Posted on September 10, 2019May 13, 2025 by Dale Phillips Meet the Maker: Dan Kabanuck Meet the Maker: Dan Kabanuck by Roger Alan Skipper previously published in American Lutherie #104, 2010 Dan, you look familiar, yet you’re from my opposite side of the country, and you’re new to lutherie. I’ve met scores of luthiers, spoken to hundreds more, and processed thousands of your orders. I’m a customer service rep at Luthiers Mercantile International, LMI, and you probably saw my picture gracing page four of the latest catalog, holding the “new LMI Shred-o-matic ‘Dandolin’ guitar kit.” It’s not a real instrument, by the way; several people have asked. I was in the middle of building my electric guitar when my picture was taken, and I grabbed a ukulele neck and held it on my body, and Chris Herrod snapped a picture. Chris is the Sales Manager, and the most brilliant person at LMI — he hired me! Your first two instruments, an OM-sized acoustic and a Les Paul electric, seem several cuts above most beginning luthiers’, with marvelous wood and beautiful detail and finish. Do you have a woodworking background? I actually sold real estate for sixteen years — I’m a licensed broker — but burnout and a tanking market led me to find a real job. My woodworking background is fairly limited: shop classes as a kid and some construction work in my late teens. Quite often I’d do repairs on the homes I was selling rather than deal with a contractor. My father is a furniture refinisher and repairman, so I’ve learned some of that. I’m by nature an arts-and-crafts person and have a general knowledge of tools. I discovered LMI just over three years ago on Craigslist. When I started, I had no lutherie knowledge, and had never considered building an instrument. I wanted to be able to talk intelligently about LMI’s products and how they work, and my nature urged me to build not one, but a couple of guitars. 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 26, 2019May 29, 2025 by Dale Phillips Nine Electric Guitar Construction References Reviewed Nine Electric Guitar Construction References Reviewed by John Calkin previously published in American Lutherie #63, 2000 Electric guitars are interesting creatures. The noises they are capable of producing are so far removed from an acoustic guitar that a listener could convince him/herself that either something magical has happened to the instrument or something has gone dreadfully wrong in the world. Creating electric guitars often conjures up a frustrating paradox. The guitar body begins life as nothing more than a chunk of wood and ends up as little more than a chunk of wood, but assembling and shaping that chunk can present a challenge out of all proportion to what you end up with. Power planers and jointers are expensive. On the other hand, accomplishing the job with hand tools requires a serious investment in time needed to learn to sharpen, set up, and master the tools. Farming out the heavy work is possible, but often seems to dilute the lutherie experience (a belief, strangely enough, found most often in rank beginners who have neither money nor talent, and are often cursed with a stunted sense of the practical). To me the obvious answer was plywood, which makes a much better guitar than anyone would have you believe. The shape, cavities, and channels can all be established with routers and such before the body is glued up to thickness. It’s chief drawback is that it’s hard to finish nicely, but it will get you into guitar making with the least amount of outside help and expense. 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 12, 2010May 28, 2025 by Dale Phillips Review: Assembling a Solidbody Electric Guitar by Dan Erlewine Review: Assembling a Solidbody Electric Guitar by Dan Erlewine Reviewed by John Calkin Originally published in American Lutherie #60, 1999 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Five, 2008 Video: Assembling a Solidbody Electric Guitar Dan Erlewine Stewart-MacDonald, 1999 Though Dan Erlewine and I are contemporaries, I can’t resist thinking of him as Uncle Dan. Through his writing, videos, and convention appearances he has spread his wide knowledge and undying enthusiasm for guitars across the entire population of luthiers and players, making him a sort of good uncle to our entire clan. Assembling a Solidbody is one of Erlewine’s more basic video lessons. In the first half he builds a guitar around a raw Strat-style body, and in the second, a finished Tele body hits the operating table to become a guitar. All emphasis is placed on doing clean work that anyone might be proud of, though a difference is made between how a pro might build a guitar from parts and how a kitchen-table luthier might be forced to handle the same job. Using this tape, the rookie ought to turn in as creditable a job as a seasoned guitar man. The raw body is left unfinished, as lacquer work is the subject of other Stew-Mac references. The Strat is assembled according to Fender specs, which is a useful touch, and there must be a hundred tips to help your work come out cleaner and more precise. 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 12, 2010May 30, 2025 by Dale Phillips Review: The Player’s Guide to Guitar Maintenance by Dave Burrluck Review: The Player's Guide to Guitar Maintenance by Dave Burrluck Reviewed by Dave Zogg Originally published in American Lutherie #61, 2000 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Six, 2013 The Player’s Guide to Guitar Maintenance Dave Burrluck Miller Freeman Books, 1998 ISBN 978-0879305499 The Player’s Guide to Guitar Maintenance, by Dave Burrluck, is 84 slick, glossy pages of color photos and useful information and tips on electric guitar maintenance and setup. This hardcover book format has almost a coffee-table style and quality, especially the photographs of the instruments. The style and layout are somewhat similar to other published books of guitar collections, but integrated with useful technical and repair information. The press release boasts there are more than 200 (color) photographs in this book, and I don’t doubt it. Though the information contained in this book specifically focuses on the Fender Strat and the Gibson Les Paul, much of the information contained is generic and can be applied to other instruments as well. The author often takes the time to explain the “why” as well as the “what” of repairs and adjustments. The photos, drawings, and explanations are clear and helpful. 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, 2010May 19, 2025 by Dale Phillips Review: Guitar Player Repair Guide by Dan Erlewine Review: Guitar Player Repair Guide by Dan Erlewine Reviewed by Manny Bettencourt Originally published in American Lutherie #26, 1991 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Three, 2004 Guitar Player Repair Guide Dan Erlewine Backbeat Books (originally Miller Freeman), 309 pp. ISBN 0-87903-291-7 (ISBN 0-87930-188-0) This book is a must-have! Published recently, Dan’s book is a very up-to-date reference source for anyone in the repair field. It is very comprehensive in scope and covers all the major areas of guitar repair with an emphasis on electrics. The author’s conversational writing style, combined with excellent photographs and drawings, make this book very enjoyable to read. Starting with basics like intonation and neck evaluation, Dan moves on to cover everything from finishing to refretting. 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.
