Posted on January 10, 2010May 26, 2025 by Dale Phillips Letter: First Guitar Letter: First Guitar by Gretchen Weeks Brough Originally published in American Lutherie #45, 1996 Dear GAL, I am a new member, in the process of making my first guitar — a flattop acoustic cutaway. I became interested in lutherie when my husband needed a quality acoustic guitar and we couldn’t afford what he wanted. I asked a local luthier about learning the art, and his recommendation was to get all the books and videos I could find, and then buy a kit from Martin as a first project. This, we could afford! In AL#43, a letter from Mr. Rick Topf mentions computer aided design (CAD), and wondering if there would be any interest in drawings done in AutoCAD format. There certainly is! I am, by trade, a freelance computer drafter, working in AutoCAD format. Not only would I be interested in drawings anyone else has done in AutoCAD, I would be happy to offer my services to anyone who wants their drawings done in AutoCAD. 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 January 6, 2010May 26, 2025 by Dale Phillips Review: Checklist of Technical Drawings of Musical Instruments in Public Collections of the World by Rob van Acht Review: Checklist of Technical Drawings of Musical Instruments in Public Collections of the World by Rob van Acht Reviewed by Robert Lundberg Originally published in American Lutherie #43, 1995 Checklist of Technical Drawings of Musical Instruments in Public Collections of the World Rob van Acht Celle, Germany: Moeck Verlag and Gravenhage The Netherlands: Haags Gemeentemuseum 1992. 185 pp.; 7 color plates, paper covers Hfl. 49.00 (approximately $30.00) This checklist of technical drawings is authored by R.J.M. (Rob) van Acht, Curator of Musical Instruments at the Haags Gemeentemuseum (Postbus 72, 2501 CB The Hague, The Netherlands). It is a listing of somewhat over 450 drawings of musical instruments which are available for purchase from selected museums or collections. The checklist is a production of the Documentation Centre [sic] for Musical Instruments at the Gemeentemuseum where a complete collection of the drawings listed is maintained. Mr. van Acht and his staff at the Gemeentemuseum deserve our thanks for assembling the collection and compiling this checklist as does Moeck Verlag for cosponsoring its publication. The term technical drawing as used by this author and museums in general should perhaps be explained. These are full-size (1:1 scale) mechanical (outline) drawings that basically show what the instrument looks like from the outside. In the case of stringed instruments this external appearance is shown in several views with greater or lessor details of construction. They are usually prepared by the museum staff who have varying degrees of specific knowledge of the instrument’s construction. Although instrument makers will find most of the drawings to be of some value, the primary use as seen by the museums is organological. That is, the drawings are intended to be used by scholars (organologists) in their studying and writing about the classification, history, technology, and uses of musical instruments. And despite much discussion, complaints, and appeals, the museum community persists in their mistaken belief that some critical structural details and measurements are unessential information. These would include, for example, specific wood types, body cross sections, archings, and thickness measurements. So don’t be disappointed if a drawing you might send for has a serious lack of details, especially interior construction such as barring sizes and locations, and soundboard and back thickness measurements. 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 January 6, 2010May 16, 2025 by Dale Phillips Review: Making Stringed Instruments — A Workshop Guide by George Buchanan Review: Making Stringed Instruments — A Workshop Guide by George Buchanan Reviewed by C.F. Casey Originally published in American Lutherie #26, 1991 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Three, 2004 Making Stringed Instruments — A Workshop Guide George Buchanan Sterling Publishing Co., 205 pp. ISBN 0-8069-7464-8 You don’t have to look at the publishing information to know this is a British book. You don’t even have to depend on the usual vocabulary clues. In fact, they’re not even all here. The book uses “clamps” rather than the dead-giveaway “cramps,” although it does refer to “timber” rather than “lumber.” It’s the style, that unmistakable tone typical of English do-it-yourself books: not exactly formal, not exactly old-fashioned (in fact, the book was first published in 1989), but just subtly different in flavor from its North American counterparts. It’s more than just diction and syntax that make this book different, it’s the approach to the material. As the title suggests, the book is about a variety of instruments: violin, viola, and cello; mandolin and mandola; and classical and archtop guitars. However, rather than treating each instrument more or less independently, as most books of this type seem to do, Buchanan spends fully half the book dealing with the violin and viola, and then adds comparatively short chapters covering those aspects of the other instruments which are different from the violin. He does spend somewhat more time on the mandolin and mandola, as the first flat-top-and-back instruments in the book. 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.
