Posted on February 20, 2026February 20, 2026 by Dale Phillips Torres Guitar Restoration Torres Guitar Restoration by R.E. Bruné Originally published in American Lutherie #33, 1993 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie, Volume Three, 2004 In March of 1986 I received in my workshop an 11-string guitar by Antonio Torres made in Almeria in 1884, and numbered #71. This instrument being perhaps unique in the world today for Torres’ work, it was imperative that it be adequately documented and ideally, restored as close as possible to original playing condition. The owner was quite anxious to pursue this course also, with the ultimate goal of selling it on the open market. Surviving guitars by Torres are quite rare, being limited to fewer than seventy known instruments, and this example is perhaps the only 11-string example remaining, although Prat alludes to two others in his Diccionario under the listing for Torres. It is not clear whether he is referring to the same instrument owned by several different people or different instruments owned by different people. Although Torres numbered his instruments made from 1880 until he died in 1892, apparently there is no surviving record of the details of each instrument nor who the original owners were. (Editor’s Note: After this article was written, José Romanillos published his excellent book, Antonio de Torres, Guitar Maker — His Life and Work. In it he presents photos, drawings, and descriptions of another surviving Torres 11-string, #83. Author Bruné urges all to acquire and study this 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.
Posted on January 15, 2026January 15, 2026 by Dale Phillips A Flattop Mandolin Resurrection A Flattop Mandolin Resurrection by John Calkin Originally published in American Lutherie #86, 2006 I don't see a lot of mandolins in my repair shop. There aren’t nearly as many out there as there are guitars, and they don’t seem to suffer the same affects of time and abuse as guitars, perhaps just because it is easier to put them up and out of the way. Archtop mandolins are especially strong and seem to live forever despite cracked plates and loose joinery. Flattop mandolins are a different matter. The combination of a flat top and a lot of down tension on the bridge is a recipe for failure. This particular mandolin, an Alrite Army-Navy style by Gibson, came to the Huss & Dalton shop. H&D only repairs H&Ds, but they kindly shuffle other repairs to me. The Alrite, a WWI-era instrument, had a cracked and caved top and some separation of the back. A rectangle of thin plywood about the size of a business card had been wedged between the top and the back just behind the soundhole to help support the top. The action was playable and the instrument tuned to pitch. It sounded OK but was quiet. Other than the mentioned defects, it was in pretty fair shape. A nice mosaic purfling ran around the top, and the rosette matched the purfling. I felt that the mandolin was a candidate for restoration. The only problem was that I didn’t want to do it. I put a quick repair estimate on it of $400–$450, which probably matched the value of the instrument. I sent it back downstairs with the recommendation that it be left alone. I never met the owner. 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 March 1, 2025May 14, 2025 by Dale Phillips Mending a Bomber Mending a Bomber by John Calkin Originally published in American Lutherie #89, 2007 It’s probably inevitable that repairpeople develop an affinity for certain instruments, and the reasons aren’t always rational. I like Gibson B-25 guitars. One such was the best sounding Gibson guitar I’ve ever encountered, and the model is loaded with factory funk. The B-25 Mitchell has always been one of my favorite World War II airplanes, which predisposed me to like a guitar with the same model number. Not rational, but there you have it. When a new customer dropped a smashed up B-25 in my lap — the guitar, not the bomber — I was prepared to make him two promises. First, for $200 I could make it as good an instrument as it ever was. Second, it wouldn’t be pretty. The guitar top had been punched behind the pickguard, creating a wicked crack that traveled across the guitar in front of the bridge, then cut back under the bridge and out the back side. A leg of the X brace had been torn loose in the process. The bridge plate was creased through the pin holes creating a nasty hump in the spruce that I couldn’t push down. But most of the big crack could be forced into place with finger pressure and the edges mated nicely. I didn’t think the job would be that big a deal. I could have suggested refinishing the top to hide the scar, but the process would have erased most of the weird factory charm of the guitar. I was also pretty sure that the $500 tag would have scared off the customer. For about $700 the instrument could have been retopped, essentially restoring it to factory newness. As it turned out, the man had bought the broken guitar for $55 and was leery of putting even $200 into it. His companion urged him to go for it, and I pointed out that he’d have a difficult time finding as good a guitar as he’d end up with for anything like $255, so he consented to the repair. Sometimes getting a job you want to do requires a bit of polite arm twisting. 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 5, 2025 by Dale Phillips Accelerator for Superglue and More Accelerator for Superglue and More by Chris Pile Originally published in American Lutherie #10, 1987 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000 I would like to inform fellow members of recent developments in the cyanoacrylate area of my repair business. The makers of Jet have added two new products to their line which have quickly become indispensable in the completion of my daily work. The old, reliable Jet and Super-Jet have been joined by Slo-Jet and Jet-Set. If you remember, Jet is the familiar thin, quick-setting superglue, and Super-Jet is thicker and slower to dry. Slo-Jet is even thicker and much slower to dry, consequently filling gaps and holes even better than was previously possible. As a matter of fact, it dries so slowly I’ve no idea how long it would take to cure if I wasn’t using the other new product — Jet-Set. 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 22, 2020May 22, 2025 by Dale Phillips Brazilian Guitar Makers Brazilian Guitarmakers by Roberto Gomes Originally published in American Lutherie #33, 1993 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Three, 2004 The guitar has been the main musical instrument in Brazil since it was brought by the Portuguese colonizers centuries ago. In those times, Baroque guitars were the most common string instruments. They had five courses of gut or wire strings. Since then it hasn’t changed much, as we can see in the “Brazilian viola” which is used for a kind of Brazilian country music called musica sertaneja (countryside music). The shape of the soundbox of this viola today resembles more a small classic guitar. Unfortunately there are very few records of those times, making it difficult to make a better study of those guitars and their makers. It’s known that most of the instruments were made in Portugal, Italy, and France. The first decade of this century brought three immigrant families from Italy: the Gianninis, the DiGiorgios, and the DelVecchios. These families were luthiers in their country of origin and later they founded the main Brazilian guitar factories which became the backbone of Brazilian-made guitars for nearly eighty years. They made mostly classic guitars and some violins, along with Brazilian violas. They also made mandolins, first with vaulted backs like lutes and later with flat backs, which are used to play choro music. 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.
