Posted on July 1, 2024July 9, 2024 by Dale Phillips Violin Q&A, Part Three Violin Q & A, Part Three by Michael Darnton Originally published in American Lutherie #25–#33, 1991–1993 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Three, 2004 What can you tell me about the violin in these pictures? When I look at these pictures I see several things: ▶ The outline of the back has high shoulders and is pointed under the button. ▶ The upper corner blocks are missing; the lower ones are fakes. ▶ The grain of the top converges strongly towards the ends of the top and the upper block does not fit against the top. ▶ The insides of the ribs are marked with tracks from a circular saw used to resaw them out of solid wood. ▶ The neck has been held on with a screw through the top block. ▶ There is an idiosyncratic bass bar. 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 14, 2025 by Dale Phillips Meet the Maker: Bernard Millant Meet the Maker: Bernard Millant by Jonathon Peterson Originally published in American Lutherie #86, 2006 In 1973 I was a dance student at Juilliard, in New York. One of the best parts of going to school there was walking past the practice rooms and hearing some of the finest student musicians in the world at their work. One day I passed a couple of violin students who were inspecting a bow that one of them had recently acquired. I heard the other student gasp, “How much? $2,400?? I can’t believe it! What a deal!” I was living hand-to-mouth, and I was shocked. I knew that fine violins were expensive, but $2,400 in 1973 dollars for a hank of hair and a stick? Then the blinding light of stupidity hit me, and I realized that without a bow there is no violin, no cello, no viola, no orchestra, and none of the musical literature which relies so heavily on those instruments. I have been curious about bow construction ever since. Paul Schuback hosted the 2004 Violin Society of America Meeting and Competition in Portland, Oregon. When he invited me to attend and gave me the opportunity to meet Bernard Millant, an internationally recognized authority in the field of bow making, I jumped at the chance. Mr. Millant was both lecturing and judging, so he was a very busy man during the conference, but he was kind enough to meet with me one evening in his hotel room and tell me a little about his life in the craft. 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 Aluminum Sonatas: A Brief History of Aluminum Stringed Instruments in the Last 120 Years Aluminum Sonatas: A Brief History of Aluminum Stringed Instruments in the Last 120 Years by James Condino Originally published in American Lutherie #89, 2007 Over the last two decades I have had the fortunate circumstances to be able to spend my winters in the shop building instruments and my summers outside playing in some of the world’s great rivers and mountain ranges. In preparation for my second 300-mile river trip through the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River, we made plans to include a five-piece band. I searched for a 3/4-sized standup bass that would resonate through the halls of Redwall Cavern and yet withstand the carnage of Lava Falls and the river’s other huge rapids. After a lot of searching, I discovered that during the early part of the 20th century, several different manufacturers found fame in pursuit of making incredible string instruments of aluminum, and then faded into obscurity. The Paris world trade show of 1855 unveiled the first public display of a pure aluminum ingot. Within a decade the means to cheaply extract the pure metal by electricity had resulted in wide availability of aluminum and generated great interest in its potential uses. 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 Meet the Maker: James Ham Meet the Maker: James Ham by Roger Alan Skipper Originally published in American Lutherie #102, 2010 Professional luthier James Ham operates from a shop in Victoria, British Columbia. Though he continues to repair and restore violin-family instruments and bows, he is perhaps best known for his construction of world-class double basses. Mr. Ham is a board member of the Catgut Acoustical Society and a founder of the VSA Festival of Innovation. His time and talents are in great demand, but he graciously found the time to respond to yet another inquiring writer. You’ve been involved with lutherie for a long time, and you’ve achieved some real success. Your name appears often in the upper echelons of the double bass and cello worlds, where you’re widely known as a superb craftsman and a remarkable innovator. Tell me a bit about how you started. 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 13, 2024January 22, 2025 by Dale Phillips Thoughts on Violin Setup Thoughts on Violin Setup by Don Overstreet from his 2001 GAL Convention workshop Originally published on American Lutherie #71, 2002 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Six, 2013 In a very real way, speaking here today is the realization of a dream. I came to Tim Olsen’s shop on Park Avenue years ago when he was still making guitars. One of my uncles, who lived in the area, had sent me a newspaper article about Tim’s operation. Later I attended a GAL Convention. I’m indebted to the GAL for being an inspiration for me as an instrument maker — it gives proof that it can be done. I got my start in the violin field by way of a friend in Seattle named Bill Tafoya, who ran a guitar shop there. In 1973 I told him that I wanted to make guitars. He suggested that I go in the direction of violins instead, and he thought I should contact David Saunders, who had a violin making shop on Queen Anne Hill. I called David, and although he was not taking apprentices at that time, he connected me with Peter Prier, who was just starting the Violin Making School of America in Salt Lake City. I called Peter in 1973 and finally started at the Violin Making School in 1978. I graduated in 1982. 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.
