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#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#150 p.2
Margaret Mlamba
▪
2023
AL#150 p.62
Birck Cox
▪ The late Robert Lundberg is legendary as a lute maker and educator, but Birck Cox knew him before all that, back when Lundberg was working on fiberglass race cars. They met while unloading a moving van and were friends for many years.
2023
AL#148 p.6
Glen Friesen
▪ The long-running guitar-building program on the Saskatchewan prairie had another successful year. But the future looks uncertain as shop teacher Frisen moves toward retirement.
2023
AL#148 p.7
Federico Sheppard Adam Levin
▪ Federico Sheppard and Kithara Project cofounder Adam Levin announce a new guitar-building program for at-risk youth in Mexico City. Mentions Boston and Detroit.
2022
AL#146 p.6
Flip Scipio
▪ Ten years ago, Flip Scipio attended the last of the summer seminars given by José Romanillos at his base in Sigüenza, Spain. Now, after the recent passing of the Maestro, this review is both informative and poignant.
2022
AL#146 p.60
John Calkin
▪ Ukes are serious lutherie projects these days. Standards and expectations are high. The same is true for instructional videos. The reviewer is favorably impressed with the instruments, the instructors, and the presentation.
2022
AL#145 p.58
Phil Ingber
▪ Mounting an electric bending iron in such a way that it pokes up out of a work surface helps you avoid a twist in the bent side. Mentions Ted Harlan, R.M. Mottola.
2022
AL#145 p.56
John Calkin
▪ John Calkin looks at another fine instructional video from Robbie O’Brien: Inlay Techniques with Larry Robinson. He likes it.
2021
AL#144 p.44
Mark French
▪ In this concluding episode of the series, the neck is fretted and the frets are filed and polished. Threaded inserts are installed in the heel and the neck is attached. Finally, the bridge is glued on, the nut is set in position, and the guitar is strung and set up.
2021
AL#144 p.56
Debbie French Mark French
▪ There is a national movement to teach teachers how to teach STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering, and math) to high-school students; you have them make guitars. Turns out people think it’s fun to make guitars. Who knew?
2021
AL#143 p.66
John Calkin
▪ This is a major instructional video from Robbie O’Brien’s school, with a running time of 14 hours.
2021
AL#142 p.40
Doug Hunt Mark French
▪ Two luthiers dare each other to make a useful guitar for a total investment of $75 each. One makes a flattop, the other a solid body. There are rules, and rules are meant to be broken.
2021
AL#142 p.66
John Calkin
▪ A positive review for a big and ambitious on-line course. Offered through Robbie O’Brien.
2021
AL#142 p.14
Mark French Charles Fox
▪ In this article the peg head is shaped and drilled, the neck shaft is slotted for the truss rod, the heel is formed, and the neck is fitted to the body.
2021
AL#142 p.3
Paul Norton
▪ Fond memories of attending the Charles Fox guitar-making course in long-ago Vermont.
2020
AL#141 p.5
David Breeze
▪
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.
2020
AL#141 p.26
Leonardo Michelin-Salomon
▪ A Uruguayan luthier enrolls in a craft school in Norway to study Romantic-era guitars built by Italian, German, and French makers two hundred years ago. He writes an article about his techniques and discoveries that is published in an American journal with readers in over forty countries. Yes, it’s a big beautiful lutherie world. We are all just leaves on one wide-spreading, figured-maple branch.
2020
AL#139 p.69
John Calkin
▪ Our resident straight-shooting curmudgeon says to start with super-simple kits, then move to good-quality kits, then just make ukes.
2020
AL#140 p.20
Mark French Charles Fox
▪ Building a Charles Fox guitar reveals the beautifully developed interdependence between the design and the process. In this episode we rough out the neck, work with the unusual neck block and the distinctive two-part lining, and then brace the top and back plates.
