Posted on July 31, 2026July 31, 2026 by Dale Phillips Meet the Maker: Alan Carruth Meet the Maker: Alan Carruth by Tom Harper Originally published in American Lutherie #112, 2012 If curiosity really did kill the cat, the cat should have talked things over with Alan Carruth before the situation got so desperate. Alan has been curious all his life and has not only survived, but thrives on it. Fortunately for us, Alan’s curiosity has been regularly applied to the musical instrument world for around forty years and he likes to share what he learns. He has been actively involved with the Guild for at least thirty years, researches musical acoustics, teaches lutherie, produced a DVD demonstrating his method of free plate tuning, and can be found providing lots of information in various Internet venues for instrument builders. He also produces a line of imaginary tools, but you will need to go to his website to learn more about them. I got a chance to sit down with Alan several times during the last GAL Convention to find out more about what makes him tick. Tell us a little about your formative musical interests? I mostly listened to classical music as a kid, but like lots of other people, I got interested in folk music when the ’60s folk scare happened. That’s when I got my first guitar, which was a cheap nylon-string Japanese import called a Howard, named after the son of the guy who imported it. I wanted a guitar with nylon strings because that’s what Paul of Peter, Paul, and Mary played. Or was that Peter? I can never keep those guys straight. 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 22, 2026June 22, 2026 by Dale Phillips Meet the Maker: Géza Burghardt Meet the Maker: Géza Burghardt by Cindy Burton Originally published in American Lutherie #61, 2000 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Six, 2013 I met Géza and his wife and business partner, Tini, at the 1998 GAL Convention in Tacoma. I’d been hearing about him for several years and was really looking forward to our chat. Three hours whizzed by as Géza told his remarkable story, a true immigrant success story. He, Tini, and their young daughter Eszter arrived in Vancouver, B.C. in 1988 with little more than the shirts on their backs. They spoke very little English. Twelve years later they have a thriving lutherie business, a beautiful shop, and a comfortable life. What follows is Géza’s story in his own words. I was fourteen years old when I became an apprentice in a special woodworking school in Hungary for three years to become a pattern maker. This is an extremely complicated job requiring great precision. We were taught to do everything by hand. We were not allowed to use any power machines, not even a grinder to grind the chisels. After you were done with a job it was sent to a special room for checking. There was no tolerance — not even a tenth of a millimeter. They’d send it back and you’d have to fix it, and your salary went down. 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 18, 2026June 18, 2026 by Dale Phillips Steaming Hide Glue and Laminating Ribs Steaming Hide Glue and Laminating Ribs by James Ham from his 2011 GAL Convention workshop Originally published in American Lutherie #109, 2012 I make double basses, and I also do a lot of instrument restoration and repair. My glue of choice for both new work and restoration is hot hide glue. You guitar makers need to take your Titebond and throw it in that bin over there and learn to use hide glue. (laughter, applause) It will make your guitars better. Hot hide glue has a very short working time. I used to clamp the joint dry and without glue, then section-by-section I’d loosen the clamps and insert a little bit of glue. Then I thought, what if I put the glue on first and let it dry, then go along and add a little hot water? Not boiling water, but hotter than tap water — enough to resoften the glue. That worked, and I did many instruments that way, but it was still messy, and loosening the clamps could allow things to slip out of position. One day I went into a vacuum cleaner repair store and saw a steamer, and thought, “Hmmm. What could I do with that?” (laughs) And history was made. What I do now is to use that steamer to reactivate hide glue that was applied earlier to both surfaces and allowed to dry. 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 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 May 22, 2026May 22, 2026 by Dale Phillips Peg Shapers That You Can Adjust Peg Shapers That You Can Adjust by David Golber Originally published in American Lutherie #96, 2008 There are two meanings of the word “adjustable.” One is that you loosen some screws, and some part becomes moveable. Then, if you have superhuman fineness of hand and eye, you can put that part in exactly the right place, and then tighten the screws — hoping that tightening the screws won’t move the part out of place again! The other meaning of “adjustable” is that ordinary human beings can get the part into the right place. Photo 1 shows the usual kind of peg shaper on the right. You loosen the screws that hold a blade and then somehow get the blade to exactly the right spot. Some people use these; they don’t work for me. On the left is one of my peg shapers. The crucial difference is the adjusting nuts, which allow mere mortals to actually adjust the thing. 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.
