Posted on September 25, 2026September 25, 2026 by Dale Phillips The Charles Fox Guitar-Building Method, Part Four The Charles Fox Guitar-Building Method, Part Four by Mark French Originally published in American Lutherie #142, 2021 See also, A Guitar Is Born: Attending Charles Fox’s Hands-On Guitar Making Course by Mark French The Charles Fox Guitar-Building Method, Part One by Mark French The Charles Fox Guitar-Building Method, Part Two by Mark French The Charles Fox Guitar-Building Method, Part Three by Mark French The Charles Fox Guitar-Building Method, Part Five by Mark French The Charles Fox Guitar-Building Method, Part Six by Mark French Early in this series we got the neck under way, then soon laid it aside to focus solely on creating the body. The body is now as complete as it can be without its neck, so from here on it’s all neck, all the time, until the neck is complete. To bring us up to date on the neck: We began with a 7/8˝×3˝×36˝ mahogany neck blank, 12˝ of which we chopped off to later be cut into four pieces and stacked beneath the arm as the heel block. 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 September 25, 2026September 25, 2026 by Dale Phillips The Charles Fox Guitar-Building Method, Part Five The Charles Fox Guitar-Building Method, Part Five by Mark French Originally published in American Lutherie #143, 2022 See also, A Guitar Is Born: Attending Charles Fox’s Hands-On Guitar Making Course by Mark French The Charles Fox Guitar-Building Method, Part One by Mark French The Charles Fox Guitar-Building Method, Part Two by Mark French The Charles Fox Guitar-Building Method, Part Three by Mark French The Charles Fox Guitar-Building Method, Part Four by Mark French The Charles Fox Guitar-Building Method, Part Six by Mark French The fretboard is the final part needed to complete the neck, our final guitar subassembly. The fretboard is important to both the instrument’s playability and its harmonic accuracy. Its dimensional, geometric, and other specifications represent thoughtful design decisions by its maker. The fretboard is fashioned from a fretboard “blank,” a hardwood billet sufficiently oversize to yield the intended fretboard, typically of rosewood or ebony. Charles’ production sequence should be familiar to anyone who has made a fretboard from scratch, regardless of the specific methods they’ve employed: 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 September 25, 2026September 25, 2026 by Dale Phillips The Charles Fox Guitar-Building Method, Part Six The Charles Fox Guitar-Building Method, Part Six by Mark French Originally published in American Lutherie #144, 2021 See also, A Guitar Is Born: Attending Charles Fox’s Hands-On Guitar Making Course by Mark French The Charles Fox Guitar-Building Method, Part One by Mark French The Charles Fox Guitar-Building Method, Part Two by Mark French The Charles Fox Guitar-Building Method, Part Three by Mark French The Charles Fox Guitar-Building Method, Part Four by Mark French The Charles Fox Guitar-Building Method, Part Five by Mark French The completed neck is attached to the body with four bolts, whose geometry is shown in Fig. 1. There are two bolts side by side under the overhanging part of the fretboard. Only one dotted line shows 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 September 9, 2026September 25, 2026 by Dale Phillips Meet the Maker: Del Langejans Meet the Maker: Del Langejans by Mark Swanson Originally published in American Lutherie #84, 2005, Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Seven I first met Del Langejans in the mid-’70s when he fixed an old mandolin for me. I was playing in a band with a local guy who knew Del, so I took it to him. He fixed it up, and I kept right on playing. Down through the years I heard a lot about him here in Michigan. I’d bump into his guitars now and then, but I didn’t have much contact with him although we live only about thirty miles apart. I was pretty pleased when the opportunity came to interview Del. I could reconnect with him and learn what he’s been up to! Fellow GAL member Dan Sharp and I drove on a nice summer day over to Del’s shop in downtown Holland, Michigan, where he has been working for more than thirty years. It’s actually a music store, and Del’s workshop is right in the back. A couple years ago he sold the music store operation to Firehouse Music so he can devote all his time to his instrument building. For many years before that, you could walk in and Del would have to put down his chisel to sell you a set of strings. He likes it better this way. The old feel is still there though, and you can see Del at work at his bench from the showroom of the store. It’s a pretty quaint arrangement. 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 August 7, 2026August 7, 2026 by Dale Phillips “Restomodding” Wall-Hanger Guitars “Restomodding” Wall-Hanger Guitars by Roger Häggström Originally published in American Lutherie #144, 2021 Cheap guitars were made in great numbers all over the world at the beginning of the last century. In Sweden, the driving force behind a burgeoning interest in guitars was the independent church movement. The prevailing sentiment was that every able-bodied parishioner should be able to play three chords on a guitar at prayer meetings and fundraisers (Photo 1). Many of these instruments still exist, mostly in unplayable condition. I have found ways to restore these wonderful old guitars and make them play and sound better than ever. I love the bass-balanced sound of old-style ladder bracing in a small steel-strung parlor guitar. The complex sounds keep me wanting to play another chord. Modern X bracing gives more bass but also less varied tone, in my opinion. 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.
