2023
AL#148 p.63
R.M. Mottola
▪ Legit scientist Graham Caldersmith was an early GAL member and a prolific author for us and other journals. Those articles have now been gathered and published in a book. Our reviewer talks about the book, and about Caldersmiths position in the lutherie literature.
2016
AL#128 p.22
Pat Megowan Jeff-Lee Manthos
▪ People come to lutherie on many different paths. Some of us were nerdy model-making kids, or spoiled lefty college dropouts. Or maybe the garage band was our gateway into the opium den of guitar making. On the other hand, Jeff Manthos was a helicopter aircrewman and rescue swimmer in the Vietnam era. Then, unexpectedly, he went to the Violinmaking School of America in Salt Lake City. He has made a career of it, first in other shops and now on his own.
2008
AL#96 p.6 ALA3 p.68
Robert Ruck Jeffrey-R. Elliott Manuel Velazquez Alfredo Velazquez
▪ Manuel Velazquez built his first guitar in 1929. Can you imagine that? His son Alfredo is carrying on the tradition, though Manuel has not retired. He has definite opinions about what woods make the best guitar and how they should be finished. He is a giant in the business and must be admired for his tenacity as much as his ability. And a fun interview to boot. Mentions Bobri, Andres Segovia, Torres, Santos Hernandez, and Hermann Hauser. With 36 photos.
2007
AL#90 p.66 read this article
Jeff Jewitt
▪ Availability of gloss tung oil in the USA or UK, for those who like a gloss finish.
2005
AL#82 p.26 BRB7 p.312
Jonathon Peterson Charles Beare
▪ Beare is the captain of a violin restoration firm, a competition judge, and a man thoroughly versed in the intricacies of vintage violins. He has known all the experts of his life time, and he has formulated many strong opinions about old fiddles and the various fields that use them to do business. You’ll find him interesting even if you aren’t a violin person. With 9 photos.
2004
AL#78 p.56 read this article
Dave Raley
▪ The pine woods are full of leaky trees that want you to make rosin varnish. The author tells how to harvest it and how to make an electric tin can kiln to melt rosin into a form that can be dissolved in alcohol. With 7 photos and 6 diagrams.
2002
AL#70 p.4 BRB6 p.350
John Calkin Ralph Novak
▪ Novak has been on the guitar scene since the late ’60s, specializing in the creation and repair of electric instruments, though his expertise doesn’t end there. His best-known invention is probably the Novax fanned fret system, though his work with multi-string guitars deserves note. Mentions Charles LoBue. With 17 photos.
1998
AL#53 p.60 BRB5 p.458
Michael Darnton
▪ Are there good alternative finishes for violins? What’s the best way to repair a nicked fiddle? Where is the best place to position the soundpost?
1997
AL#51 p.54
Cyndy Burton
▪ Burton lists 2 pages of suppliers and manufacturers of finish and glue, and offers more than a page of useful tips gleaned from many luthiers.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1997
AL#52 p.56 BRB5 p.458
Michael Darnton
▪ The soundpost of a cello can push the hard grain of the spruce right through the varnish. So how does one fix the problem? Is your varnish not as clear as you’d like? Damn! What’s the best way to scale down a 4/4 violin to the smaller sizes? Darnton comes to the rescue again.
1997
AL#51 p.50 BRB5 p.458
Michael Darnton
▪ Straight talk about why slab-sawn wood is a poor choice for violin necks, boiling down an alcohol solution, getting a chin rest to stay on a fiddle, and making lake pigments.
1996
AL#45 p.10 BRB4 p.264
R.E. Brune
▪ This 1995 lecture transcription investigates the history of art applied to lutherie in all its varied forms, and then translates many of them into illustrations of contemporary instruments. Topics include painting, gilding, carving, veneer, inlay, engraving, and varnish work. With 49 photos and illustrations.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1995
AL#42 p.60 BRB4 p.442
Michael Darnton
▪ Why can’t I get the proper degree of polish from my varnish? How high should a saddle be? Why do my violins come apart during varnishing? What stylistic mistakes are most common? Why is oil varnish so nasty?
