American Lutherie #143 Summer 2021 On this issue’s cover we see a glorious 1902 Neapolitan mandolin by the Brothers Vinaccia & Co. after its restoration by author Alfred Woll. Photo by Alfred Woll American Lutherie #143 – Summer 2021$12.00 – $14.00 Choose Membership Status Choose an optionMemberNon-memberClear American Lutherie #143 - Summer 2021 quantity Add to cart SKU: N/A Category: American Lutherie Additional information Additional information Choose Membership Status Member, Non-member Related products American Lutherie #114 – Summer 2013 $5.00 – $7.00 Select options American Lutherie #116 – Winter 2013 $5.00 – $7.00 Select options American Lutherie #130 – Summer 2017 $8.00 – $10.00 Select options Seeking the Holy Grail: Torres’ FE08 by Federico Sheppard It is a story of mystery, dedication, and destiny. The wide-eyed young novitiate is mentored by oracles, sorcerers, and craftsmen until he finds his great quest and pursues it against all odds. To put it more plainly, but no more truthfully, it is the story of Federico Sheppard constructing a copy of FE08, the astonishingly elaborate early opus of the master luthier Antonio Torres Jurado. On this issue’s cover we see a glorious 1902 Neapolitan mandolin by the Brothers Vinaccia & Co. after its restoration by author Alfred Woll. Photo by Alfred Woll American Lutherie #143 – Summer 2021$12.00 – $14.00 Choose Membership Status Choose an optionMemberNon-memberClear American Lutherie #143 - Summer 2021 quantity Add to cart SKU: N/A Category: American Lutherie Additional information Additional information Choose Membership Status Member, Non-member Related products American Lutherie #126 – Summer 2016 $8.00 – $10.00 Select options American Lutherie #124 – Winter 2015 $8.00 – $10.00 Select options American Lutherie #129 – Spring 2017 $8.00 – $10.00 Select options On the back cover we see strips of bird’s-eye maple and elaborate marquetry being assembled by Federico Sheppard into a copy of a guitar by Antonio de Torres, the eighth guitar of his first epoch. Photo by Federico Sheppard The Charles Fox Guitar-Building Method, Part Five by Mark French In this article the fretboard is slotted, crowned and glued to the neck. The neck is then shaped. This important series continues in our next issue. Soundboard Construction of Vinaccia Mandolins Around 1900 by Alfred Woll The Vinaccia family was at the heart of the development of the Neapolitan mandolin, beginning in the mid-18th century and running well into the 20th. This article follows those developments with changing string technology and musical taste. The author then gives us a step-by-step demonstration of making the distinctive arched-and-canted soundboard. Norwegian Spruce by Leonardo Michelin-Salomon In AL#141 Leonardo showed us how he was building Romantic-era guitars at the craft school in Norway. This time he is taking a deep dive into building with the local spruce. Although the trees are not big, the wood is very good. Measuring Resonant Frequencies of an Acoustic Guitar by Mark French Here’s how to quickly make a frequency-response curve of a guitar on your bench, using a handheld digital recorder and free software. Not cheap and easy enough for you? The author goes on to tell you how to do the whole thing on a smart phone. Vise on a Stick by Harry Flieshman Start with the cheap half of one of those little benchtop drill presses. Add a small piece of plywood with some holes drilled in it. Bolt on a vise. Now you have Vise on a Stick, which can clamp to any bench top and can swivel and tilt all over the place. It’s especially great for bringing a good solid vise up to eye level. First Build: A Lumberyard Ukulele by Steve Dickerson The author hit on an unusual program for building his first uke. He bought a kit, but then set aside the good wood for a later build. He went to the lumberyard to buy cheap wood, then proceeded with reduced anxiety. Makes sense when you think about it. The humble uke came out fine. Recent Research Short Summaries of Recent Scientific Research Articles from Savart Journal by R.M. Mottola Mottola gives not-too-technical summaries of two articles recently published on-line by Savart Journal. In the first, Mark French et al take on the fraught task of “Comparing Subjective and Objective Data from a Pool of Classical Guitars.” In the second, Gabriele Caselli et al present an “Analysis of Violin Combination Tones and their Contribution to Tartini’s Third Tone”. Letters and More More about French polish and tap tones. Meeting Julian Bream. In praise of cigarbox guitar swaps. Charles Fox is awesome; and speaking of Charles, more info on his MDF jigs and on the sander pictured on the cover of AL#141. Reviews Thoughtful evaluations of three books, a gizmo, and a video download. The books are The Diary of Agustin Barrios Mangoré: His Concert Autograph Book; Acquired of the Angels: The Lives and Works of Master Guitar Makers John D’Angelico and James L. D’Aquisto, third edition; and The Master’s Bench. The gizmo is the Logistimatics Micro 299 Mini GPS Tracker. The video is Electric Guitar Building with Mike Snider. It Worked for Me by Bob Gleason, Aaron Cash, Steve Kennel, and John Sevy Quick table saw jig for narrow ripping; junk plane body as a temporary tool handle; modified Zyliss vise; magnetic cover for truss rod nut. 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
