2024
AL#152 p.22
Derek Porter
▪ A kid from Idaho finds himself enrolled in a rigorous instrument-making course situated in a story-book Great House in the English countryside. He leaps right into an ambitious project of building a large viol in the elaborate style of Joachim Tielke.
2024
AL#152 p.60
Jon Sevy
▪ Unlike some of us, Jon Sevy paid attention in high school geometry class. He calls this method of setting up a router to cut a binding ledge simplified but it is really more like optimised; it is both simpler and better.
2024
AL#151 p.3
January Williams
▪ A reader asks about the swing-arm binding router shown among Denny Stevens tools in AL#150. Author January Williams gives an informative answer. The tool’s design is a collaborative effort between Stevens and Harry Fleishman.
2024
AL#151 p.34
Joshua-Alexander French
▪ Imagine the fun of attending an intensive seminar where nine builders build fine classical guitars from scratch with an instructor whose strong background qualifies him to carry on the teaching work of Jose Romanillos. Now make the setting an authentic castle in Austria. With a gourmet restaurant. What a wonderful world. Mentions Tobias Braun, Jose Romanillos, Marian Harris Winspear, Santos Hernández, Alberto Martínez, Luise Walker, Miguel Llobet, Jeffrey Elliott.
2023
AL#148 p.67
Harry Fleishman
▪ The very basics of using that brown paper binding tape. Because it is OK to be a beginner.
2022
AL#147 p.70
Steve Gonwa
▪ Simple jig made of MDF helps you make accurate wooden binding strips with a thickness sander.
2022
AL#146 p.70
Graham McDonald
▪ Make a simple jig to get double duty from a strip of ivoroid binding material.
2022
AL#145 p.4
Michael Bashkin
▪ Bashkin ornaments his pegheads and end grafts with marquetry combined with thin, free-flowing veneer lines. He shows us in detail how he accomplishes some of these effects, including scorching decorative pieces in hot sand.
2021
AL#144 p.24
Federico Sheppard
▪ Federico Sheppard completes his uncompromising copy of FE08, the elaborate early opus of the master luthier Antonio Torres Jurado. Beautifully figured wood and excruciatingly detailed marquetry come together and receive a French polish finish. Mentions Jose Romanillos, Marian Romanillos, Eugene Clark, and Robert Ruck.
2021
AL#143 p.69
Bob Gleason
▪ Rare-earth magnets recessed into the back of a piece of plywood let it act as a quick-and-easy zero-throat jig for ripping narrow strips for kerfing and binding. Each edge is a different setup.
2021
AL#143 p.6
Federico Sheppard
▪ It is a story of mystery, dedication, and destiny. The wide-eyed young novitiate is mentored by oracles, sorcerers, and craftsmen until he finds his great quest and pursues it against all odds. To put it more plainly, but no more truthfully, it is the story of Federico Sheppard constructing a copy of FE08, the astonishingly elaborate early opus of the master luthier Antonio Torres Jurado. Mentions Nick Kukich, Ray Jacobs, Shel Urlik, Jose Romanillos, Richard Brune, Robert Ruck, Robert Lundberg, Abel Garcia Lopez, Nicolo Alessi.
2021
AL#142 p.68
Steve Kennel
▪ Sacrifice a wobbly old Workmate to make a nice guitar holding rig for your bench top.
2020
AL#141 p.67
Cary Corson
▪
2020
AL#141 p.68
Terence Warbey
▪
2020
AL#141 p.70
Federico Sheppard
▪
2020
AL#141 p.7
Charles Fox Mark French
▪ In this episode of the landmark series, the back and top plates are braced and glued to the rim to form the body of the guitar. The body is then bound and purfled using Fox’ distinctive method of fitting everything dry, taping it in place, and running superglue into the seams.
2019
AL#138 p.65
Ralf Grammel
▪ Sometimes the bent binding needs a little more convincing to lie down at the waist than just a piece of tape. This easily-made set of jaws for a pistol-grip clamp gets teh job done.
2019
AL#138 p.56
Graham McDonald
▪ Rope binding uses contrasting wooden lozenges around the outer edge of a guitar, such that when they are rounded over, the binging seems to be twisted like a rope. The effect was popular in the early 20th century on ukuleles and Hawaiian guitars. The author takes us throught the process of slicing and dicing to produce the binding strips.
2018
AL#134 p.69
Luis-Alberto Paredes-Rodriguez
▪ Is it bad to cut into the lining when routing a binding channel? Paredes says no it’s actually a good thing. He shows how he does it, and says that in this he is a follower of the late Arthur Overholtzer.
2018
AL#133 p.69
Harry Fleishman
▪ Sources for specialty adhesive tapes.