2020
AL#140 p.52
Glen Friesen
▪ Some public servants take on challenging tasks that many of us would fear to attempt. I’m not talking about fire fighters or the people who change light bulbs on the tops of suspension bridges. I’m talking about high school shop teachers. And here’s a guy who has been teaching guitar making in public school for twenty years. Hats off to you, sir! And respect to the students. These guitars look pretty good.
2020
AL#139 p.2
Ron Zentz
▪ Ron has been a woodworker for decades and finally maade a guitar after attending a Charles Fox survey course. He’s glad he did.
2020
AL#139 p.6
Federico Sheppard
▪ Here’s a lutherie carreer so wide-ranging, so full of amazing travels and fortuitous connections, that you might be thinking of Baron Munchausen or Forrest Gump. But this is a true adventure, and he left a lot of it out in order to pack the story into a 75-minute lecture. Must read to believe. From his 2017 GAL Convention lecture. Mentions Torres, Simplicio, Garcia, Leo Kottke, Bozo Podunavac, Ray Jacobs, John Fahey, Peter Lang, Norman Blake, Robert Larson, Agustin Barrios, Ray Whitely, Sanfeliu, Enno Voorhorst, Jeffrey Elliott, Cyndy Burton, Richard Brune, Jorge Morel, Pepe Romero, Shel Urlik, Romanillos, Dmitry Zhevlakov, Paracho, Abel Garcia, Antigua Casa Nunez, Cecilio Lopez, Fernando Sor, Francois de Fossa, Cite de la Musique, Santos Hernanadez, Domingo Esteso, Antonio Marin, Eugene Clark, Michael Partington.
2020
AL#139 p.26
Mark French Charles Fox
▪ If, some day, there is a Mt. Rushmore for the American Lutherie Boom, the ruggedly handsome face of Charles Fox will be boldly chisled in a place of honor. For over half a century he has led the way as developer and teacher of guitar-making methods and tooling. He is also a thoughtful and articulate philosopher of the craft, whose words will inspire luthiers yet unborn. Here’s the first in a series of four articles which will cover his process, and his thinking behind it, in detail.
2019
AL#138 p.20
Mark French
▪ Author Mark French is walking the lutherie path in the reverse direction of many makers. As a physics prof trained in the crazy magic of CNC and industrial robot processes, he had made a lot of guitars before he did much in the way of traditional low-tech hand-tool work. As part of an intensive effort to fill in those gaps, he attended an eight-day course at Robbie O’Brien’s shop in Colorado to make a flamenco guitar with Spanish luthier and licensed bloodless toreador Paco Chorobo. O’Brien went to Spain and visited Paco’s shop in 2015. Read all about it in AL124.
2019
AL#138 p.38
Steve Denvir Jay Lichty Corrie Woods
▪ Jay Lichty was late to the lutherie game, having spent a lot of years in a real job building houses as a general contractor. But he’s deep into instrument making now, and finding success with an eclectic line of ukuleles and small guitars. Jay’s wife, Corrie Woods, is the marketing department, working with photography and online media to make the most of Jay’s work at the bench. Together, they are making it work. From their lecture at the 2017 GAL Convention.
2019
AL#137 p.52
J.A.T. Stanfield
▪ There are many settings in which one might receive lutherie instruction these days. Looking for a change of scene? This article describes a 12-week course held in a 300-year-old building near the Devonshire coast of southeast England. It has a 40-year history and roots in the legendary London College of Furniture program. Mentions Norman Reed and Phil Messer. Also describes a systematic method of planing a board flat. Discusses doming a flat soundboard with shaped cauls and a go-bar deck.
2019
AL#136 p.54
Mark French
▪ Author Mark French has made a lot of guitars over the years, but when he wanted to up his game he attended an intensive two-week course by the dean of all American lutherie teachers, Charles Fox. Four students each built a guitar in the white from scratch and strung it up.
