Posted on June 13, 2024May 14, 2025 by Dale Phillips Alexander Illitch Eppler Alexander Illitch Eppler by Kent Rayman Originally published in Guild of American Luthiers Newsletter Vol. 4, #1, 1976 Seattle-born Alexander Illitch Eppler attended the Bulgarian State Conservatory and is a established virtuoso and teacher of the kaval, a Balkan end-blown flute. He has toured widely as a soloist in Eastern Europe. An accomplished maker of violins and other stringed instruments, his wide interest in and knowledge of rare woods as led him into the manufacture of wooden Boehm-system flutes, baroque flutes, and other woodwind instruments. Date of Interview: April 10, 1976 Where did you get your start? I got my start here in America with a violin maker in Seattle by the name of Julian Clark, an excellent violin maker. He’s a very straightforward and unpretentious fellow and I met him. Without exploiting me at all he devoted countless hours to teaching me all that he knew and that’s where I got my start here in Seattle. 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 June 13, 2024May 15, 2025 by Dale Phillips Quick Cuts: The Making of a Maker Quick Cuts: The Making of a Maker by Tobias Berg Originally published in American Lutherie #87, 2006 (After weeks of intense work Tobias is tuning his first guitar) Tobias: Wow! This is it! This is what I want to do when I grow up! I want to become a guitar maker! Kerstin: Oh, don’t you know that it takes ten years to learn a craft? Tobias: Hmm.... (Tableau) (Curtain) That scene actually took place just ten years ago. I had just built my first guitar in a four-week course under the tutelage of Michael Sandén, and I was overwhelmed with both pride and joy. Michael’s wife at the time, Kerstin, said the above words to me, not in a harsh or unfriendly way, but simply as a matter of fact. Well, she was right. I don’t live in Sweden anymore. The path that I decided to follow took me to Canada, England, the USA, and since 1998 I live and work in Germany. Lutherie is not as “romantic” to me as it was in the beginning. I soon realized that it is really hard work and you need patience, a lot of patience. On the other hand, the personal rewards are also much more plentiful than I was able to dream of in the beginning. Apart from the monetary aspect of course. 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 June 13, 2024May 15, 2025 by Dale Phillips ‘Doc’ Watson ‘Doc’ Watson by Dennis Siler Originally published in Guild of American Luthiers Quarterly Volume 10, #4, 1982 Arthel Watson (“Doc” to his friends) was born in Stoney Fork, North Carolina in 1923. At age 13 with two years of banjo experience already under his belt, Doc began to learn the guitar. He has since that time amassed an enormous and growing group of admirers around the world. Doc’s musical background is wide and varied. He began playing professionally in 1953 and played in both country-western and rock groups. In the early ’60s he began to travel around the country, performing folk and traditional music at festivals, folk clubs and colleges. In his present concert tours, Doc plays a wide variety of music; folk, traditional bluegrass, rock-a-billy, blues and almost anything else. He wows the crowd everywhere he goes — young and old alike. 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 June 13, 2024May 6, 2025 by Dale Phillips Mike Longworth: Questions and Answers Mike Longworth: Questions and Answers from his 1978 GAL Convention lecture by Mike Longworth Originally published in Guild of American Luthiers Quarterly, Volume 6 ,#4, 1978 The Martin research department is much talked about. Can you tell us what effect, if any, it has on the production line? We had a full fledged research department back in the late 1960s and early 1970s. At that time, we were experimenting with tuning tops and bodies, and were taking measurements on different kinds of bracing. Two of the models that came out of that were the N-10 and N-20 guitars. The fellow who ran our research and development department went to Europe and his successor eventually became honcho of our sawmill operation. When we go to develop something new, like the new M-38 guitar, he definitely has a hand in it. We are not actively researching at the present time. 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 June 6, 2024May 23, 2025 by Dale Phillips Questions: Info on D’Angelico Questions: Info on D'Angelico by Linda Manzer and John Monteleone Originally published in American Lutherie #96, 2008 John Langdon from the Internet asks: I’m quite obsessed with D’Angelico and D’Aquisto guitars, and there are not many sources of info besides the GAL and the wonderful book Paul Schmidt wrote. Would you happen to know the maker of those elusive violin maker’s planes James D’Aquisto had? In one of the GAL books he said they were made by a company in Boston. Do you know if John D’Angelico used a jointer or a hand plane to join his plates? I’m also trying to find out more about the nitrocellulose finish D’Aquisto used. I’m curious if his finishes were alcohol based or not. Do you know if he had any preference for any specific brand of finish or colors? Linda Manzer from Toronto, Canada responds: I used the hand planes in question when I worked in D’Aquisto’s shop in 1983. I made copies of those planes for myself and sold a limited number of them a few years back as well. I plan to resume making them in the near future. They are fantastic. 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.
