Posted on January 7, 2010March 7, 2024 by Dale Phillips Review: Classic Gutiar Making by Arthur E. Overholtzer Review: Classic Gutiar Making by Arthur E. Overholtzer Reviewed by Robert S. Anderson Originally published in Guild of American Luthiers Newsletter, Volume 2 #3, 1974 Classic Guitar Making Arthur E. Overholtzer $13.00 Published by: Lawrence A Brock 1929 Mangrove Ave. Chico, California 95926 This book is a comprehensive work of the classic guitar. It is a large book, 8 1/2"×11" with over 300 pages, well illustrated, with more than 300 drawings and pictures. Beginning with the selection of the proper wood, to the application of a mirror-like finish, it is quite complete. It also tells how to do many things with different methods; by hand, with a router and jig, etc. 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 January 6, 2010March 11, 2024 by Dale Phillips Review: Julian Bream: A Life on the Road by Tony Palmer Review: Julian Bream: A Life on the Road by Tony Palmer Reviewed by Gila Eban Originally published in American Lutherie #5, 1986 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000 Julian Bream: A Life on the Road Tony Palmer McDonald & Co., 1982 Out of print (1999) Most of the material for this book was gathered while its author, along with photographer Daniel Meadows, traveled with Julian Bream on one of his tours. Although there is no chronological “plot,” the book is packed with “action”: Being stuck after a concert, in an unfamiliar “sleazy part of town” in Italy, or in an unpredictable snowstorm on America’s East Coast; guitars cracking after passage through the Alps; choosing to play a concert in a remote part of India, only to find out that the local inhabitants are accustomed to concerts of Indian music, which last twice as long as the standard classical music concert in the West! In order to prevent a riot, Bream has to play every piece he can possibly remember. In South America or at a quiet chapel in the English countryside, there is always an element of the unexpected, provided by an angry dictator’s wife or a nearby artillery firing-range. 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 January 6, 2010March 11, 2024 by Dale Phillips Review: Guitar and Vihuela: An Annotated Bibliography by Meredith Alice McCutcheon Review: Guitar and Vihuela: An Annotated Bibliography by Meredith Alice McCutcheon Reviewed by Joseph R. Johnson Originally published in American Lutherie #9, 1987 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000 Guitar and Vihuela: An Annotated Bibliography Meredith Alice McCutcheon Pendragon Press, 1985 $64 from amazon.com In 1978 David B. Lyons published his book, Lute, Vihuela, Guitar to 1800: A Bibliography (Detroit Studies in Music Bibliography, 1978). Although the vihuela and guitar were included, the bulk of his information concerned the lute. There was not enough material in the book to satisfy the ever-growing need for information about the early guitar and vihuela. In 1980 James Tyler’s book, The Early Guitar: A History and Handbook, (London: Oxford University Press, 1980), was published, and it too only partially satisfied the need. What was needed was a bibliography that dealt specifically with the guitar and the vihuela. Ms. McCutcheon’s annotated bibliography is an attempt to fill that need. In her words, the bibliography “is intended to fill the need for an annotated reference tool for the study of the guitar and vihuela. It contains literature on composers, performers, theorists, music and analysis, iconography, and design and construction in both an historical context and in a technical one.” 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 January 6, 2010March 11, 2024 by Dale Phillips Review: The Modern Classical Guitar For Friend or Builder by Donald M. Sprenger Review: The Modern Classical Guitar For Friend or Builder by Donald M. Sprenger Reviewed by C.F. Casey Originally published in American Lutherie #27, 1991 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Three, 2004 The Modern Classical Guitar For Friend or Builder Donald M. Sprenger Taylor Publishing Co., 121 pp. ISBN 0-9617445-0-2 First, let it be said that I have very little knowledge about the Kasha system of guitar design. So when I saw this book advertised as using this system, I thought this would be a good opportunity to learn something. On leafing through the book, the first thing that struck me was that the drawings were rather crudely done. Let me rephrase that: very crudely done. Now, I’m no whiz at draftsmanship myself; but it seems to me that if you’re going to the trouble of writing and publishing a book, it would be nice to go that little bit further and either do decent drawings or get someone to do them for you. But then I thought, “Maybe the man is a master luthier who just can’t be bothered with such petty details; maybe the text will make up for it.” 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 January 6, 2010March 11, 2024 by Dale Phillips Review: The Flamenco Guitar by David George Review: The Flamenco Guitar by David George Reviewed by David Macias Originally published in American Lutherie #12, 1987 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000 The Flamenco Guitar David George Society of Spanish Studies Madrid, Spain, 1969 Out of print (1999) Do not let the title of this book fool you. Although it is being reviewed in American Lutherie, this is not a “how-to-build” book. The making of a flamenco guitar, from the tree to the French polishing, is very well described by Manuel Reyes of Cordoba, but in very general terms. Particularly enjoyable to the flamenco enthusiast is a short history of the elusive and mysterious music of the Gypsies of Southern Spain, called flamenco. This book will also be interesting to some classical guitarists who at one time or another have had the urge to try a bit of flamenco, and perhaps it will help to clarify a few mysteries about what flamenco is or is not. To the nonflamenco guitarist, all flamenco guitarists seem to be part of a cult. Perhaps this is because of all the Gypsy lore and legends and the way of life associated with the art of flamenco. Personally, the only way I can explain this cult thing is that because of flamenco’s East Indian, Middle Eastern, and North African origin, it is immediately different to Western ears. 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.
