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.60
Lee Herron
▪ Author Herron tinkered together this bandsaw jig to cut the kerfs in lining strips. He explains the construction and capabilities of his time-tested design.
2023
AL#150 p.32
January Williams
▪ Author Williams bought the lutherie estate of the late Denny Stevens several years ago. He has taken an archeological approach to it, pondering over the nicely crafted gizmos he has discovered, and reporting them to us as he figures out the function of the various treasures.
2023
AL#150 p.50
Carl Hallman
▪ Author Carl Hallman likes to develop methods and jigs that let the various operations involved in making a fine guitar repeatable and accurate. This one is an evolution of an idea used for making bolt-on necks for solidbodies, adapted for an acoustic guitar neck with a full heel and angled peghead.
2023
AL#150 p.56
Jeffrey-R. Elliott
▪ Whatever the task may be, million-year GAL member Jeff Elliott does it right. Here he turns his attention to a jig for accurately placing and cleanly cutting a side sound port in a classical guitar.
2023
AL#150 p.4
January Williams
▪ The Hammond Glider saw is a rare and wonderful thing. It was intended to cut type metal, but we get guidance on using it to cut wood. Mentions Ken Parker.
2023
AL#150 p.16
Mark French
▪ Richard R.E. Bruné was in the GALs very first cohort and was an author and convention presenter from the very beginning. Weve visited him a couple of times over the decades. His son Marshall was born into the business, and into the Guild. Together they run a large workshop and epicenter of classical guitar making, scholarship restoration, appreciation, and dealing.
2023
AL#149 p.4
Mike Doolin Ken Parker
▪ Can you believe we have never met this guy? Hes a giant of the American Lutherie Boom, he was at the Guilds 1979 Convention, and he has been a GAL member for over twenty years. The world knows him as the maker of the Fly solidbody guitar, but now he has returned to his first love: the archtop guitar. Mentions Larry Fishman, John D’Angelico, Jimmy D’Aquisto, Scott Chinery, Orville Gibson, Lloyd Loar, Raphael Ciani, Nick Lucas, Michael Greenfield, Sam Zygmuntowicz.
2023
AL#149 p.54
Robert Hamm
▪ Sometimes you need a bicycle. That is, something between a skateboard and an automobile. This slick little shop-built unit lives in the space between a full-sized auto-feed belt sander and a Robo-sander drum chucked up in a drill press.
2023
AL#148 p.39
January Williams
▪ Williams purchased the lutherie estate of Denny Stevens. In a sort of archeological exercise, he digs through a pile of jigs and considers their possible functions.
2023
AL#148 p.54
John Calkin
▪ Get serious about building ukes in spherically-radiused workboards. These dishes are easily built from lumberyard material and use a drill press for power.
2022
AL#147 p.64
Bob Gleason
▪ When doing a small resawing job in the shop, it may seem intuitive to set the fence of the bandsaw close to the blade. You never have to move the fence. But there are good reasons to do it the other way and move the fence after each cut. The clue is in the title.
2022
AL#147 p.70
Steve Gonwa
▪ Simple jig made of MDF helps you make accurate wooden binding strips with a thickness sander.
2021
AL#144 p.52
Jon Sevy
▪ If you are cutting pearl inlays with a benchtop CNC router, then cutting the recesses for them with that same CNC, they ought to fit perfectly, right? Well yes, in the perfect world of math. And even out here in the messy real world of sawdust and bearing slop, you can get pretty close if you understand the forces at play and calculate their effects.
2021
AL#144 p.60
Ralf Grammel
▪ Thickness sanders have come a long way since the days when luthiers commonly made their own jury-rigged and cantankerous contraptions. Two experienced builders give the SuperMax 16-32 a thorough workout and pronounce it worthy and workable for an individual luthier’s shop.
2021
AL#144 p.61
John Calkin
▪ Thickness sanders have come a long way since the days when luthiers commonly made their own jury-rigged and cantankerous contraptions. Two experienced builders give the SuperMax 16-32 a thorough workout and pronounce it worthy and workable for an individual luthier’s shop.
