Posted on December 5, 2025June 8, 2026 by Dale Phillips Guitar Making as a Teaching Tool Guitar Making as a Teaching Tool by Debbie French and Mark French Originally published in American Lutherie #144, 2021 Guitar making can be many things. To some it is a craft; to some it is a livelihood. And it’s also being used as a compelling teaching tool around the country. We are part of a project called STEM Guitar that is funded by the National Science Foundation, which provides faculty professional development to high-school and community-college faculty and students around the country, so they can, in turn, use guitar making to teach technical subjects. In educational lingo, these are STEM subjects — Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. We all know how important it is for students to learn at least the basics of STEM subjects. As luthiers, many of us routinely work with structural dynamics, acoustics, material properties, geometry, and computer-controlled machines. Modern guitar factories wouldn’t work without heavy investments of technology or without trained people. In 2009, industrial arts courses represented just 0.02% of credits taken nationally by high school students (U.S. Department of Education, 2009). However, when an updated report was released in 2013, industrial arts courses were not even included in the NCES reporting; such courses were replaced by engineering and design and manufacturing and technology courses were listed, which represent 0.7% and 0.6% of credits earned by high school students, respectively (U.S. Department of Education, 2013). The guitar program offers an engaging way of exposing students to industrial arts skills through STEM curriculum. 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 23, 2025June 20, 2025 by Dale Phillips Meet the Maker: Kenny Hill Meet the Maker: Kenny Hill by Cyndy Burton Originally published in American Lutherie #90, 2007 I Spoke to the many-faceted Kenny Hill at the 2006 GAL Convention in Tacoma. The previous evening he played Bach’s Toccata, Adagio, and Fugue in C on the magnificent Fritts organ in Lagerquist Hall to a very appreciative audience. How was it that you decided to treat us to a demonstration on the organ? What an opportunity! I’ve played since I was about ten. My dad taught me and I did a little child-prodigy year, when I was ten or eleven years old. On a church organ? Yeah; in a Baptist church. My dad was real involved in church, and he made us be real involved for our growing-up time. But it wasn’t until college that I got excited about pipe organ. I had learned guitar and played Dylan songs and other stuff. But then I heard the pipe organ and the music of Bach. I thought, “I can really understand that. I can relate to that.” It led to a tremendous amount of work, but I figured that’s what you had to do. 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 January 13, 2025May 14, 2025 by Dale Phillips Castles in Spain Castles in Spain Making a Classical Guitar with José Romanillos by Stephen Frith Originally published in American Lutherie #72, 2002 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Six, 2013 José and Liam Romanillos, with the help of Gerhard Oldiges, Tobias Braun, and Big Pep Milos, have shared their methods and ideas openly at a two-week guitar making master class each of the past two summers. I was lucky to be able to attend both sessions, held in the monastery of the Hermanos Maristas in Sigüenza, a medieval town in Spanish Castile. I couldn’t write down all that is available for the student at Sigüenza, but I will try to describe particularly the top-arching system. I used it in my own workshop for a year, then went back to find a few more pieces of the puzzle. Imagine a flat top of European spruce about 2.5MM thick cut exactly with the long-grain fibers, and exactly quartered all across. This guitar top is cut so that it fits within the ribs, and is then adjusted to the flexibility required. The edges of the lower bout are thinned further again to a flexibility all of which reflects the description of the work of Torres in José’s book Antonio de Torres Guitar Maker — His Life & Work. 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 July 8, 2024May 2, 2025 by Dale Phillips Meet the Maker: Michael Darnton Meet the Maker: Michael Darnton by Jonathon Peterson Originally published in American Lutherie #27, 1991 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Three, 2004 How did your lutherie career get started? I started playing cello when I was in 6th grade and immediately got more interested in the instrument than I was in the playing. When I was about twelve years old I got some money for Christmas from my grandmother. The very next day I ran out and bought Heron-Allen’s Violin Making, As It Was and Is, which I had spotted at a local bookstore. I talked to my mother a couple of weeks ago and she told me that she took one look at the book and thought, “This is a waste of money! He’s never going to do anything with it. It’s much too complex.” But she was wrong. I really surprised her. It took awhile to get around to it, though. Five or six years later I bought a piece of wood and some tools. I started a violin, but I didn’t get very far. I just put the whole thing aside. 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 July 7, 2024June 12, 2025 by Dale Phillips Violin Q&A, Part One Violin Q&A, Part One by George Manno Originally published in American Lutherie #9, #10, #11, 1987 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000 In the last year I have received many letters concerning the repair articles I have written for American Lutherie. For the most part, the writers have thanked me for my willingness to share with the membership. Along with the comments on past articles, there are always a few questions asking my opinion about what to use or where to buy, and so on. I’d like to share some of those questions, along with my replies. No matter what I use to polish a violin, it never seems to clean it completely. Do you have any suggestions? I have never found a product that cleans as well as polishes, although many manufacturers claim that their product will do both. Taking into consideration the instrument’s age, type of varnish, and how dirty it is, there are a number of cleaning products that you can use. Example: a French violin, ca. 1875, covered with a thin spirit varnish, with enough caked-on rosin so that ridges have formed on either side of the fingerboard. 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.
