Posted on June 13, 2024May 14, 2025 by Dale Phillips Blackshear/Nagyvary Guitar Blackshear/Nagyvary Guitar by John E. Philpott Originally published in Guild of American Luthiers Quarterly Volume 12, #2, 1984 Anybody that has heard a guitar built by Thomas Blackshear is already aware that he builds world-class instruments, but this time it was something special. I was asked to be the Master of Ceremonies at a concert that would introduce to the world a guitar built by Tom, in collaboration with Dr. Joseph Nagyvary, a biochemist who had recently gained a great deal of attention by claiming, then demonstrating, that he had rediscovered the processes of the Cremona Masters. This, I was told, would be a Stradivarius guitar! Naturally, I approached the matter with a mixture of enthusiasm and hardboiled scientific skepticism. My introduction to the guitar was over the telephone (yet!) and I was already quite impressed. A subsequent call from guitarist Terry Muska who told me that we would not be needing a microphone at the concert whetted my appetite further, and when I heard a preview of the instrument, all of my reservations were gone. The story really began about a year ago when biochemist, Joseph Nagyvary (Professor of biochemistry and biophysics, Texas A&M University) discovered that the wood from the Stradivari and Guarnari instruments was remarkably different from that of the more modern instruments, in that the tubes that comprise wood (xylem) were not plugged with dried pectin. Furthermore, the chemical composition of the open-tubed Cremona instruments was very different, and that the wood was much stiffer and less elastic than more modern instruments that have been built in the last 350 years. 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 13, 2024May 14, 2025 by Dale Phillips Guitar Evaluation at Carmel Guitar Evaluation at Carmel by David Russell Young Originally published in Guild of American Luthiers Quarterly 6, #2, 1978 The success of violin competitions, like the Southern California Association of Violin Makers’ annual event in L.A. at the Musicians’ Union Hall (well over 100 entries) has led me to promote something to the many serious musicians who attend the Carmel Festival, and as impartial as possible with many instruments being compared together, thus providing a good basis for determining the string and weak points of each individual instrument. Long-term benefits would include forging a stronger link between builders and players, and pointing the directions in which the technology needs development. (For example, how much of a premium do professionals put on sheer power for playing in large halls, and how much sacrifice of complexity or warmth would be accepted for the sake of a very loud instrument?) 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 13, 2024May 15, 2025 by Dale Phillips An Interview with Guitarist George Sakellariou An Interview with Guitarist George Sakellariou by David B. Fisher Originally published in Guild of American Luthiers Quarterly, Volume 9, #1, 1981 This issue’s interview, George Sakellariou, brings an uncommonly alive and musical warmth to his performance. He began to show interest in music at the age of four and by six was playing popular and folk music on the guitar. Later he took up classical guitar and at eighteen he graduated with Highest Honors from the Athens Conservatory. In 1964 he took part in the Segovia Master Classes at Berkeley and in the same year began teaching at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Since then he has been teaching and performing throughout the U.S.A., Canada and South America. He currently resides in San Rafael, California, with his wife and four children. When did you first go to a luthier and say “Make me a guitar”? I was very young, a teenager. I went to the Panaghis Brothers in Athens, and got a nice spruce top instrument. It is on loan to a dear friend. I love it when I get the opportunity to play it, usually three or four times a year. 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 13, 2024May 14, 2025 by Dale Phillips Carmel 1978: What it Was Carmel 1978: What it Was by David Russell Young Originally published in Guild of American Luthiers Quarterly, Volume 7, #1, 1979 The Carmel Classic Guitar Festival (Nov. 3, 4, & 5) provided a valuable opportunity to exhibit guitars to a large number of interested amateurs and accomplished professionals, as well as a chance for interaction among the luthiers. Several guitars were sold or commissioned as a direct result of the exhibition. It was at the previous festival (May ’77) that I first met Jeff Elliott and was talked into joining the G.A.L. Prior to that time, I had worked pretty much in isolation and assumed it would always be like that. Now, through the G.A.L. conventions, the Carmel Festivals, and the friendships that grew out of them, I have a feeling of community with an expanding network of colleagues. The technical information and materials sources that have come out of this have been as valuable as the personal contact has been enjoyable. Another factor, pointed out by Steve Klein, is that being in the G.A.L. is almost like belonging to a union; you can find out what others of comparable abilities are getting for what work, and make appropriate adjustments. This is more important than it might seem at first glance, as some rather great disparities crop 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 13, 2024May 15, 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.