2017
AL#132 p.65
Doug Berch
▪ A scrap of kerfed lining with a bit of sticky sandpaper can quickly and accurately clean up a binding ledge. And if it is quick and accurate, we like it.
2017
AL#130 p.22
David Freeman
▪ Freeman has made a number of guitars with varying combinations of off-center soundholes, graduated body depth, rolled-over edges, and adjustable side ports. He gives us his thoughts on how these design factors interact and how they advance his quest for a more erognomic steel string guitar.
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.
2016
AL#128 p.3
Carl Samuels
▪ You know those new-fangled bevels that make fancy hand-made steel-string guitars more comfy to play? Ever wonder what it would be like to have a guitar that was beveled all the way around the body? American lutherie-boom pioneer Carl Samuels has already done it.
2016
AL#128 p.8
Alan Perlman
▪ Perlman runs though a restoration job on a Torres guitar, replacing a side and copying fancy purflings. Then he builds a replica of a Stahl Style 6 flattop. So when you are copying a century-old American guitar, how far do you go in the name of authenticity? Do you match the faded tones of the purfling, or use the nice bright colors that the Larson Brothers liked? Do you let the glue blobs roam free like they did, or get all tidy like a nervous modern maker? From his 2014 convention lecture.
2015
AL#121 p.67
Ed Smith
▪ Bending herringbone by taping it down and ironing.
2009
AL#100 p.54
C.F. Casey
▪ Building a Weissenborn-style instrument with the rope binding and rosette that Weissenborn used on high end models.
2008
AL#95 p.62
John Calkin
▪ The reviewer gives a thumbs up to Plasti-Dip, a thick liquid used to apply a plastic coating to tools, and to the Stew-Mac Binding Laminator, used to lay up various combinations of plastic or celluloid bindings and purflings. With 4 photos.
2008
AL#95 p.32 ALA5 p.76
Tobias Braun
▪ Braun took on the job of restoring a massively injured Spanish factory guitar made approximately in 1900. This is not only a close look at how such work is done, but an examination of how these guitars were made. It’s not a Torres, but it’s pretty cool. With 41 photos and 4 catalog page reproductions.
2007
AL#89 p.64 ALA2 p.22
Alan Perlman John Mello
▪ Both reviewers test fly the Luthiertool Binding Cutter Base, an attachment for a small router or laminate trimmer. Perlman is enthusiastic about the tool. Mello is a little less so but admits he’s glad he bought it. With 1 photo.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
2006
AL#85 p.63
R.M. Mottola
▪ Changing the depth of a guitar’s ribs to modify the manner in which the bindings are fitted to the binding ledge.
2004
AL#78 p.69 BRB7 p.493
Mark Brantley
▪ Modifying the Rockwell trim router to route the edge of guitars and ukuleles for binding.
2004
AL#78 p.28 BRB7 p.416
Peggy Stuart Don MacRostie
▪ Ms. Stuart’s epic continues with the making of the headstock cap, shaping of the neck, installing the neck and fingerboard, as well as setting up and stringing the finished (but in-the-white) instrument. The first three parts were in the three previous issues of AL. Don MacRostie taught Stuart’s class at the American School of Lutherie. With 74 photos, most of the step-by-step process.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
2003
AL#76 p.42 BRB7 p.128
Tom Harper
▪ The author went to the American School of Lutherie where he learned the Fox style of binding from Fox associate Cameron Carr. The binding is completely taped in place while dry, then glued in after everything fits just right. Just one more example of how modern materials have improved the quality of lutherie. With 9 photos.
2003
AL#74 p.68 BRB7 p.489
Eric Foulke
▪
2003
AL#75 p.66 BRB7 p.108
Mike Doolin
▪ The author always uses the same binding/purfling scheme on his guitars, so he jigged up permanently set routers to use on his Ribbecke jig. Pretty cool if you never change your decoration scheme. With 5 photos.
2003
AL#73 p.61 BRB7 p.523
John Calkin
▪ This video is a collection of shop tips that the reviewer found to be valuable and entertaining, especially in view of the low price.
2002
AL#71 p.42 BRB6 p.398
Harry Fleishman
▪ Harry can rout his guitars for binding with his eyes closed. Honestly! The system he explains uses a laminate trimmer suspended by a swinging arm and you can build it in your shop.With a photo and 2 diagrams.
2001
AL#65 p.10 BRB6 p.82
Paul Schuback
▪ Schuback learned violin making in a small shop in France during the ’60s. This segment of his 1995 convention workshop lecture covers completing the plates and fitting the neck, fingerboard, nut, and soundpost to the body. There’s lots of local French color, old tools, and old ways presented here, as well as a bit of how the violin has changed since the days of the first Italian masters. Part One appeared in AL#63. With 33 photos, a diagram, and a sequence chart for building a violin.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.
