Posted on October 19, 2026October 30, 2026 by Dale Phillips 2003 Manuel Reyes Flamenco Guitar Notes on GAL Instrument Plan #53 2003 Manuel Reyes Flamenco Guitar by Tom Blackshear Originally published in American Lutherie #84, 2005 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Seven, 2015 See also, Manuel Reyes: Guitarrero by R.E. Bruné The plan is straightforward and not complicated, but there are things that are difficult to show on a drawing; and there are things I’ve learned from my own experience that can help someone following the plan to make a very good flamenco guitar the first time. I’ll try to distinguish between what I think Reyes did to achieve the results that I saw and those things which I do to achieve similar ends. The top shape and dimensions as drawn assume an idealized symmetrical form not reflecting the exact shape of the individual instrument. I’d like to thank Chris Kamen of Classic Guitars International (www.classicguitar.com) for allowing me access to this instrument. The top. The top is of medium density and that is an important consideration. If it were a less dense, soft top, the final top thicknesses, 2.1MM in the center and 2.0MM at the edges would be too thin. The plan does not show any arching of the top, and it’s basically built flat. However, there is a small amount of rounding or pull up from string tension, and additionally there is about a 1/16˝ “lift” approximately 2˝ from the bottom edge which is greatest over the “inserts” — four 1/64˝-thick spruce patches between the inner five fan bars. Those five fan braces are slightly bent at that point. I don’t know how Reyes builds this in, but I do it with 1˝ wide 1/32˝ thick shims mounted on my flat workboard along the bottom edge. In other words, I glue on the fan bars flat against the shimmed workboard, which causes them to bend at that point. It’s important to clamp lightly; otherwise you cause a nasty looking distortion. When the top is under tension, it will pull up to about 1/16˝ in that area. The other two fan bars are perfectly flat. The shimming and the string tension make the part of the lower bout behind the bridge appear domed somewhat from side to side. But sighting from the soundhole to the bottom of the lower bout, it’s basically flat to the area of lift, just over those spruce inserts. 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 September 25, 2026September 25, 2026 by Dale Phillips The Charles Fox Guitar-Building Method, Part Two The Charles Fox Guitar-Building Method, Part Two by Mark French Originally published in American Lutherie #140, 2020 See also, A Guitar Is Born: Attending Charles Fox’s Hands-On Guitar Making Course by Mark French The Charles Fox Guitar-Building Method, Part One by Mark French The Charles Fox Guitar-Building Method, Part Three by Mark French The Charles Fox Guitar-Building Method, Part Four by Mark French The Charles Fox Guitar-Building Method, Part Five by Mark French The Charles Fox Guitar-Building Method, Part Six by Mark French There are four major subassemblies in Charles’ guitar design. The separately completed rim, soundboard, and back are assembled to create the body, to which the completed neck is then fitted and attached. Given that the design process has highlighted and resolved all their relationships, they can each be considered individually, and created either serially, in any sequence, or simultaneously. Starting the Neck At first glance, Charles’ neck follows a fairly standard design, but it incorporates features that make it work better. One characteristic of Charles’ instruments is that many features and dimensions are shared across different body shapes (“Production Techniques for the Custom Luthier,” AL#110). One of these is the neck. Since most of Charles’ instruments share the same 25.5˝ scale, they can use the same 12-fret or 14-fret necks. The only visible difference is their heel depths, as shown in Photo 1. Even then, there are only two different depths. 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 September 9, 2026October 29, 2026 by Dale Phillips Manuel Reyes: Guitarrero Manuel Reyes: Guitarrero by R.E. Bruné Originally published in American Lutherie #84, 2005 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Seven, 2015 See also, 2003 Manuel Reyes Flamenco Guitar by Tom Blackshear Born in 1934 in Jayena, Granada, Manuel Reyes moved with his family to Córdoba in 1944 and began his association with the guitar in 1949. In this same year he begins his personal diary in which he records his lifelong love affair with the instrument. It was through a friend named Señora Carmen Luque that Manuel was introduced to lutherie. She allowed Manuel to borrow a dilapidated guitar in need of restoration which Manuel proposed to study for the purpose of making a copy for his own use and also to have the instrument restored for Sra. Luque. Realizing that perhaps the restoration was more than he had bargained for, Manuel took the guitar to the shop of