Posted on June 3, 2025June 20, 2025 by Dale Phillips Resurrecting the Family Banjo Resurrecting the Family Banjo by John Calkin Originally published in American Lutherie #84, 2005 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Seven, 2015 Though the title says banjo, this could as easily be about any stringed instrument. We’ve all seen them, the family “heirloom” that some relative has decided deserves to be played again, perhaps because they think it will be cheaper than buying a comparable new one, but more likely for some sentimental reason. The number of such beaters you actually get to work on may vary with your locality. Sentimentality didn’t count for much in New Jersey, and I had a collection of junky guitars that had been abandoned once the concerned relative learned what the cost of resurrection would be. Virginians, on the other hand, seem to put more stock in sentimentality and I’ve had the chance to rebuild several instruments that probably weren’t worth the fee I charged. Though this is about restoring an instrument to playability, please understand that we’re not talking about restoration as a vintage specialist would understand it. That sort of restoration often requires specialized knowledge and may demand a lot of research as well as the exchange of hefty sums of cash. It’s not much fun, either, unless you suffer a certain type of personality. In fact, some of what you and your customer may decide to do may interfere with future restoration, so it pays to have some idea of what’s collectable and what’s not. 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 July 8, 2024May 15, 2025 by Dale Phillips Not Only Cones Make It — and Cylinders Almost Do Not Only Cones Make It — and Cylinders Almost Do by F.A. Jaén Originally published in American Lutherie #101, 2010 In the years since Tim Olsen’s article “Cylinders Don’t Make It” appeared in AL#8 (Winter 1986; also BRBAL1) the main ideas presented there have been accepted, developed, and finally, simplified and distorted. Many, including myself, remembered it more like “Only Cones Make It.” The first indication that something in my ideas was wrong was when I made a CAD model of a fretboard some time ago. I wanted it to have a constant curvature radius of 300MM (around 12"). There are many customers that still want that, in spite of offering well-designed conical-shaped fingerboards. My first thought was to draw two circles, 12" diameter, one directly above the other, at the distance from nut to end. After that, I would trace two diverging straight lines connecting both circles and defining both the edges of the fretboard and the widths at its ends. The surface could then be generated by moving one of the edge lines towards the other, using the end circles as rail curves (what is known as a “sweep” command in many CAD packages). 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 July 8, 2024May 9, 2025 by Dale Phillips At the Outer Limits of Solid Geometry: The “Twisted Neck” Guitar At the Outer Limits of Solid Geometry: The “Twisted Neck” Guitar by Leo Burrell Originally published in American Lutherie #12, 1987 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000 I was greatly amused by remembering my own struggles while reading the articles in AL#8 about the compound radius of the fretboard. I was actually practicing these techniques before knowing what a plain old radius is. I have only been in the music business since applying for patent letters for my naturally rotated (twisted) string assembly (all of the components that define the string alignment: nut, neck, bridge, top of the body). That was April 1984. And I never would have built an instrument at all, let alone carve a compound radius, if the “Music Moguls” had had any respect for my invention. But they didn’t, so I did. I enclose a photograph of me holding an instrument I modified in June 1984. I shaped the neck from a solid block of cherry given to me by Dan Rowe, shop teacher at Western Beaver High School, Industry, Pennsylvania. I whittled and otherwise shaped it during evenings for about two weeks, using the kitchen counter for a workbench. Oddly enough, I roughly followed the procedure you described in your article “Cylinders Don’t Make It” to shape the fingerboard. However, in my case, the procedure was complicated by the approximate 45° rotation. 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 July 7, 2024May 9, 2025 by Dale Phillips It Worked for Me: Low Cost Emergency Lathe It Worked for Me: Low Cost Emergency Lathe by Gerhart Schmeltekopf Originally published in American Lutherie #29, 1992 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Three, 2004 Most luthiers probably don’t have wood lathes, so I submit this low-cost, emergency lathe setup for the times you might want to make a music stand, washtub bass, or baseball bat for the local luthiers’ picnic. I bought commercial turnings to make a student harpsichord stand. They were “sanded and ready to finish,” so I knew that they would need to be sanded before finishing. They are too long for my lathe, so I rigged this temporary reciprocating or “pole” lathe to spin them and sand them. 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 July 7, 2024May 9, 2025 by Dale Phillips Fret Spacing Without a Calculator Fret Spacing Without a Calculator by Scott Antes Originally published in Guild of American Luthiers Data Sheet #11, 1975 In Calculating Fret Scales, Data Sheet #4, we discussed fret scale calculation with the use of an electronic calculator. This data sheet is for use by those who either have no access to such a calculator, are too proud to use one, or who are interested in making only a partial fret scale; for instance, that of a dulcimer. And a short addendum to DS #4, please note that in any fret scale, the point known as ‘bridge’ is a hypothetical point at which the actual bridge would be located if the string height and fret height were both zero, or if a number of other impossible conditions were to exist. The hypothetical bridge point exists for calculation purposes only. To find the actual bridge point, the amount of compensation deemed necessary is added to the hypothetical string length from which the fret scale was calculated. 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.
