Posted on April 7, 2022May 21, 2025 by Dale Phillips Visits to Guitarrerias Visits to Guitarrerias by David Macias Originally published in Guild of American Luthiers Quarterly Volume 7 #4, 1979 As a young boy, I used to think that for me to one day be able to play authentic Flamenco guitar would be the greatest thing in my life. Now, many years later, I do play authentic Flamenco, and I have discovered another wonderful way to express myself through the guitar... the Art of Lutherie. How I came to this discovery, is the story t hat follows. To set the scene, imagine yourself in Madrid, Spain, in the fall of 1966. After several years of Flamenco guitar study in San Francisco, California, here I was in Madrid. My guitar teacher, Adonis Puertas, a well-known concert guitarist, was leaving San Francisco. He suggested that I go to Spain for advanced study if at all possible. 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 March 4, 2022May 20, 2025 by Dale Phillips Steve Kauffman: Winnin’ and a-Grinnin’ Steve Kauffman: Winnin’ and a-Grinnin’ by Ted Davis Originally published in American Lutherie #6, 1986 Mention guitar flat-pickers and names like Dan Crary, Tony Rice and Mark O’Connor burst into our minds. To the growing number who know Steve Kauffman, his name flows just as easily and quickly into our thoughts. Steve has many things in common with these “biggies”. For instance only three men have ever won the flat picking championship at Winfield Kansas twice. Mark O’Connor and Steve Kauffman are two of the three. Dan Crary had the following to say about his first meeting with Steve: “One night in the summer of 1977 I had a chance to sit down and join with some fine guitar players in Knoxville, Tennessee. One of the things I remember about that gathering is the looks of respect and awe several of the pickers gave Steve Kauffman when he came over and sat down. I soon found out why: Steve is one of the best young flatpickers in the country. And along with his flair for the hot and flashy, he has some additional ammunition like power, clarity and musical taste. All those things make him an out-of-the-ordinary guitar man. The music is up beat, hot and melodic. When it’s over you feel like you’ve heard the tune and you’ve learned a couple of things about guitar and mandolin playing and you’ve enjoyed yourself besides.” (From the cover of Steve’s first album “Footloose”.) 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 March 4, 2022May 21, 2025 by Dale Phillips Mossman Truss Rod Adjustment Mossman Truss Rod Adjustment by S.L. Mossman Originally published as Guild of American Luthier's Data Sheet #263, 1983 Explanation of the Truss Rod and how it Works The steel rod is laid in at a curve. The curve extends from the first fret and tapers off at the ninth fret. Since the rod is anchored at both ends, when the nut end is tightened it simply shortens the rod by pulling the curve out of the rod and straightening itself, forcing the low part of the rod up and pulling the hight point down, which is the point of least resistance, causing a back bow in the neck. 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 October 26, 2021May 22, 2025 by Dale Phillips Prepping Rough Planks for Solid Bodies Prepping Rough Planks for Solid Bodies by John Calkin Published online by Guild of American Luthiers, October 2021 There are plenty of places online where we can purchase prepped electric guitar body blanks. But who can refuse free wood when it is offered? Several rough planks of 2"×9"×12' poplar came to me out of the blue. They had been painted on two sides, but so what? They had spent years in a dry barn. I cut them down to 6' to fit them in my little pickup truck, hauled them home, and stored them in my mower shed for two more years. All photos by John Calkin I have been working on electric ukuleles, mandolins, and mini guitars, and that is where the poplar is destined to be used. The first step was to cut a plank into 15" lengths using a sled on the table saw. Though it looks like the plank will be run against the fence, there will be plenty of clearance after the cut is set up. Two pieces sat evenly on the saw deck so I proceeded to run them through the drum sander, first the humped side and then the cupped side. One edge was sanded flat (but not perfectly) on the 6"×48" belt sander in order to run it evenly against the table saw fence while the other side was trimmed clean and perpendicular to the faces. In this photo, the second edge is about to be trimmed. That's as far as I will take them for now. They are shy of the 1 3/4" thickness used for most Fender electrics but plenty thick enough for smaller solidbodies. When the time comes, the shorter length will be sliced up to widen the longer piece as necessary, making the bit still covered in red paint irrelevant. Once joined the blank may be thinned even more to accept a top of figured wood, but that lies in the future. The three blanks off the board that rocked too much on a flat surface would still rock after thickness sanding, so they will get a slightly different treatment later. ◆
Posted on August 12, 2021May 19, 2025 by Dale Phillips Bending Sides with Silicone Blankets Bending Sides with Silicone Blankets by Michael Keller from his 1990 GAL Convention workshop Originally published in American Lutherie #25, 1991 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Three, 2004 Althrough I attended the 1977 Guild convention in Tacoma, I exhibited my instruments for the first time at the following year’s convention in Winfield, Kansas. I visited Stuart Mossman’s shop while I was there, and I saw the side-bending mold that he had. It must have cost a fortune. It was about the size of a Volkswagen van standing on end, and it had all sorts of hydraulic pumps and pistons. In a production shop that kind of tooling might make sense, but for a small shop like mine, making twenty to thirty instruments a year and bending wood for repairs, I don’t need that kind of investment. I bent sides for years over a hot pipe I bought at Lewis Music in Vancouver, B.C. I had to work at a regular job and save money for quite a while before I could afford to buy two Overholtzer side-bending molds. A friend of mine had a custom mold made by the Overholtzer company, and it cost $1,000, I believe. That’s a lot of money. I can bend guitar sides with either a hot pipe or a cast mold quickly and accurately, but I am in this to make a living, and if I can save time and money I will do it. That’s why I prefer my new method. By the way, would anybody like to buy two nice Overholtzer molds? 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.
