The Business of Lutherie, 1984

by Ted Davis, Steve Grimes, Bob Meltz, and Matt Umanov

from their 1984 GAL Convention panel discussion, moderated by David Sheppard

Originally published in American Lutherie #2, 1985 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie, Volume One, 2000

See also,
The Business of Lutherie, 1980 by Richard Bruné, George Gruhn, Steve Klein, Max Krimmel, and Robert Lundberg
Where Are They Now? by Tim Olsen

We’ve got four people up here who are involved in the business of lutherie in various areas. We’re going to start by letting each of them take a few minutes and tell you about their situation currently. Then we have some questions, some of which we thought up out of our own heads and some of which were turned in by you. So then we will ask these questions and let each person give a brief answer as regards his particular situation. After that, if we have time, we will take questions from the audience. So let’s start down at the end and find out a little bit about each person.

Bob Meltz: I did my first repair in 1969, when I was actively involved as a sound man for a variety of rock-and-roll bands in my area. I was one of the first people in the area to rent out small sound systems, to fill the gap between Shure Vocalmasters and humongous concert systems.

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A Friendly Interview with Donald Warnock

by David B. Sheppard

previously published in Guild of American Luthiers Quarterly 8 #2, 1980

Could you say something about when and how you happened to get into instrument building? How did you choose early instruments as opposed to making copies of Martin guitars?

My interest in musical instruments came through a generalized association of the guitar with good times and nice sounds. It was the typical instrument when I was growing up. I was always charmed by the possibilities and the actuality of the guitar as a music making machine. As I grew up, I became interested in the fine arts and spent a lot of time studying and practicing as a painter. However, I found that I didn’t really want to pursue a career as a fine artist because I wasn’t much interested in promoting my work or producing a consistent body of work. What I like to do is stand in front of an easel and explore visual possibilities. That was getting me nowhere as far as establishing myself as a self-sustaining individual. I did other things for awhile, among which was restoration of prints, drawings and paintings. I was fascinated with ancient methods and the incredible results that were possible when a tradition which was extremely practical in the decorative and the visual dine arts was handed down from master to apprentice. The ease with which materials could be manipulated in an artistic way always intrigued me. This kind of exploration, although I didn’t pursue it fully in painting, has turned out to be very useful in certain aspects of instrument making such as varnishing, carving or the designing of decorative elements.