Posted on August 21, 2026August 21, 2026 by Dale Phillips Making a Spiral Rainbow Rosette Making a Spiral Rainbow Rosette by David Freeman Originally published in American Lutherie #111, 2012 At the 2011 GAL convention, I was asked by a few people about the construction of my spiral rainbow rosette. I use colored purfling strips and spiral them from the outside of the circle to the inside, with various filler patterns between. In my original design I used all the colors of the rainbow, but I have since worked with different color combinations. I install the filler first. In this example, it is a sequence of koa, padauk, zebrawood, and holly bindings, alternated to create four quadrants in a bookmatched look. There are two walnut triangles just below three o’clock and nine o’clock to fill the joins there and visually ground the movement of the strips. 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 8, 2026July 8, 2026 by Dale Phillips It Worked for Me: Pre-bend Rosette Rings It Worked for Me: Pre-bend Rosette Rings by Dan Alexander Originally published in American Lutherie #144, 2021 I’ve been learning to build acoustic guitars for a couple of years. I’m getting there. One of the minor issues I’ve had is gluing purfling strips into routed channels around the soundhole without breaking the fragile little strips. Routing the channels is a piece of cake with this StewMac Dremel accessory, but when you have gloves on, and the channel is full of epoxy, getting the strips into the slots can be problematic. So, I made this jig to deal with it (Photo 1). I place the strips into the channels, which is easy when there are no gloves and no glue. Then I use my heat gun to heat the strips, and Bob’s your uncle. The strips come out of the jig prebent, and gluing them into the rosette is no problem! Best thing: I made the jig in fifteen minutes from a scrap of plywood. Cost: Zipski, baby! ◆ Photo 1. Photo by Dan Alexander.
Posted on May 20, 2026May 26, 2026 by Dale Phillips Roped In Roped In by C.F. Casey Originally published in American Lutherie #100, 2009 Weissenborn-style steel guitars just look cool. That long, sinuous profile, with the side curving all the way to the headstock; the diagonals of the “rope”-style binding and rosette; the look of total absorption on the face of the player as he sits hunched over, staring down at his hands. (OK, so that last point isn’t strictly the guitar; but have you ever seen a steel player who didn’t look like he was totally lost in his own little world?) When I decided to build my first Weissenborn-style instrument, I figured I might as well go all the way and give it the rope binding and rosette that Weissenborn used on his high-end models. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any information on making said binding and rosette. Neither the plans I got from Stew-Mac nor Rich Mermer’s article in AL#60 (“The Maalea Special,” also in BRBAL5) mentioned it. The only thing I was sure of was that with all those little short glue joints, bending was going to be very tricky. 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 27, 2026April 27, 2026 by Dale Phillips Elliptical Legacy Elliptical Legacy by James Condino and John Monteleone Originally published in American Lutherie #109, 2012 Recently I had the good fortune to examine and draw the beautiful D’Aqusito mandolin in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. While in the area, I visited several great guitar builders and got a chance to play dozens of fine D’Aquisto and D’Angelico instruments, most of them still in the trenches, gigging hard with the local fellows. John Monteleone did the restoration and finish work on the mandolin for the museum, and I stopped by John’s place for a bit of laughter and to pick a few tunes. The shop is an icon of 20th century guitar building. The walls are lined with photos of famous people and their instruments, along with little glimpses of the history of our craft. The original iconic photograph of a young Jimmy D’Aquisto standing next to an older John D’Angelico outside the Kenmore Street shop hangs on the wall. There are amazing instruments in various stages of construction and repair, and his old upright bass is instantly accessible right next to the main workbench in case a nice old jazz standard comes up on the radio and the moment strikes him. John’s wonderful stories connected the soul and craft of the mandolin and guitar from his shop on Long Island, through the traditions of some of the greatest luthiers of all time, all the way back to the origins in Italy. 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 1, 2024May 29, 2025 by Dale Phillips Questions: Custom Rosettes Questions: Custom Rosettes by Rodney Stedall Originally published in American Lutherie #70, 2002 Rodney Stedall of Pretoria, South Africa answers Milan Sabljic’s question regarding having custom rosettes made in small quantities. On a recent trip to Germany I came across a small third-generation rosette factory in Kornwestheim near Stuttgardt. Karl Zeeh, the grandfather of Martin Zeeh (whom I met), started the business many years ago. They manufacture customized rosettes and also supply custom bindings and backstrips. The visit was fascinating and the variety of laminated products is extensive, definitely worth investigating. Karl Zeeh, 70806 Kornwestheim, 49-715-47365; fax 49-715-424340. ◆