1995
AL#42 p.12 BRB4 p.174
Robert Ruck
▪ Ruck spends most of his time in this lecture talking about top design and finishing. With 13 photos and several drawings, plus a detailed list of his finish materials and procedures.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.
1995
AL#41 p.56 BRB4 p.442
Michael Darnton
▪ Why is there a step in the neck behind the nut of my fiddle? What angle are the junctions of the ribs cut to at the corners? What’s the difference between French and Belgian cello bridges? Zits in the varnish? Why does my French polish crackle?
1994
AL#37 p.44 BRB4 p.23
Keith Hill
▪ Hill cooks up a varnish that resembles the fiddles in the early paintings, not those same fiddles 300 years later. A hundred years from now he expects his violins to be prettier than anyone’s.
1993
AL#33 p.30 BRB3 p.292
Geary Baese
▪ When a violin guy gets on the trail of an old guitar it comes out sounding an awful lot like a violin article. And when Stradivari is involved what else can one expect? Baese makes an educated guess about the materials and techniques that finished a famous guitar. With 8 photos.
1992
AL#30 p.54 BRB3 p.446 read this article
Michael Darnton
▪ Darnton examines the use of various woods for tuning pegs, discusses the differences among Italian, German, French, and English methods of building fiddles, runs down a list of violin societies, and dismisses the use of supplier-prepared violin varnishes.
1992
AL#29 p.60 BRB3 p.446 read this article
Michael Darnton
▪ Darnton sheds light on asymmetrically graduated violin tops, natural drying vs. UV drying of varnish, and the market in Baroque fiddles.
1991
AL#26 p.42 BRB3 p.32 read this article
Cyndy Burton Donald Warnock
▪ It’s wonderful that this interview is in the same issue as interviews with Larrivee and Warmoth, since they are opposites. The first two are sort of factory moguls, and Warnock is the gentlemanly craftsman/artist. All have forged a successful life on their own terms, and the contrast is delicious.
1991
AL#25 p.56 BRB3 p.446 read this article
Michael Darnton
▪ Darnton turns some pictures of a mystery fiddle into a thousand words. Or a few hundred, anyway. Then he moves on to discuss distorted ribs, retouching varnish, and tracking down a mystery buzz. He adds an update about his varnish formula.
1990
AL#24 p.54 BRB2 p.486
Michael Darnton
▪ Details include cooking varnish, finishing necks, causes of neck cracks, and adjusting a peg shaper to match your peg reamer.
1990
AL#22 p.38 BRB2 p.376
Michael Darnton
▪ Violin people think about finishes in a way that guitar makers have difficulty grasping. It is an obsession. Darnton’s lengthy article discusses varnish types and components and offers a few recipes. It doesn’t seem fair that guitar folks don’t get to play with stuff called dragons blood, sandarac, and propolis, to name just a few. Such exotic incantations are bound to improve a finish, don’t you think?
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1990
AL#24 p.54 BRB2 p.495
Michael Darnton
▪ When you are cooking violin varnish, how much smoke is enough? And how much is too much? BTW, if it explodes in flames, you went too far.
1990
AL#24 p.54 BRB2 p.497
Michael Darnton
▪ The neck of a fiddle looks bare. Usually it’s got some linseed oil or some shellac on it.
1989
AL#20 p.14 BRB2 p.306
Michael Darnton
▪ Darnton offers some in-depth advice to help you make your violin repairs invisible.
1989
AL#18 p.12 BRB2 p.214
Geary Baese
▪ Baese draws upon old literature and recent black light testing to draw his conclusions about the structure of old varnishes. The Q&A session reveals a high sophistication in the audience. With 5 photos and a few old print reproductions.
