Posted on February 19, 2026February 19, 2026 by Dale Phillips Arched Plate Carving, Part Three: Barring the Top Plate, and Graduating the Back Plate Arched Plate Carving, Part Three: Barring the Top Plate, and Graduating the Back Plate by Chris Burt Originally published in American Lutherie #86, 2006 See also, Measuring Archtop Musical Instruments by Chris Burt Arched Plate Carving, Part One by Chris Burt Arched Plate Carving, Part Two by Chris Burt This is the final article in a series that takes you from creating your own database of instrument measurements to applying that knowledge to carving top and back plates. In AL#83 Chris described taking measurements of extant instruments. The next two articles covered joining plates, carving their outside archings, carving and graduating the inside arching of a top plate, and cutting the f-holes. Here he describes the barring and tuning of top plates and the graduation and tuning of back plates. The next step is making the bars that stiffen the top. The grace of these slender pieces hides a significant amount of work. The information described here works equally well for the bars of any carved-plate instrument, such as violin-family bass bars, mandolin-family tone bars, or archtop guitar barring. 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 Chalk-fitting Guitar Braces Chalk-fitting Guitar Braces by Stephen Marchione from his 2017 GAL Convention workshop Originally published in American Lutherie #140, 2020 First, have a plan. Know what you’re making. It seems like an obvious thing, but sometimes people start a guitar without a good idea of what the brace layout will be. When I design a new model, I’ll often get a piece of aluminum flashing and lay out a bracing template. If you’re building an historical model, you can transfer the blueprint to a template of aluminum or plexiglas. This gives you a clear idea of what your braces are supposed to be doing, and it lets you be sure that the braces end up where they were designed to go. Photo 1 is a closeup of one of my bracing templates. I use the little holes to make pencil marks on the soundboard. On a classical guitar, a lot of builders push the big harmonic bars down into the solera, or dished workboard. But that can cause distortion of the top. Even on a Spanish guitar, I take the time to chalk-fit the brace. That gives a better structure with less stress. I highly recommend it. 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 9, 2025October 9, 2025 by Dale Phillips Classical Cremonese Violin Soundhole Placement Classical Cremonese Violin Soundhole Placement by Michael Darnton Originally published in American Lutherie #76, 2003 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Seven, 2013 Several systems have been proposed to explain the layout of Cremonese violin f-holes. The only surviving pieces of evidence we have, other than the instruments themselves, are some Stradivari drawings. After passing through the possession of Stradivari’s son Paolo, and a series of Italian connoisseurs and makers, the drawings are now in the Stradivari Museum in Cremona. They are also reproduced in S.F. Sacconi’s book, The “Secrets” of Stradivari. Sacconi also provided photos of marks inside violins which corresponded to some of those in the drawings, but the details of how those drawings were generated and what actual workshop method would have been used for placing the holes on violins is unknown. I believe that some aspects of the drawings are absolutely misleading. 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 9, 2025October 9, 2025 by Dale Phillips Meet the Maker: Charles Beare Meet the Maker: Charles Beare by Jonathon Peterson Originally published in American Lutherie #82, 2005 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Seven, 2017 In the violin world, Charles Beare is one of the people whose opinion matters. His passion for instruments has inspired him to achieve an internationally recognized level of expertise. His London-based business, J&A Beare Ltd., was established in 1865, and he is the fourth generation Beare to sit at its helm. Last November he attended the Violin Society of America’s 32nd Convention to lecture and to help judge their 16th International Competition. He graciously took time out of his busy schedule there to tell me a little about his life and his love for the instruments. I don’t know if you are aware, but you have been in the pages of our journal before. Oh really? When was that? 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 9, 2025October 9, 2025 by Dale Phillips Meet the Maker: Pierre-Yves Fuchs Meet the Maker: Pierre-Yves Fuchs by Jonathon Peterson Originally published in American Lutherie #83, 2005 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Seven, 2015 I attended the 2004 Violin Society of America Convention and competition in Portland, Oregon, at the invitation of Paul Schuback, who was hosting the event. He offered to arrange interviews with internationally recognized experts Charles Beare (see p. 312) and Bernard Millant, who were there to lecture and judge the competition. However, as both men were very busy with their appointed duties, and everyone seemed to want a piece of their time, I had a lot of time to talk with participants, listen to lectures, peruse the commercial exhibit hall, and generally hang around. The commercial exhibition hall was filled with displays of instruments, tools, bows, wood, and accessories. Many of the displays were amazingly elaborate, which made the table of Swiss bow maker Pierre-Yves Fuchs stand out to me. Here was a casually dressed guy sitting behind a few bows on a black cloth, and that was about it. He didn’t seem to be getting much action, so I stopped to chat. I had to leave before the winners were announced, so I was pleased and impressed to find out that Pierre had won gold medals in all four bow categories —violin, viola, cello, and bass — and he received the honorary designation hors concours (out of competition) from the VSA. He received another gold medal in a competition in Paris two weeks later. 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.
