thoughts quickly changed after watching the first five minutes of this tape. Paul Newson is a fine repairman, and with Dan Erlewine’s commentary, this tape on violin repair and adjustments is a very good shop aid for a young luthier just starting out. 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.
