Posted on January 6, 2010May 20, 2025 by Dale Phillips Review: Julian Bream: A Life on the Road by Tony Palmer Review: Julian Bream: A Life on the Road by Tony Palmer Reviewed by Gila Eban Originally published in American Lutherie #5, 1986 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000 Julian Bream: A Life on the Road Tony Palmer McDonald & Co., 1982 Out of print (1999) Most of the material for this book was gathered while its author, along with photographer Daniel Meadows, traveled with Julian Bream on one of his tours. Although there is no chronological “plot,” the book is packed with “action”: Being stuck after a concert, in an unfamiliar “sleazy part of town” in Italy, or in an unpredictable snowstorm on America’s East Coast; guitars cracking after passage through the Alps; choosing to play a concert in a remote part of India, only to find out that the local inhabitants are accustomed to concerts of Indian music, which last twice as long as the standard classical music concert in the West! In order to prevent a riot, Bream has to play every piece he can possibly remember. In South America or at a quiet chapel in the English countryside, there is always an element of the unexpected, provided by an angry dictator’s wife or a nearby artillery firing-range. 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: Making Guitar 1 by Daniel Fort and Owen Riss Review: Making Guitar 1 by Daniel Fort and Owen Riss Reviewed by Lloyd Zsiros Originally published in American Lutherie #29, 1992 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Three, 2004 Making Guitar 1 Daniel Fort and Owen Riss Video tape, 60 min. 1990 Building your first acoustic guitar from scratch with no instructor can be a difficult and intimidating task even for an experienced woodworker. We are now lucky enough to have several fine books on the subject, but I was interested to see how well the information could be presented in a video format. Few of us have the luxury of an experienced luthier to guide us along. A video should be the next best thing to being there. According to the narration, Making Guitar 1 documents the first attempts at guitar making by two individuals; one makes a traditional nylon-string classic and the other a steel-string acoustic. Although most construction steps are covered fairly well, this should not be considered a complete do-it-yourself guide to building either instrument. It would not be practical to present dimensions or plans on a video, so a good text is still going to be required for the first-time builder. 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 20, 2025 by Dale Phillips Review: Geometry, Proportion, and the Art of Lutherie by Kevin Coates Review: Geometry, Proportion, and the Art of Lutherie by Kevin Coates Reviewed by R.E. Bruné Originally published in American Lutherie #4, 1985 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000 Geometry, Proportion, and the Art of Lutherie Kevin Coates Oxford at the Clarendon Press, 1985 Out of print (1999) I have avoided reviewing books on the subject of lutherie in the past since most of them didn’t really merit reviewing. Books of the how-to type on the subject seem to find their market in spite of poor writing and illustration, lack of scholarship, and/or incompetence on the part of their authors. This book by Kevin Coates deserves mention for its total lack of any of the above shortcomings and really sits in a class by itself in terms of scholarship in lutherie in the English language. The book is a study of the application of geometry and proportion as understood by the makers of the Renaissance and Baroque Eras to their instruments. While this seems at face value to be a rather elementary endeavor, in fact it requires more than a superficial understanding of the principles of Euclidian geometry and the historical background of their application in the West, especially as they relate to lutherie. Consequently, one is very hard pressed to encounter ideas and writing on the subject in English from other sources, aside from a few articles on lutes and related instruments in the Galpin Society Journal by Friedman Hellwig and perhaps a handful of others. 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 20, 2025 by Dale Phillips Review: The New Yorker Special by Frederick Cohen Review: The New Yorker Special by Frederick Cohen Reviewed by Tim Olsen Originally published in American Lutherie #9, 1987 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000 The New Yorker Special Frederick Cohen Available from Filmakers Library, Inc This charming little film is a valentine to a guy who deserves one: Jimmy D’Aquisto. Jimmy was my childhood hero, and visiting him in his shop in 1977 only built my admiration and affection for a man that to me is a genuine paradigm for luthiers. This film is far above the average coverage that luthiers generally get from journalists. You know the type: They breeze in, ask a few irrelevant questions, then write a piece that makes you seem like something between a wacko and a wizard. Frederick Cohen obviously knows something about guitars, as well as being a fine filmmaker. He has succeeded in producing a film which is perfectly suitable and entertaining for the uninitiated, yet one in which the luthier will find many informative gems half-buried. 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 19, 2025 by Dale Phillips Review: Guitar Player Repair Guide by Dan Erlewine Review: Guitar Player Repair Guide by Dan Erlewine Reviewed by Manny Bettencourt Originally published in American Lutherie #26, 1991 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Three, 2004 Guitar Player Repair Guide Dan Erlewine Backbeat Books (originally Miller Freeman), 309 pp. ISBN 0-87903-291-7 (ISBN 0-87930-188-0) This book is a must-have! Published recently, Dan’s book is a very up-to-date reference source for anyone in the repair field. It is very comprehensive in scope and covers all the major areas of guitar repair with an emphasis on electrics. The author’s conversational writing style, combined with excellent photographs and drawings, make this book very enjoyable to read. Starting with basics like intonation and neck evaluation, Dan moves on to cover everything from finishing to refretting. 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.
