Posted on May 12, 2026May 12, 2026 by Dale Phillips Meet the Maker: Rick Turner Meet the Maker: Rick Turner by Jonathon Peterson Originally published in American Lutherie #64, 2000 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Six, 2013 One of the great pleasures of my job here at the Guild is that I get to meet and talk with luthiers I’ve admired from afar. As the 1999 Healdsburg Guitar Festival was winding down, I approached Rick Turner and asked if he would be willing to be interviewed for this journal. Rick’s name will be familiar from his work with the Alembic company and the Grateful Dead; from his writing in American Lutherie, Guitar Player, and other magazines; and from his attendance at various instrument shows and conventions, including our own. I first heard him speak at the 1980 GAL Convention in San Francisco and have been a great admirer ever since. Rick graciously agreed, and we sat on the veranda outside the display hall and talked while the last tables were being folded and put away. We were the very last ones to leave. Rick spoke about the winding path of his career, the rock-and-roll world of the ’60s and ’70s, his approach to pickup and instrument design, and his current work, which includes a totally cool acoustic steel string and his Renaissance series of “amplicoustic” guitars. It was so much fun! 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 April 30, 2026April 30, 2026 by Dale Phillips Making Bridge Plates: A Huss & Dalton Shop Story Making Bridge Plates: A Huss & Dalton Shop Story by John Calkin Originally published in American Lutherie #75, 2003 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Seven, 2015 Consider the humble bridge plate. There’s no consensus on its shape, size, the material it should be made from, or even its real function. Certainly it supports the ball ends of the strings and protects the top wood from damage. But is it a brace that helps prevent top deformation? Does it help shape or alter the voice of the guitar? Does it really give bridge support? You tell me; I really don’t want to get in on the argument. Vintage Martin people have definite ideas about what size and shape the bridge plate should be, and it better be made of maple. Most guitarists probably don’t give a thought to the bridge plate, which places it firmly in the lap of the luthier. 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 April 8, 2026April 9, 2026 by Dale Phillips Meet the Maker: John Knutson Meet the Maker: John Knutson by Don Bradley Originally published in American Lutherie #127, 2016 It was an overcast day with a bit of sunshine as I drove down the long driveway to the house and buildings at the end of the drive. I’ve known John Knutson for some time, having met his daughter’s Mom many years back before I moved to Forestville. John lives only a few blocks away, but we mostly run into each other at the post office. Let’s stop in and meet John. Hey John, good to see you. Remind me — when did we meet? Hi, Don, good to see you too. We must have met at least twenty-some years ago. I’d have to think which girlfriend I was with... oh yeah, you were dating my ex-wife! (both laugh) Tell me about your early life. My twin sister and I were born in 1951 in Fort Knox, Kentucky. I’ve got three other sisters. We’re army brats. By the time I was seven, we’d lived in seven different places, but mostly stayed in Virginia from the second grade on. When I was six, my dad was commanding tanks in Southern Germany. I have a distinct memory of hearing “Hound Dog” by Elvis and Fats Domino’s “Blueberry Hill” on the radio back then. I didn’t know much about music at that age, but remember those tunes vividly. We weren’t a musical family you know, unless you consider tanks a musical instrument. My twin sister and I did get chauffeured in a military jeep to the firing range on occasion. We moved to Fort Hood, Texas, in 1958. A friend of my father was Elvis’ commanding officer. Elvis had been drafted and was in basic training there. 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 April 6, 2026April 7, 2026 by Dale Phillips Meet the Maker: Michael Bashkin Meet the Maker: Michael Bashkin by Brian Yarosh Originally published in American Lutherie #132, 2017 A Bashkin guitar really stands out. The design and artistry speak volumes. And once you have had the pleasure of hearing or playing one, you won’t forget it. The tone has an identity all its own. I have known Michael for many years. Every time we talk about lutherie, I learn something new. He is a great guy and has a wealth of knowledge that he is always willing to share. I sat down with Michael at the 2017 GAL Convention for a chat. Let’s start at the beginning. Where did you grow up? What did your parents do? When was your first introduction to guitars or woodworking? My grandparents emigrated from Poland and Russia to the USA about 1905. They were part of that big immigrant wave. They did typical immigrant things; they were in the garment industry and had to bootstrap their way up. My parents were born in Brooklyn in 1940s, and each was the first in their family to go to college. My dad taught high school at Brooklyn Tech for over twenty-eight years. My mom was an elementary school teacher, but when they had a family, she started staying home. I was born in New York City and lived in Brooklyn for a couple of years. Then we moved out to the suburbs in Teaneck, New Jersey, about six miles from the George Washington Bridge. Dad commuted in to the city every day. It still very much felt like we were in the New York area. So I had a pretty normal middle-class childhood, and I felt fortunate that I grew up in a racially mixed town. 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 March 26, 2026March 26, 2026 by Dale Phillips Multiscale Peghead Scarf Joint Multiscale Peghead Scarf Joint by Harry Fleishman Originally published in American Lutherie #118, 2014 MultiScale fretboards, once so unusual and exotic, not to say controversial, are becoming more accepted as their potential benefits are enjoyed by many musicians. I personally find that the multiscale board is especially beneficial for multistring basses, where it can give the low B a longer, more massive scale, thereby giving a deeper, more massive tone. Similarly, on the guitar, a longer-scale low string countered with a shorter-scale high string can give a nice smooth transition from the deeper low range to the sweeter high range. Obviously, there are many ways to realize a multiscale instrument, from the decision about which, if any, fret is perpendicular to the centerline; to what scales to choose for the long and short of it. As one of the developers of the multiscale fretboard in the modern era, with arithmetician John Starrett, I have done a great deal of experimenting with it and the many ways to do it. 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.
