Posted on January 6, 2010May 16, 2025 by Dale Phillips Review: The Fender Guitar by Ken Archard Review: The Fender Guitar by Ken Archard Reviewed by Kevin Kobie Originally published in American Lutherie #27, 1991 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Three, 2004 The Fender Guitar Ken Archard The Bold Strummer, 1990 (reissue) ISBN 0-933224-48-6 This book was first published in 1977 by Musical News Services Ltd. London and at the time was the only book available on vintage Fender guitars. It contains the personal history of Clarence Leo Fender, the companies he started, and some of the key people he worked hand-in-hand with. There is a good general-features chapter with serial number information. The number sequences give two- to four-year spans listing the beginning of each consecutive hundred-thousand series. 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 27, 2025 by Dale Phillips Review: How to Repair Your Diatonic Accordion or Concertina by John Townley and Jehan Paul Review: How to Repair Your Diatonic Accordion or Concertina by John Townley and Jehan Paul Reviewed by John Calkin Origially published in American Lutherie #55, 1998 How to Repair Your Diatonic Accordion or Concertina John Townley and Jehan Paul Lark in the Morning LAR019 approx. 1 hour available from Mel Bay dealers and Elderly Instruments Townley and Paul set a new standard of sorts for instruction videos. Their workbench is a cafe table. Townley would blend right in at any luthier’s convention, while Paul looks like a Parisian street musician. It’s a Mutt-and-Jeff combination that works very well. As Paul says, “It’s important to be relaxed while working on accordions,” and the two belt down tequila as the show progresses. It’s pretty amusing at first, but by the end you’ll want to pour out some shooters for yourself for the second viewing. 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: A Catalogue of Pre-Revival Appalachian Dulcimers by L. Allen Smith Review: A Catalogue of Pre-Revival Appalachian Dulcimers by L. Allen Smith Reviewed by James Flynn Originally published in American Lutherie #7, 1986 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000 A Catalogue of Pre-Revival Appalachian Dulcimers L. Allen Smith University of Missouri Press P.O. Box 7088, Columbia, MO 65205 Columbia & London, 1983 L. Allen Smith worked long and hard over his doctoral dissertation from whence this book was derived. It is handsome, containing descriptions of 193 instruments in the zither and dulcimer family, most accompanied by photographs. In the foreword, Jean Ritchie sets forth her very authoritative views on the origin of the dulcimer and offers her judgements as to why early study teams were not able to uncover many dulcimers in Appalachia. The book falls far short of resolving, on a scientific basis, the birth place(s) of the dulcimer. The pre-revival instruments Smith describes were made prior to 1940, and his field work, searching for these early dulcimers, was done in the early 1970s. As most of us who have travelled these eastern mountains know, old dulcimers have been swept up long ago and it is anyone’s guess as to where they are now hanging. Nevertheless, Smith found 193 instruments and classified them into five categories as follows: 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. Review: A Catalogue of Pre-Revival Appalachian Dulcimers by L. Allen Smith Reviewed by James Flynn Originally published in American Lutherie #7, 1986 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000 A Catalogue of Pre-Revival Appalachian Dulcimers L. Allen Smith University of Missouri Press P.O. Box 7088, Columbia, MO 65205 Columbia & London, 1983 L. Allen Smith worked long and hard over his doctoral dissertation from whence this book was derived. It is handsome, containing descriptions of 193 instruments in the zither and dulcimer family, most accompanied by photographs. In the foreword, Jean Ritchie sets forth her very authoritative views on the origin of the dulcimer and offers her judgements as to why early study teams were not able to uncover many dulcimers in Appalachia. The book falls far short of resolving, on a scientific basis, the birth place(s) of the dulcimer. The pre-revival instruments Smith describes were made prior to 1940, and his field work, searching for these early dulcimers, was done in the early 1970s. As most of us who have travelled these eastern mountains know, old dulcimers have been swept up long ago and it is anyone’s guess as to where they are now hanging. Nevertheless, Smith found 193 instruments and classified them into five categories as follows: Type A: Pennsylvania German zithers with straight sides, 37 Type B: Pennsylvania German zithers with a half-bout, 