Posted on July 7, 2024May 21, 2025 by Dale Phillips Nuts and Bolts for Bridge Gluing Nuts and Bolts for Bridge Gluing by Tim Olsen Originally published in Guild of American Luthiers Data Sheet #126, 1979 and Lutherie Woods and Steel String Guitars, 1998 The holes of a pin-style bridge provide a golden opportunity to apply some very convincing clamping pressure. I use 3 10×32 1" round-head bolts with washers, wing nuts, and pieces of drilled shoe sole leather to temporarily bolt the bridge on while gluing. This not only exerts a strong pressure to the back edge of the bridge, but the bolts ensure an accurate alignment of the bridge. All that remains is to set a deep-throated cam clamp on each end of the bridge. The leather washers will take up any slop that the bridge might have. This is a natural for repair work as well as construction. ◆
Posted on July 7, 2024May 14, 2025 by Dale Phillips The Case For KTM The Case For KTM by Michael Turko Originally published in American Lutherie #72, 2002 For ten years now I have been building custom guitars, and I have been using KTM waterborne lacquer as my only finish coat for most of that time. I believe it is an excellent choice for the small custom builder for a variety of reasons. ▶ There is no offensive odor or noxious fumes to create problems in residential neighborhoods. ▶ It may be applied by hand without sprayers or other specialized equipment. ▶ It dries extremely fast, and may be buffed to a high gloss within hours (or less) instead of days. ▶ It builds much faster than solvent-based lacquers, and many coats can be applied on the same day. ▶ No special pore or grain fillers are required. ▶ It dries absolutely clear without adding any tint or shade of its own (although tinting maybe added if desired). 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. Members also receive 3 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. MEMBERS: login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on July 7, 2024June 12, 2025 by Dale Phillips Violin Q&A, Part One Violin Q&A, Part One by George Manno Originally published in American Lutherie #9, #10, #11, 1987 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000 In the last year I have received many letters concerning the repair articles I have written for American Lutherie. For the most part, the writers have thanked me for my willingness to share with the membership. Along with the comments on past articles, there are always a few questions asking my opinion about what to use or where to buy, and so on. I’d like to share some of those questions, along with my replies. No matter what I use to polish a violin, it never seems to clean it completely. Do you have any suggestions? I have never found a product that cleans as well as polishes, although many manufacturers claim that their product will do both. Taking into consideration the instrument’s age, type of varnish, and how dirty it is, there are a number of cleaning products that you can use. Example: a French violin, ca. 1875, covered with a thin spirit varnish, with enough caked-on rosin so that ridges have formed on either side of the fingerboard. 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. Members also receive 3 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. MEMBERS: login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on July 5, 2024May 14, 2025 by Dale Phillips Adjustable Truss Rod Adjustable Truss Rod by Jim Williams Originally published in Guild of American Luthiers Data Sheet #277, 1984 and Lutherie Woods and Steel String Guitars, 1998 For many and varied reasons, many luthiers are wary of adjustable truss rods when building instruments. The most obvious reason is the difficulty of making and fitting a conventional truss rod as used by Gibson, Guild, and others. The efficacy of this system is often doubtful as well, plus there’s the legacy of broken pegheads that often results from the excavation of wood to accommodate the adjusting wrench. The drawings illustrate the difference in operation between the conventional system and the system I am describing which is similar to that used by Gurian and Rickenbacker. This method is also great for mandolins. You will need a 3' length of 3/16" steel rod, a small block of brass 1/2"×1/2"×3/8", a 3/16" U.N.S. thread Allen nut (what you in the U.S. call 10×32) and some 3/4" wide fiberglass packaging tape. 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. Members also receive 3 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. MEMBERS: login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on July 5, 2024May 15, 2025 by Dale Phillips The Case for Using Natural Dyes The Case for Using Natural Dyes by Nicholas Von Robison Originally published in Guild of American Luthiers Quarterly Volume 11, #1, 1983 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie, Volume One, 2000 Luthiers do not need to color their raw materials as much as other woodworkers. We use fine woods that can stand on their own merit without any help from the dye pot. But now and then we do find a need for dyes: for example, for rosettes, bindings, taking grey streaks from ebony, enhancing the color cast of wood, and tinting finishes. In 1856 young William Henry Perkin was trying to synthesize quinine but instead wound up with a black tarry mess. This was mauveine, the first of the coal-tar derived dyes. By 1900 the aniline dyes (coal-tar derived) had virtually replaced all other dye materials. Up to this point, dyeing was done with naturally occurring materials and was more of an art than a science. With aniline dyes results were predictable, repeatable, stable, nonfading, and a heck of a lot simpler. There was bound to be a reaction, of course. The art of natural dyeing is returning to the amateur weavers and textile artists; I doubt if woodworkers will be far behind. 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.