2018
AL#135 p.16
Dan Erlewine Erick Coleman Chelsea Clark
▪ “Uncle Dan” Erlewine has been a constant presence in the American Lutherie Boom era, because he personifies the can-do ethos that underlies the whole dang movement: figure something out, and tell everybody about it. As a young man hoping to move from rocker to luthier, he found a generous mentor in Herb David of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Dan has paid that forward many times as he has brought young people into his shop and given them a place to grow. Mentions Herb David, Mark Erlewine, Jerry Garcia, Albert King, John O’Boyle, David Surovel, Bryan Galloup, Charlie Longstreth, Tom Erlewine, Gary Brawer, Joe Glaser, Steve Olson, Albert Garcia, Elliot John-Conry, Adam Fox, Exodus Almasude, Johan Powell, Max Feldman, Paul Lampley, Aaron Smiley, Rodrgo Gomez, Chelsea Clark. From his lecture at the 2017 GAL Convention.
2018
AL#134 p.4
Monica Esparza
▪ There was a party in Spain when luthier, scholar, teacher, and author Jose Romanillos turned 85. Luthiers, musicians, dignitaries gathered to honor him. We get a close-up look through the eyes of his longtime admirer and student Monica Esparza.
2018
AL#134 p.42
Michael Bashkin Harry Fleishman
▪ Everybody knows Harry Fleishman, right? We first “Met the Maker” in 2001, but by then Harry had already been an active GAL author and convention attendee for some time. Now we are catching up with him. This recent chapter of his story is a doozy, with major moves, businesses opening and closing, fruitful collaborations, international travel, and new beginnings.
2018
AL#133 p.6
Federico Sheppard
▪ There are luthiers way up in the tributaries of the Amazon River. They have wood galore, and they are teaching large numbers of local kids to make their own instruments. But they are short on good sharp tools and modern information. Our intrepid adventurer Federico Sheppard sets out to address that lack by bring in donated tools and holding master classes. He was multi-tasking; on the same trip he researched and commemorated the 1931 visit of Agustin Barrios to the remarkable Teatro Amazonas, which you might recognize from the Werner Herzog movie Fitzcaraldo. And he got in some fishing.
2018
AL#133 p.22
R.M. Mottola Mark French
▪ Mark French was a kid who took guitar lessons and paid the guy at the music store to change his strings. He went on to be an aerospace engineer, but with all that book learning he still did not know how guitars worked. Now he teaches college courses on guitar making and hangs out with captains of industry at Fender and Taylor.
2017
AL#132 p.5
Federico Sheppard
▪ Federico talks about the possibility of guitar building classes at his 1000-year-old church in Spain.
2017
AL#129 p.6
Cyndy Burton Linda Manzer
▪ The prolific maker of high-end flattop and archtop guitars talks about her mentors Jean Larrivee and Jimmy D’Aquisto, the lutherie biz, her collaborations with guitarist Pat Metheny, and a recent project in cooperation with other Canadian luthiers. Also mentions Paul Simon.
2017
AL#129 p.38
Steve Denvir Dave Collins
▪ Dave Collins is a rising star on the guitar repair scene. Take a look at a couple of nice jigs he has developed; one for slotting saddles, one for regluing broken headstocks. Interestingly, he is in the same Ann Arbor third-storey shop previously tenanted by Herb David. Dave counts Dan Erlewine and Bryan Galloup among his mentors.
2015
AL#123 p.64
John Calkin
▪ This online course provides information that an endless and distracting internet search will not yield.
2015
AL#122 p.2
Glen Friesen
▪ Friesen checks in about his ongoing efforts to teach lutherie as a woodshop subject in a Canadian public middle school.
2014
AL#120 p.30
David Smith
▪ David Smith is a guitarist and lutenist who has wanted to make guitars and lutes for decades. But he was distracted by school, career, family, and stuff like that. His self-starting lutherie adventures never took off. Recently he signed up for an eight-day one-on-one session with lutherie teacher Robbie O’Brien, and finally got that guitar built.
2013
AL#116 p.3
Glen Friesen
▪ Another successful year at the Waldheim School in Saskatchewan and a description of the guitars constructed since the GAL 2011 convention.
