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 May 21, 2020May 21, 2025 by Dale Phillips Selecting Australian Timbers Selecting Australian Timbers by Lindsay Hewson Originally published in Guild of American Luthiers Quarterly, Volume 7 #1, 1979 and Lutherie Woods and Steel String Guitars, 1997 All luthiers no matter what their nationality, have one quest that binds them together more strongly than does the maternal cord: the eternal search for the materials and timbers needed to continue their art. In Europe and America, timbers traditionally used in lutherie grow in some areas, and despite the dwindling supplies of really top-grade wood, such materials are still available from retail outlets. However, here in Australia, some additional obstacles exist. The geographic isolation of this country, combined with the relatively minute luthier population, does not present a sufficiently valid reason for the commercial importation of the traditional lutherie timbers. When someone does arrange to have some spruce or rosewoods imported in large enough quantities to be worthwhile, they are often bitterly disappointed to find that by the time the consignment arrives it has been very carefully ransacked, and the best pieces removed on the docks of the countries involved. Once again, being so far removed from the source of supply, little recall is possible without personally traveling overseas. 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 5, 2020May 19, 2025 by Dale Phillips World Forest Outlook World Forest Outlook by Nicholas Von Robison and Parry Thomas Originally published in American Lutherie #16, 1988 See also, “Acid Rain” by Nicholas Von Robison and Perry Thomas “Acid Rain Update” by Nicholas Von Robison Co-author Thomas recently returned from the World Congress of International Forestry Research Organizations (IUFRO) in Ljubjana, Yugoslavia. At that Congress two topics held the limelight: tropical forest destruction, and air pollution effects on temperate forests. Parry sent me copies of his notes and many thoughts and comments from the attendees so American Lutherie readers can see what the current state of thoughts on world forest problems are. In this article we’ll only be able to scratch the surface, but we have provided a list of organizations where anyone can learn a lot more on the subjects. GOOD GUYS OR BAD GUYS First of all, in dealing with these controversial subjects it is difficult to sort out significant facts from biased reporting. Japan, currently the scapegoat for U.S. economic woes, is generally thought to be a major force in forest destruction because of their high level of wood imports. Asiaweek magazine, for instance, comments on forest destruction in the East: “the distant, generally unseen end of the vast tangle is Japan...(whose) interests control, through intermediaries, many of the concessionairies who organize the actual logging.” 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 5, 2020May 20, 2025 by Dale Phillips Acid Rain Update Acid Rain Update by Nicholas Von Robison Originally published in American Lutherie #7, 1986 See also, “Acid Rain” by Nicholas Von Robison and Perry Thomas “World Forest Outlook” by Nicholas Von Robison and Perry Thomas In GALQ 12 #1, Perry Thomas and I co-wrote an article on how the increasing acidification of rain and snow was causing serious trouble for world forests, especially high altitude ones that have little immunity to changes in the ecosystem. For the last 6 years, hundreds of studies by independent researchers have found the problem to be caused by emissions from coal fired industrial and energy plants. Yet despite the data and intense pressure from environmental groups, sport fishing organizations, and the Canadian government, the White House has refused to admit that a problem existed. President Reagan has privately stated that soot from Mount St. Helens and forest fires were the cause. When the National Academy of Sciences report recommended cutting sulfur dioxide emissions from coal fired plants, their acid rain study funding was abruptly stopped. On Capitol Hill, attempts to arrive at a solution have been thwarted by regional politics. States in the Mid-West, whose factories are considered the primary source for acid deposition in the Northeast, have refused to foot the bill for poisoned lakes and forests 1000 miles to the east and north. Western states opposed efforts to make the West help pay for smokestack scrubbers in the Midwest. 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 March 13, 2020May 23, 2025 by Dale Phillips Sustainability: An Issue Confronting Luthiers Sustainability: An Issue Confronting Luthiers by John Curtis from his 1992 GAL Convention lecture Originally published in American Lutherie #33, 1993 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Three, 2004 All around us we see people whose livelihoods are undergoing change. For some the change is minor; for others it is cataclysmic. How would you like to be a furrier or a slide-rule manufacturer? While most people can conceive of life without a mink coat, these same people have trouble conceiving of a world without musical instruments. What can we do to keep building instruments that sound great and keep our customers happy? Let’s look at where we are and where we want to be a few generations down the line. A few items in our favor are: ▶ People would have low tolerance in a world without music. It would be hard to celebrate, to dance, sing the blues, or create a common ground among people. ▶ We are learning to manage our forests sustainably. ▶ There are other woods that would probably make very good instruments until we can ensure the survival and healthy propagation of species which have come to be preferred over the ages, even though this ensured survival will probably not happen in our lifetimes. ▶ Support for woodworkers who “source” their raw materials more responsibly is growing among consumers. ▶ Methods of verifying claims of sustainably-produced woods is starting to reward producers and users. ▶ Changes in the trade have begun to be seen as opportunities and not obstacles. ▶ There are organizations ready to help luthiers make adjustments: crafts organizations, schools of design, the media, galleries, forest-products laboratories, even CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species). 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.
