Posted on February 19, 2026February 19, 2026 by Dale Phillips Three Flattop Acoustic Basses Three Flattop Acoustic Basses by Graham McDonald Originally published in American Lutherie #113, 2013 Gerard Gilet, Jim Williams, and myself were each building guitars in Sydney, Australia back in 1988. As it happened, we all received orders for acoustic bass guitars around the same time. None of us had ever built one previously. Remember, this was twenty-five years ago. There was not much information available — none of this modern interweb stuff — so there was a bit of discussion back and forth about the best approach to take. American Lutherie editor Tim Olsen had written an article in AL#9 (GAL Plan #13) on acoustic bass guitars and this had been followed by several more articles in AL#12 including one from Harry Fleishman. All of these articles can also be found in The Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One. Harry’s article included a photo and diagram of a delightfully asymmetrical body design which I promptly appropriated. (I did retrospectively seek permission when I met Harry at a GAL Convention some years later.) These articles provided at least a starting point for our instruments. All three basses were finished about the same time, so we thought it might be useful to do some comparisons. I came across these few pages of handwritten notes recently and thought our observations might be useful to others who might be working on similar projects. All were about the same size (i.e., as big as possible) and made of similar materials — Sitka spruce soundboard and Tasmanian blackwood (acacia melanoxylon) body. The main difference between the instruments was the method of soundboard bracing. 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 15, 2026January 15, 2026 by Dale Phillips A Flattop Mandolin Resurrection A Flattop Mandolin Resurrection by John Calkin Originally published in American Lutherie #86, 2006 I don't see a lot of mandolins in my repair shop. There aren’t nearly as many out there as there are guitars, and they don’t seem to suffer the same affects of time and abuse as guitars, perhaps just because it is easier to put them up and out of the way. Archtop mandolins are especially strong and seem to live forever despite cracked plates and loose joinery. Flattop mandolins are a different matter. The combination of a flat top and a lot of down tension on the bridge is a recipe for failure. This particular mandolin, an Alrite Army-Navy style by Gibson, came to the Huss & Dalton shop. H&D only repairs H&Ds, but they kindly shuffle other repairs to me. The Alrite, a WWI-era instrument, had a cracked and caved top and some separation of the back. A rectangle of thin plywood about the size of a business card had been wedged between the top and the back just behind the soundhole to help support the top. The action was playable and the instrument tuned to pitch. It sounded OK but was quiet. Other than the mentioned defects, it was in pretty fair shape. A nice mosaic purfling ran around the top, and the rosette matched the purfling. I felt that the mandolin was a candidate for restoration. The only problem was that I didn’t want to do it. I put a quick repair estimate on it of $400–$450, which probably matched the value of the instrument. I sent it back downstairs with the recommendation that it be left alone. I never met the owner. 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 January 19, 2010September 10, 2025 by Dale Phillips Questions: Typical Instrument Dimensions Questions: Typical Instrument Dimensions by R.M. Mottola Originally published in American Lutherie #83, 2005 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Seven, 2015 Jacob Tarnowski from cyberspace asks: I am a CAD drafter. I found the object library in the computer program I am using is sadly deficient in musical instruments, and so I was wondering if you could let me know who to contact to get some typical instrument dimensions for guitars (acoustic and electric), mandolins, violins, and so on. Are there books you’d recommend, or any manufacturers who may be willing to provide such information? R.M. Mottola of Newton, Massachusetts responds: The short answer is, unfortunately, that there is no short answer. To my knowledge there is no comprehensive source for dimensional info. Which of the many sources to go to would depend on just how accurate you need to get. There are a smattering of sources for CAD models, but these vary in level of detail, accuracy, and file format. 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.