2013
AL#116 p.19
Tom Harper
▪ An appreciation of Carl Samuels and the inception of The Roberto-Venn School of Lutherie in Phoenix, Arizona.
2012
AL#111 p.69
Andy Powers
▪ Lutherie information for a loan application for lutherie school.
2012
AL#112 p.20
R.M. Mottola Antoine Coupal-Dalgleish Gabriel Marcotte Colin Prevost-Lemire Pascal Scott Vincent Cleroux
▪ A profile of the entire Bruand School graduating class of 2011, a private lutherie school affiliated with L’Institut des Metiers d’Art of the college Du Vieux-Montreal, based in Montreal. All six graduates attended the 2011 convention exhibition.
2012
AL#111 p.5
Glen Friesen
▪ Another successful year in the Canadian lutherie school.
2008
AL#93 p.56 read this article
Mike Moger
▪ Three luthiers travel to war-ravaged Nicaragua to teach a class in guitar making. Why? It’s an effort to aid job diversity and economic growth to an area often reduced to subsistence farming for a living. With 6 photos.
2007
AL#91 p.5
Glen Friesen
▪ Friesen teaches lutherie in a public school shop course in Canada. We have heard from him a few teims over the years. He’s got his young students doing respectable work.
2007
AL#90 p.32
Cyndy Burton Kenny Hill
▪ Hill is an amazing man who has been a classical performer, a harvester of his own tonewood, a teacher of prisoners, an entrepreneur who has opened guitar factories in three countries, and a really nice guy. And more! Truly a fascinating individual. With 9 photos.
2005
AL#84 p.54 read this article
Bill Beadie
▪ An apprenticeship, as described here, involves no transfer of cash, but the author lists a variety or reason why an apprenticeship might be a fine thing for apprentice and mentor alike.
2005
AL#81 p.26 BRB7 p.286 read this article
Cyndy Burton Kevin La-Due
▪ A high school teacher coaches entire classes through guitar making. Think kids can’t do it? You’ll be surprised. Some well-made and easy-to-use jigs make the process faster and friendlier, and the use of local wood makes it affordable. Pretty inspirational, and with 21 photos.
2003
AL#75 p.12 BRB7 p.416
Peggy Stuart Don MacRostie
▪ The author describes her mandolin making class with Red Diamond mandolin builder Don MacRostie, giving us a photo-heavy series that should be of practical use to anyone in the mandolin field regardless of their experience. The emphasis is on hand tools, though power tools are used to add efficiency. With 68 photos and 4 drawings, this is the first in a four-part series.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
2003
AL#73 p.67 BRB7 p.61
Cyndy Burton
▪ Choosing lutherie schools based on one’s individual needs, desires, and goals.
2003
AL#74 p.32 BRB7 p.58
Ed Beaver George Morris
▪ Morris has spent his life teaching others to build instruments. Teachers influence their fields in ways that rarely become apparent because it’s often their students who become prominent. It takes a special character to thrive under these conditions, and character seems to be something Morris has plenty of. With 7 photos.
2002
AL#72 p.18 BRB6 p.400
Stephen Frith
▪ How would you like to learn guitar making in a Spanish castle? How about under the tutelage of Jose Romanillos? Cool, huh? Frith explains what it’s like. Any organization with a staff member named Big Pep has to be pretty far out. With 19 photos.
2002
AL#72 p.46 BRB6 p.433
Michael Bashkin Michihiro Matsuda
▪ Changing countries and cultures to enhance one’s skills must be a daunting and exhilarating experience. Matsuda came from Japan to learn lutherie in Arizona, then apprenticed in California. His designs are innovative and his guitars lovely to behold. With 9 photos.
2002
AL#71 p.50
Cyndy Burton
▪ The interest in lutherie is growing so quickly that sources of information and instruction are hard to keep up with. This list includes schools, on-line instruction, organizations, periodicals, and publishers.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
2001
AL#68 p.5 read this article
Mike Moger
▪ Mike attended a class taught by Harry Fleishman and Fabio Ragghianti. He liked it a lot.
