Beyond the Rule of 18: Intonation For the 21st Century

by Gary Magliari and Don MacRostie

from their 2011 GAL Convention lecture

Originally published in American Lutherie #116, 2013



Don MacRostie: I wear a couple of hats. I do product development with Stewart-MacDonald and build Red Diamond mandolins. This is Gary Magliari, the creator of the intonation system we are going to discuss today. We started working on this about five years ago after Gary showed it to me at the Newport Guitar Festival. His method really seems like a benefit to me, and I think it’s time to make everybody aware of what he’s done.

I believe there are a lot of little things I can do as a builder to make a good or great, or whatever you want to call it, instrument. Things like using glues and woods that have better acoustic properties, tuning those woods, and applying finishes that improve the output create a better instrument. These are little things and if you leave one out, it can still be a good instrument.