Posted on January 8, 2026January 13, 2026 by Dale Phillips Harvey Thomas and the Infernal Music Machine Harvey Thomas and the Infernal Music Machine by Tim Olsen Originally published in American Lutherie #11, 1987 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie, Volume 1, 2000 Remember what the term “Japanese guitar” used to mean, back when beatniks roamed the earth and Elvis was still kinda nasty? The Beatles hadn’t landed and I was in the third grade when my big brother Jim brought home a brand new Japanese guitar. Loosely modeled after a classic, it was already caving in from the load of its steel strings. You don’t see them like this anymore, man. Painted-on binding, decal rosette, door skin luan plywood, basswood (or worse) neck, nice sharp ends on those rough brass frets. I was totally fascinated! But the word fascination found new meaning a year later when my even bigger brother Dick came home from college with what might as well have been the Messiah Strad. It was a very plain, small bodied New York era Epiphone archtop with a badly repaired crack running the full length of the soundboard, and he had bought it cheap in a pawn shop. The hand of mortal man never created such perfection. This was a gift from the angels! Oh, the lovely dissonances that it spoke as I whanged it with a juice glass slide! When Dick was begged, he would strum “Who Put the Overalls in Mrs. Murphy’s Chowder.” 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 October 10, 2025October 10, 2025 by Dale Phillips Production Techniques for the Custom Luthier Production Techniques for the Custom Luthier by Charles Fox from his 2011 GAL Convention workshop Originally published in American Lutherie #110, 2012 Tim Olsen: It’s my pleasure to introduce Charles Fox, America’s lutherie teacher number one. Charles, didn’t you used to teach in yurts? (laughter) There weren’t many lutherie teachers in America during the early ’70s. Charles has a lot of credits, but to me, the credit that beats all others is that this is the guy who taught Fred Carlson. That means a lot to me. So please welcome Charles Fox. (applause) Charles Fox: Yes, I am proud of Fred. In fact, I’m proud of so many people who have been through my classes. How many here have spent time with me? Wow, look at that. You’ve gotten so old. (laughter) I arrived late yesterday, and John Greven was just finishing his talk. I went up in the back and looked down, and all I saw was bald and gray. (laughter) We’ve got to do something to get more young people into the field. The way guitar making is evolving suggests a glorious future, but if a new group of people doesn’t come along to take it over, it might have just been a moment in history. Today I’m going to discuss and demonstrate some practical approaches to being more prolific luthiers. Many processes that make guitar making relatively easy, efficient, accurate, and consistent in a production situation can be adapted to the needs of the creative custom builder. Having been in both worlds, I can tell you that there’s a lot you can do to become more efficient without compromising quality. 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 22, 2025 by Dale Phillips Letter: Thicknessing Router Article in AL#101 – Surfacing Bit Letter: Thicknessing Router Article in AL#101 - Surfacing Bit by John Park Originally published in American Lutherie #102, 2010 Tim, Since the thicknessing router article (AL#101, p. 58) was written, a friend has tried using a 1" surfacing bit. It has blades on the bottom, much like an auger, which seems to have the trait of lifting the wood. I think it has a propeller action that creates a suction problem. In my opinion, using a cutter like that defeats the purpose. A straight bit cuts the end grain and so can disregard runout and figure. There will always be a slight suction due to the velocity of the air over the top surface being higher than the air under the wood. This is Bernoulli’s Principle which is what gives wings lift. I use a 3/4" straight bit and I’ve yet to encounter enough lift to make a significant error at a dimension of about 2MM or .080". Using this device to give less thickness than that could cause problems because the span from the hold-down remains fixed while the stiffness drops as the cube of the thickness. In other words, making veneer would not be practical. 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 30, 2024May 12, 2025 by Dale Phillips The Great White Sitka The Great White Sitka by Jeffrey R. Elliott Originally published in American Lutherie #32, 1992 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Three, 2004 In February 1992 friend and fellow luthier John Sullivan and I drove from Portland, Oregon to Elma, Washington to pay a hands-on visit to Steve McMinn’s Pacific Rim Tonewoods, Inc. (The business has since relocated in Bellingham, Washington.) We went for the experience. Steve suggested we bring some rugged clothing and a camera. We discovered why when we arrived to the incredible sight of a gigantic Sitka log 26' long by 11' across at the larger end. A great white whale came to mind. The photos tell the story. For the next couple days, my body reminded me I’d had a real workout. But it felt good because it reminded me of what a great time we had and how fortunate we were to have a hand in turning this huge spruce log into top wood. Steve’s whole operation is very well thought out, very organized, and a pleasant place to work. He’s obviously committed to producing high quality instrument woods and nothing is wasted. This experience also gave me an appreciation for how much work goes into producing one top and why “ideal” tops are so rare. ◆ 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 June 30, 2024May 14, 2025 by Dale Phillips Construction of the Colombian Tiple Construction of the Colombian Tiple by Anamaria Paredes Garcia and R.M. Mottola Originally published in American Lutherie #90, 2007, Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Three, 2004 American Lutherie #82 featured an article and plan for the Colombian tiple by Bogotá luthier Alberto Paredes. This is a companion article to that one, featuring a detailed description of how the tiple is constructed in Sr. Paredes’ shop. The design of the tiple is heavily influenced by that of the classical guitar, but as it was not directly descended from the classical, this instrument has unique characteristics. With its multiple courses of steel strings, the construction of the tiple has to be able to withstand much higher static string tension than a classical guitar. The top is cut from bookmatched spruce, nominally 3MM thick. The two halves are generally cut out on the bandsaw at the same time, as shown in Photo 1. The center seam edges are jointed, first on the jointer (Photo 2). Following machine jointing the top halves are finished up on the shooting board using a hand plane. Note that the halves are simply pressed by hand to hold them down on the board during shooting (Photo 3). Glue is applied to the center seam surfaces (Photo 4) which are then clamped using simple cauls to a flat, waxed gluing board (Photo 5). Once the glue is dry the squeeze-out is stripped off the back side of the top. 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.
