Posted on June 6, 2024January 16, 2025 by Dale Phillips Letter: Kenny Hill Responses in AL#98 Letter: Kenny Hill Responses in AL#98 by Alan Carruth Originally published in American Lutherie #100, 2009 Tim — I found Kenny Hill’s response (in AL#98) to R.M. Motolla’s study of ports (in AL#96) interesting. I’m not going to answer every point he made; some are more properly addressed by R.M. himself. However, there are a couple of things I would like to comment on. Kenny wrote: “I’m guessing that Al’s cool Corker was not really constructed as a concert instrument, that it does a good job at its original intended purpose but was not built to prove or disprove the validity of soundports as a useful design element.” I think the concept of what is or is not a “concert instrument” is slippery enough that we won’t settle it here. Nobody is likely to appear on the stage with something as rough as the “corker” so that in itself excludes it from that class. I will note, though, that several people, including one very fine maker, have remarked that it is at least “not bad”, and R.M. told me that most of the players had a much higher opinion of it when they were blindfolded. 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 6, 2024January 17, 2025 by Dale Phillips Questions: Scale Length Questions: Scale Length by R.M. Mottola and Tim Olsen Originally published in American Lutherie #93, 2008 Byron from the Internet asks: Is there any way to determine the scale length of an instrument from a piece of the fingerboard? I have the fingerboard from an instrument that is currently being restored. The nut end had been trimmed, I think to accommodate some kind of odd nut. The Questions column editor responds: All inter-fret distances are related to scale length, so measuring, say, the distance between the 1st and 2nd fret and then looking that up on a fret scale chart will tell you the scale length. Or measure the distance between the 7th and 19th fret (assuming the instrument has a 19th fret of course) and multiply by three. The result will be within a few hundredths of the actual scale length, close enough to identify it. American Lutherie editor Tim Olsen responds: Imagine you put a capo on the 1st fret of a functional guitar. Measure from the 1st fret (now functioning as the nut) to the 13th (now functioning as the 12th), and double that to find the mathematical bridge point. If the fretboard is still on the guitar, you can find that point near the saddle and mark it. If the fretboard is not on the guitar, you can clamp it to something, like a 2×4, and mark the bridge point on that. Now you could easily find the nut point by measuring from the newly marked bridge point back to the 12th and doubling it. Confirm it by calculating the scale and checking the position of the individual frets. ◆
Posted on June 6, 2024January 16, 2025 by Dale Phillips Questions: Stringed Instrument Tone Questions: Stringed Instrument Tone by Cyndy Burton Originally published in American Lutherie #82, 2005 Jason Kirby of cyberspace asks: I'd love to start learning how to create stringed instruments with a gorgeous tone. What advice would you give a beginner who doesn't know the first thing? Cyndy Burton of Portland, OR responds: This is still the number one question I get, and I bet lots of you get this one, too. I hope my brief answer is helpful. Go to https://luth.org/about-us/frequently-asked-questions/. Your question is answered there a couple different ways. My quick answer is that it depends on how you learn best, how quickly you want to learn, and how much time and money you have to invest. There are lots of books and videos available now that make it very possible to start on your own. Some people prefer to take a course, interact, be shown, have a teacher nearby. Schools are excellent for that, but, of course, have a bigger price tag. ◆
Posted on June 6, 2024January 15, 2025 by Dale Phillips Questions: B-String Compensation Questions: B-String Compensation by John Calkin Originally published in American Lutherie #100, 2009 Tom from Ohio asks: I built a parlor guitar for a buddy of mine and it really turned out nice... except. The B string is really sharp. This is a 12-fret guitar with a 24.9" scale length. I added 2.5MM compensation and the action is very low. I further compensated the B string as far as it would go by lengthening its point on the saddle. I’ve really never had this problem before. Is it because of the 12-fret configuration? What’s the fix? John Calkin from Greenville, Virginia replies: Cut a bit of saddle material (bone, or whatever you used) and glue it to the back of the current saddle, but only behind the B string. Let the new piece rest right on the bridge so the saddle won’t be torqued, but don’t glue it to the bridge. Level the new piece with the real saddle, then use a piece of .010" wire under the B string to find the intonation point. Mark the intonation point with a really sharp pencil, then take the saddle out of the bridge, file the bone to the correct intonation point, and use needle files to blend the new bone into the old to make it pretty. This sounds kind of strange but it works fine. In fact, I’ve used this trick to correct intonation on a whole saddle, rather than to fill the slot and recut it to a more accurate position. It’s sort of an emergency measure, but in your case it should be perfectly acceptable if you make it pretty enough. ◆
Posted on June 6, 2024January 15, 2025 by Dale Phillips Questions: Book on Acoustics Questions: Book on Acoustics by Tim White Originally published in American Lutherie #73, 2003 Lee Parks from cyberspace asks: I just need to know a good book that teaches fundamentals of acoustics for guitar construction. Tim White of New Boston, NH responds: The GAL has published many articles over the years but the only “book” I know of is the one I put together — Journal of Guitar Acoustics, from seven issues of the Journal of Guitar Acoustics, originally published between 1979 and 1982, which includes the complete collection with addenda, 700+ pages. The Evan Davis thesis bibliography alone makes it worthwhile as an entry portal to the strange world of guitar acoustics. The republished single volume has an updated bibliography and additional material. It can be ordered from me at: 146 Lull Rd., New Boston, NH 03070; 603-487-2696; tpwhiteco@aol.com; www.chrysalisguitars.com/JGA_Page.html. ◆
