Posted on January 6, 2010May 21, 2025 by Dale Phillips Review: Guitars: From the Renaissance to Rock by Tom Evans and Mary Ann Evans Review: Guitars: From the Renaissance to Rock by Tom Evans and Mary Ann Evans Reviewed by C.F. Casey Originally published in American Lutherie #2, 1985 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000 Guitars: From the Renaissance to Rock Tom Evans and Mary Ann Evans Paddington Press Ltd. 1977 Out of print (1999) Of all the popular (as opposed to strictly scholarly) histories of the guitar, this is in my opinion by far the best. Laid out in five broad sections (classical guitar, at 150 pages the longest; flamenco guitar; the guitar in Latin America; steel string acoustic guitar; and electric guitar), the book goes into considerable detail on the musical styles, composers and performers, social background, and styles of construction of the instrument. Regarding this last, luthiers will be especially interested in the “Gallery” section of each chapter, consisting of photographs, measurements, and very thorough descriptions of typical and exceptional instruments from each phase of the guitar’s history. In addition, there are visits to the workshop of classical guitar maker José Romanillos and the factory of the Gibson company. 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 16, 2025 by Dale Phillips Review: The Gibson Guitar (Volumes 1 & 2) by Ian C. Bishop Review: The Gibson Guitar (Volumes 1 & 2) by Ian C. Bishop Reviewed by Gary Frisbie Originally published in American Lutherie #28, 1991 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Three, 2004 The Gibson Guitar (Volumes 1 & 2) Ian C. Bishop The Bold Strummer, 1990 ISBN 0-933224-46-X (Volume 1) ISBN 0-933224-47-8 (Volume 2) These are books from the ’70s, written by an Englishman and intended to provide a wealth of information on the Gibson guitars built from 1950 to the end of the ’70s when the second volume was published. Volume 1 would appear to be the more essential of the two because it covers the major lines of solidbody and hollowbody electrics, plus the jazz and flattop acoustics. However, Volume 2 is really just as important, because the author discusses omissions and inaccuracies which occurred in Volume 1, and also because he covers the Epiphone guitars produced under Gibson auspices, as well as Japanese Epiphones. Also discussed are some off-brand peculiarities such as Kalamazoos and Dwights. Because there are so many myths and assumed facts regarding these instruments, it is hard to believe that everything written in these books is true. However, a great majority of the material seems to be accurate, and one could do worse than to consult these books as a reference to the authenticity of a given guitar. The author even states that one of his main goals is to provide enough information for a reader to accurately assess a guitar and thereby avoid paying more than is warranted if the guitar is being misrepresented as older and more collectible than it really is. 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 27, 2025 by Dale Phillips Review: 1996 & 1997 Luthier’s Art Review: 1996 The Luthier’s Art & 1997 The Luthier’s Art Reviewed by Woody Vernice Originally published in American Lutherie #55, 1998 1996 The Luthier’s Art & 1997 The Luthier’s Art String Letter Publishing 1996: 111 pages 1997: 141 pages, ISBN 1-890490-01-6 $19.95 per volume Available from Acoustic Guitar magazine These two lovely collections of instrument photos represent the participants of the Healdsburg Guitar Festivals of their respective years. Since the books came out well before the events, it’s obvious that the photos were submitted by the luthiers and weren’t taken at the shows. I’m sure the photos are better for it, but these aren’t necessarily the guitars you would have seen at the festivals. As one of the sponsors of the festivals, Acoustic Guitar magazine has tried hard to make the guitar a cultural icon and the festivals a matter of artistic importance. These books are compiled to look like gallery or auction catalogs. The layout is formal and the photographic reproduction very good. If the collection is biased towards Left Coastians, the books are more interesting for it. The progressives and weirdoes lend an air of excitement and airiness to the pages, though they may send some staid readers on a quick search for a Martin copy just to regain their balance. All in all, however, there seems to be a lot more luthiers happily chugging away within the tradition than pushing the envelope. This is a pretty bunch of instruments with enough ideas in either volume to keep any builder thinking for a long time. The photo spread is followed by a short biography of each luthier. 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 21, 2025 by Dale Phillips Review: Guitars and Mandolins in America Featuring the Larsons’ Creations by Robert Carl Hartman Review: Guitars and Mandolins in America Featuring the Larsons’ Creations by Robert Carl Hartman Reviewed by John Bromka Originally published in American Lutherie #2, 1985 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000 Guitars and Mandolins in America Featuring the Larsons’ Creations Robert Carl Hartman Maurer & Co., 1984 $39.95 from amazon.com (1999) Every fine luthier of creative and abundant output should be so lucky as to have a memory book devoted to preserving his art and times. Robert Carl Hartman has done a thorough job of this for his grandfather Carl Larson and Carl’s brother August, who together maintained a lutherie business from the 1880s to 1944. A great portion of the Larsons’ output was built to order to receive the manufacturers’ and distributors’ labels of Maurer, Prairie State, Dyer, and Stahl. If you are not yet familiar with the Larson brothers or their instruments (am I too far east of Midwest?), you’re in for a treat. The Larsons built beautiful and highly original instruments, and a large sample of designs are given here among the book’s 150 photographs and drawings. Included are mandolins, mandolas, mandocello and bass, flattop and archtop guitars, acoustic bass guitar, and harp mandolins and guitars. A chart of measurements is given with each instrument. Reprints of the guitar patents give very thorough drawings, descriptions, theory, and reasoning behind such innovations as laminated braces, further developed X bracing, through-the-body truss rods, and building under tension. Testimonials from Stefan Grossman, George Gruhn, and Johnny Cash, and a humorous reminiscence from Les Paul give further incentive to look into the Larsons’ designs. 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 5, 2010May 23, 2025 by Dale Phillips Review: The Guitar in America, Victorian Era to Jazz Age by Jeffrey J. Noonan Review: The Guitar in America, Victorian Era to Jazz Age by Jeffrey J. Noonan Reviewed by Don Overstreet Originally published in American Lutherie #96, 2008 The Guitar in America, Victorian Era to Jazz Age Jeffrey J. Noonan ISBN (hardcover): 139781934110188 University Press of Mississippi, 2008, $50 In the year 2008, say “BMG” and some will think of the mail-order catalog of recordings. In the year 1908, say “BMG” and many in the musical community in America would immediately think of the Banjo, Mandolin, and Guitar movement. Jeffrey Noonan’s recent publication, (an expansion of a doctoral dissertation and echoing its academic origin), gives us a clear portrait of the life and times of a true social phenomenon that began in the last half of the 19th century and continued into the 1920s, when changing times and tastes caused it to fade away. We can be thankful to Mr. Noonan for adding this book to the list of efforts published in recent years by writers such as Philip Gura and James Bollman, whose studies of the banjo and the life and times of C.F. Martin, Sr. have become standard references, not only for their overviews of the instruments themselves but also for illuminating the social environment in which the music became so popular. The important figures of the era are identified and given biographies while we learn about the amazing process of the creation and marketing of the instruments. 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.
