Posted on July 1, 2024July 9, 2024 by Dale Phillips Letter: Price of Vintage Instruments Letter: Price of Vintage Instruments by Michael Darnton Originally published in American Lutherie #61, 2000 Tim, Regarding Chris Foss’ letter in AL#60: If Chris would evaluate the pricing of antique instruments from an economist’s viewpoint rather than a politician’s (in the sense of wanting the power to regulate who gets how much of what), he would understand it better. He says he “understand[s] increases in value with increases in utility, but absolutely do[se]n’t understand increases in value with ‘collectability’.” In fact, utility has almost nothing to do with pricing. As any economist will probably tell you, pricing is a factor of supply and demand: if there are ninety-one pre-war Martin D-45s and no one on the face of the Earth wants them, they will be very cheap. But since there are only ninety-one, and everyone wants them, they are very expensive. 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 July 1, 2024July 9, 2024 by Dale Phillips Letter: Price of Vintage Instruments Letter: Price of Vintage Instruments by John Calkin Originally published in American Lutherie #61, 2000 Tim, Chris Foss isn’t the only one baffled by the cost of vintage instruments. I’ve wanted to believe right from the start that the vintage scene was a shuck created by a few knowledgeable dealers who spread their gospel from regular columns in the music rags. The truth, no doubt, is that any old thing you can point to is interesting to someone, and that once enough people show an interest that thing becomes collectible and the price shoots up. Some objects are life enhancing, and different people find different objects. Folks who collect old porcelain don’t eat off their collection. Antique chairs may never be allowed to perch a human. There are no doubt instrument collectors who never play their guitars. It’s not a shame, it’s just the way it is. 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 30, 2024September 17, 2024 by Dale Phillips Meet the Maker: Dmitry Zhevlakov Meet the Maker: Dmitry Zhevlakov by Federico Sheppard Originally published in American Lutherie #89, 2007 I first became acquainted with the name of Russian luthier Dmitry Zhevlakov when I received an inquiry from a guitar maker looking for veneers to duplicate one of his famous rosettes. After some research, I discovered that Dmitry is well known in some parts of the world, such as Paraguay and Australia. In the Soviet days, Dmitry’s family was extremely limited in who they could do business with, but the Internet has done wonders to increase his contacts. Although I attended medical school in Russia before the iron curtain came down, I don’t really speak Russian. Dmitry and I communicate through a translation program, and sometimes interpreters. And his English is getting better all the time. I was impressed with Dmitry’s guitars as well as his decorative work. I decided to visit his shop in Tula, Russia. And when the guitarist I was traveling with had his guitar damaged by the airline, I found that Dmitry’s skills extended to guitar repair too! 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 August 1, 2022March 5, 2024 by Dale Phillips Lutherie Binge? Lutherie Binge? by Dake Traphagen Originally published in Guild of American Luthiers Quarterly, 5, #4, 1977 Well somehow I’ve survived my first but not last, European experience, which Tim Olsen dubbed a “Lutherie Binge” in Vol. 5, No. 2. From my perspective, I think the phraseology could be better put as a Life Experience Binge. After all, let’s not limit ourselves to being only luthiers; or at least if we want to view ourselves as being luthiers, let’s expand the term to encompass all other experiences which connect ourselves to our Luthiership. So what about my European Experience? Ten hour jet flight, what a slow method of transportation; Galliards of royalty traversing the English countryside. While resting in the dark forest; was that a Hobbit or maybe an elf? The Mediterranean’s salty, yet beautiful swimming; but where were the troubadour guitarists of Spain: only me expectations? A lot of flamboyant people and machine guns however... Majestic, cultured, the arts of Arts of western conception, if only one wouldn’t be so coined American; such is the way Paris... Oh yes! The ferry’s cooling rushing air and rolling boat with rain, sun, spray, and lovely people enjoying; except for a few green faces, but who knows, maybe they enjoyed being green. 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 August 1, 2022March 5, 2024 by Dale Phillips Review: Guitar; An American Life by Tim Brookes Review: Guitar; An American Life by Tim Brookes Reviewed by Ervin Somogyi Originally published in American Lutherie #87, 2006 Guitar: An American Life Tim Brookes ISBN: 0-8021-1796-1 Grove Press, 352 pp., 2005 I found Tim Brookes’ Guitar: An American Life while browsing in a bookstore in Manhattan. I’d never heard of this book, but it’s one of the most enjoyable and informative reads I’ve ever had about the instrument I’ve built my professional life around. It’s written much in the spirit of Richard Halliburton’s marvelous and magical travel books that I read many years ago and that opened up my young mind’s vistas. It was a pleasant surprise to find that this book is, on the initial level, about a guitar building collaboration between the author and Rick Davis, a fellow luthier with whom I have a friendship. A book about a guitar making project written from the client’s point of view: Wow, what a great idea! 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.
