Posted on September 22, 2021May 19, 2025 by Dale Phillips Wonders of the Lutherie World: The Great Oregon Prairie Fiddle Wonders of the Lutherie World The Great Oregon Prairie Fiddle by Peggy Stuart Originally published in American Lutherie #15, 1988 Long ago, when European settlers first began to hew out a rough existence in the wild Pacific Northwest, they found some really big trees growing there. Their response, prompted by the insistent urgings of western culture, was to make really big fiddles! 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 August 11, 2021May 19, 2025 by Dale Phillips Wonders of the Lutherie World: Grand Guitar Wonders of the Lutherie World: Grand Guitar by Bob Banghart Originally published in American Lutherie #21, 1990 Bob Banghart of Douglas, Alaska sent in this stunning photo by Laura Lucas. If Elvis has indeed lived before as an ancient Sumerian king (still The King, right?), this mysterious monument may be a signal to time-traveling extraterrestrials. Git-boxes of the gods. If your travels to strange, faraway lands shrouded in myth and magic, like Tennessee, have revealed to you a Wonder of the Lutherie World, our investigative reporters stand ready to put the nation’s check-out lines to shame! 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 August 11, 2021May 16, 2025 by Dale Phillips Floyd Floyd by Nicholas von Robison Originally published in American Lutherie #37, 1994 KERplunkit! I reduced speed hoping the noise would go away, but no such luck. I had been traveling up US 395 from Los Angeles, and for the last half-hour I had not seen another vehicle, village, or even a gas station. Just dust, sage, and a few billboards. Then, RANDSBURG — 35 MPH. I dutifully slowed and glimpsing a hand-painted GARAGE sign, pulled over and shut her down in front of the big double doors. I squatted behind the left rear wheel and saw that the rubber bushing on the shock absorber had deteriorated and come off, so that the shock was metal-to-metal on the stud. Sensing a presence beside me, I turned, and was about six inches away from a pock-marked face with three days of salt-and-pepper stubble. He grinned — no teeth and purple gums. I caught a whiff of unwashed socks and potato skins. Another nanosecond and the potato smell registered as vodka. 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 August 11, 2021May 22, 2025 by Dale Phillips Stalking the Wild Maple Stalking the Wild Maple by John E. Boser Originally published in American Lutherie #33, 1993 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Three, 2004 Several years ago I opened a mail-order business without any particular purpose in mind except to offer some unique products. Because I grew up with a mysterious fascination with the violin, somewhere along the line I found myself making fiddles. Since it was my intention to make my instruments affordable, I made them of cherry and various species of pine. The cherry is easy to carve, keeping my time per instrument down, and the pine was hand-selected from the local lumber store. With a few modifications in soundboard thickness, my fiddles performed to my satisfaction (almost). Next it was time to work on appearance; I was becoming a bit bored with the looks of straight-grained cherry. 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 June 1, 2021May 22, 2025 by Dale Phillips Big Blue Ladder Big Blue Ladder by Harold Turner Originally published in American Lutherie #33, 1993 Now I wouldn’t know a Pinusconeus abundus from an Avocado delectable, but I do know eastern white pine. I’ve rolled down mountains of sawdust, sawn down a few Christmas trees, and lit camp fires with the cones. I’ve even made a few instruments from the stuff. Eastern white pine has one rare gift I’m glad to be associated with: the climb! A mass of limbs from the earth to the moon and back. A boyhood dream come true. A place to get away from it all. In the bowing branches of a pine you can be an astronaut, a cowboy ready to jump on his trusty steed, or Tarzan of the Apes swinging from limb to limb. 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.
