Posted on April 27, 2026April 27, 2026 by Dale Phillips Elliptical Legacy Elliptical Legacy by James Condino and John Monteleone Originally published in American Lutherie #109, 2012 Recently I had the good fortune to examine and draw the beautiful D’Aqusito mandolin in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. While in the area, I visited several great guitar builders and got a chance to play dozens of fine D’Aquisto and D’Angelico instruments, most of them still in the trenches, gigging hard with the local fellows. John Monteleone did the restoration and finish work on the mandolin for the museum, and I stopped by John’s place for a bit of laughter and to pick a few tunes. The shop is an icon of 20th century guitar building. The walls are lined with photos of famous people and their instruments, along with little glimpses of the history of our craft. The original iconic photograph of a young Jimmy D’Aquisto standing next to an older John D’Angelico outside the Kenmore Street shop hangs on the wall. There are amazing instruments in various stages of construction and repair, and his old upright bass is instantly accessible right next to the main workbench in case a nice old jazz standard comes up on the radio and the moment strikes him. John’s wonderful stories connected the soul and craft of the mandolin and guitar from his shop on Long Island, through the traditions of some of the greatest luthiers of all time, all the way back to the origins in Italy. 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 February 20, 2026February 20, 2026 by Dale Phillips D’Aquisto’s Wedge Bridge D’Aquisto’s Wedge Bridge by John Monteleone Originally published in American Lutherie #113, 2013 James “Jimmy” D’Aquisto’s guitar design development falls into two epochs. The early period, beginning in 1965, is an obvious continuation of his teacher John D’Angelico’s instruments in nearly every aspect, with the exception of the D’Aquisto logo on the headstock. Jimmy’s clients were faithful to D’Angelico, and that’s exactly what they expected. Change would come gradually, even timidly, over a period of time as Jimmy learned his independence. Certain ideas about tradition and expectation expressed by his early clients stood in his way for a number of years, hindering his design development. In the 1950s and ’60s, archtop guitar players were not risktakers, and the market popularity of the archtop was being displaced by solidbody guitars and the new music of the day. Unlike the quick-changing shiny sheet metal of Detroit automobiles, annual adjustments to mainstream guitar designs for the annual trade shows were small and predicable. The few independent luthiers of the day would watch this market closely to see what they would need to offer in order to compete. 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 February 19, 2026February 19, 2026 by Dale Phillips Measuring Archtop Musical Instruments Measuring Archtop Musical Instruments by Chris Burt Originally published in American Lutherie #83, 2005 See also, Arched Plate Carving, Part One by Chris Burt Arched Plate Carving, Part Two by Chris Burt Arched Plate Carving, Part Three by Chris Burt This is the first of three articles that take you from the basics of creating your own database of musical instrument measurements to applying what you have learned from those measured instruments while you carve top and back plates. In this article, you will learn to safely measure fine instruments. Article Two will describe plate carving, and article Three will describe plate graduating. This article is dedicated to Bob Lundberg, from whom I first learned the basics of measuring instruments. He showed us how to set the bar high. — Chris Burt Before you can build an archtop instrument based on an existing model, you need templates — at a minimum: a body-shape template, neck cross-section templates, and plate arching templates. You can’t carve something if you don’t understand it. If you are going to spend the considerable time that’s required to understand an instrument model, seek out the best. Measure several and keep detailed notes. If you take the time to compile a set of measuring tools and learn to use them respectfully and gently, you’ll be surprised to find how many people will allow you access to their fine instruments. 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 February 19, 2026February 19, 2026 by Dale Phillips Arched Plate Carving, Part One: Establishing the Outside Surface Arched Plate Carving, Part One: Establishing the Outside Surface by Chris Burt Originally published in American Lutherie #84, 2005 See also, Measuring Archtop Musical Instruments by Chris Burt Arched Plate Carving, Part Two by Chris Burt Arched Plate Carving, Part Three by Chris Burt This is the second of a series of articles that take you from the basics of creating your own database of instrument measurements to applying what you have learned from those measured instruments while you carve top and back plates. The first article of the series appeared in AL#83. In this article, you will learn how to carve top and back plates. The remainder of the series will describe plate graduating. A classical guitar maker I know recently told me he began his career making carved-plate guitars, but his finished top and back plates always looked like folk art. Our conversation got me thinking about his experience and the causes of unwitting folk art. I don’t know the process he followed and so can’t comment on it, but I do remember a fiddle player who asked me for advice as he built a fiddle. His finished fiddle looked like folk art, the main reason being that he didn’t have a process. At least, he didn’t quite believe, or understand, the process he read about or the clarifications I advised. I remember telling him, more than once, that he’d not yet finished one step and so shouldn’t start the next. Inevitably, the next time I’d see his work, he’d let impatience push him into abandoning the incomplete step in favor of the illusion of progress provided by beginning a new step. 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 February 19, 2026February 19, 2026 by Dale Phillips Arched Plate Carving, Part Two: Graduating the Top Plate and Cutting the f-Holes Arched Plate Carving, Part Two: Graduating the Top Plate and Cutting the f-Holes by Chris Burt Originally published in American Lutherie #85, 2006 See also, Measuring Archtop Musical Instruments by Chris Burt Arched Plate Carving, Part One by Chris Burt Arched Plate Carving, Part Three by Chris Burt This is the third article in this series, which takes you from measuring worthy instruments to carving plates in the image of the instruments of your dreams. To date you’ve measured one or more fine instruments and have carved a couple of plates that require final graduation. The thickness maps you’ve recorded when measuring instruments will tell you nothing about tap tones, but they will provide a view into at least one graduation scheme that works and a general goal towards which to work. So, how do you decide when you’ve finished graduating a plate? I can only describe my method. But heck, it’s a method based on both tradition and science. Some prefer tradition, some prefer science, some follow their imagination. I like the first two with a little of the third thrown in for fun. The techniques I describe in this article are based on more than faith. I learned them from teachers more knowledgeable than I. I also learned them through study, insight, and refinement gained through practice. Also, I once deviated from these techniques to build a viola graduated strictly by thickness. The wood I used turned out to be less stiff than any I’d previously used. The resulting plates were not stiff enough. The mode 2 tap tone for the top was down around C and C♯. I didn’t like the viola’s sound and never tried to sell it. I should have kept the plates thicker. I’ve since accepted that each piece of wood is unique and varies from other pieces in both density and stiffness. 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.