Miguel Rodríguez in Córdoba, who quoted 250 pesetas for its restoration (about $10 in today’s money). However, Manuel’s father objected, not because of the cost, but because he feared that Manuel would be lured by the siren call of the guitar, and like his grandfather who was also guitarist, spend too many hours away from his family playing the guitar. So Manuel went to friends who were carpenters and prevailed upon them to loan him their tools and supplies in order to try to restore the guitar himself. After six months he was unsatisfied with the results and decided to make a guitar from scratch for himself, which after some time he completed. The same month he finished the guitar, he made the acquaintance of Joaquin Sánchez Galisteo, who had been a student and employee of Miguel Rodríguez the elder; and as Manuel describes this association, Joaquin became his maestro. 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 20, 2026May 1, 2026 by Dale Phillips Jeffrey R. Elliott Open Harmonic Bar Classical Guitar Jeffrey R. Elliott Open Harmonic Bar Classical Guitar by Jeffrey R. Elliott Originally published in American Lutherie #127, 2016 The earliest example I know of a guitar with an open harmonic bar was made by Antonio de Torres in 1856 (“La Leona,” FE 04). Originally as a design element used in conjunction with a tornavoz (seldom used today, it has faded into obscurity), the open harmonic bar has survived separately as an essential feature in some top-bracing designs, and many of history’s most noted makers have tried their version of it, although infrequently. The most successful example, in my opinion, was Julian Bream’s 1973 José Romanillos guitar, which inspired me to try it. However, the historic design has a serious inherent structural risk, and if underbuilt, the guitar can also be so overly responsive that the fundamental becomes clouded. For many years I wondered if I could adapt the design so that it avoided both the structural and sonic risks yet still produced the sound I was after, and in early 1990 I produced this design. I believe the design allows the surfaces of the waist and upper bout to work in concert with the lower bout, so that the entire top responds more fully, and all at once. Based on a symmetrical layout, I redefined the design and made the following changes: 1) created apertures in all three harmonic bars and extended them to 1CM from the periphery and left them solid for their central 10CM of length; 2) dropped the cutoff bars altogether, and extended the fans to 15MM from the periphery; 3) installed a soundhole reinforcement ring and extended the outer two fans on both sides into it; 4) used only one upper bout strut on each side, and at an angle to the top’s grain; 5) widened the bridge patch 3MM both in front and behind; 6) made both the soundhole and fingerboard supports .5MM thicker; 7) graded the fan bracing as per the plan specifications, concentrating stiffness and mass in the center, and gradually loosening toward the periphery in a symmetrical pattern; 8) scalloped the surface of the end block that meets the top so that it continued the same spatial contact of the corner blocks; and 9) while I believe these changes have both expanded and refined the design, the most crucial addition was the .5MM-thick relief pads just under the harmonic-bar openings, let in 2MM on their ends. In over twenty-six years, none of my guitars have cracked under those openings, which has been the main structural risk with earlier open-bar designs; nor do they inhibit the purpose of opening the harmonic bars in the first place. 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 17, 2026April 17, 2026 by Dale Phillips Restoring Tárrega’s 1888 Torres Restoring Tárrega’s 1888 Torres by Jeffrey R. Elliott from his 2004 GAL Convention lecture Originally published in American Lutherie #83, 2005 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Seven, 2015 It was a privilege and an honor to restore this 1888 Antonio de Torres classical guitar, which is the centerpiece of a wonderful collection owned by Sheldon Urlik of Los Angeles, California. Identified as SE 114 in Antonio de Torres Guitar Maker — His Life and Work by José Romanillos, this guitar has great historical significance, not only because it was made by Antonio de Torres, but because it was owned by the great guitarist, composer, and pedagogue Francisco Tárrega. Before I began any work, I consulted with luthier and historian José L. Romanillos of Guijosa, Spain, for his expertise on Torres guitars and also reread his comprehensive book, which is the primary source of the historical information that follows. In addition, I consulted with luthier John F. Mello of Berkeley, California, for his restoration experience on Torres guitars and both previous owner Elias Barreiro of New Orleans, Louisiana, and the present owner Sheldon Urlik for their knowledge of the history of this guitar. 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.
