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Review: Building a Herringbone Style Acoustic Guitar by Don MacRostie and Dan Erlewine

Review: Building a Herringbone Style Acoustic Guitar by Don MacRostie and Dan Erlewine

Reviewed by Dave Maize

Originally published in American Lutherie #33, 1993 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Three, 2004



Building a Herringbone Style Acoustic Guitar
Don MacRostie and Dan Erlewine
Stewart-MacDonald Guitar Supply Shop
Video tape, 90 minutes

Building a Herringbone Style Acoustic Guitar is a 90-minute video sold by Stewart-MacDonald originally to accompany their Herringbone Guitar Kit. The kit has since been discontinued but individual parts are still available. The video guides the beginning luthier through the process of building a rosewood and spruce Herringbone dreadnaught.

The video is well-organized, dividing its time between constructing the body, finishing and fitting the neck to the body, sanding and finishing and setup. The producers of the video have realized that the viewer may be building their one and only guitar. Therefore, they have successfully attempted to demonstrate the process using a fairly modest array of tools (razor knife, straightedge, chisel, coping saw, router, and a few clamps). In addition, the video avoids requiring the novice to build elaborate jigs just to get their first taste of lutherie. A clever heavy-cardboard inside form and outside U-shaped holder keep the rim in the correct shape until top and back are attached, avoiding having to build a more time-consuming outside mold. A nice feature of the tape is the use of a simply built, versatile workboard which is used in a variety of configurations throughout the process.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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