Posted on May 5, 2026May 5, 2026 by Dale Phillips Carl Samuels: Lutherie Before the Information Age Carl Samuels: Lutherie Before the Information Age or The Pilot, the Brain Surgeon, and the Pole-Vaulting Banker by Tom Harper Originally published in American Lutherie #116, 2013 Since the inception of the Roberto-Venn School, thousands of students have gotten their start in the lutherie world by following its well-thought-out curriculum under the guidance of experienced instructors. But what was John Roberts’ introduction like? More generally, how did the small club of DIY guitar builders get their start back in the days before there were instruction books, classes, or the Internet? GAL member Carl Samuels was one of those rare folks, and he related an interesting story that fills in some of the answers. His experience involved a broken $5 classical guitar from Nogales, Mexico, a job hunt, and the three freight-train boxcar loads of wood that John Roberts hauled back from Nicaragua. Samuels started playing violin at the age of five and was playing with the pit orchestra for Handels’ Messiah by the age of eight, a job he kept for the next seventeen years. He started college with a violin scholarship playing in the college symphony while studying biological psychology. His master’s degree research studied the behavioral effects of psychedelic drugs on animals and an attempt to isolate that portion of the drug molecule responsible for the behavioral effects. He later got a PhD studying the effects of selected drugs on the nervous system. 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 May 4, 2026May 4, 2026 by Dale Phillips Meet the Maker: John Koster Meet the Maker: John Koster by Nicholas Von Robison Originally published in American Lutherie #34 1994 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Four, 2006 Dateline Vermillion, South Dakota. It happened at the GAL’s 13th national convention. Quick as an adder, the long, thin arm of American Lutherie editor Tim Olsen snaked into the crowd and tore me kicking and screaming from the group of luthiers. “Go interview” was the command, and “Who would you like to do?” the question. Without hesitation I named John Koster, the conservator of the Shrine to Music Museum (Editor’s note: now the National Music Museum). I had never met John but I knew that he was also a devoteé of taking tiny splinters of wood and putting them under a microscope in order to precisely determine the identity of a wood. I soon found that wood anatomy is only one of the myriad and assorted areas of knowledge that John calls upon in his work. He was enjoying a day off, but graciously consented to this interview and a tour of his workshop. The time I spent with John one of the high points of my convention experience. John, please tell us a little bit about your early beginnings, your background and education, and the path that led you to the Shrine to Music Museum. I’m a fairly recent arrival here at the Shrine to Music Museum. I came here in September of 1991 so I’ve only been here eight or nine months. Previous to this I was a harpsichord maker for about twenty years, back in Massachusetts. Before that, my background had been more musical than instrument making. I went to St. Thomas Choir school in New York City, the only church-affiliated, boarding choir school in the country, very much on the English model. I was into classical music and played the piano, but really wanted to play the harpsichord. In prep-school years, during the summer, my father and I put together one of the original Zuckerman clavichord kits — a plywood box with some strings on it and a piano keyboard. A couple of years later when I was fifteen we put together a harpsichord, another Zuckerman kit, one of the original nonbent-sided ones. It was a cigar-box-violin kind of thing, but it got me started and I had something to play on. 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 May 1, 2026May 1, 2026 by Dale Phillips Remembering Manuel Remembering Manuel by Eugene Clark, Armin Kelly, Robert Ruck, Jeffrey Elliott, Cyndy Burton, and Paul Szmanda Originally published in American Lutherie #119, 2014 Manuel Velázquez was making fine guitars in the 1940s, before I knew what a guitar was. I had always assumed his presence, that he would always be with us, like the New York Yankees, like the Statue of Liberty. But now he is gone. Manuel visited Tacoma with his son Alfredo in 2006. Alfredo thanked me for recognizing his father in some of my published articles. I explained that Manuel meant a lot to me — not so much for the guitars he made, but for the man he was. I have said to many people over the years that the most important thing in making guitars is the name that is on the label. It is because of Manuel that I have come to that position. Manuel’s guitars do not sound like the work he has copied ever so carefully. They sound like Manuel — warm and loving, very clear, very Latin. His student-grade guitars, better than many first-class guitars, are very popular in New York City. 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 May 1, 2026May 1, 2026 by Dale Phillips Manuel Velazquez, In His Own Words Manuel Velazquez, In His Own Words by Cyndy Burton and Manuel Velazquez Originally published in American Lutherie #119, 2014 Manuel’s example of excellence inspired all who had the good fortune to know him. On the several occasions he participated in GAL Conventions or gave interviews, he freely advised us on how to carry out the difficult task of finding one’s way in the world of instrument making, and with remarkable generosity, shared the nuts and bolts of that perilous adventure as well. Manuel is quoted directly from the following previously published articles. — Cyndy Burton I am still a student. I will always be a student. From “Manuel Velázquez: An Appreciation,” by William Cumpiano (AL#4, Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One) 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 21, 2026April 21, 2026 by Dale Phillips Let’s Catch Up with Jeffrey R. Elliott Let’s Catch Up with Jeffrey R. Elliott by Chris Sobel Originally published in American Lutherie #127, 2016 The distinguished career of Jeffrey R. Elliott has spanned over fifty years, from his beginnings as an apprentice to Richard Schneider in Detroit, to his rise as one of the foremost 20th-century American luthiers. Among his credits are a long list of high-profile clientele and the selection of one of his guitars for exhibit at the Smithsonian. His careful stewardship of the traditional guitar design has both preserved the tradition and furthered its evolution, and to these ends, he has spent considerable time teaching and mentoring the next generation of luthiers. Indeed, his meticulous craft and strikingly beautiful aesthetics, combined with the allure of his characteristic sound, have fostered a formidable backlog of orders that has lasted his entire career. A GAL Convention might not seem the same without Jeff, who has attended at least a dozen throughout the years as an exhibitor, a lecturer, and as a panelist and panel moderator on topics including workspace planning, the classical guitar, the flamenco guitar, the archtop guitar, and the mandolin. 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.
