Posted on June 13, 2024January 22, 2025 by Dale Phillips Quick Cuts: The Making of a Maker Quick Cuts: The Making of a Maker by Tobias Berg Originally published in American Lutherie #87, 2006 (After weeks of intense work Tobias is tuning his first guitar) Tobias: Wow! This is it! This is what I want to do when I grow up! I want to become a guitar maker! Kerstin: Oh, don’t you know that it takes ten years to learn a craft? Tobias: Hmm.... (Tableau) (Curtain) That scene actually took place just ten years ago. I had just built my first guitar in a four-week course under the tutelage of Michael Sandén, and I was overwhelmed with both pride and joy. Michael’s wife at the time, Kerstin, said the above words to me, not in a harsh or unfriendly way, but simply as a matter of fact. Well, she was right. I don’t live in Sweden anymore. The path that I decided to follow took me to Canada, England, the USA, and since 1998 I live and work in Germany. Lutherie is not as “romantic” to me as it was in the beginning. I soon realized that it is really hard work and you need patience, a lot of patience. On the other hand, the personal rewards are also much more plentiful than I was able to dream of in the beginning. Apart from the monetary aspect of course. 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 6, 2024January 16, 2025 by Dale Phillips Questions: French Polish VS Olive Oil Questions: French Polish VS Olive Oil by Gary Southwell and Koen Padding Originally published in American Lutherie #97, 2009 Stuart Mewburn from London, England asks: A recent request for an instrument finished with olive oil prompted me to do an experiment. I took two pieces of European spruce, the same size, oil finished one and French polished the other. I used virgin olive oil, applying one layer a day with a cloth and finished the next morning with Micro-mesh. Over fifteen days it built up a lustrous finish. Over the same time I applied thirty layers of French polish to the second piece of spruce. The oiled spruce (fifteen layers) weighed 2g more than the bare wood. The French polished spruce (thirty layers) weighed 1g more than the bare wood. If these figures are multiplied up to the size of the lower bout it means that the oiled top adds 33.2g to the weight of the working part of the top and the French polish adds 16.2g. When you consider that a bridge weighs about 19g–20g that’s a significant increase in weight for the strings to drive. The experiment begs a couple of questions. Has anyone done similar tests for other guitar finishes? To what extent does the mass of the finish affect the tone of the instrument? And as an aside, how well will a finish like olive oil hold up? 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 6, 2024January 17, 2025 by Dale Phillips Questions: Vihuela Plans Questions: Vihuela Plans by Alexander Batov, Sebastián Núñez, and Verónica Estevez Originally published in American Lutherie #88, 2006 Chris P. from the Internet asks: Can you help me find construction plans for a vihuela? Alexander Batov from the UK replies: Only four instruments can be considered as surviving representatives of the 16th- to early-17th-century vihuela tradition: a rather large, highly decorative instrument in the Jacquemart-André Museum; an anonymous vihuela Inv. No. E 0748 (otherwise known as ‘‘Chambure”) in the Cité de la musique (both in Paris); a vihuela by Belchior Dias, Lisbon 1581 in the Royal College of Music (London); and a relic altarpiece vihuela from the Iglesia de la Compañiz de Jesús de Quito (Equador). Until recently most modern reproductions were flat-back reduced versions of the Jacquemart-André instrument or simply drawn from existing vihuela iconography. Both the ‘‘Chambure” and the Dias vihuelas* have a fluted-rib back construction, where each individual rib is bent simultaneously in two directions — a difficult technique for a first vihuela. However, the construction process can be simplified by substituting a vaulted or flat back. A number of mid-16th- to early-17th-century Iberian sources confirm the existence of vaulted and flat back vihuelas, with the latter seemingly most common and also serving as a trial-piece model in the examination procedure for the beginning violero (vihuela maker). 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 6, 2024January 17, 2025 by Dale Phillips Questions: Bracing Reinforcement Questions: Bracing Reinforcement by Jeffrey R. Elliott Originally published in American Lutherie #91, 2007 François Leonard of Port-Louis, France, asks: I’m guitar maker in France and I’ve been following and reading articles in American Lutherie since many years. I had recently an order for a 10-string guitar and I’m asking myself how much I need to reinforce the design of the bracing. My bracing is not so different from the one Jeffrey Elliott uses and talks about in his AL#56 article “Shaping the Sound.” Jeffrey R. Elliott of Portland, Oregon, responds: My experience is more extensive with 8-string guitars, but I believe the same principles apply. I suggest the following: Select top wood that is more stiff than you would choose for a 6-string, one with all the characteristics you usually look for, but also with a somewhat extended tap-tone range toward the lower pitches. 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 6, 2024January 16, 2025 by Dale Phillips Questions: Guitar Rib Depth Questions: Guitar Rib Depth by R.M. Mottola Originally published in American Lutherie #85, 2006 Mark Korsten of Hastings-on-Hudson, NY asks: The article concerning how the rib depth of guitars should be adjusted when plates are domed was clearly written and illustrated (AL#84). I truly appreciate the insights offered by author R.M. Mottola. Being a neophyte luthier, however, I have what is probably a naive question. How does changing the depth of the guitar’s ribs modify the manner in which the bindings are fitted to the binding ledge? It’s a fairly easy operation to bend the binding when the plates are flat. However, when the depth of the ribs are varied, doesn’t that introduce another plane to the geometry? Do you simply use more flexible, thinner bindings or stronger binding tape to keep things tightly apposed in the ledge? R.M. Mottola responds: Although the doming of the plates means that the side depth of the ribs must be varied so the ribs and plates can be glued, this type of construction has little effect on binding. The ledges can be routed using a router resting on the plate or inverted in a router table. In either case the doming is so slight that the routing can be done just as if the plates were flat. And although the bindings must be bent vertically to accommodate the varying rib depth, the amount is so small as to be inconsequential. ◆
