Posted on April 29, 2026April 29, 2026 by Dale Phillips The Mariachi Humpback The Mariachi Humpback by C.F. Casey Originally published in American Lutherie #116, 2013 MariachI humpback? A sombrero-wearing whale that plays trumpet through his blowhole? A deformed bell-ringer who plays “Cielito Lindo” on his carillon? Nah. Those images would probably be too bizarre even for Disney. “Mariachi Humpback” is a name I use to describe the shape of two related instruments which form the rhythmic foundation of the mariachi band: the vihuela and the guitarrón (Photo 1). The vihuela is a small 5-string guitar with a re-entrant tuning; the pitch names are the same as the first five strings of the regular guitar (ADGBE), but strings 3, 4, and 5 are an octave high. The guitarrón is a bass guitar with the tuning ADGCEA. Though these two instruments are at opposite ends of the sonic scale, they share a number of characteristics. In both, the bridge is a simple bar with string holes and no saddle (like a heavy lute bridge). The guitarrón is fretless, and while the vihuela has frets, often they are tied on (again, like a lute), and frequently there are only three. Traditionally, the binding of both is rope-patterned, and is glued to the surface of the sides rather than inlaid. 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 April 15, 2026April 20, 2026 by Dale Phillips Building the Tanbour Building the Tanbour by Nasser Shirazi Originally published in American Lutherie #120, 2014 About a thousand years ago, the great Persian philosopher Abu Nasr Farabi (873ad–950ad) dedicated a large portion of his major work on music Al Mosighi Kabeer (Great Music) to the tanbour. In this day and age, instruments similar to the tanbour are still played in different countries of the Middle East. I have based this article on an instrument that belongs to my friend Amir Nojan, a master setar player. It was made in Kurdistan, west of Iran, where the tanbour is very popular. The plan presented here is based on measurements of this instrument, whose builder is Ostad Assadollah Gahvareh, known to be one of the best in this part of the world. The sound chamber (kaseh) is most often made of a solid piece of wood. In recent times, some builders use ribs like those used to make an oud to build the sound chamber, but what we see in this article is the traditional way and it works well. I wrote more about the solid-wood method in my article on constructing the tar in AL#10. Also, I wrote about making a sound chamber of ribs in my book about constructing the setar. Both of these are also long-necked plucked Persian instruments and they share many structural features. 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 February 19, 2026February 19, 2026 by Dale Phillips Measuring Archtop Musical Instruments Measuring Archtop Musical Instruments by Chris Burt Originally published in American Lutherie #83, 2005 See also, Arched Plate Carving, Part One by Chris Burt Arched Plate Carving, Part Two by Chris Burt Arched Plate Carving, Part Three by Chris Burt This is the first of three articles that take you from the basics of creating your own database of musical instrument measurements to applying what you have learned from those measured instruments while you carve top and back plates. In this article, you will learn to safely measure fine instruments. Article Two will describe plate carving, and article Three will describe plate graduating. This article is dedicated to Bob Lundberg, from whom I first learned the basics of measuring instruments. He showed us how to set the bar high. — Chris Burt Before you can build an archtop instrument based on an existing model, you need templates — at a minimum: a body-shape template, neck cross-section templates, and plate arching templates. You can’t carve something if you don’t understand it. If you are going to spend the considerable time that’s required to understand an instrument model, seek out the best. Measure several and keep detailed notes. If you take the time to compile a set of measuring tools and learn to use them respectfully and gently, you’ll be surprised to find how many people will allow you access to their fine instruments. 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 January 15, 2026January 15, 2026 by Dale Phillips Kit Review: Musicmaker’s Irish Bouzouki Kit Review: Musicmaker’s Irish Bouzouki by John Calkin Originally published in American Lutherie #71, 2002 Sometime in the 1970s an Irish musician introduced a Greek bouzouki to his band’s lineup, and the seed for a new instrument was planted. As interest spread, the inherent problems with the Greek instrument were addressed by the luthiers who were called upon to make the bouzouki more palatable to contemporary players who were undaunted by a long tradition with the beast. The staved bowl back gave way to a flat back, and the scale length shrank to proportions more manageable for lead work. Still, the light demand for the Irish bouzouki has not tempted the larger instrument companies to gear up for production, with the result that no industry standard has been set. Both flattop and carved-top examples are found, and dimensions and shape vary widely according to the whims of luthiers and the needs of musicians. Even the name of the new hybrid has escaped standardization, and Irish bouzoukis might also be called citterns, octave mandolins, or mandocellos. Some luthiers build variations on the theme and change the names in an attempt to avoid confusion, calling a 4-course instrument a bouzouki and a 5-course instrument a cittern. So far, you can build it as you please and call it what you want. The musicians who want them don’t seem to be all that confused by the matter. 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 January 15, 2026January 15, 2026 by Dale Phillips Meet the Maker: Graham McDonald Meet the Maker: Graham McDonald by John Calkin Originally published in American Lutherie #97, 2009 Graham McDonald has made significant contributions to American Lutherie over the years and has attended several GAL conventions, quite a long trek for an Australian. He’s written two books, The Bouzouki Book and The Mandolin Project, and has presented convention workshops to support both of them. I had the good fortune to have my convention display table next to Graham’s one year. He’s a reserved individual with perhaps the driest sense of humor on the planet. As we are both quiet guys, we shared little conversation, so I welcomed this opportunity to get to know him better. As a longtime Aussophile I couldn’t help starting out with questions about his homeland. In what part of Australia do you live? We live in Canberra, the national capital. It is a city of around 300,000 in the mountains about 200 miles southwest of Sydney and built specifically as the national capital. Life is lots slower than in the big cities and the climate is just about perfect for lutherie. Unless it is actually raining, the humidity is around 40% every afternoon. We don’t get much more than a frost on winter mornings with most winter temperatures in the 50°s (Fahrenheit). An oil column heater in the workshop keeps it warm enough most of the time. Summer is hotter with maximums up around 100°F, but again with low humidity. It can get down to 20% humidity on a hot summer’s afternoon, but a workshop humidity meter and an online weather station means that it isn’t real hard to know when it’s gluing time. 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.
