Posted on June 9, 2026June 9, 2026 by Dale Phillips Construction Methods of Early Spanish Guitarreros Construction Methods of Early Spanish Guitarreros by James Westbrook Originally published in American Lutherie #118, 2014 Imagine London in the early-to-mid 19th century, a vibrant creative center, especially for the manufacture of fine musical instruments. Makers from France and further afield settled here and flourished. I’ve spent much of the last twenty-two years studying many of the relics of this time, some of them playable, and piecing together their history, and hopefully contributing insights that others will find useful and will build upon as they conduct and publish their own research or construct their own guitars. Many of these makers, like the Panormo family, were émigrés, and some chose to continue in the traditions they were taught. Others, such as the brothers Dominique and Arnould Roudhloff from Mirecourt, France, were less conservative and popularized the recently invented melophonic guitar, with its larger-than-average body size and the newly applied X bracing. (More on that subject in a future article in American Lutherie.) Louis Panormo is especially fascinating and prolific. It is thought that his father Vincenzo Panormo, originally from Palermo, Sicily, moved to London from Paris with his four sons, including five- or six -year-old Louis, in 1789, almost certainly to escape the troubles in revolutionary Paris. (“Panormus” is the standard classical and medieval Latin name for Palermo, a name which scholars believe the ancestral “Trusiano” family acquired when they were living in Naples.) Many of Vincenzo’s family became involved in the music business as performers, teachers, and makers of stringed instruments. Louis flourished in London from about 1816 to 1854 and developed his own “Spanish-style” model, although it is not clear how much he really understood about the Spanish school of guitar making. I set out to assess the legitimacy of his claim. For example, he built his guitars face-down around the soundboard, that is, with the back fitted last. Although this is now the most usual and accepted method for making modern Spanish-style guitars, Louis Panormo may have been the first to do it, as this was not the norm for the early Spanish school of guitar making. 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 June 5, 2026June 5, 2026 by Dale Phillips Meet the Maker: Robbie O’Brien Meet the Maker: Robbie O'Brien by Brian Yarosh Originally published in American Lutherie #117, 2014 I’ve known Robbie O’Brien for more than five years through the local Colorado lutherie community, having taken his classes at Red Rocks Community College, and through his more recent association with the Colorado School of Lutherie. I can attest to his love of teaching and spreading the knowledge of guitar building throughout Colorado and the world. It was my privilege to sit down with him at his shop in Parker and get to know him a little better. Let’s start with some history. Tell us a little about yourself. My folks were military and I was born in Nuremberg, Germany. I don’t have German citizenship and I don’t speak German. I was there for about a year and a half before moving back to the States. I grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, where my father was a commercial pilot for Delta Airlines. 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 June 2, 2026June 2, 2026 by Dale Phillips Fitting Flamenco Pegs Fitting Flamenco Pegs by Aaron Green Originally published in American Lutherie #82, 2005 While it is the tradition for flamenco guitars to be fitted with pegs instead of machine gears, the historical rationale was economic in the same way as was the choice of cypress for the back and sides. These days the cost difference between pegs and gears is not usually reflected in the total cost of the guitar to such an extent that a guitarist would pick one or the other based solely on their budget. It has been my observation that in the last few years, more and more guitarists are requesting pegs for their guitars. There are some very compelling reasons for using pegs: They are quicker than gears; they are lighter than gears, which can help the balance of lighter cypress-bodied guitars; and from an aesthetic point of view, pegs are hard to beat. 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 May 22, 2026May 22, 2026 by Dale Phillips Peg Shapers That You Can Adjust Peg Shapers That You Can Adjust by David Golber Originally published in American Lutherie #96, 2008 There are two meanings of the word “adjustable.” One is that you loosen some screws, and some part becomes moveable. Then, if you have superhuman fineness of hand and eye, you can put that part in exactly the right place, and then tighten the screws — hoping that tightening the screws won’t move the part out of place again! The other meaning of “adjustable” is that ordinary human beings can get the part into the right place. Photo 1 shows the usual kind of peg shaper on the right. You loosen the screws that hold a blade and then somehow get the blade to exactly the right spot. Some people use these; they don’t work for me. On the left is one of my peg shapers. The crucial difference is the adjusting nuts, which allow mere mortals to actually adjust the thing. 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 May 8, 2026May 8, 2026 by Dale Phillips V Joint à la Géza V Joint à la Géza by Cyndy Burton Originally published in American Lutherie #63, 2000 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie, Volume Six, 2013 The elegant V joint was once the usual way of joining the head to the neck of the guitar. Early guitars made in Spain, such as those of the Pagés family in the 1700s, French guitars including René Lacôte’s in the 1800s, Italian makers like Panormo (even Stradivari), and so on, all typically used the V joint. C.F. Martin brought the tradition with him to this country in the mid-1800s, but its use on steel strings never really caught on beyond the early Martins. The father of the modern classical guitar, Antonio de Torres, did not use a V joint, and I think it’s fair to say that a majority of makers since Torres, in Spain and worldwide, have not. However, things may be changing back. Two very notable makers of the 20th century, Hermann Hauser Sr. and José Romanillos use it, and a large number of highly respected makers (Kevin Aram, Richard Bruné, Géza Burghardt, Greg Byers, Hermann Hauser III, Robert Ruck, Gary Southwell, and Gernot Wagner to name a few), use it today. I first saw a V joint in the flesh on a Romanillos guitar and heard its maker speak about it at the Toronto Guitar Festival in 1981. It struck me as beautiful, but beyond my woodworking skills. Although I’ve seen many since then, it wasn’t until my visit to Géza Burghardt’s shop (American Lutherie #61) that I met someone with such unabashed enthusiasm both for the joint and for sharing with others the exact process he uses to achieve perfect results. He calls it “foolproof.” His jigs and templates are what make precise work relatively easy and certain. (Sharp chisels help, too.) The point Géza makes is that anyone with reasonable woodworking skills can do a perfect V joint every time. He inspired me; I hope he inspires you, too. Géza’s tools, jigs, and templates are made for permanence and work equally well for steel string and classical necks, both of which are seen in the photos. It is certainly possible to use his ideas to make tools which will serve well without having to take out a bank loan. Proponents of the V joint cite its beauty and strength, very nice qualities to find together! ◆ 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.
