Posted on July 8, 2024July 8, 2024 by Dale Phillips Ed Arnold: String-Tie Kind of Guy Ed Arnold: String-Tie Kind of Guy by Nicholas Von Robison Originally published in American Lutherie #7, 1986 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie, Volume One, 2000 Ed Arnold is a crew-cut and string-tie kind of guy. I met him while crewing aboard his son-in-law’s thirty-two foot sloop Iolaire on definitely not a crew- cut and string-tie kind of day. As a storm scudded down on us and I ejected my lunch off to leeward, I watched Ed go forward with the lithe grace of an athlete to hank on the storm jib on that bucking bronco of a foredeck. Ed turned sixty-seven in June. He’s the kind of guy you can picture being at home on a rugged wilderness trail or negotiating a mountain pass on a donkey, and making it look easy. In his sixteen years as an exotic wood importer I’m sure he has ridden a few donkeys and walked a few dusty miles. A one-man operation, he went into Mexico and Central America, selected his trees, oversaw their handling and production, then shipped them home by container. He knows wood in a way that few luthiers ever will, our work beginning with the end result of Ed’s labors. I obtained some answers to things I have pondered over from time to time and even some I haven’t. Anybody know the Mexican name for mahogany? Zopilozontecomacuahitl. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.