American Lutherie #91 – Fall 2007 – Guild of American Luthiers

American Lutherie #91
Fall 2007

Please do not adjust your computer monitor. It really is a gorgeous green mandolin by John Monteleone, featuring his SideSound ports.

Photo by John Monteleone

This issue is out-of-print.

There’s a Hole in the Bucket

by Cyndy Burton

Cyndy Burton surveys the trend of adding small soundholes to the sides of guitars, mandolins, and even violins. She gathers input from Kenny Hill, Alan Carruth, Roger Thurman, John Monteleone, Mike Doolin, and Robert Ruck. The photo shows a guitar with pluggable ports that Cyndy made with her partner Jeff Elliott.

Please do not adjust your computer monitor. It really is a gorgeous green mandolin by John Monteleone, featuring his SideSound ports.

Photo by John Monteleone

This issue is out-of-print.

Meet the Maker: C.F. Martin IV

from his 2005 talk at the National Music Museum

Here’s a guy whose shop has been running for 174 years. Yes, meet Christian Frederick Martin IV. He gives us the lowdown on his famous namesake, his own transition into the driver’s seat, and yet another C.F. Martin on the horizon, his young daughter Clair.

A Rare Glimpse Inside an Early Martin Guitar

by Rob Hoffman

And speaking of Martins, Rob Hoffman gives us a look inside a Martin guitar that appears to be 150 years old.

This article appears in our anthology book Flattop Guitars.

Grading on the Curves

by Steve Andersen

Longtime GAL member Steve Andersen spoke at our 2006 GAL Convention and demonstrated his method of fitting braces in an archtop guitar. He also showed off this crazy little machine for fitting the bridge to the finished top. Well, how crazy can it be if it works? Let’s just say that it’s “counterintuitive.”

Meet the Merchant: Jay Hostetler

by Jay Hargreaves

If you’ve been to a lutherie show you have probably seen the friendly face of Jay Hostetler. And if you have made a guitar in the last thirty years the chances are excellent that you have dealt with his company, Stewart-MacDonald. Whether or not you have met him in person, meet him in this interview by guitar and bass maker Jay Hargreaves.

Gibson L-00 Flattop Guitar, Circa 1937

by Kerry Char

Here’s another close look at an old guitar. Vintage steel string expert Kerry Char presents a detailed plan of a 1937 Gibson L-00, GAL Instrument Plan #55.

This article appears in our anthology book Flattop Guitars.

GAL Instrument Plan #55: Gibson L-00 Flattop Guitar, Circa 1937

by Kerry Char

Reduced plan image appears in article. For more information on the full-scale instrument plan, see GAL Instrument Plan #55.

This article appears in our anthology book Flattop Guitars.

Resawing Lutherie Wood

by Bruce Creps

Want to get serious about accurate and efficient resawing? You have come to the right magazine. Bruce Creps shows us how it does it with a modified Hitachi CB75.

Sustain and Electric Guitar Neck Joint Type

by R.M. Mottola

They call it “conventional wisdom” but sometimes it is more like conventional hearsay. What do you think would be the result of a controlled experiment to test the relative sustain properties of solidbody guitar neck joints of the neck-through, glued, and screwed varieties? R.M. Mottola gives us the news.

Bow Rehairing

by Paul Hill

Paul Hill rehairs a lot of bows. Here’s a detailed step-by-step of his efficient method and simple setup.

It Worked for Me

by Benz Tschannen, Neil Peterson, and James Condino

Next time you see one of these Westbend 5-cup hot pots at the thrift store, pick it up. It makes a great glue pot. James Condino tells how to do the mod.

Questions

edited by R.M. Mottola

I am sorry to say that this is a genuine 1919 Santos Hernández guitar. A reader asks if it can be restored into a valuable instrument. R.E. Bruné and Jimmy Westbrook give him the sobering news.