Posted on May 21, 2020May 21, 2025 by Dale Phillips South American Rosewood South American Rosewood by John Jordan Originally published in American Lutherie #4, 1985 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000 See also, African Rosewood by John Jordan Rosewoods are among the most beautiful of all woods. Although they are native to tropical and semitropical climates around the world, we will deal in this article with those native to Central and South America. They are typically hard, very dense, and often resinous woods weighing 50–80 lb./cu. ft. One cubic foot (cu. ft.) is equal to 12 bd. ft. Because of their weight, they are expensive to ship; consequently the number of South American rosewoods available to the wood market in the U.S. will be greater than the number of African or Asian varieties due to our proximity to South and particularly Central America. To quickly dispel some misconceptions: rosewood trees do not produce rose-like flowers, nor are they close relatives of the Rosecae (flowering rose) family. The name rosewood is derived from the fact that the wood, especially when fresh cut, exudes a rose-like scent. Several varieties of rosewoods were being exported for furniture, fine cabinetry, musical instruments, fine carving, and turnery long before botanical identification was established in the tropics. A Swedish botanist named Nicholas Dalberg (1735–1820) was credited with discovering that these rosewoods were close botanical relatives, hence the genus is named Dalbergia. The genus Dalbergia has over 300 species. I have gathered information on over 100 species, 15 of which, including the most popular ones, are represented here. 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 May 21, 2020May 21, 2025 by Dale Phillips World Outlook, a Merchant’s View World Outlook, a Merchant’s View by Michael Gurian Originally published in Guild of American Luthiers Quarterly, Volume 7 #3, 1979 and Lutherie Woods and Steel String Guitars, 1997 Editor’s Note: The following article was distilled from Michael Gurian’s 1979 GAL Convention lecture. At that time Mr. Gurian was perhaps the leading lutherie wood supplier in the country. The update which follows it is from a 1995 interview with Michael Gurian by David Hill. Availability. How much wood is really left? My answer is there are weak areas, but there is still wood. Everyone knows about the Brazilian rosewood situation. Some people swear Brazil still has mountains and mountains of rosewood that’s not been cut. There is, but it’s not the true Brazilian rosewood. The availability of Indian rosewood is a little shaky right now and becoming more and more limited. That species of Indian grows in other parts of the world, so I figure the supply of Indian will continue for a number of years. Hundreds and hundreds of species of good quality rosewood can be had for instruments. It’s just a matter of letting people know which are good and which are bad and how available from which country. 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 27, 2019May 26, 2025 by Dale Phillips Top 40 Wood List Top 40 Wood List by Nicholas Von Robison previously published in Lutherie Woods and Steel String Guitars, 1994 See also, “Taxonomy and Nomenclature” by Nicholas Von Robison “Glossary of Basic Wood Terms” by Nicholas Von Robison The contemporary luthier can be said to be either in a bind or in a unique evolutionary position, depending on one’s point of view. In the following list of lutherie woods, many will be noted as banned, extinct, prohibited, embargoed, unavailable, and/or expensive. In many cases I have listed viable alternative woods to replace the traditional species based on my own knowledge, education, experience, and on the advice, suggestions, and experience of respected, reputable wood specialists, dealers, and luthiers. While many species can be freely exchanged or adopted in place of the traditional woods of beauty and adornment, those that fall into the category of replacements for traditional resonant woods must be tried without any assurance or guarantee that musicians will accept these alternative woods. The acceptability of a wood species for the production of stringed musical instruments is largely dictated by the traditional practices and materials handed down through centuries. Many of the favored wood species are those that were available in commerce not only to the luthier but to the European furniture craftsmen as well. It can be very difficult for the luthier to obtain acceptance of new materials by the end user, the musician. The musician expects to hear a certain sound from an instrument, and any variation from that sound, as well as any variation in physical appearance, is suspect. In view of this, the chances of obtaining musical acceptance for instruments built with nontraditional woods has been slim in the past. 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 January 6, 2010May 20, 2025 by Dale Phillips Review: The Luthier’s Mercantile Catalog for Stringed Instrument Makers Review: The Luthier’s Mercantile Catalog for Stringed Instrument Makers Reviewed by Frederick Battershell Originally published in American Lutherie #4, 1985 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000 The Luthier’s Mercantile Catalog for Stringed Instrument Makers The Luthier’s Mercantile P.O. Box 774, 412 Moore Lane Healdsburg, CA 95448 $19.50 + $3.50 (1999) If confession is good for one’s soul, then I must come forward and confess: I am an unabashed bibliophile! Yup! My library/bedroom is piled from floor to ceiling with books, catalogs, brochures, broadsides... anything at all connected (even remotely) with instrument making, music theory, cooking, philosophy, woodworking, boat building, toolmaking, and on and on. These are read and reread; each time they yield small portions of knowledge, personal insight, and genuine enjoyment. While I’m on the subject of genuine enjoyment, let me tell you about The Luthier’s Mercantile Catalog for Stringed Instrument Makers. Here is either a book that wants to be a catalog, or a catalog that wants to be a book. The staff at TLM deserve a loud bravo! for their combined efforts at getting this catalog together in a thoroughly enjoyable and readable format. 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 January 6, 2010May 20, 2025 by Dale Phillips Review: The Luthiers Mercantile Catalog for Stringed Instrument Makers Review: The Luthiers Mercantile Catalog for Stringed Instrument Makers Reviewed by Cyndy Burton Originally published in American Lutherie #29, 1992 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Three, 2004 The Luthiers Mercantile Catalog for Stringed Instrument Makers Luthiers Mercantile, 1990. 216 pp. At our 1990 GAL Convention in Tacoma, the word was floating around that the much anticipated new Luthiers Mercantile Catalog would soon be out. A prototype version lay on the exhibit table along with some great wood bargains. I remember I was particularly interested in the cutaway modification for the Universal Wood-Bending Machine, having recently built mine from the kit and thinking how great it would be to be able to do cutaways with the ease of just “normal” bending. So I peeked at Mark Campellone’s description and drawings for modifying the machine to do cutaways. This expanded information on the Universal Wood-Bending Machine (along with several other tips/improvements for the machine) is typical of how the “new” catalog is different from the old one. It’s better. Most of the old photographs are still there and many new ones have been added. The old catalog is simply used as a core for updating and expanding based at least partly on feedback from the people who buy and use LM tools and woods. (It has the feel of a GAL publication in that regard.) 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.
