Mandolin Magazine columnist, Fine Woodworking author, regular AL contributor, and GAL presenter, James Condino has been building instruments for over forty years. Hes also a serious outdoorsman who guides whitewater expeditions and takes fine guitars and mandolins to volcanic summits. He survived Hurrican Helene, but a quarter of the town of Asheville did not.
▪ bio current as of 2024
2024
AL#153 p.6
James Condino
▪ Condino has been a sought-after restorer of vintage American plywood bass viols for many years. He has recently developed practical and accessible vacuum-bag techniques for repairing delaminations in the plates, as well as fabricating those extra-large rib sections. Now he applies those same techniques to make laminated ribs for guitars and mandolins, and reports great success. Mentions Kay, American Standard, venturi, Roarocket.
2022
AL#147 p.65
James Condino
▪ Condino loves this lavish book about the history and construction of the Neapolitan (or tater bug) mandolin, which runs from classic to contemporary.
2022
AL#147 p.6
James Condino
▪ Lutherie estates. That’s all the wood, tools, jigs, and parts left over when a luthier retires or passes away. What to do with these materials is becomeing a real issue as the origian; Lutherie Boomers age out. Condino says we will soon be drowning in this stuff.
2019
AL#138 p.70
James Condino
▪ Can you avoid excessive string tension in a long-scale harp guitar?
2017
AL#131 p.50
James Condino
▪ Pop goes the soundpost! Can this affordable old Kay bull fiddle be saved? Plywood-doghouse bass specialist James Condino shows us how.
2017
AL#130 p.2
James Condino
▪ James Condino remembers his friend and mentor Eugene Clark.
2017
AL#129 p.24
James Condino
▪ Condino has developed a clever process by which he can string and play a new mandolin very early in the building process. This makes voicing much more accurate,a nd it reduces the risk of experimental materials and bracing patterns considerably. Must see to believe. Mentions the work of Lloyd Loar at the Gibson company in the 1920s.
2017
AL#129 p.34
James Condino
▪ It’s a clean, simple classic from the golden era. These are the working man’s mandos that Gibson was making while Lloyd Loar was busy making the fancy ones in the next room.
2016
AL#125 p.48
James Condino
▪ James Condino does sunbursts on archtop mandolins the way they did it back in the 1920s: rubbing water stains directly on the bare wood.
2015
AL#121 p.16
James Condino Arnold Schnitzer
▪ Arnold Schnitzer was a young and successful working musician in the New York City area. When he found himself with the grown-up responsibilities of a wife and child, he decided to settle down and get a real job. Amusingly, that real job was hand-making string basses. But it has worked out well, so you never know. You’ll be glad you met him in this wide-ranging and lavishly illustrated interview.
2014
AL#117 p.52
James Condino John Monteleone
▪ A history of the ellipse soundhole cutter device in lutherie and it’s lineage from D’Angelico to D’Aquisto to John Monteleone.
2013
AL#114 p.14
James Condino Stephen Marchione
▪ Stephen Marchione on his career in building solidbody electrics, acoustic guitars, mandolins, and violins.
2012
AL#111 p.3
James Condino
▪ Morado mistakenly referred to as Brazilian Rosewood on page 51 of AL#110.
2012
AL#110 p.48
James Condino
▪ Restoring old plywood basses. From Condino’s 2011 GAL convention workshop.
2012
AL#109 p.34
James Condino
▪ Restoring old plywood basses. From Condino’s 2011 GAL convention workshop.
2011
AL#108 p.34
James Condino
▪ Studying and researching a one of a kind D’Aquisto guitar, on hand at Dream Guitars, owned by Paul Heumiller.
2011
AL#108 p.36
James Condino
▪ A full-scale instrument plan. See the GAL website for a low-rez preview.
2011
AL#105 p.16
Roger-Alan Skipper James Condino
▪ James Condino maintains an adventurous approach to his instrument design and to life in general.
2011
AL#105 p.19
James Condino
▪ Tailpieces and fittings as functional artworks.
2010
AL#102 p.70
James Condino
▪ Condino reviews the Veritas Nx60 premium block plane and loves it.
2008
AL#96 p.42
James Condino Ted Davis
▪ Davis’ lutherie exploits goes back to the ’70s. He was one of the first of the recent red spruce believers, and he harvested many trees to supply himself and a few others who were lucky enough to key into his business. He made guitars, mandolins, and dulcimers to support his hotrod automobile habit. He had strong opinions about wood that run counter to modern beliefs, and had the experience to back them up.Davis died before the interview was published. He will be missed. With 15 photos.
2008
AL#93 p.60
James Condino
▪ Condino rates all the commonly available mandolin tuners and explains why spending $500 for the best set available might make good economic sense. He also likes the Stew-Mac mandolin peghead drill jig. With 12 photos.
2007
AL#91 p.68
James Condino
▪ A vintage 1970s aluminum West Bend 5-cup electric hot pot functions as a very good double boiling system for hide glue.
2007
AL#90 p.52 read this article
James Condino
▪ Condino’s mandolin is made from recycled materials, mostly Douglas fir and katalox. It is unique and beautiful, and the story behind it is pretty cool, too. With 7 photos.
2007
AL#89 p.48 read this article
James Condino
▪ Musical instruments made of aluminum didn’t catch on. This doesn’t mean that a number of companies didn’t go into manufacture, or that the instruments weren’t good. Every luthier knows how fickle and finicky the market is, so it’s no wonder that metal stringed instruments weren’t welcomed by the playing public. Examined here are a violin, a mandolin, and a pair of bass viols. The bass viol stories are the most fun since the author has personal experience with them. Fun stuff! With 25 photos.
2006
AL#86 p.62 ALA2 p.4
James Condino
▪ Saw stop table saws are meant to screech to a halt before they can cut your skin. The reviewer finds that they really work. What are your fingers worth to you, anyway? With 8 photos.
2005
AL#84 p.58 BRB7 p.534 read this article
James Condino
▪ The reviewer finds this book to be a treasure well worth the high cost to anyone serious about the standup bass.
2004
AL#80 p.60 BRB7 p.233
Randy DeBey James Condino
▪ Construction and repair issues for upright bass.