Posted on March 3, 2026March 3, 2026 by Dale Phillips Selecting Guitar Wood Based on Material Properties, Part Two Selecting Guitar Wood Based on Material Properties, Part Two by Trevor Gore Originally published in American Lutherie #119, 2014 see also, Selecting Guitar Wood Based on Material Properties, Part One by Trevor Gore Braces in a guitar serve two main purposes: to limit the soundboard’s deflection due to the bending moment applied by the static string loads, and to control how the soundboard subdivides into separate vibrating areas. How the second matter is handled is arbitrary, depending on the acoustical preferences of the builder, but the first matter is nonnegotiable if the instrument is to survive the applied string loads. So our concern here is principally with the first matter. Spruce has been the wood of choice for guitar braces for over a hundred years and a relatively simple analysis will demonstrate why this is the case. To illustrate the point, a possible alternative wood, in this case western red cedar, has been chosen for comparative purposes. The significant material properties are tabulated below (Table 1), these values being for specific samples that I tested. 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. For details, visit the membership page. MEMBERS: login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on February 20, 2026February 20, 2026 by Dale Phillips Torres Guitar Restoration Torres Guitar Restoration by R.E. Bruné Originally published in American Lutherie #33, 1993 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie, Volume Three, 2004 In March of 1986 I received in my workshop an 11-string guitar by Antonio Torres made in Almeria in 1884, and numbered #71. This instrument being perhaps unique in the world today for Torres’ work, it was imperative that it be adequately documented and ideally, restored as close as possible to original playing condition. The owner was quite anxious to pursue this course also, with the ultimate goal of selling it on the open market. Surviving guitars by Torres are quite rare, being limited to fewer than seventy known instruments, and this example is perhaps the only 11-string example remaining, although Prat alludes to two others in his Diccionario under the listing for Torres. It is not clear whether he is referring to the same instrument owned by several different people or different instruments owned by different people. Although Torres numbered his instruments made from 1880 until he died in 1892, apparently there is no surviving record of the details of each instrument nor who the original owners were. (Editor’s Note: After this article was written, José Romanillos published his excellent book, Antonio de Torres, Guitar Maker — His Life and Work. In it he presents photos, drawings, and descriptions of another surviving Torres 11-string, #83. Author Bruné urges all to acquire and study this book.) 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 February 20, 2026February 20, 2026 by Dale Phillips An Interview with Richard Schneider An Interview with Richard Schneider by Michael Keller Originally published in Guild of American Luthiers Quarterly, Volume 6, #4, 1978 During the recent Guild of American Luthiers Convention in Winfield, Kansas, I had the pleasure of a brief interview with the renowned luthier, Maestro Richard Schneider, known for his development of the radically innovative Kasha Design soundboard guitar. He delivered several mind-blowing lectures and demonstrations on the physics-based theories behind the guitars. The original concepts for the new system of building was developed by Dr. Michael Kasha, Director of the Institute of Molecular Biophysics at Florida State University. Working together over the last eleven years, they have brought the guitar to a new level of development no seen in the world since Torres introduces his new bracing pattern over a hundred years ago. Having apprenticed to one of Mexico’s most famous luthiers, Maestro Juan Pimentel, Mr. Schneider now makes Kalamazoo, Michigan his home, where he is employed as a consultant to Norlin Music Inc., Gibson’s Parent Company. Those who were able to attend the beautiful concert by the extremely talented artist, Jeffery Van, performing on two Schneider long model concert guitars with Kasha soundboard and bridges. I would like to ask the question concerning the Kasha design that most guitar makers who are interested would ask. How does someone obtain information and drawings so they can try building such guitars? There are several sources that I can think of that explain the concepts and have a soundboard drawing. The first I would recommend would be Britannica Yearbook of Science and the Future, 1974: ADVENTURES IN THE PHYSICS OF STRING INSTRUMENTS - From Model Physics to Modern Instrument, by Michael Kasha. That article conveys the principles very clearly. For available blueprints, the best source would be the Builder’s Manual, Guitar Edition, Copyright 1972 by Michael Kasha. Unfortunately, this is no longer available, and even more unfortunate, many people who sent for them didn’t receive them due to contract commitments with a large corporation. However, some were mailed out and several members of the G.A.L. do have copies. It’s just a matter of sharing, I suppose. There is also another article available in SCIENCE NEWS, Vol. 98, 180, August 29, 1970, by Alan Perlmeter which describes some of the theories and has a soundboard pictured. 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 February 19, 2026February 19, 2026 by Dale Phillips Restoration of a Michelot Late Baroque Guitar Restoration of a Michelot Late Baroque Guitar by D. and F. Sinier de Ridder Originally published in American Lutherie #101, 2010 For a majority of players, the big change brought about by the development of the 6-string guitar did not mean a sudden replacement of their 5-course guitars with the new instruments. Guitar makers did not suddenly make a fortune building 6-string guitars to answer an explosive demand for this novelty, even if it quickly raised a lot of interest all over Europe. The transition, for many years, was manifested in a cautious modification of the old instruments. Seventeenth-century Baroque guitars were still in circulation. They were richly adorned, made of expensive and noble materials — real pieces of art — and musicians accustomed to the sound of their favorite instruments were not ready to switch for the unknown. Even those with simpler “only wood” Baroque guitars could be frightened by the new playing problems, new tessitura (the vocal range of the instrument), larger necks, fixed frets, and such. As a result, many went to their luthiers asking for a modification to their beloved existing guitar. It seemed to many that it was a wise and cheap solution. Recall that at this time labor was less expensive than materials. Facing that kind of request, luthiers transformed the Baroque instruments, modifying the heads, the neck widths, and even making more profound changes dealing sometimes with soundboards and bracings. To give a single example, we have seen a nice 5-course Lambert, modified by Lacôte who equipped her with his bracing system and his modern pegs, and a blocking mechanism he had used for some time. 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 February 1, 2026April 1, 2026 by Dale Phillips It Worked for Me: Radiused Dishes It Worked for Me: Radiused Dishes by John Calkin Originally published in American Lutherie #113, 2013 Sometimes the simplest changes in the shop make a big difference in the pleasure of working. For the moment, I’ve switched to instruments somewhat smaller than guitars. The first step was to cut down my radiused dishes from 24˝ diameter to 14˝. This was done in order to reach the interior of the dishes, which I use as workboards, with cam clamps. This requires raising the dish enough to get the clamps under it, and for this I used to grab whatever wooden blocks were lying around. Said blocks always got in the way of the clamps. Most luthiers never go through this because they use a go-bar deck. I’ve built three different go-bar decks and quickly tore them down — I just don’t enjoy using them. At this point readers are probably thinking, “Why not put little legs under the dish?” D’oh! It took me years to come up with that thought. T-nuts were sunk into the bottom of the dish, legs were cut from a hefty dowel, and all-thread rod was cut into short lengths and glued into holes drilled in the ends of the dowels. The legs provide enough room for the clamp jaws, plus a skosh. Photo by John Calkin. Life is better now. The legs can still get in the way of the clamps, but life was never meant to be perfect, and it may be some time before I learn how to levitate work off my bench. It only takes seconds to remove the legs when I want to spin the dish as a sanding board. ◆