3 Type C: Dulcimers with straight sides, 11 Type D: Dulcimers with a single bout, 71 (2 # 34s) Type E: Dulcimers with double bouts, 71 (2 # 17s) Smith’s conclusion that specific styles of instruments were organic to certain geographic locations is hard to justify when only 73 of the 193 instruments have been positively verified as to birthplace. These data become further weakened when 25 of the 73 are attributed to three makers (Thomas, Amburgey, and Hicks). While Smith did rely heavily on Allen H. Eaton’s classic Handicrafts of the Southern Highlands (Dover, 1937/1973) he failed to point out that the Southern Highland Handicraft Guild and its forerunners were organized to give recognition to mountain craftsmen and to market their products. Where did the estimated 1500 dulcimers go that were produced by Kentuckian James Edward Thomas? Were they marketed by the Guild and did they influence the design of other makers? Although Smith states that the book’s primary purpose is to catalogue early instruments, he opens the door to these unanswered questions by addressing the subject. For the serious luthier, there is little of value here. However, it is an interesting compilation of some early instruments and is worthwhile if only to provoke more research and study of this wonderful but neglected true American folk instrument. ◆
Posted on January 6, 2010May 21, 2025 by Dale Phillips Review: Constructing the Mountain Dulcimer by Dean Kimball Review: Constructing the Mountain Dulcimer by Dean Kimball Reviewed by Peter M. Estes Originally published in American Lutherie #1, 1985 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000 Constructing the Mountain Dulcimer Dean Kimball David McKay Company, Inc., 1975 $14 from Luthiers Mercantile International (1999) This last Christmas my wife Lynn asked me to help her build a mountain dulcimer for an old friend of ours. I had bought and read Constructing the Mountain Dulcimer when it was first published, but this was the first opportunity I had to use it. The pictures and diagrams in this book are so well done that I ended up skimming the text, reading in detail only when I needed clarification. We used his “Standard Dulcimer” pattern. Lynn did all the measuring and laid out the lines for cutting. I built a simpler version of his elaborate production assembly fixture to hold the sides in position during assembly. We used some dust-covered bargain mahogany guitar sets for the back, sides, and top (the backs from the guitar sets made excellent stock for recipe boxes for gifts). I did not attempt his rotary planer method for thinning stock. 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 5, 2010May 23, 2025 by Dale Phillips Review: Building the Kamanché by Nasser Shirazi Review: Building the Kamanché by Nasser Shirazi Reviewed by Barbara Goldowsky Previously published in American Lutherie #92, 2007 Building the Kamanché by Nasser Shirazi Includes full-scale plan Available from Nasser Shirazi P.O. Box 4793, Walnut Creek, CA 94596 $30, including shipping and handling The kamanché is a traditional Persian stringed instrument, widely played in classical Iranian music ensembles in Iran and other Middle Eastern countries, which is thought to be one of the ancestors of the violin. It appears often in historical paintings and has been described in literature by travelers to Iran and other Middle Eastern countries as early as 1418AD, but it dates back as far as 1500 to 2000 years. The word “kamanché” means “small bow” in Farsi. The general shape has remained the same throughout its history, but changes have been made in construction techniques and materials. Steel strings similar to violin strings replaced silk strings, and, in the past century, the number of strings was increased from three to four. Approximately 35" in length overall, the kamanché is a spike fiddle, held upright as the player sits on the floor and braces the instrument on his calf or the floor. The instrument is slightly rotated by the player, who uses a variable-tension horsehair bow. The kamanché has a round hardwood neck; a soundbox made either from a gourd, coconut shell, or from wood that has been carved or bent; a worked metal spike on the bottom; and pegs carved from walnut, maple, or sometimes ebony. The soundbox, fingerboard, pegs, and crown may be decorated with bone, shell, exotic woods or semiprecious stones. Makers interested in building a kamanche will have to find the somewhat unusual materials needed to cover the opening of the soundbox — for instance baby lamb skin (commonly used in Iran), fish skin, or pericardium (the membrane around a cow’s heart). If the above are not available, you may substitute deer skin. 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.
