American Lutherie #145 Spring 2022 On this issue’s cover, Michael Bashkin inlays pieces of marquetry into the end graft of one of his guitars. He lectured on his techniques of ornamenting pegheads and end grafts at our last GAL Convention, way back in the prepandemic days of 2017. Photos by Michael Bashkin American Lutherie #145 – Spring 2022$14.00 – $16.00 Choose Membership Status Choose an optionMemberNon-memberClear American Lutherie #145 - Spring 2022 quantity Add to cart SKU: N/A Category: American Lutherie Additional information Additional information Choose Membership Status Member, Non-member Related products American Lutherie #128 – Winter 2016 $5.00 – $10.00 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page American Lutherie #133 – Spring 2018 $5.00 – $10.00 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page American Lutherie #112 – Winter 2012 $5.00 – $7.00 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page Strategies for Peghead Overlays and End Grafts from his 2017 GAL Convention workshop by Michael Bashkin Bashkin ornaments his pegheads and end grafts with marquetry combined with thin, free-flowing veneer lines. He shows us in detail how he accomplishes some of these effects, including scorching decorative pieces in hot sand. On this issue’s cover, Michael Bashkin inlays pieces of marquetry into the end graft of one of his guitars. He lectured on his techniques of ornamenting pegheads and end grafts at our last GAL Convention, way back in the prepandemic days of 2017. Photos by Michael Bashkin American Lutherie #145 – Spring 2022$14.00 – $16.00 Choose Membership Status Choose an optionMemberNon-memberClear American Lutherie #145 - Spring 2022 quantity Add to cart SKU: N/A Category: American Lutherie Additional information Additional information Choose Membership Status Member, Non-member Related products American Lutherie #110 – Summer 2012 $5.00 – $7.00 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page American Lutherie #115 – Fall 2013 $5.00 – $7.00 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page American Lutherie #128 – Winter 2016 $5.00 – $10.00 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page On the back cover, we see Matt Brewster in action in his tightly packed Manhattan repair shop. Photo by Evan Gluck Ruminations on Historic Guitar Restoration by Jeffrey R. Elliott Elliott is best known for his long career of making classical guitars of the highest quality, but he has also undertaken some major restorations of important historic instruments. Here he reviews three projects and shares thoughts about his approach. Meet Matt Brewster by Evan Gluck Imagine you were a guitar repair guy, and there was another guitar repair guy in your same town. What would you do about it? If you were Evan Gluck, or any other enlightened, right-thinking luthier, you would march right over there and make him your best friend. These guys have a blast “competing” in the same market, sharing stories, customers, tools, and techniques. And yes, it does help if your hometown has over eight million people in it. The Musical Instrument Museum — A Must-See for Luthiers by Mark French Frequent author Mark French spends a lot of time in the physics lab and the workshop. But here he emerges, blinking, into the Arizona sunshine to visit a fabulous musical instrument museum. In fact, it’s The Musical Instrument Museum. Hand-Powered Radius Sanding Jig by Roger Häggström Häggström uses a commercially-available radiused sanding block, a few scraps of wood, and a handful of parts from the hardware store to make this simple jig. It that lets him quickly and quietly produce a fretboard with the radius and the relief accurately sanded in. Small is Beautiful: The Piccolo Balalaika by Sjaak Elmendorp Here’s the story of a big guy and his little balalaika. After rashly promising a friend that he would make a balalaika although he know nothing about the distinctively triangular Russian instrument (We’ve all been there, right?), Sjaak went on to explore and build the rare descant member of the family. A 2×4 Twofer by Fred Casey We sometimes hear of a luthier who enjoys the challenge of building an instrument from lumberyard materials rather than from picked and approved tonewoods. But Casey goes one better when he makes two successful instruments from a single softwood two-by-four. And it had a knot in it, just for extra fun. Steel String Guitar Nut Slotting Using a Stick-On Template by R.M. Mottola Mottola precisely describes his process for slotting a nut. All the spacing work is done on-screen, then printed out to make a template for the bench work. Making Control Cavity Jigs by John Calkin Using simple, non-dedicated tooling, Calkin steps us through his straightforward, no-nonsense process of routing control cavities in solid guitar bodies. Vertical Bending Iron Table by Phil Ingber Mounting an electric bending iron in such a way that it pokes up out of a work surface helps you avoid a twist in the bent side. Reviews Reviewed by Federico Sheppard and John Calkin Our frequent author and online lutherie resource hero R.M. Mottola has finally gone all the way. He has written Building the Steel String Acoustic Guitar, a comprehensive, detailed construction method for building a flattop guitar. Federico Sheppard and John Calkin each review it. And John Calkin looks at another instructional video from Robbie O’Brien: Inlay Techniques with Larry Robinson. In Memoriam: Jon Peterson by Jeffrey R. Elliott, Cyndy Burton, and Woodley White Jon was a member of the GAL staff for over two decades. He wrote many articles, and did all the photography for Robert Lundberg’s landmark book Historical Lute Construction. Link to full memoriam. In Memoriam: Laurence “Buzz” Vineyard by Rick Rubin and Michael Elwell Buzz was a very early GAL member who made beautiful and unusual mandolins and archtop guitars. Link to full memoriam. It Worked for Me by Steve Kennel, Dan Alexander, and Joe Browne Use the parts from pipe clamps to make super-powered bench hold-downs; a simple and non-toxic recipe for glue remover; make a sort of vertical solera for working on the sides and ends of guitars. Web Extras View photo gallery for this issue of American Lutherie. American Lutherie #149 – Summer 2023 American Lutherie #148 – Spring 2023 American Lutherie #147 – Winter 2022 American Lutherie #146 – Summer 2022 American Lutherie #145 – Spring 2022 American Lutherie #144 – Winter 2021 American Lutherie #143 – Summer 2021 American Lutherie #142 – Spring 2021 American Lutherie #141 – Winter 2020 American Lutherie #140 – Summer 2020 American Lutherie #139 – Spring 2020 Journal
