American Lutherie #149 Summer 2023 On this issue’s cover we see an unusual and highly advanced archtop guitar made by Ken Parker. It reclines on one of the many benches in Ken’s large and well-equipped shop. Photo by Mike Doolin American Lutherie #149 – Summer 2023$14.00 – $16.00 Choose Membership Status Choose an optionMemberNon-memberClear American Lutherie #149 - Summer 2023 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 $8.00 – $10.00 Select options American Lutherie #127 – Fall 2016 $8.00 – $10.00 Select options American Lutherie #109 – Spring 2012 $5.00 – $7.00 Select options Meet Ken Parker by Mike Doolin Can you believe we have never “met” this guy? He’s a giant of the American Lutherie Boom, he was at the Guild’s 1979 Convention, and he has been a GAL member for over twenty years. The world knows him as the maker of the Fly solidbody guitar, but now he has returned to his first love: the archtop guitar. Members can read an additional article by Ken, his candid take on the genesis of the American archtop guitar, in our Articles Online here. On this issue’s cover we see an unusual and highly advanced archtop guitar made by Ken Parker. It reclines on one of the many benches in Ken’s large and well-equipped shop. Photo by Mike Doolin American Lutherie #149 – Summer 2023$14.00 – $16.00 Choose Membership Status Choose an optionMemberNon-memberClear American Lutherie #149 - Summer 2023 quantity Add to cart SKU: N/A Category: American Lutherie Additional information Additional information Choose Membership Status Member, Non-member Related products American Lutherie #116 – Winter 2013 $5.00 – $7.00 Select options American Lutherie #114 – Summer 2013 $5.00 – $7.00 Select options American Lutherie #131 – Fall 2017 $8.00 – $10.00 Select options On the back cover are two views of a shop-built carving plane by Ken Parker. Photo by Mike Doolin The Firewood Guitar by Lee Herron You know what they say: When you are a hammer, everything looks like a nail. When you are a luthier, everything looks like it could be made into a fine handmade guitar. Like that chunk of firewood over there. It’s way too short to make sides, but we’ll figure something out. Optimized Guitar Intonation by Charlie Price Guitar intonation exists at the intersection of math, music, and mojo. How good is good enough? Can we ever quite get there? Price brings us one step closer with a “money ball” approach of adding up all the errors at each string and fret position, then optimizing for the lowest total error. Meet Rebecca Urlacher and Paul Woolson by Rebecca Urlacher and Paul Woolson A conversation is kinda like two interviews happening at the same time. That’s what we have in this article; questions and answers come from both of these guitar-making buddies, as we meet them and learn about their lutherie lives. Press Your Ukuleles by John Calkin One operation at a time, Calkin is showing us how to make ukes in a direct and effective way. It’s all done by one worker with simple tools in a small space. Here he shows us how to get the back onto the ribs quickly and accurately, with no cleanup needed. Effects of Saddle Materials on Guitar Tone by Robin Connaughton Lots of materials can work for a flattop guitar bridge saddle. Will they sound different? Connaughton tries several, and collects data with an ingenuously simple plucking technique. Using Soundhole Inserts to Vary the Lower Resonant Frequencies of an Acoustic Guitar by Mark French and Eddy Efendy Putting a tube in the port of a loudspeaker box changes the lower resonances. Same deal with a flattop round-hole guitar. Makers of classical guitars have known about that for a century and a half, and they call that tube a tornavoz. French and Efendy give us the math on how it works. Little Thickness Sander by Robert Hamm Sometimes you need a bicycle. That is, something between a skateboard and an automobile. This slick little shop-built unit lives in the space between a full-sized auto-feed belt sander and a Robo-sander drum chucked up in a drill press. Uke Neck Joint by Karl Hoyt Hoyt found a way to make a simple and reliable bolt-on neck joint that is easy to assemble, not withstanding his large fingers. Quick-and Dirty Magnetic Thickness Gauge by Jon Sevy A couple of cheap gizmos from Harbor Freight can be cobbled together to let you measure the thickness of the sides or plates of an assembled guitar. Bridge Sole Radius Shaping Jig by Bob Gleason Sure, you can fit the sole of a bridge to its soundboard by putting sandpaper on the tender spruce or cedar and rubbing the bridge on it. But this jig is easier and safer. An Easy Fretboard Tapering Jig by Mark French This super-simple table saw jig is a strip of plywood with two alignment pins in drilled holes. Easy to make and to use. A Survey of Guitar Building Books, Part Two by Graham McDonald Fourteen years ago, McDonald wrote up a survey of the steel string guitar making books that were available at that time. More books have appeared since then, so he’s back with an update. Hit this link to read the earlier article in our Premium Online Content. Go ahead. You know you want to. Simple Things by Harry Fleishman Warm up that brown paper tape with a hair dryer before you pull it off. Softens it up and makes it less likely to tear out wood fibers. That’s a simple thing. It Worked for Me by Steve Dickerson, Brent Benfield, Dan Alexander, Dan’l Brazinski, and Steve Kennel A big horrible blister on a thick commercial finish could be a blessing in disguise. A snipped-out plan drawing makes a better template if you put clear tape on both faces of the edge. Those big rubber erasers for cleaning belt sanders can yield sweet little sanding blocks. An inflatable door-hanging jack also works as a lutherie clamp. A pile of scraps and misc hardware can make a swanky-lookin' fretwire roller, if you are a compulsive art sculptor. But what is a luthier, if not a compulsive art sculptor? 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
