Posted on August 21, 2026August 21, 2026 by Dale Phillips Meet the Maker: William Eaton Meet the Maker: William Eaton by Tom Harper Originally published in American Lutherie #116, 2013 The open spaces of Nebraska were perfect for a young William Eaton to follow his innate inclination to explore the natural world, providing terrain for cross-country runs that led to the far hilltops from which more country could be viewed, or climbing high in trees to enjoy the sensation of swaying in the wind. Organized sports and music also became integral parts of his life. Golf and pole vaulting were especially appealing and he learned his first ukulele piece at the grand old age of seven, taught to him by an uncle. William filled his life with music and movement, something that continues into the present. By the time William was in high school, he excelled at pole vaulting and was in a band with his brother that played Top-40 music at dances. As college age approached, William felt that it was time to move on, to become an adult and prepare for a career. His career choice was pragmatic. An understanding of business seemed to have universal application, so he decided to pursue a business degree. Feeling it was time to get serious, he put aside his guitar and headed off to Arizona State University where he won a track scholarship with his pole vaulting skills. He was thinking that when he completed his studies, he might follow his father’s footsteps and go into banking. 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 August 13, 2026August 13, 2026 by Dale Phillips Meet the Maker: Tom Cussen Meet the Maker: Tom Cussen by Rick Rubin Originally published in American Lutherie #116, 2013 In June 2012 my band mates in Floating Crowbar and I spent three weeks on the west coast of Ireland. Our goal was to play in pub sessions, absorb the culture, and make new friends. We found ourselves near Clarinbridge, where Tom Cussen builds fine banjos. James Hunter, Morgan Anderson, Don Thomsen, Jack Lindberg, and I found Tom shorthanded and busy assisting a young woman in choosing a new instrument, but in short order we were able to ask Tom about his first involvement with the banjo. Traditional music in Ireland goes back a long way. With the advent of the Fleadh Cheol (music festivals) in the early 1950s and the folk boom in the early 1960s, traditional music became very popular in the ’60s and ’70s. That’s when my interest came. 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 August 4, 2026August 4, 2026 by Dale Phillips Appreciation of Karl Roy Appreciation of Karl Roy by Robert J. Spear Originally published in American Lutherie #111, 2012 I met Karl Roy in the summer of 1974 at the first violin repair classes held at the University of New Hampshire in Durham. I was in the Paul Arts Building, standing at an intersection of two corridors and a staircase with my class registration badge newly pinned to my shirt, and a school-issue bright orange fishing tackle box that contained a few odd pieces of violin repair tools. I was unsure which way to turn. I was literally standing at my life’s crossroads when up the stairs bounded a man of imposing figure and steely blue eyes, his head topped with silvery-gray hair. I knew who he was even before I knew who he was. Roy was about ten years my senior, a widely traveled and intelligent man who spoke Oxford English with a German accent. He was a recently appointed director of the Staatliche Berufsfach und Fachschule für Geigenbau (commonly referred to as the Geigenbauschule), the state school for violin making in Mittenwald, Bavaria, founded by King Maximillian II in 1858. Directors there serve consecutively, and his predecessor had just retired. Despite this tradition, by the 1970s violin making worldwide was considered a dying art, and there were no schools in America that I knew about. In Germany the crafts of antiquity are taken seriously, and when a German violin maker is called a “Master,” he or she truly is, with the years of study and the diplomas to back it up. Karl was a Master in every sense of the word. 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 31, 2026July 31, 2026 by Dale Phillips Meet the Maker: Alan Carruth Meet the Maker: Alan Carruth by Tom Harper Originally published in American Lutherie #112, 2012 If curiosity really did kill the cat, the cat should have talked things over with Alan Carruth before the situation got so desperate. Alan has been curious all his life and has not only survived, but thrives on it. Fortunately for us, Alan’s curiosity has been regularly applied to the musical instrument world for around forty years and he likes to share what he learns. He has been actively involved with the Guild for at least thirty years, researches musical acoustics, teaches lutherie, produced a DVD demonstrating his method of free plate tuning, and can be found providing lots of information in various Internet venues for instrument builders. He also produces a line of imaginary tools, but you will need to go to his website to learn more about them. I got a chance to sit down with Alan several times during the last GAL Convention to find out more about what makes him tick. Tell us a little about your formative musical interests? I mostly listened to classical music as a kid, but like lots of other people, I got interested in folk music when the ’60s folk scare happened. That’s when I got my first guitar, which was a cheap nylon-string Japanese import called a Howard, named after the son of the guy who imported it. I wanted a guitar with nylon strings because that’s what Paul of Peter, Paul, and Mary played. Or was that Peter? I can never keep those guys straight. 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 29, 2026July 29, 2026 by Dale Phillips Meet the Maker: David Wren Meet the Maker: David Wren by Steve Denvir Originally published in American Lutherie #113, 2013 David Wren is a guitar geek, in the most positive sense of the word. He makes them, for the likes of Joan Baez and Bruce Cockburn; he’s sold them, as one of the partners in The 12th Fret, the high-end guitar store in Toronto; he even photographs them, supplying studio-quality shots to a number of his guitar-making peers. And he can talk about them. Forever. About his guitars, other makers’ guitars, the history of guitar making in Canada, what retail customers are looking for, the difference between classical and steel-string buyers, on and on. And he does it with warmth and charm and much humility, not to mention a lot of humor. If I had to put “(laughs)” every time it was appropriate, this article would be half again as long. 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.
