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.
Posted on August 4, 2026August 4, 2026 by Dale Phillips Review: Hanging Tree Guitars Review: Hanging Tree Guitars by John Littel Originally published in American Lutherie #142, 2021 Hanging Tree Guitars Freeman Vines, with Zoe Van Buren Photographs by Timothy Duffy Published by the Bitter Southerner, ISBN 978-0-578-62403-7 in association with Music Maker Relief Foundation “Why am I making all these guitars? Well, they kind of make me happy to tell you the truth.” — Freeman Vines To make good sense of this special book, the first frame is through craft. Freeman Vines is a guitar maker, has been for almost five decades. Hanging Tree Guitars is his story, told through snippets of interviews with him presented in an ethnopoetic format that unfolds quietly and powerfully. The narrative, edited by Zoe Van Buren, and the book’s design reach their creative goal with the remarkable and very well-crafted black-and-white photographs of Vines and his guitars by Timothy Duffy. The book’s narrative, Vines’ guitars, and Duffy’s photographs supplement each other in a unique artistic achievement that is meditative, historic, and well wrought. 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 June 12, 2026June 12, 2026 by Dale Phillips Let’s Catch Up With Graham Caldersmith Let's Catch Up With Graham Caldersmith by Juan Oscar Azaret Originally published in American Lutherie #132, 2017 Hop on a plane in Boston. Fly twenty-seven hours to Sydney, then connect on a prop plane to Port Macquarie on the coast of New South Wales. Rent a car (no, the steering wheel is not on that side, dummy), and drive 60KM southwest. (Stay to the left, the left, the LEFT!) Oops, here comes a traffic circle — drive around clockwise, cars on your right have the right of way, remember to exit left, and stay left. Why is that left wheel always grabbing the shoulder... where the heck is it, anyway? Now out of the city (whew!) and on beautiful Australian farmland — rolling green hills in the mild August winter. Past the logging town of Wauchope and the hamlet of Byabarra. The road narrows to a winding switchback climb up the steep slopes of Bago Bluff, and finally we find ourselves on a high plateau of rich farmland in the town of Comboyne, NSW, population two hundred. Comboyne is the home of luthier Graham Caldersmith and his partner Angela MacPherson (Photo 1). On a recent trip to visit our son in Australia, I took the time to spend a delightful day with Graham and Angela in their enchanting home/workshop/tea house where I learned much about lutherie and acoustics, and enjoyed their wonderful hospitality. 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 May 20, 2026May 26, 2026 by Dale Phillips Roped In Roped In by C.F. Casey Originally published in American Lutherie #100, 2009 Weissenborn-style steel guitars just look cool. That long, sinuous profile, with the side curving all the way to the headstock; the diagonals of the “rope”-style binding and rosette; the look of total absorption on the face of the player as he sits hunched over, staring down at his hands. (OK, so that last point isn’t strictly the guitar; but have you ever seen a steel player who didn’t look like he was totally lost in his own little world?) When I decided to build my first Weissenborn-style instrument, I figured I might as well go all the way and give it the rope binding and rosette that Weissenborn used on his high-end models. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any information on making said binding and rosette. Neither the plans I got from Stew-Mac nor Rich Mermer’s article in AL#60 (“The Maalea Special,” also in BRBAL5) mentioned it. The only thing I was sure of was that with all those little short glue joints, bending was going to be very tricky. 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.