2021
AL#143 p.22
Mark French Charles Fox
▪ In this article the fretboard is slotted, crowned, and glued to the neck. The neck is then shaped.
2021
AL#143 p.56
Steve Dickerson
▪ The author hit on an unusual program for building his first uke. He bought a kit, but then set aside the good wood for a later build. He went to the lumberyard to buy cheap wood, then proceeded with reduced anxiety. Makes sense when you think about it. The humble uke came out fine.
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.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.60
John Calkin
▪ Sometimes a bargain is no bargain, like when the work that a power tool accomplishes is less valuable than space it uses in your shop. If you don’t love something, set it free.
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.58
Bob Gleason
▪ Straightedges that are notched to fit over frets have become popular tools for judging the straightness of fretboards, and for projecting the surface of the board for setting neck angles. You can make your own, with the advantage that you can use any fret scale. Here’s how.
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#137 p.16
Mark French
▪ CNC Routers are kinda like computers. Once they were huge and cost more than a house. Therefore they were mostly in the domain of large corporations. Now they are far smaller, and the price tag is closer to a few months’ rent. Therefore they will be ubiquitous. This article lets you know what it would take to get on the bus. Mentions Easel; VCarve; BobCAD; Draftsight; AutoCAD; SketchUp; Fusion 360; Rhino3D.
2019
AL#136 p.12
Kerry Char
▪ A cool old Gibson-era Epiphone guitar got well and truly smashed in an incident involving large and excited dogs. Better call Char! Kerry Char, that is. He jumps right in to remove the top, take off the braces, and then put the whole thing back together and polish it up nice before you can say “Kalamazoo!” From his 2017 GAL Convention slide show.
2019
AL#136 p.52
Harry Fleishman
▪ Many years ago, innovative classical guitar maker Richard Schneider made instruments with frets made of rod stock set in wide saw kerfs. Fleishman updates the idea by having round-bottomed slots cut by CNC and laying in Delrin rod.
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#135 p.30
Kerry Char
▪ Kerry Char sawed the top off an old Gibson flattop in front of a group of several dozen luthiers at the 2017 GAL Convention. And within the same hour he pried the back off a Knutsen harp guitar. Step by step photos.
2018
AL#135 p.38
Federico Sheppard
▪ In his youth, before Federico Sheppard found his calling as a luthier, he was a mere physician working for the Olympic Games. One day he heard a classical guitar being played on the radio of his car. It shook him to “his inner core being” as Lord Buckley would say, and changed the course of his life. And now he has finally made the pilrimage to Chile to visit the shop of the man who made that guitar, Rafael Mardones, and his son, Rafa Jr.
2018
AL#135 p.64
Steve Dickerson
▪ Improvise a simple table saw from a cordless circular saw and a piece of MDF.
2018
AL#134 p.16
Tim Olsen
▪ Ken Warmoth is one of the pioneers of the Strat-compatible guitar parts scene, starting small in the 1970s and working up to the sophisticated operation he runs today. He’s a born engineer, constantly refining and rethinking each operation for better accuracy and efficiency. Of course these days that involves CNC machines, and he’s got them. But you may be surprised to see which operations use them and which don’t. Our last visit with Ken was in 1991, so there is some catching up to do.
2017
AL#130 p.6
Tim Olsen Jason Lollar
▪ Jason Lollar attended the Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery way back when founders John Roberts and Bob Venn were still instructors. Jason went on to do a lot of guitar repair and some guitar making, but his early interest in winding pickups eventually grew into a twenty-person shop specializing in reproducing vintage models.
2017
AL#130 p.42
Paul Schmidt Jason Harshbarger
▪ A lot of the makers that we meet in the pages of American Lutherie are grizzled veterans of the early days. Not this one. Harshbarger is a young single father who went to lutherie school in the late 1990s, then survived on cabinet work until he could build a lutherie shop in his basement. His steel-string design work uses Steve Klein’s work as a point of departure, and moves forward boldly from there.