2001
AL#65 p.52
Cyndy Burton
▪ Lots of folks want to teach you to build stringed instruments. Here’s a 5-page list of them.
2001
AL#66 p.6 BRB6 p.186
Ken Goodwin Harry Fleishman
▪ Fleishman has been a guitar and bass designer/builder, a teacher of lutherie and writing, a longtime member of the GAL, a frequent contributor to AL and its current product reviewer. Harry is as well-known for his outrageous sense of humor as for the outrageous instruments he creates. With 10 photos.
2000
AL#62 p.18 BRB6 p.42
Jonathon Peterson David Freeman
▪ Freeman is an independent thinker who builds a wide variety of instruments and runs his own lutherie school in Canada. He’s also outspoken and articulate. You’ll be glad you met him here. With 21 photos.
2000
AL#61 p.55
Cyndy Burton
▪ This is a list of lutherie schools in the USA, Canada, and the British Isles, followed by a list of organizations, periodicals, and publishers of interest to luthiers.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1999
AL#57 p.64
Cyndy Burton
▪ If you’re looking for formal lutherie instruction in the UK, Canada, or US, this list of schools is your best place to start.
1998
AL#55 p.32 BRB5 p.224
Jonathon Peterson David Gusset
▪ Gusset’s early work made him intimately familiar with many fine old Italian violins, and he has used their influence to make his mark in world violin making competitions. With one drawing and 9 photos, including wonderful violin close-ups.
1997
AL#52 p.60 BRB5 p.473
C.F. Casey
▪ The reviewer came away from Ribbecke’s seminar not only feeling that he now had the foundation needed to build archtops, but felt that his lutherie skills in general had been boosted by his experience.
1998
AL#53 p.26 read this article
Fred Carlson
▪ Carlson attended Charles Fox’s original guitar making school in 1975, and nearly a generation later reunited with Fox at his new facility, the American School of Lutherie. Basic to Fred’s story is the manner in which the times, two people, and guitar making have changed in 20-odd years. The times, indeed, are a’changin’.
1998
AL#53 p.32 BRB5 p.108
John Calkin
▪ In AL#52 we looked at the tools and jigs Charles Fox uses to build acoustic guitars. In Part 2 we examine how that equipment is put to use as Fox takes us through the procedure of building a classical guitar at his American School of Lutherie. Most of this info will be just as useful to the steel string builder, as well. With 55 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.
1997
AL#52 p.10
Fred Carlson Charles Fox
▪ Fox has made an impact on the guitar community as an influential teacher and a designer of tools. Carlson attended Fox schools in the ’70s and ’90s, and in this interview he asks Fox to contrast his schools and predict the future of lutherie in America.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1997
AL#52 p.12 BRB5 p.108
John Calkin
▪ The main thrust of Fox’s American School of Lutherie lies in teaching lone guitarmakers to make better instruments through more accurate tooling and in helping them become more commercially viable by increasing their production. Calkin attended one of Charles’ week-long Contemporary Guitar Making seminars and documented much of the hard info for American Lutherie readers. This segment concentrates on nearly 3 dozen jigs and fixtures that anyone can add to their lutherie arsenal, most of them adapted to power tools. With 57 photos. Parts 2 & 3 to follow.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.
1997
AL#49 p.62 BRB5 p.470
Colin Kaminski
▪ This course, which saves years of learning on your own, is based on jigs and fixtures, and too brief for those who prefer to work by hand. Joseph is very forthcoming with his methods, ideas, and tricks.
1997
LW p.124
Tim Olsen
▪ Now that lutherie has boomed, is it best to attend a school to learn the trade? Or does self-education (and self-discovery) still make sense. It depends.
