Posted on October 10, 2025October 10, 2025 by Dale Phillips A Savart-Style Upright Bass A Savart-Style Upright Bass Constructing a Simple 34" Scale Upright Bass Suitable for Bass Guitarists by R.M. Mottola Originally published in American Lutherie #80, 2004 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Seven, 2015 Regular experimentation on my part is directed toward the goal of producing the sound of the double bass from instruments that can be readily played by the bass guitarist. Many approaches are possible and the instrument described here is the result of one of these. The design process began with functional requirements for the bass. This list was pretty basic. The target group of musicians was bass guitarists, and this constrained the scale length and a number of the critical dimensions of the neck and fingerboard to be similar to those of bass guitars. The instrument had to be musically viable in all styles in which the double bass is played pizzicato. It had to be transportable too, an easy design goal given the standard for portability set by the unwieldy double bass. To that list I added one more requirement — that the prototype be relatively simple and cheap to build. The bass is just like any other instrument, only more so. Material cost is higher because there is more material. Construction time is greater because there is simply more to construct. The upshot is that a bass design experiment can consume a lot of time, effort, and money before the success or failure of the experiment is known. I wanted to keep both cost and effort down for the prototype. 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 October 9, 2025October 9, 2025 by Dale Phillips Clark Irish Harp Revisited Clark Irish Harp Revisited by Craig Pierpont Originally published in American Lutherie #64, 2000 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Six, 2013 Following David Riggs’ article on the Clark Irish harp (“Clark ‘Neo-Irish’ Harp”), it seems like a good opportunity to take a closer look at folk harps from the luthier’s point of view. As a professional harp builder of some experience, I have learned my trade in no small part by studying the construction theory of fingerboard instruments of the lute, guitar, and violin families. While there is much relevant information there, it is important to consider the enormous fundamental differences between the dynamics of fingerboard instruments and harps. 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 July 8, 2024May 9, 2025 by Dale Phillips At the Outer Limits of Solid Geometry: The “Twisted Neck” Guitar At the Outer Limits of Solid Geometry: The “Twisted Neck” Guitar by Leo Burrell Originally published in American Lutherie #12, 1987 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000 I was greatly amused by remembering my own struggles while reading the articles in AL#8 about the compound radius of the fretboard. I was actually practicing these techniques before knowing what a plain old radius is. I have only been in the music business since applying for patent letters for my naturally rotated (twisted) string assembly (all of the components that define the string alignment: nut, neck, bridge, top of the body). That was April 1984. And I never would have built an instrument at all, let alone carve a compound radius, if the “Music Moguls” had had any respect for my invention. But they didn’t, so I did. I enclose a photograph of me holding an instrument I modified in June 1984. I shaped the neck from a solid block of cherry given to me by Dan Rowe, shop teacher at Western Beaver High School, Industry, Pennsylvania. I whittled and otherwise shaped it during evenings for about two weeks, using the kitchen counter for a workbench. Oddly enough, I roughly followed the procedure you described in your article “Cylinders Don’t Make It” to shape the fingerboard. However, in my case, the procedure was complicated by the approximate 45° rotation. 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. Members also receive 3 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. MEMBERS: login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on July 7, 2024May 6, 2025 by Dale Phillips Heat Pressing Necks Heat Pressing Necks by Tim Olsen Originally published in Guild of American Luthiers Data Sheet #86, 1978 and Lutherie Woods and Steel String Guitars, 1998 Heat pressing a neck to improve the playing action is a rather simple process both in theory and practice. Basically, the procedure involves heating the neck to soften the wood resins and the fretboard-to-neck glue joint. Then the neck is held in the desired position until it is thoroughly cooled and the glue and resins are hardened again. I will assume that you know what neck shape you’re shooting for, although this is a subject of much subtlety and debate. The heat pressing setup that I used for several years consisted of one 250W Sears infrared bulb (red), a porcelain socket on a clip base, two C-clamps, several 1/4" leather pads, and the edge of my bench. 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. Members also receive 3 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. MEMBERS: login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on July 5, 2024May 14, 2025 by Dale Phillips Adjustable Truss Rod Adjustable Truss Rod by Jim Williams Originally published in Guild of American Luthiers Data Sheet #277, 1984 and Lutherie Woods and Steel String Guitars, 1998 For many and varied reasons, many luthiers are wary of adjustable truss rods when building instruments. The most obvious reason is the difficulty of making and fitting a conventional truss rod as used by Gibson, Guild, and others. The efficacy of this system is often doubtful as well, plus there’s the legacy of broken pegheads that often results from the excavation of wood to accommodate the adjusting wrench. The drawings illustrate the difference in operation between the conventional system and the system I am describing which is similar to that used by Gurian and Rickenbacker. This method is also great for mandolins. You will need a 3' length of 3/16" steel rod, a small block of brass 1/2"×1/2"×3/8", a 3/16" U.N.S. thread Allen nut (what you in the U.S. call 10×32) and some 3/4" wide fiberglass packaging tape. 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. Members also receive 3 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. MEMBERS: login for access or contact us to setup your account.
