Posted on January 10, 2010February 7, 2024 by Dale Phillips Letter: Start by Building a Dulcimer Letter: Start by Building a Dulcimer by John Calkin Originally published in American Lutherie #24, 1990 Dear Members, Novice luthiers need a wood that is available, inexpensive, worthy of respect, and that they are not afraid of. A couple times a year would-be guitar makers come to my shop for advice. They have done some homework, so they know the theoretical aspects of choosing wood. They won’t mail-order because this is their first step into lutherie and they want to choose the wood personally. Most find their way to the Martin factory, and when they show up again it is with a box of wood and parts that cost them a half day and at least $350. They view the wood as not only expensive, but irreplaceable. In their minds they can hear the rain forests crashing down. Months later, they want to talk guitarmaking. No, they haven’t quite started yet. They should build a little shrine and place their wood on its altar; better to sacrifice it to the lutherie gods than to splinter their dream in the workshop. 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.
Posted on January 10, 2010February 7, 2024 by Dale Phillips Questions: Superglue Finish Interaction Questions: Superglue Finish Interaction by John Calkin Originally published in American Lutherie #61, 2000 John Calkin of Greenville, Virginia responds to Milan Sabljic’s question regarding wenge and Willy Ware’s questions regarding superglue’s interaction with finishes. Wenge is hard, yet very brittle. Splinters are a constant threat. There’s also a striking difference in hardness between the wood from different seasons. I recently made a copy of a Gibson L-00 with wenge sides that were sort of quartered and a back that was flatsawn. Keeping the back free of ripples was a nasty task involving a lot of block sanding. It’s almost as bad as softwood in this respect. Wenge is also one of those surprise woods that attack some people. The man who gave me my first piece of wenge said it gave him an intense headache when he resawed it. The exact same board had no affect on me. 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.
Posted on January 10, 2010February 7, 2024 by Dale Phillips Letter: Bosch Laminate Trimmer and Cheap Mando Family Letter: Bosch Laminate Trimmer and Cheap Mando Family by John Calkin Originally published in American Lutherie #26, 1991 Concerning Bill Colgan, Jr.’s letter and the Dremel tool: it has always been a wimpy little router, but the new one really is a dog. My new one has the same problem as Bill’s. In the middle of cutting a saddle slot the chuck began whipping around, cutting a jagged slot. Adjusting the cut to almost nothing didn’t help. Dremel has always been very good about fixing or replacing their Moto-Tools (you have to have at least two, so that you can keep working while the broken/burned-up one is in transit), but this looked like a design flaw. I splurged on a Bosch 1608L laminate trimmer, and I couldn’t be happier. The Bosch is what all Moto-Tools want to be when they grow up. Woodworker’s Supply of New Mexico (among others) sells a kit of carbide bits, 1/16", 3/16", and 1/8" cutters on a 1/8" shaft. A brass collet adaptor for 1/4" collets comes with the kit, and once you have the adaptor you can use most of your Dremel bits. You have to make all new jigs, but it’s worth it. 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.
Posted on January 6, 2010March 11, 2024 by Dale Phillips Review: How to Repair Your Diatonic Accordion or Concertina by John Townley and Jehan Paul Review: How to Repair Your Diatonic Accordion or Concertina by John Townley and Jehan Paul Reviewed by John Calkin Origially published in American Lutherie #55, 1998 How to Repair Your Diatonic Accordion or Concertina John Townley and Jehan Paul Lark in the Morning LAR019 approx. 1 hour available from Mel Bay dealers and Elderly Instruments Townley and Paul set a new standard of sorts for instruction videos. Their workbench is a cafe table. Townley would blend right in at any luthier’s convention, while Paul looks like a Parisian street musician. It’s a Mutt-and-Jeff combination that works very well. As Paul says, “It’s important to be relaxed while working on accordions,” and the two belt down tequila as the show progresses. It’s pretty amusing at first, but by the end you’ll want to pour out some shooters for yourself for the second viewing. 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.
Posted on January 5, 2010March 11, 2024 by Dale Phillips Review: How to Make a Living Doing Something Crazy — Like Making Guitars by Kent Carlos Everett Review: How to Make a Living Doing Something Crazy — Like Making Guitars by Kent Carlos Everett Reviewed by John Calkin Originally published in American Lutherie #101, 2010 How to Make a Living Doing Something Crazy — Like Making Guitars Kent Carlos Everett $9.75 from www.everettguitars.com Thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of guitarists who admire fine instruments and seem to know all about them, have a fantasy life where they are a luthier. Their fantasy days slip slowly by as they sit quietly at their bench, engrossed in the pleasant task of rendering expensive wood into the most exquisite guitars the world has seen. Their favorite artists fill the background with wonderful music as they pause to admire a favorite lick and wonder oh-so-briefly what the lesser unfortunate members of humanity might be doing at that very moment. Their life is full and peaceful and maybe even prosperous. I’ve come to believe that their fantasy is the real foundation of our New Golden Age of Lutherie, and that without it luthiers would be groveling for a living in some miserable cubicle in the ever-expanding megalopolis that houses American commerce. The next time a customer or friend is envious of your lifestyle just nod knowingly and tell them you entirely understand. 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.