1989
AL#18 p.52 BRB2 p.497
Robert Lundberg
▪ The reviewer finds he could easily recommend this book if it weren’t so overpriced.
1989
AL#17 p.48 BRB2 p.206
Geary Baese
▪ Baese writes about adding color to violin varnishes in an historically accurate manner. He defines a lake pigment as “fixing . . .an organic soluble dye upon an inorganic carrier to render an insoluble colored compound.”
1989
AL#17 p.6 BRB2 p.162
Tim Olsen
▪ Whether or not there is anything new to be said about Stradivari, it is impossible for a serious publication about lutherie not to take him into account at some point. Olsen’s lengthy article includes analytical drawings and photos of the master’s work. All the guitar and mando folks might wonder what the fuss is about. Olsen sets us straight.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.
1988
AL#14 p.53 BRB2 p.67
George Manno
▪ Manno offers a recipe for a golden-red varnish for use on new violins.
1988
AL#13 p.52 BRB2 p.32
George Manno
▪ Manno explains how to make the colorants of violin varnish safe from fading. He also offers advice about keeping your chemical experiments safe.
1988
AL#13 p.5 BRB2 p.161
John Randerson
▪ Randerson adds a lengthy note about different alcohols to the 1704 violin varnish formula previously offered by Manno in AL#12, and Manno answers.
1987
AL#11 p.30 BRB1 p.482
George Manno
▪ Manno is an honest man (even when honesty hurts), knowledgeable, and opinionated. An especially strong column that touches upon repair prices, colors for varnish touchups, tonewood sources, Polish white bow hair, and Tetto Gallo violins.
1987
AL#11 p.51 BRB1 p.501 read this article
Ernest Nussbaum
▪
1987
AL#12 p.12 BRB1 p.451 read this article
George Manno
▪ This is a recipe for a touchup violin varnish, with instructions for adding colors.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1987
AL#10 p.36 BRB1 p.390 read this article
Jeff Feltman Jack Batts
▪ Intelligent questions and no-holds-barred answers make this long interview with a veteran builder seem too short. All violin articles should be this interesting. Forty-nine years dedicated to wood, glue, and varnish have to teach one a great deal. With 8 photos. Mentions Sacconi, Stradivari, Guarneri, and Amati.
1986
AL#7 p.60 BRB1 p.498 read this article
George Manno
▪ The reviewer finds the book to be a worthwhile investment for anyone seriously trying to duplicate antique violin finishes.
1984
DS#269 BRB1 p.264
Neil Hebert
▪ This guitarmaker has adopted finishing techniques that are often reserved for violins, and claims that in eye and tactile appeal it is superior to lacquer. Particularly important is how he deals with rosewood’s tendency to bleed color, a problem that fiddle finishers don’t have to face.
1984
DS#276 BRB1 p.262 read this article
Graham Caldersmith
▪ The Sacconi technique of sealing fiddles with silicates has not been widely accepted. Nevertheless, the author explains how he has successfully used silicates to seal and harden violin wood before varnishing, as well as the use of vernice bianca (basically whipped egg whites) to act as an interface between the silicate and the varnish.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1982
DS#226 BRB1 p.167 read this article
Louis DeGrazia
▪ Rosin varnishes preceded the varnishes developed by the Cremonese violin masters. Though they are often scorned by experienced luthiers, DeGrazia maintains that the ease with which they can be mixed and applied makes them a good starting point for the budding violin builder.
1978
DS#89 BRB1 p.284 read this article
David Rolfe
▪ Violinmakers can (and do) talk at length about varnish formulas. Rolfe leaves that to others, and instead describes at length the process of getting the varnish onto the instrument with a minimum of fuss and a maximum of cleanliness. Included is a discussion of brushes, rags, rubbing down and polishing materials, drying boxes, and where in your shop to varnish.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1975
DS#8
R.E. Brune
▪ An elaboration on the French polish portion of the finishes data sheet, by popular demand.