2000
AL#64 p.64 BRB6 p.57
Robert Steinegger
▪ Filling gaps in ivoroid binding.
2000
AL#63 p.20 BRB6 p.82
Paul Schuback
▪ This piece would be important just as an historical document of Schuback’s apprenticeship to a French violin maker in the early ’60s. The inclusion of his current shop practices and building methods makes it an article that everyone interested in the violin should read. With 33 photos and 5 diagrams.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.
1999
AL#57 p.11 BRB5 p.297
John Calkin
▪ Calkin was hired by Huss and Dalton to take over their guitar binding. His story includes a description of how to make wood binding, and covers the hand tools he uses during the binding procedure. With 6 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1999
AL#58 p.6 BRB5 p.262
Jay Hargreaves
▪ The final installment in the series, parts 1 & 2 were in AL#56 and #57, respectively. In this segment the sides are bent, the body is assembled and bound, the neck is fitted to the body, and attention is given to tuning the plates. Special consideration is given to making the adjustable bridges as well as Tom’s elegant ebony/graphite tailpiece. With 36 photos and a drawing.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1998
AL#56 p.36 BRB5 p.262
Jay Hargreaves
▪ Ribbecke is a renowned maker of archtop guitars. He also opens his shop periodically to small classes that wish to learn his formula for successful and graceful guitars. Hargreaves attended one such week-long session and brought back the straight skinny for American Lutherie readers. Part 1 details the construction of a laminated maple neck and associated details. Part 2 follows in AL#57. With 29 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1999
AL#57 p.6 BRB5 p.292
Jeff Huss Mark Dalton
▪ The H&D Guitar Company builds about 100 guitars per year, the great majority of them bound in wood. Here’s how they do it. With 13 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1998
AL#54 p.38 BRB5 p.127
John Calkin
▪ Inspired by his time spent at Fox’s American School of Lutherie, Calkin revamps his whole building procedure. Dished workboards turn out to be easy and cheap to make. Mando, uke, and dulcimer sides are bent with an electric silicone blanket. Molds are revamped. Speed and precision are in, drudgery is out (well, almost). Parts 1 and 2 were in American Lutherie #52 and #53, respectively. With 25 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.
1997
AL#52 p.46 BRB5 p.148
R.E. Brune
▪ What does it take to restore an important instrument? Skill, research, and a solid feel and appreciation for the time during which the piece was made and played. Skip any of these factors and you could easily screw up an irreplaceable piece. Brune describes his approach to one guitar while at the same time demonstrating the qualities necessary to enter this field.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1997
AL#51 p.16
David Grey
▪ Grey’s nifty jig uses a table router to bind guitar bodies. The classiest part is the micrometer adjustments built into the jig. With 2 photos and 5 good drawings.
1997
AL#49 p.10 BRB4 p.4
Woodley White
▪ Baarslag journeys to the American School of Lutherie to teach a week-long class about building classical guitars. White attended, and gives a full report. With 37 photos.
1996
AL#48 p.58
Jeffrey Yong
▪ Clamping a wood block with nails down the middle of the guitar to bind the guitar on one side at a time.
1996
AL#48 p.6 BRB4 p.378
Lawrence-K. Brown
▪ Brown made the elaborate trim for 27 Baroque guitars, then spread the actual construction over a year and a half. All the details are included. He believes that too much patience stands in the way of making a living. This is an article with attitude. With 29 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1996
AL#46 p.52 BRB4 p.221
Robert Brook
▪ Brook describes a new method of binding scroll headstocks on F-model mandolins.
1996
AL#45 p.43 BRB4 p.193
Fred Campbell
▪ Keeping light bindings from being stained.
1995
AL#44 p.51 BRB4 p.193
Christopher Luck
▪ Keeping bindings free from bleed or stains from filler.
1995
AL#44 p.58 BRB4 p.500
Norbert Pietsch
▪ Two rings, one for inside, one for outside, for use with rubber or rope for clamping binding to a banjo rim.
1993
AL#36 p.52 BRB3 p.422
Jonathon Peterson
▪ Four repairmen offer a variety of tips about altering mechanical archtop bridges, adding more “pop” to fretless bass necks, soldering and shielding electrics, carbide bandsaw blades, abrasive cord, superglue, cutting saddle slots, double-stick tape, bending plastic binding, beveling pickguard stock, replacing bar frets with T-frets, and restoring headstocks to look old.
1993
AL#36 p.58 BRB3 p.446 read this article
Michael Darnton
▪ Darnton discusses classical violin strings and a timesaving method of cutting the purfling slots.
