Posted on January 12, 2010March 7, 2024 by Dale Phillips Review: Sunburst Finishing by Dan Erlewine and Don MacRostie Review: Sunburst Finishing by Dan Erlewine and Don MacRostie Reviewed by John Calkin Originally published in American Lutherie #63, 2000 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Six, 2013 Video: Sunburst Finishing Dan Erlewine and Don MacRostie Stewart-MacDonald, 1999 Sunburst Finishing is sort of a strange video in that it’s intended to replace Stew-Mac’s out-of-date Color Finishing, yet it doesn’t cover nearly as much territory as the older film. So be it. It only costs half as much as the old tape, and the information included may be as much as you need. The only guitar involved is an archtop Guild with a maple face. Some repair work has been done to the top before the tape begins, and the finish has also been removed. The job at hand is to match the sunburst on the top to that of the rest of the guitar. A yellow toner has to be mixed for the maple, then a brown candy is blended to match the color of the burst. The techniques of precision blending are the heart of the video, an operation at which MacRostie is a master. Chip sheets and blending boards are made which can be stashed away for future reference. The work is also referenced to the recipes in MacRostie and Erlewine’s new book, Guitar Finishing Step-By-Step (p. 530), which is a useful touch. There is no wood prep involved in the job (as far as the camera is concerned), as this video is intended to work in concert with Spray Finishing Basics, another video by the same dynamic duo. Touchups are necessary when the binding is scraped after the color coats, and the airbrush work is caught on tape. A close look at MacRostie’s scraping tools is a helpful segment. 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 12, 2010February 7, 2024 by Dale Phillips Review: Assembling a Solidbody Electric Guitar by Dan Erlewine Review: Assembling a Solidbody Electric Guitar by Dan Erlewine Reviewed by John Calkin Originally published in American Lutherie #60, 1999 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Five, 2008 Video: Assembling a Solidbody Electric Guitar Dan Erlewine Stewart-MacDonald, 1999 Though Dan Erlewine and I are contemporaries, I can’t resist thinking of him as Uncle Dan. Through his writing, videos, and convention appearances he has spread his wide knowledge and undying enthusiasm for guitars across the entire population of luthiers and players, making him a sort of good uncle to our entire clan. Assembling a Solidbody is one of Erlewine’s more basic video lessons. In the first half he builds a guitar around a raw Strat-style body, and in the second, a finished Tele body hits the operating table to become a guitar. All emphasis is placed on doing clean work that anyone might be proud of, though a difference is made between how a pro might build a guitar from parts and how a kitchen-table luthier might be forced to handle the same job. Using this tape, the rookie ought to turn in as creditable a job as a seasoned guitar man. The raw body is left unfinished, as lacquer work is the subject of other Stew-Mac references. The Strat is assembled according to Fender specs, which is a useful touch, and there must be a hundred tips to help your work come out cleaner and more precise. 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 12, 2010March 7, 2024 by Dale Phillips Review: Installing Transducer Pickup Systems by Dan Erlewine Review: Installing Transducer Pickup Systems by Dan Erlewine Reviewed by John Calkin Originally published in American Lutherie #65, 2001 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Six, 2013 Video: Installing Transducer Pickup Systems Dan Erlewine Stewart-MacDonald, 1999 The music stores for which I used to do guitar repairs used to sell transducers at a hefty discount, then charge a flat $25 installation fee. Their normal hourly rate was $33. It’s easy to put in a transducer in an hour or less. Making it function properly is another matter, and many of those guitars came back for adjustments that would never have been necessary had the time been granted to do the job right in the first place. This video is about doing the job right the first time. The guitar top is precisely jacked up to simulate string tension, the saddle slot is routed accurately and with a flat bottom, a new saddle is made, and adjustments are made to the bridge to correct the string angle as it comes off the saddle. 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 12, 2010March 7, 2024 by Dale Phillips Review: Spray Finishing Basics by Dan Erlewine and Don MacRostie Review: Spray Finishing Basics by Dan Erlewine and Don MacRostie Reviewed by John Calkin Originally published in American Lutherie #61, 2000 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Six, 2013 Video: Spray Finishing Basics Dan Erlewine and Don MacRostie Stewart-MacDonald, 1999 This video is broken into two distinct segments, each of which covers the complete finishing process in its own manner. In the first portion, Dan Erlewine finishes an ash strat-style body in a Fender blonde color. This is a white finish that allows the wood grain to show through. In furniture work it’s usually called a pickled finish. In the second segment, Don MacRostie paints a bound alder tele-style body pink on the face and black on the back and sides. All colors are mixed in the shop from a clear lacquer base, and a good amount of time is expended demonstrating the process. Alder and ash require different prep treatments, and this is also a feature of the tape. Builders of acoustic guitars shouldn’t feel left out, since the color coats are followed by clear finish, and working with clear is the same, regardless of whether it goes over sealed wood or colored lacquer. The idea was to pack as much information into the allotted time as possible. The application methods used by the two men differed drastically. The three basic steps of wood finishing are wood prep, finish application, and sanding/buffing. It often baffles beginners to find out that if any step is less important than the others it’s the second, the application. The acquisition of a compressor and a quality spray gun hardly guarantees a good finish, but a talented luthier can do a good job with the unlikeliest gear. To prove it, Erlewine finishes his guitar entirely with aerosols. 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 12, 2010March 7, 2024 by Dale Phillips Review: Dan Erlewine Lutherie Videos Review: Dan Erlewine Lutherie Videos Reviewed by John Calkin Originally published in American Lutherie #72, 2002 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Six, 2013 Dan Erlewine’s Lutherie Videos and DVDs Dan Erlewine’s Guitar Shop, 2001 Dan Erlewine’s Guitar Shop has introduced a new series of lutherie videos that will likely set the standard for such work for some time to come. The most basic volume will help the tyro evaluate a guitar before and after purchase, explain how repairs are dealt with, and give the guitarist a sense of whether he truly wants to enter lutherie or not. It’s easy to conjure up a desire to fix or improve instruments, but it’s much harder to do the actual work. It seems contradictory, but some very fine guitarists are too fumble fingered to cleanly complete even the most basic repair or setup work. The sooner they learn that commercial lutherie is not for them, the better off they’ll be. Which doesn’t mean they won’t enjoy the rest of the series. Any guitar freak might like to watch fine luthiers in action. But any decisions that are potentially life altering ought to be informed and then honestly considered. Once the jump into lutherie has been made — for better or for worse — acquiring the best instruction only makes sense. I’m so book oriented that it’s a hard confession to make, but as a visual learner I believe that video has made books obsolete for many applications. 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.
