American Lutherie #154 Spring 2025 You must be a 2025 member to receive this issue. Join or Renew your membership now! On this issue’s cover we see an ambitious fretboard inlay of mirrored glass nearing completion in the Alaska workshop of Rob Goldberg. It represents fireweed, a common Alaskan wildflower. Photo by Rob Goldberg Meet the Maker: Rob Goldberg by Tim Olsen Rob Golderg is one of those Lutherie-Boom guys. As a teenager in the 1960s he fell in love with the first handmade guitar he ever saw, and made a couple guitars on his own without much help. In 1974 he became Bill Cumpiano’s very first apprentice. After a successful run as a guitar maker in the Northeast, he took a break from lutherie of almost thirty years when he moved to Alaska, started a family, and had a career in fine arts. But the lutherie bug bit again, and he’s been back at it for more than a quarter century. On this issue’s cover we see an ambitious fretboard inlay of mirrored glass nearing completion in the Alaska workshop of Rob Goldberg. It represents fireweed, a common Alaskan wildflower. Photo by Rob Goldberg The back cover shows a student applying a French-polish finish to a classical guitar. It’s day four of a six-day building class offered by Robbie O’Brien at his Colorado workshop. Photo by Robbie O’Brien Inlaying Guitar Fretboards with Glass by Rob Goldberg Goldberg has combined a lifetime of skills to develop a distinctive method of inlaying stained glass into ebony fretboards. His big, bold designs move in a whole different direction from the delicate detail of etched pearl. He shows us how to do it and provides some inspiration in this article. Build a Classical Guitar in a Week: Days Three and Four by Robbie O’Brien from his 2017 GAL Convention lecture Here’s Part Two of a three-part series, in which veteran lutherie teacher O’Brien follows the construction of an instrument in deep detail. Everything moves right along on an intense and carefully developed schedule; a student starts with a box of wood, and strings up a nice classical guitar only six days later. Part One was in AL#153. Don’t have it? Buy the back issue! Recreating the Lacote Pearl Rosette by Simon Burgun One hundred and eighty-six years ago, before the emergence of the Spanish guitar, Europe was experiencing a mania for high-quality Romantic guitars. René Lacôte, a leading French maker of the time, used elaborate and high-precision MOP-and-ebony ornaments that were supplied by a specialized shop. Some luthiers nowadays may enjoy the challenge of reproducing the astonishing rosette using modern CNC gear, but Simon Burgun has set himself the task of making them using traditional machinists’ techniques of the time, not to mention producing a gorgeous authentic reproduction of a Lacôte guitar in which to inlay one. Making Mandolins at Gibson by Mark French While the design specs of the Gibson F-5 mandolin have been pretty stable for over a hundred years, the Gibson company and its building methods have been through some changes. These days, the iconic instruments are made by a very small and dedicated team in Nashville. They get a little help from CNC, but the mandolins are very much handmade, as you will see. Installing a Sideport with a Sliding Door by David Freeman Longtime lutherie schoolmaster David Freeman shows us how he makes a fully adjustable interior sliding door for the side soundports he builds into his guitars and mandolin-family instruments. Then he gives us some thoughts on what the soundports actually do to the sound, based on his experiments and considerable experience. Meet the Maker: C.F. Casey by Newton Drysdale We finally find out how Casey, an early GAL member and frequent author, got into the lutherie game. Interviewer Drysdale is Fred’s earliest friend, having been with him every step of the way since conception. Magnetic Pickups: Physics, Math, and Electrickery by Veronica Merryfield The basic form of an old-school guitar pickup is simple: A lot of skinny wire wrapped around some kind of magnet. But there’s a lot more to know about it than that. Hold onto your numbers, ’cuz Professor Merryfield is here with a blackbord and a big ol’ piece of chalk. Product Reviews: Super Assilex Flexible Sanding Sheets, reviewed by Jon Sevy Wagner Orion 950 Moisture Meter, reviewed by Leonardo Michelin-Salomon Super Assilex is surprisingly different from any other so-called sandpaper, and is pretty great stuff. The Wagner Orion meter is a sophisticated gizmo for measuring the moisture content of wood; in fact its capabilities are far beyond the needs of our reviewer. Review: Acoustic Guitar Design by Richard Mark French reviewed by R.M. Mottola The latest lutherie book by Mark French is a gem which successfully balances accuracy, technical depth, clarity, and accessibility. In Memoriam: David Rodgers by Jeffrey R. Elliott British machinist David Rodgers developed and made the wonderful guitar tuners that bear his name. He also made the coolest scale-model steam trains, just for fun. It Worked For Me by Steve Kennel For a fun change of pace, we turned the “Worked” column over to sculptor and luthier Steve Kennel for a collection of shop tips. 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
