Posted on June 12, 2026June 12, 2026 by Dale Phillips Let’s Catch Up With Graham Caldersmith Let's Catch Up With Graham Caldersmith by Juan Oscar Azaret Originally published in American Lutherie #132, 2017 Hop on a plane in Boston. Fly twenty-seven hours to Sydney, then connect on a prop plane to Port Macquarie on the coast of New South Wales. Rent a car (no, the steering wheel is not on that side, dummy), and drive 60KM southwest. (Stay to the left, the left, the LEFT!) Oops, here comes a traffic circle — drive around clockwise, cars on your right have the right of way, remember to exit left, and stay left. Why is that left wheel always grabbing the shoulder... where the heck is it, anyway? Now out of the city (whew!) and on beautiful Australian farmland — rolling green hills in the mild August winter. Past the logging town of Wauchope and the hamlet of Byabarra. The road narrows to a winding switchback climb up the steep slopes of Bago Bluff, and finally we find ourselves on a high plateau of rich farmland in the town of Comboyne, NSW, population two hundred. Comboyne is the home of luthier Graham Caldersmith and his partner Angela MacPherson (Photo 1). On a recent trip to visit our son in Australia, I took the time to spend a delightful day with Graham and Angela in their enchanting home/workshop/tea house where I learned much about lutherie and acoustics, and enjoyed their wonderful hospitality. 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 17, 2026April 17, 2026 by Dale Phillips Restoring Tárrega’s 1888 Torres Restoring Tárrega’s 1888 Torres by Jeffrey R. Elliott from his 2004 GAL Convention lecture Originally published in American Lutherie #83, 2005 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Seven, 2015 It was a privilege and an honor to restore this 1888 Antonio de Torres classical guitar, which is the centerpiece of a wonderful collection owned by Sheldon Urlik of Los Angeles, California. Identified as SE 114 in Antonio de Torres Guitar Maker — His Life and Work by José Romanillos, this guitar has great historical significance, not only because it was made by Antonio de Torres, but because it was owned by the great guitarist, composer, and pedagogue Francisco Tárrega. Before I began any work, I consulted with luthier and historian José L. Romanillos of Guijosa, Spain, for his expertise on Torres guitars and also reread his comprehensive book, which is the primary source of the historical information that follows. In addition, I consulted with luthier John F. Mello of Berkeley, California, for his restoration experience on Torres guitars and both previous owner Elias Barreiro of New Orleans, Louisiana, and the present owner Sheldon Urlik for their knowledge of the history of this guitar. 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 7, 2026April 7, 2026 by Dale Phillips Classical Guitar Setup Classical Guitar Setup by Kevin Aram from his 2014 GAL Convention workshop Originally published in American Lutherie #132, 2017 Thank you for turning out. I appreciate it. I put on this natty little microphone and now I feel like Dolly Parton at Glastonbury — without, of course, the rhinestones. (laughter) Bringing one of my guitars with me wasn’t possible, so a couple days ago I bought a guitar in Seattle for demo purposes. It’s brand new, cost about $300, is mass-produced in China, and has a solid top. Because I want to talk about setup from different angles, I’ll use this guitar, and assume you are interested in building new guitars and repairing older ones as well. To me, setting up a classical guitar means making it play as easily and as in tune as possible, and to make it sound as good as possible. And, most importantly, it must meet the player’s satisfaction. If you’re making a guitar for yourself, you just make it to suit you. Obviously, if you are making guitars for other people, then you have to take into account the way they play. Some people want a guitar that is harder to play. They’ve got a strong technique and they physically need to dig into the strings when they play. No two players are the same, so no two setups are the same. It’s a very personal thing. It’s a balance; on one side is “ease of playing” and on the other “tone” or “quality of sound.” Basically, the higher the action on the guitar, the harder it is to play and the more volume it will produce — all things being equal. The lower the action, the easier it is to play, the quieter it will be, and it will be more prone to buzzing and problems in the sound. 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 June 6, 2024May 14, 2025 by Dale Phillips Google Calculator and the Guitar’s Magic Number Google Calculator and the Guitar’s Magic Number by William Leirer Originally published in American Lutherie #96, 2008 Since the frequency of the octave note at fret 12 is two times the frequency of the open string, the fret positions can be determined by finding a number that can be multiplied by itself 12 times to get 2. That’s the guitar’s magic number: the 12th root of 2. In one form or another, it is a part of every calculation related to scales, fret placement, intonation, compensation, and much more. When Google perceives an entry in its search field to be math, it switches from search mode to calculator mode and displays the answer. Any calculator can solve a math problem, and there are plenty of online fret calculators. But with Google Calculator we can view the entire equation at once and see the effect of substituting one part at a time, helping us to understand the “why” behind the numbers. 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 August 11, 2021May 16, 2025 by Dale Phillips Taking the Guitar Beyond Equal Temperament Taking the Guitar Beyond Equal Temperament by Don Musser Originally published in American Lutherie #30, 1991 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Three, 2004 If someone were to tell you that the simple C chord you just played on your perfectly intonated, handmade guitar was in fact significantly out of tune with itself, you might have a few doubts and perhaps some curiosity about just what he was talking about. If that person were Mark Rankin and he happened to have his little Martin set up with the just intonation, key-of-C fretboard, and you compared a C chord on that guitar to the C chord on your guitar, instead of doubts and curiosity you would have something else: the beginning of a revelation, a revelation not only about the guitar itself, but about the foundation of the music we play on it. Back in 1987, David Ouellette, a Eugene, Oregon musician for whom I had built several guitars in the early 1980s called and wanted a new, unconventional instrument built. It was to be a special guitar with magnetic interchangeable fretboards having staggered frets set up for alternative tunings of the scale steps within the octave. The standard guitar fretboard we all play on is based on the equal-tempered scale where the octave is divided into twelve equal half-step intervals. This equal division of the octave is good in that it allows modulation from key to key without intolerable dissonance. Its drawback, though, is that the scale intervals are tempered, i.e., harmonically inaccurate and slightly out of tune with one another. 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.
