Posted on August 5, 2026August 5, 2026 by Dale Phillips Review: Advanced Ukulele Building with Jay Lichty Review: Advanced Ukulele Building with Jay Lichty by John Calkin Originally published in American Lutherie #142, 2021 Advanced Ukulele Building with Jay Lichty Robert O’Brien Video instruction Download from Obrienguitars.com, $277 I have loved books all my life, but when I began having worrisome visions of my house tipping toward the side containing my library I decided to make a change. As I began to shed books, it became easier to do. Most of my lutherie books disappeared via eBay and I have not missed them. Early on I became a fan of video instruction. But videotape was not especially convenient when it came to finding specific information. DVDs were a huge step forward, but then came the automatic download. YouTube provided a world of free instruction, but too often it was unsatisfying and of doubtful veracity. Nothing beats expert instruction that is professionally recorded and expertly edited. It doesn’t come cheap, but I have never minded investing in quality education. 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 Review: José Luis Romanillos Guitars, The Guijosa Period, 1993-2015 Review: José Luis Romanillos Guitars, The Guijosa Period, 1993-2015 by Mónica Esparza Originally published in American Lutherie #142, 2021 José Luis Romanillos Guitars, The Guijosa Period, 1993–2015 Josep Melo i Valls ISBN 978-84-09-14184-5 Barcelona: Spain, MeloGuitars Editions, 2020 Standard edition: €350. Signed deluxe edition: €700 Available from editions.Meloguitars.com After twenty-five years in the making, José Luis Romanillos Guitars, The Guijosa Period, 1993–2015 is now available. It is an outstanding work in its visual beauty as well as the depth of explicitly detailed information presented both in photos and verbally in Spanish and English. The large book/box set (39CM H × 29CM W × 9CM T total) includes a substantial book with foldouts, plus an attractive box that contains twenty-five folded photographs of the full-scale front and back views of each instrument. Twenty guitars, four vihuelas, and one rebec are presented as well as an additional foldout that shows full-scale top and back bracing patterns and neck and fingerboard profiles from Romanillos’ Torres and Hauser models. I got involved with this project in 2011 when the author, Josep Melo, a notable instrument maker and a personal friend, called me from his shop in Barcelona. He wanted to visit California to photograph and study in great detail a guitar built by José Romanillos for Pepe Romero. Josep said that he was going to write a book about the guitars that José Romanillos built after he moved back to his native Spain from England. He asked me to contact the Romero family to try to get an appointment to see Pepe’s 1993 “La Compañera,” the first guitar José completed after his return to Spain. Needless to say, that was quite a favor to ask. He had a lot of confidence that I would be able to just pick up the phone and make this happen. Well, I did. 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 Review: Hanging Tree Guitars Review: Hanging Tree Guitars by John Littel Originally published in American Lutherie #142, 2021 Hanging Tree Guitars Freeman Vines, with Zoe Van Buren Photographs by Timothy Duffy Published by the Bitter Southerner, ISBN 978-0-578-62403-7 in association with Music Maker Relief Foundation “Why am I making all these guitars? Well, they kind of make me happy to tell you the truth.” — Freeman Vines To make good sense of this special book, the first frame is through craft. Freeman Vines is a guitar maker, has been for almost five decades. Hanging Tree Guitars is his story, told through snippets of interviews with him presented in an ethnopoetic format that unfolds quietly and powerfully. The narrative, edited by Zoe Van Buren, and the book’s design reach their creative goal with the remarkable and very well-crafted black-and-white photographs of Vines and his guitars by Timothy Duffy. The book’s narrative, Vines’ guitars, and Duffy’s photographs supplement each other in a unique artistic achievement that is meditative, historic, and well wrought. 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 30, 2026July 30, 2026 by Dale Phillips Review: The Diary of Agustin Barrios Mangoré: His Concert Autograph Book by Richard Pinnell and Frederick Sheppard Review: The Diary of Agustin Barrios Mangoré: His Concert Autograph Book by Richard Pinnell and Frederick Sheppard by Bryan Johanson Originally published in American Lutherie #143, 2021 The Diary of Agustín Barrios Mangoré: His Concert Autograph Book (1932–1939, The Diplomatic Edition) ISBN 978-8409213269 Richard Pinnell and Frederick Sheppard Leon, Spain: Asociación CaminoArtes, 2018–2019 “Agustín Barrios was an entertainer, myth maker, brilliant conversationalist, and revered houseguest.” Frederick Sheppard. Soundboard magazine, October 2019 Classical guitarist and composer Agustín Pío Barrios was born in Paraguay in 1885 and died in El Salvador in 1944. With the exception of an extended holiday in Europe, Barrios spent his entire life traveling and performing in the countries of Central and South America. It is safe to say that Barrios’ music is greatly admired, performed, and taught by the current generation of classical guitarists. 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 30, 2026July 30, 2026 by Dale Phillips Review: Acquired of the Angels: The Lives and Works of Master Guitar Makers John D’Angelico and James L. D’Aquisto by Paul Schmidt, third edition Review: Acquired of the Angels: The Lives and Works of Master Guitar Makers John D'Angelico and James L. D'Aquisto by Paul Schmidt, third edition by Mike Doolin Originally published in American Lutherie #143, 2021 Acquired of the Angels: The Lives and Works of Master Guitar Makers John D’Angelico and James L. D’Aquisto, Third Edition Paul Schmidt ISBN 978-0692165515 DHR Publishing, 2018 Paul Schmidt’s Acquired of the Angels was a landmark book when it first appeared in 1991. Schmidt’s research yielded an enlightening portrait of two of the most influential luthiers of the 20th century, whose work largely defined the ideal form of the archtop guitar. Since the 1998 second edition was insightfully reviewed by Linda Manzer in 1999, (AL#59, Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Five) I’ll mostly focus on the differences in the latest, third edition. The biggest change from second to third edition, and maybe the best reason to purchase the latter, is the physical format. The new edition is nearly double the size, more of a coffee-table-book format, and the photos benefit greatly from the expanded real estate. In particular, Josh McClure’s studio shots dazzle with detail, color, and lighting. Closeups of tailpieces and headstocks show the maker’s meticulous attention to detail. The cover photo on the paper jacket will catch most people’s eye as the low E string of the guitar has shifted out of its notch in the saddle. Be sure to read the Unofficial Official Photography Artist section to read the humorous story behind that error. 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.
