Posted on May 20, 2026May 26, 2026 by Dale Phillips Roped In Roped In by C.F. Casey Originally published in American Lutherie #100, 2009 Weissenborn-style steel guitars just look cool. That long, sinuous profile, with the side curving all the way to the headstock; the diagonals of the “rope”-style binding and rosette; the look of total absorption on the face of the player as he sits hunched over, staring down at his hands. (OK, so that last point isn’t strictly the guitar; but have you ever seen a steel player who didn’t look like he was totally lost in his own little world?) When I decided to build my first Weissenborn-style instrument, I figured I might as well go all the way and give it the rope binding and rosette that Weissenborn used on his high-end models. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any information on making said binding and rosette. Neither the plans I got from Stew-Mac nor Rich Mermer’s article in AL#60 (“The Maalea Special,” also in BRBAL5) mentioned it. The only thing I was sure of was that with all those little short glue joints, bending was going to be very tricky. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of the Articles Online featured on our website for Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. For details, visit the membership page. MEMBERS: login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on April 29, 2026April 29, 2026 by Dale Phillips The Mariachi Humpback The Mariachi Humpback by C.F. Casey Originally published in American Lutherie #116, 2013 MariachI humpback? A sombrero-wearing whale that plays trumpet through his blowhole? A deformed bell-ringer who plays “Cielito Lindo” on his carillon? Nah. Those images would probably be too bizarre even for Disney. “Mariachi Humpback” is a name I use to describe the shape of two related instruments which form the rhythmic foundation of the mariachi band: the vihuela and the guitarrón (Photo 1). The vihuela is a small 5-string guitar with a re-entrant tuning; the pitch names are the same as the first five strings of the regular guitar (ADGBE), but strings 3, 4, and 5 are an octave high. The guitarrón is a bass guitar with the tuning ADGCEA. Though these two instruments are at opposite ends of the sonic scale, they share a number of characteristics. In both, the bridge is a simple bar with string holes and no saddle (like a heavy lute bridge). The guitarrón is fretless, and while the vihuela has frets, often they are tied on (again, like a lute), and frequently there are only three. Traditionally, the binding of both is rope-patterned, and is glued to the surface of the sides rather than inlaid. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of the Articles Online featured on our website for Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. For details, visit the membership page. MEMBERS: login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on February 1, 2026April 1, 2026 by Dale Phillips It Worked for Me: Curly Koa Sides It Worked for Me: Curly Koa Sides by C.F. Casey Originally published in American Lutherie #114, 2013 Recently I was faced with the gnarliest set of curly koa sides I’ve ever worked with. I was building a custom tenor ukulele, and the client had personally selected the woods. After thinning the sides, I gently flexed one to check its stiffness, and the darn thing broke! I was able to glue it back together, but I was sure that in the bending process the glue would soften and it would fall apart again. So I installed another clamp bar on my bending form, just at the point of the break, clamped the sides down securely at that point, and proceeded to bend outwards in both directions (Photo 1). Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of the Articles Online featured on our website for Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. For details, visit the membership page. MEMBERS: login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on October 9, 2025October 9, 2025 by Dale Phillips From Russia, With Strings Attached From Russia, With Strings Attached by C.F. Casey Originally published in American Luthier #75, 2003 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Seven, 2015 Last year my wife and I received an invitation from some new friends to visit at their place about an hour’s drive from us. David Neufeld had a violin he wanted me to check over, as he was thinking about getting back into playing it. As it turned out, the fiddle was in good shape and didn’t need my attentions. However, when I walked into their house for the first time, I spotted something hanging on the wall that made my jaw drop: an obviously old guitar with tuners all on one side. Naturally I rushed over for a closer look, and what I saw piqued my interest even more. For one thing, it was a 7-stringer. For another, the neck was attached to the body with a screw, which could be tightened or loosened with a clock key. The guitar belongs to Maggie Andres, David’s partner, and had belonged to her grandmother, who was of Russian Mennonite stock. Sometime in the ’60s, while clearing up his mother’s estate, Maggie’s father had found the guitar in pieces, lying behind a door where it had been discarded by his brothers and sisters. He kept it and put it back together. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of the Articles Online featured on our website for Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. For details, visit the membership page. MEMBERS: login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on July 8, 2024May 14, 2025 by Dale Phillips Meet the Maker: Jose “Pepito” Reyes Zamora Meet the Maker: Jose “Pepito” Reyes Zamora by C.F. Casey Originally published in American Lutherie #88, 2006 I first met Pepito Reyes by phone, when I called him to ask some questions for my review of his book El Tiple Puertorriqueño. About a year later, I had a chance to meet him face to face, at the Tiple Conference in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico and later at his home and workshop in Jayuya. As we talked, I gained more and more respect for a man who, after ending one successful career, immediately created a second: to dedicate himself to giving back to the environment and culture that nurtured him. Pepito is a man filled with passion for his cause, which is to ensure that traditional Puerto Rican culture, especially its music, and more especially yet, the Puerto Rican tiple, will not vanish into the mists of time. When did you build your first tiple? I built it in 1989 and I still have it; it’s in good shape. It’s traveled to Texas, Florida, and France, and it’s been used in recordings. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of the Articles Online featured on our website for Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 3 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. MEMBERS: login for access or contact us to setup your account.
