Posted on June 6, 2024May 23, 2025 by Dale Phillips Questions: Info on D’Angelico Questions: Info on D'Angelico by Linda Manzer and John Monteleone Originally published in American Lutherie #96, 2008 John Langdon from the Internet asks: I’m quite obsessed with D’Angelico and D’Aquisto guitars, and there are not many sources of info besides the GAL and the wonderful book Paul Schmidt wrote. Would you happen to know the maker of those elusive violin maker’s planes James D’Aquisto had? In one of the GAL books he said they were made by a company in Boston. Do you know if John D’Angelico used a jointer or a hand plane to join his plates? I’m also trying to find out more about the nitrocellulose finish D’Aquisto used. I’m curious if his finishes were alcohol based or not. Do you know if he had any preference for any specific brand of finish or colors? Linda Manzer from Toronto, Canada responds: I used the hand planes in question when I worked in D’Aquisto’s shop in 1983. I made copies of those planes for myself and sold a limited number of them a few years back as well. I plan to resume making them in the near future. They are fantastic. 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 23, 2025 by Dale Phillips Questions: Parlor Guitar Plans Questions: Parlor Guitar Plans by Walter Carter Originally published in American Lutherie #90, 2007 ■ Robert W. from the Internet asks: I have been looking on the web for plans for a parlor guitar with floating bridge and tailpiece rather than a pin bridge. Can’t find them. Any ideas? Could you tell me the names of some of the instruments that used this construction so I can look them up? Walter Carter of Nashville replies: I don’t know of any published plans for parlor guitars with floating bridges. Haynes would be the most commonly seen vintage examples, although they are rare. I came across some others in catalogs from Lyon & Healy, from the early 1900s. One catalog is for distributors. It says nothing about L&H but the guitars are clearly theirs, under such models/brands as Jupiter, Columbus, Lakeside, and Marquette. All are cheap ($7–$13) and all have a simple stamped metal tailpiece. From the same general period, another catalog has Lyon & Healy brand College Line guitars with the same cheap tailpieces, priced $3.50–$10. ◆ Christopher D. Tallon provided this picture of the body of an 1856 Haynes guitar with the back off and the center reinforcing strut removed. Photo by Christopher D. Tallon. A catalog illustration of a Jupiter guitar by Lyon & Healy.
Posted on June 6, 2024May 27, 2025 by Dale Phillips Questions: Round Shouldered Dreadnought Questions: Round Shouldered Dreadnought by Mark Swanson Originally published in American Lutherie #90, 2007 Graeme Hugh Langley from the Internet asks: Does anyone know if there is a set of plans available for a round-shouldered dreadnought guitar such as a J-45 or J-50 Gibson style? Mark Swanson of Grand Rapids, Michigan replies: I assisted Jamie Unden of Guitar Plans Unlimited (www.guitarplansunlimited.com) with a plan for just such a round-shouldered dreadnought guitar. I had an early ’50s Gibson J-45 in my shop, so I measured and detailed as much as I was able and sent the information to Jamie, who drew up the plan. It’s available, along with many others that can’t be found elsewhere, on his website. ◆
Posted on June 6, 2024May 28, 2025 by Dale Phillips Letter: NMM Opens Gudelsky Gallery Letter: NMM Opens Gudelsky Gallery by The National Music Museum Originally published in American Lutherie #82, 2005 GAL members — The National Music Museum on the campus of The University of South Dakota in Vermillion, South Dakota, will celebrate the 500th birthday of Andrea Amati, in whose workshop in Cremona, Italy, the form of the instruments of the violin family as we know them today first crystallized, by hosting an international conference — The Secrets, Lives, and Violins of the Great Cremona Makers 1505–1744, Friday–Monday, July 1–4, 2005. The program brings together individuals who have been at the forefront of archival research in Cremona, amidst some of the earliest, best preserved, and historically most important instruments known to survive. Presenters include Carlo Chiesa, John Dilworth, Andrew Dipper, Roger Hargrave, and Duane Rosengard. The event is being coordinated by Claire Givens (Minneapolis), a NMM Trustee. Major underwriting is being provided by four prominent American violin dealers: Chris Reuning (Boston), Jim Warren (Chicago), Bob Bein and Geoffrey Fushi (Chicago), and David Kerr (Portland). Registration forms and housing information are available on the NMM website. 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 23, 2025 by Dale Phillips Letter: Public School Lutherie Class Letter: Public School Lutherie Class by Glen Friesen Originally published in American Lutherie #91, 2007 Dear Tim, I am a high school industrial arts teacher at Waldheim School Industrial Arts. Waldheim is a small community of about a thousand people located about thirty-five miles north of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, in the heart of the Canadian prairies. I have constructed electric guitars and basses with students for years, but this year one of my 12th grade students, Trevor Boehm, completed our shop’s first steel string guitar. Traditional woods were used: mahogany, Sitka spruce, and ebony. Trevor added a number of personal touches such as using abalone for the peghead inlays, rosette, and pick guard; cocobolo and poplar purfling and binding; and a Tru-Oil finish. This is not a kit guitar. Each of the pieces was cut from larger dimensional stock. What makes this project even more amazing is that it was constructed in a multi-activity shop environment. Oxyacetylene and plasma cutting, arc and MIG welding, several furniture projects, and two electric guitars were all being done in the same small shop while Trevor was constructing his guitar. This is Trevor’s third guitar. His 10th grade project was a 6-string electric, and in 11th grade he designed and constructed a unique electric baritone guitar. Trevor will be graduating in June and hopes to explore a career in lutherie. Both photos by Glen Friesen Trevor’s steel string guitar marks the culmination of several years of planning and jig construction. We were really excited to hear the first notes from it. In my opinion, he did an exceptional job. The steel string is now a project that students can choose to attempt if they desire. All of this would have been a lot more difficult if I had not had access to your publications. I just felt that I needed to thank you. ◆
