Posted on July 1, 2024July 9, 2024 by Dale Phillips Letter: Disliking Kasha’s Criticisms Letter: Disliking Kasha’s Criticisms by Jason DuMont Originally published in American Lutherie #64, 2000 Dear Tim/Guild, In Michael Kasha’s letter in AL#62, he took what I consider a jab at Mr. Ramírez, stating that Ramírez’ 1986 article “Bars and Struts” (Big Red Book of American Lutherie, Volume One, p. 292) “show[ed] how far the luthier’s intuition can be from the mechanics of the instrument.” In typical Kasha fashion, he started with his findings that will soon be published, yada yada, yada. I also read an article in Discover magazine in which Mr. Kasha says that “a prominent builder whose design came to him in a dream, will be surprised when our findings show his guitar has no bass.” It was obvious to anyone in the lutherie community that he was talking about Thomas Humphrey’s Millennium guitar. My first instinct was to start bashing the Kasha design, his personality, and the pseudo-science behind his ideas. But it dawned on me that this is a perfect chance for me to contribute to the Guild in a positive way. You see, I’m just an amateur luthier, having built only six guitars. I’ve felt I have nothing of technical worth to offer. I am, however, a professional sales representative for the largest musical wholesaler in the country. I can offer some advice to Mr. Kasha as he tries to “sell” his design theories to other luthiers, players, and instrument brokers. Never, never criticize a competitor’s product. It is so low brow! Even if your comments are true, you come across as a negative person and negativity always repels people. If your product is superior, trust that it will speak for itself and others are smart enough to see it. For example, after reading his comments I plan on using the blueprint of the Kasha guitar that I bought from Luthiers Mercantile as a decorative cover for a computer table that I had accidentally spilled India ink on, rather than giving his ideas a go. My loss? Perhaps. But Mr. Kasha’s rudeness simply turns me off. Incidentally, seeing as how he has commented on Mr. Ramírez’ faulty intuition, I’m compelled to ask how many instruments Mr. Kasha has crafted with his own two hands to develop his superior knowledge of guitar mechanics. Surely tactile input from actually working the wood has had some place in his ground breaking theories, hasn’t it? ◆
Posted on June 30, 2024September 17, 2024 by Dale Phillips Radiation from Lower Guitar Modes Radiation from Lower Guitar Modes by Graham Caldersmith Originally published in American Lutherie #2, 1985 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie, Volume One, 2000 Since 1982 when I attended the Estes Park GAL Convention, and subsequently wrote about “Dissolving the Mysteries”1 (of guitar behavior — perhaps a presumptuous title), as a distant but faithful member of GAL, I have followed the developing discussions in the Quarterly about guitar top and back vibrations, how they are excited by the plucked strings and how they generate sound. At our January 1985 Australian Association of Musical Instrument Makers Convention (featuring strong GAL membership) the geometry of the lower vibrational modes of guitars and their appearance in the guitar frequency response records was keenly debated by practicing guitar makers, amply demonstrating luthiers’ adoption of scientific knowledge as part of their working repertoires. Tom Rossing’s contributions to GALQ2, 3 the thoughtful articles by Paul Wyszkowski4, 5, 6, 7 and the monumental “Kasha Guitar Soundboard”8 by Gila Eban, together with some detailed correspondence to me from Gila on her development of the Kasha soundboard all indicate the integration of guitar physics into guitar evolution. I think such unification of science, art, technology (and good ol’ workbench cunning) is healthy and fosters excellence. 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, 2024September 17, 2024 by Dale Phillips Mechanical Compliance for Soundboard Optimization Mechanical Compliance for Soundboard Optimization by David Hurd from his 2006 GAL Convention workshop Originally published in American Lutherie #90, 2007 People say, “You’ve got to make fifty or a hundred guitars before you get it right.” That makes me crazy. I feel that if you can do the carpentry of putting an instrument together and have idea of what it should look like, you can get 80% or 90% of the way there in terms of top optimization with a mechanical compliance approach. I build many sizes of guitars and ukuleles using different top woods. I have developed an easy method of testing the compliance of a top, that is, how far it flexes under a given force, with a simple fixture. Being able to measure and compare the compliance values has proved to be a very useful thing in optimizing these soundboards for the best sound and stability when I graduate the edges of the tops and carve the braces. After building and measuring many instruments, I have developed a mathematical model that does a very good job of estimating what the target compliance measurements should be for a given instrument size and string tension. I have integrated the model into a spreadsheet which you can use by plugging in just a few simple measurements. 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, 2024September 17, 2024 by Dale Phillips The “Corker” Guitar: A Sideport Experiment The “Corker” Guitar: A Sideport Experiment by Alan Carruth Originally published in American Lutherie #94, 2008 Over the past few years there has been something of a trend for cutting holes of various sizes and shapes in the sides of guitars. (Editor’s note: See AL#91 pp. 6–13 for more on soundports.) While a hole in the side of the guitar might or might not directly affect the way the top and back (the main sound-producing surfaces on most guitars) vibrate, it could certainly be expected to affect the vibrations of the air inside the box. I became interested in this when a customer asked if I could build a guitar with a port. Since I’m the sort of guy who likes to have a map when I’m going into new territory, I looked up what information I could find. There was a certain amount on air resonant modes, but not much treating ports, so I decided to do an experiment. 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, 2024September 17, 2024 by Dale Phillips Strings: The (Often) Forgotten Accessory Strings: The (Often) Forgotten Accessory from his 2008 GAL Convention lecture by Fan Tao Originally published in American Lutherie #101, 2010 Joseph Curtin: Some of you already know Fan as the person you talked to at D’Addario after you built a custom instrument and then realized the strings for it don’t exist. He’s also become something of a violin-string guru and a major figure in the violin world, since he not only builds violin strings at D’Addario, but is also a very passionate amateur violinist. Fan started as an electrical engineer at Cal Tech, then got drawn into violin research through his job at D’Addario. Fan started the Oberlin Acoustics Workshop, which is one of the most exciting things that’s happened in instrument research, bringing makers and researchers together. He also started the first Violin Society of America Innovation Exposition, which was a big success and really got people thinking more about innovation. He’s a wonderful person, as well. Fan Tao: Thank you. This is the first convention I’ve attended that represented lots of guitar makers. The most exciting things about working with violin makers are their passion for their craft, their creativity, and their wide range of interests. It’s good to find those same traits among guitar makers. 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.
