Posted on April 23, 2025April 24, 2025 by Dale Phillips Meet the Maker: Robert Ruck Meet the Maker: Robert Ruck by Jonathon Peterson Originally published in American Lutherie #93, 2008 Robert Ruck was one of the very first members of the Guild, and one of a handful of luthiers who attended our first convention in 1974. His passion for the music and culture of the guitar, his respect for its history, his hard work and dedication, and his prolific output have put him at the very top of his craft. I met him at our 1992 convention in South Dakota, where he spoke in detail about his building methods at that time (see AL#42 and BRBAL4). Fourteen years later, during the 2006 GAL Convention, we sat down over dinner and had this talk. Before we get to guitar making, I want to find out what influences first turned you to the light side, the creative side. As far as being exposed to anything artistic, my dad had a major influence in my life for sure. 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 April 23, 2025April 24, 2025 by Dale Phillips Bog’s Way Bog’s Way An In-Depth Hands-On Review of John Bogdanovich’s Making a Concert Classical Guitar DVD Set by Tom Harper Originally published in American Lutherie #113, 2013 Almost all of my classical guitars built over the last decade have used Jeff Elliott’s open transverse brace design and been built with methods learned mostly from classes taught by Charles Fox. I’ve been very pleased with the results and work flow, but have been toying with the idea of temporarily leaving my lutherie comfort zone. John Bogdanovich’s ten-DVD set Making a Concert Classical Guitar looked like it could provide the change I was looking for. The introduction says the course is for experienced woodworkers, but I feel that anyone comfortable using the required tools and looking for an in-depth project will also enjoy it. Bogdanovich uses a broad repertoire of skills — lamination, bending with heat, carving, inlay, tool making, and more. Who would not benefit from experimenting with such a diverse set of activities? 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 April 23, 2025April 24, 2025 by Dale Phillips A Luthier’s Choices A Luthier’s Choices by Kenny Hill from his 2004 GAL Convention lecture Originally published in American Lutherie #87, 2006 Guitar building, for me, began as a way of understanding the instrument more completely. Maybe it’s like raising your own food in order to understand where food comes from. I attended the 1977 GAL Convention and brought my fifth guitar to display. In those days I thought that I could probably invent the guitar and just discover it, all new, all fresh, all mine. It took many years for me to start over — to just start over from the beginning and to learn what our predecessors have done, and to learn the variety of different ways there are to produce a good instrument. The pursuit of anything is a series of decisions that come at forks in the road. It’s not just about how you do something, it’s about where it takes you. And it’s about what it does to your life and how it channels you into participating in your own life and the lives of the people around you. 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 April 23, 2025April 24, 2025 by Dale Phillips Meet the Maker: Kenny Hill Meet the Maker: Kenny Hill by Cyndy Burton Originally published in American Lutherie #90, 2007 I Spoke to the many-faceted Kenny Hill at the 2006 GAL Convention in Tacoma. The previous evening he played Bach’s Toccata, Adagio, and Fugue in C on the magnificent Fritts organ in Lagerquist Hall to a very appreciative audience. How was it that you decided to treat us to a demonstration on the organ? What an opportunity! I’ve played since I was about ten. My dad taught me and I did a little child-prodigy year, when I was ten or eleven years old. On a church organ? Yeah; in a Baptist church. My dad was real involved in church, and he made us be real involved for our growing-up time. But it wasn’t until college that I got excited about pipe organ. I had learned guitar and played Dylan songs and other stuff. But then I heard the pipe organ and the music of Bach. I thought, “I can really understand that. I can relate to that.” It led to a tremendous amount of work, but I figured that’s what you had to do. 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 April 23, 2025April 24, 2025 by Dale Phillips Jim Norris’ Lattice Bracing Jim Norris’ Lattice Bracing by Brent Benfield Originally published in American Lutherie #89, 2007 The last time I saw my friend Jim Norris was on March 4, 2000. He had called to tell me to come get some more of his wood if I wanted, because the doctors had told him that his cancer was definitely terminal. I got more than I could afford that day, so he told me to send the remainder when I could. When I sent a letter soon after that, Mary called to say that Jim had passed away two weeks after I’d been there. Mary and I talked a while. She told me a great story that I think is appropriate to share. Jim was a longtime friend of the classical guitarist John Williams. Soon after John Williams began using a Smallman guitar, Jim and Mary attended a concert, and afterward they all went out to eat. Jim asked John about the new guitar. John hauled this high-dollar instrument out of the case and handed it to Jim. He began telling all about it, how it had a very thin top reinforced with this space-age fiber... he thought it was Kevlar. Well, John called up a few weeks later saying he’d been wrong. It wasn’t Kevlar, but carbon fiber. In the meantime, Jim had found and bought several spools of Kevlar. Mary said he joked that if anyone wanted to build a bulletproof guitar, he knew where they could buy some Kevlar. 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.