1997
LW p.124
Jeffrey-R. Elliott
▪ The author has been an apprentice and has trained apprentices. Before you face either situation you should read this to learn what you are getting into.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1997
LW p.128
Staff
▪ A list of schools, organizations, and periodicals to help you find your way.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1996
AL#46 p.38 BRB4 p.312
Cyndy Burton Todd Taggart
▪ The driving force behind Luthiers Mercantile International talks about building a business, supplying an industry, and helping to make a guitar town out of Healdsburg, California.
1996
AL#46 p.50 BRB4 p.437
Harry Fleishman
▪ Fleishman attends Charles Fox’s American School of Lutherie and sends back a very enthusiastic report of what he found there.
1996
AL#45 p.36 BRB4 p.290
Jonathon Peterson Don Overstreet
▪ Overstreet took formal training in violin construction with Peter Prier in Salt Lake City, then ended up in the shop of Paul Schuback where he builds and repairs the instruments of the fiddle family. It seems that all who trod the same path make a unique journey (a strong theme in the GAL).
1995
AL#42 p.52
Cyndy Burton
▪ A list of lutherie schools, classes, and individual instruction.
1993
AL#34 p.49
Sheldon Schwartz
▪ A salute to David Freeman from one of his former students.
1993
AL#34 p.14 BRB3 p.324 read this article
Paul Hostetter Bart Reiter
▪ Reiter is perhaps the best known current maker of open back banjos. He traces his beginnings and some specifics of the banjo market. With 3 photos.
1992
AL#32 p.52 BRB3 p.268 read this article
Tim Olsen Guy Rabut
▪ A long-time Guild member makes it as a violinmaker in the Big Apple after a twenty-year run. Mentions Ed Campbell, Peter Prier, Rene Morel.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1991
AL#28 p.51 BRB3 p.124 read this article
Jonathon Peterson Michael Darnton
▪ Peterson gives us the biographical scoop on American Lutherie’s Violin Q&A man.
1991
AL#27 p.54
Cyndy Burton
▪ A revised, verified, but by no means complete list of lutherie schools and a resource list of organizations and journals which have useful information for instrument makers.
1991
AL#25 p.6 BRB3 p.16
Steve Banchero David Freeman Larry Kirmser David Vincent Donald Warnock
▪ A panel of lutherie teachers talks it over at the 1990 GAL Convention.
1990
AL#22 p.29 BRB2 p.392
Cyndy Burton Nancy Conescu
▪ Conescu offers insight into the value of formal lutherie training. After violin making school she worked for years under the watchful eye of master repairmen and builders.
1989
AL#20 p.56 read this article
Francis Kosheleff
▪ The reviewer finds this little Canadian magazine put out by a lutherie school to be “interesting but not too deep.”
1987
AL#10 p.28 BRB1 p.482 read this article
George Manno
▪ Manno fields 2 pages of questions about building and repairing the fiddle family, from the basic “What kinda glue?” to “What kind of cello bridge to aid projection?”
1986
AL#5 p.3
Bob Benedetto
▪ Benedetto suggests that lutherie schools be taken seriously.
1981
GALQ Vol.9#2 p.24 LW p.126 read this article
William Cumpiano
▪ An instructor of guitar making examines the potential impact of his students upon the lutherie world, and decides that it may not be all positive. There’s no accounting for human nature, no matter how good a teacher you may be.
1978
GALQ Vol.6#1 p.32
Joe Chromey
▪ Choosing the best lutherie school or course for one’s investment.
1976
GALQ Vol.4#2 p.20
John Roberts Robert Venn Scott Thompson
▪ Response to the article, ‘Scrutiny: Roberto-Venn School of Lutherie’, which may have presented a very unfair picture of school activities.
1976
GALQ Vol.4#3 p.13
Steve Andersen John Thierman
▪ The third installment of our little forum on the Roberto-Venn School of Lutherie.
1975
GALNL Vol.3#5,6 p.31
Hank Schrieber
▪
1974
GALNL Vol.2#2 p.5
Harry Misuriello
▪ Anyone wishing a formal and traditional luthier education, and its attendant seriousness, should investigate the following utilities.