1994
AL#37 p.6 BRB4 p.2
Tim Olsen
▪ Nobody built a better archtop than D’Aquisto did. Olsen outlines the procedures and peculiarities of a famous luthier’s work.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.
1993
AL#34 p.59 BRB3 p.494
Colin Kaminski
▪ This jig used for clamping fingerboard bindings fixes the problem of clamping the binding against the fingerboard and keeping the white and black lines flush with the bottom edge of the fingerboard.
1993
AL#34 p.6 BRB3 p.316 ALA5 p.22
Jeffrey-R. Elliott
▪ Elliott believes that top replacements might be far more common in the future than they are now. Instruments with tired tops might have them replaced rather than retire the rare/irreplaceable hardwoods that comprise the rest of the instrument. Anyhow, he tried it out. Here he presents a description of the operation and the ethics involved, with 23 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1993
AL#33 p.12 BRB3 p.278 read this article
Roberto Gomes
▪ Gomes offers a list and short description of some current Brazilian builders.
1993
AL#33 p.14 BRB3 p.280
R.E. Brune
▪ Brune describes a rare 11-string Torres guitar and the manner in which he restored it. With 11 photos and a half-page of drawings. Mentions Romanillos.
1992
AL#30 p.48 BRB3 p.485
Mark Tierney
▪ An easy to make jig with a wide jawed woodworkers vise to work down the edges of thin strips of veneer or laminated binding.
1992
AL#30 p.49 BRB3 p.486
Robert Steinegger
▪ Getting a nice clean splice when binding a guitar body with ivoroid plastic strips using solvent-based glue.
1991
AL#25 p.40 BRB3 p.476
Peter Schaefer
▪ Schaefer’s tool will give you control over the skinniest pieces of wood that go into your instrument.
1989
AL#20 p.32 BRB2 p.330
Jeffrey-R. Elliott Jonathon Peterson
▪ The 6 tools are: a guitar cradle, a grimel (hand purfling cutter), a hand circle cutter, a shooting board, a circle cutting jig for the Dremel tool, and water stones for tool sharpening.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1987
AL#12 p.26 BRB1 p.460 ALA4 p.4
Tim Olsen
▪ Enhanced with 6 photos, this is the tale of one luthier’s connection to famous musicians, the Everly Brothers. Have you ever made a guitar with solid gold frets and binding? Robert Steinegger has.
1986
AL#5 p.51 BRB1 p.185
Elliott Burch
▪ Burch offers a method of binding a mandolin that contributes to the ease of removing the plates at a later date.
1985
AL#2 p.49
C.F. Casey
▪ Casey prefers laminate trimmers to Dremels.
1985
AL#1 p.10 BRB1 p.2 read this article
David Nichols
▪ Nichols does a lot of custom inlay work, including ultra-fancy work on new instruments for the Martin Company. He describes his entire process here, illustrated with 15 photos. He also reveals his tool choices and sources of supply.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.
1984
DS#288 LW p.92
Anonymous
▪ Plastic is often recycled in the factory, and various colors may be added to a basic mix. Plastic for instrument adornment is never supposed to be made this way, but it can happen. Your supplier should make good on it.
1984
DS#278 BRB2 p.367
Duane Waterman
▪ This is a trick method of laminating wood purfling strips and bending them to shape at the same time. With 5 photos.
1982
DS#223 LW p.92
Michael Breid
▪ The author has had good luck heating and stretching shrunken binding back to its original configuration. Here’s how.
1981
GALQ Vol.9#2 p.10 LW p.70
Rick Turner
▪ Turner started his lutherie life as part of the Grateful Dead’s clan of artists, engineers, and craftsmen, but ended up with his own company which built distinctive electric guitars. This shop tour includes 11 photos.
1981
DS#186 LT p.65
Rion Dudley
▪ This guide registers on the sides of the guitar rather than the plates. It is intended for the Dremel tool, but will work with a larger router.
1980
DS#164 LT p.62
J.D. Mackenzie
▪ One is a Dremel base for cutting binding channels. The second is another base used to inlay decorative stringing of the face of headstocks.
1980
DS#149 LT p.61
Bruce Scotten
▪ Try end mill cutters to machine channels for rosettes and binding.
1979
BRB2 p.478
James Toomey
▪ Use a hair dryer to heat up a piece of plastic binding without burning it.
1978
DS#68 LT p.91
William Spigelsky
▪ Binding cutter is comprised of a stack of small slitting saw blades mounted in the drill press.
1978
DS#78 LT p.63
Al Leis
▪ Close-tolerance adjustability with a full-size router to create binding and rosette slots.