Posted on March 3, 2024May 9, 2025 by Dale Phillips Marvels among the Reeds Marvels among the Reeds by Susan Norris Originally published in American Lutherie #11, 1987 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000 Maybe it was my fantastic upbringing with parents who were (and are) scientists, lovers of nature and animals; people who loved to have fun and who nurtured the inquisitive mind in all of us, their children. I grew up sleeping with a bobcat curled up around my head, swimming with dolphins in warm lagoons, and tramping around in pursuit of lizards in the desert. When I think of where my inspiration comes from, these marvelous communications with animals and people from all over the world come swimming colorfully into my vision. When I walk out in the woods near our shop, the trees and mountains sing inspiration to me, and I can’t help but create in ways that speak their soul and mine combined. A number of years ago, soon after I moved to Vermont from Oregon, where I had been studying violin making with Paul Schuback, I met Fred Carlson and Ken Riportella at a Guild convention in Boston, which I had miraculously stumbled upon. Their approach to instrument making excited me and rang true with my own feeling that instrument making is an evolving process, and perhaps it’s been getting a bit too stuck. There is absolutely no reason why it can’t continue to grow and flower along with the rest of us! 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 March 3, 2024March 6, 2024 by Dale Phillips An Interview with Guitarist Roger McGuinn An Interview with Guitarist Roger McGuinn by Rachael Brent Originally published in Guild of American Luthiers Quarterly, Volume 9, #3, 1981 Anyone that has ever seen Roger McGuinn perform knows without a doubt that, unlike many other musicians, McGuinn will never disappoint an audience. His singing, playing, selection of songs, and rapport with his audience convinces all that he is one of the most talented, thoroughly professional musicians in the business. Beginning his career as Jim McGuinn, (later changing over to Roger) he was renowned as a fine banjo player and guitarist in the early 60s. He found a place as a accompanist, writer, and /or arranger for such artists as the Chad Mitchell Trio, the Limelighters, Bobby Darin, Tom and Jerry (later renames Simon and Garfunkel), Judy Collins, and the Brothers Gibb (the Bee Gees). 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 March 3, 2024March 6, 2024 by Dale Phillips An Interview with Guitarist David Tanenbaum An Interview with Guitarist David Tanenbaum by David Fisher Originally published in Guild of American Luthiers Quarterly, Volume 8, #3, 1980 With this issue is begun a series of interviews with important and eminent Classic Guitarists on the subject of their tools and their relationships to lutherie. Twenty-four year old virtuoso, David Tanenbaum of Oakland, California, a graduate of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, is already a veteran of New York City solo recitals, innumerable other solo concerts as well as having served with the Joffrey Ballet on several domestic and international tours including a tour to Russia. He began piano study at the age of four, cello at eight, folk guitar at nine or ten and classic guitar at eleven. David plays a redwood top guitar by José Oribe from 1975. What qualities do you feel you need in an instrument? Fundamentally projection, because the guitar is a small voiced instrument. 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 March 3, 2024May 6, 2025 by Dale Phillips The Trade Secret, a true story The Trade Secret, a true story by Michael Dresdner Originally published in American Lutherie #3, 1985 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie, Volume One, 2000 I had just turned twenty-three and had my first “real” job in a finishing and furniture repair shop after serving a one-on-one apprenticeship for what seemed like forever. Although I was convinced that I knew far more than I really did, the lure of learning offered by a different and much larger employee pool was strong, and I was eager to start. As was to be expected, there was a wealth of new finishes and techniques to absorb. Little by little, cans and bottles of strange brews became familiar and controllable tools, and a baffling array of effects was unveiled. Eventually I got to know the names and uses for all of the coatings and colorings as well as the companies that provided them. 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 March 3, 2024May 8, 2025 by Dale Phillips Where Are They Now? Where Are They Now? by Tim Olsen Originally published in American Lutherie #2, 1985 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie, Volume One, 2000 See also, The Business of Lutherie, 1980 by Richard Bruné, George Gruhn, Steve Klein, Max Krimmel, and Robert Lundberg The Business of Lutherie, 1984 by Ted Davis, Steve Grimes, Bob Meltz, and Matt Umanov Five years ago, the Guild presented its first Business of Lutherie seminar at our 1980 Convention/Exhibition in San Francisco. I recently contacted the five panelists to see how lutherie has treated them in the interim. I found that times have changed, and that the panelists have changed as well. Vintage and fine guitar dealer George Gruhn told of a wildly fluctuating and vastly changed market, and pinpoints late 1981 as the sudden end of the relatively good market conditions which prevailed throughout the seventies. At that time, the rise in value of the U.S. dollar shut off the lucrative export market, which had previously accounted for 40% of American-made guitars. The dismal conditions of 1982 and 1983 brought Gruhn Guitars to the brink of bankruptcy, and only in 1984 was George able to “climb out of the ooze onto dry land.” 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.
