Posted on January 6, 2010May 23, 2025 by Dale Phillips Review: Building a Herringbone Style Acoustic Guitar by Don MacRostie and Dan Erlewine Review: Building a Herringbone Style Acoustic Guitar by Don MacRostie and Dan Erlewine Reviewed by Dave Maize Originally published in American Lutherie #33, 1993 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Three, 2004 Building a Herringbone Style Acoustic Guitar Don MacRostie and Dan Erlewine Stewart-MacDonald Guitar Supply Shop Video tape, 90 minutes Building a Herringbone Style Acoustic Guitar is a 90-minute video sold by Stewart-MacDonald originally to accompany their Herringbone Guitar Kit. The kit has since been discontinued but individual parts are still available. The video guides the beginning luthier through the process of building a rosewood and spruce Herringbone dreadnaught. The video is well-organized, dividing its time between constructing the body, finishing and fitting the neck to the body, sanding and finishing and setup. The producers of the video have realized that the viewer may be building their one and only guitar. Therefore, they have successfully attempted to demonstrate the process using a fairly modest array of tools (razor knife, straightedge, chisel, coping saw, router, and a few clamps). In addition, the video avoids requiring the novice to build elaborate jigs just to get their first taste of lutherie. A clever heavy-cardboard inside form and outside U-shaped holder keep the rim in the correct shape until top and back are attached, avoiding having to build a more time-consuming outside mold. A nice feature of the tape is the use of a simply built, versatile workboard which is used in a variety of configurations throughout the process. 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 21, 2025 by Dale Phillips Review: Experimental Musical Instruments Review: Experimental Musical Instruments Reviewed by Fred Carlson Originally published in American Lutherie #3, 1985 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000 Experimental Musical Instruments A Newsletter for the Design, Construction, and Enjoyment of New Sound Sources Published bimonthly Magazine defunct (1999) Volume 1, #1 (1975) In a world of luthiers trying, with all the intensity luthiers are capable of, to see who can make the best Martin or Strad copy, this publication is a potential breath of fresh air. It is my personal opinion that we as luthiers have to not only continue traditions, but evolve, expand, even break out of them entirely at times, in order to keep them vibrant and meaningful. Experimental Musical Instruments is a newsletter that seems to me to get to the heart of this issue. Creation is what it’s all about: using existing knowledge as a basis to experiment, learn more, and have fun. And maybe make some real breakthroughs in the process. 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 19, 2025 by Dale Phillips Review: Fine Woodworking Design Book Five Review: Fine Woodworking Design Book Five by Scott Landis Reviewed by Harry Fleishman Originally published in American Lutherie #26, 1991 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Three, 2004 Fine Woodworking Design Book Five Essay by Scott Landis: Northwest Woodworkers Taunton Press, 1990 ISBN 0-942391-28-4 The first thing I noticed when I received my copy of Fine Woodworking’s Design Book Five was the handsome coffee-table quality of the photographs. This volume is both the largest so far, with 259 photos, all color, and the best looking, with many full-page pictures and a uniformly high standard of reproduction. The second thing I noticed was that none of my instruments were represented. Oh well, I like it anyway. Will it appeal to luthiers in general? Probably. I think there are good ideas to be found looking at all sorts of good woodworking, and there are a lot of truly beautiful items here. Is it the great American guitar book? Absolutely not. 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 28, 2025 by Dale Phillips Review: Setar Construction, An Iranian Musical Instrument by Nasser Shirazi Review: Setar Construction, An Iranian Musical Instrument by Nasser Shirazi Reviewed by Marc Connelly Originally published in American Lutherie #77, 2004 Setar Construction, An Iranian Musical Instrument Nasser Shirazi Berkeley, CA, 2001 For those of you who wish to build an Iranian setar, it would be hard to imagine a finer, more complete text than that presented here by Mr. Shirazi. But if you confuse the setar with the more widely known Indian sitar, you would be in for a surprise. The setar is an ancient Iranian instrument whose variants and descendents have populated string bands throughout the Middle East and Africa for thousands of years. This long-necked, fretted, 3- or 4-stringed instrument with a gourd-shaped soundbox is played with a strumming motion by the index finger, either in traditional Iranian ensembles or as a solo instrument. For lute makers, Neapolitan mandolin makers, bouzouki makers, and luthiers interested in gourd-shaped soundbox construction (or even using gourds themselves), there are some nifty construction tips to be had here. As I find myself spending too much time considering and reconsidering the relationship between the size of soundboxes and relative soundhole size and placement, I am intrigued by the traditional decisions that the great setar makers made in this regard. Mr. Shirazi’s personal investment in research of this instrument enabled him to include the dimensions of setar examples from three of the most important Iranian master setar builders. Yep, that’s in there too, along with a full-sized drawing of the soundbox staves, accurate drawings of all the important shapes, and photographs detailing key construction steps, including jigs and molds. Great attention is paid to construction details. The smallest point is addressed thoroughly and concisely. Each step of Setar Construction has been organized by a highly refined mind. 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.