2017
AL#130 p.60 read this article
Tom Bednark
▪ Tunquist ran the huge circular saw on which most of the wood for Martin guitars was cut in the 1940s, ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s. He is remembered by Tom Bednark, an early GAL member.
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.
2016
AL#128 p.32
Andrew Mowry
▪ Andrew Mowry was a one-man mandolin-making shop known for precise high-quality work. When he made the jump and brought a small but capable CNC mill into the mix, he was not trying to flood the market, but rather to further improve his work. All the tools and methods he shows here are well within reach; you don’t need to be a factory to afford it, and it won’t turn you into a factory if you try it. Mowry still runs a one-man shop known for precise high-quality work. From his 2014 convention workshop.
2009
AL#98 p.48
John Calkin
▪ Calkin was inspired to write this by pleas from readers for more entry level stories. Dulcimers are needlessly maligned and in need of advocates, and the author is a strong one. Tools and jiggery are kept to a minimum to make construction as accessible as possible without hurting the integrity of the finished instrument. Beginning luthiers should stop complaining and get to work! With 31 photos.
2009
AL#98 p.46
John Svizzero R.M. Mottola
▪ Both authors made their own CNC machines, which impresses the heck out of us. The coolest thing about CNC fret slotting, aside from the dead certain accuracy, is the ability to cut slots with blind ends. Unbound fretboards can look bound. All the machine specs you’ll need to duplicate their efforts are included, and even us dummies can grasp what they’re about. With 4 photos.
2008
AL#96 p.60
John Thayer
▪ Don’t put a repair patch on top of the wood, put it in the wood! Probably for carved tops only, but a fine idea (and pretty, for you folks who like to peek inside of instruments. With 11 photos.
2007
AL#91 p.24
Steve Andersen
▪ This is a very detailed look at how a notable builder of archtop guitars fits tone bars and bridges to his instruments. With 22 photos.
2007
AL#91 p.40 read this article
Bruce Creps
▪ Just about everything you’ll need to know about setting up a bandsaw for resawing and getting the most yield from your lumber. The emphasis is on the Hitachi CB75F resaw, but much of the info will translate to other bandsaws. Included is a good side bar on resharpening bandsaw blades. With 10 photos and 6 drawings.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
2007
AL#90 p.40
Anamaria Paredes-Garcia R.M. Mottola
▪ Cross a 12-string flattop with a classical guitar and you get the Colombian tiple, only the tiple has four courses of three steel strings. Inside, though, it’s a classical. Follow the construction of the instrument in the shop of Alberto Paredes in this photo tour. With 41 photos. Sr. Paredes authored GAL Plan #51, Colombian Tiple. See AL #82.
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#88 p.58 ALA2 p.10
John Mello
▪ The reviewer (who bought these tools, by the way) finds that they were a good investment that saves him time and increases the accuracy of his work. With 7 photos.
2007
AL#89 p.6 ALA1 p.10
Tim Shaw
▪ Shaw has worked for large guitar companies for decades. Currently with Fender, he runs an independent shop that makes prototype instruments for all the factories that fall under the Fender banner. He also does repairs on discontinued models where the factory equipment has been dismantled. Accomplishing one-off projects or small runs of parts is no different for a big company than for an independent luthier, they just have the luxury of big-budget equipment. Shaw’s methods of jigging up for parts manufacture incorporating speed and safety can be used by many one-off shops to hustle production and instrument development. Good stuff from one of the aces in the business. With 34 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.57 BRB7 p.509
Keith Davis
▪ The reviewer fairly gushes about the many uses for this drill press sanding tool.
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.
2004
AL#80 p.56 BRB7 p.272
Lloyd Marsden
▪ Gaining access to the inside of guitars through a door in the tail block seems to be catching on. The author’s method of construction saves the side material as part of the door to make the assembled instrument as normal looking as possible. With 8 photos.
2004
AL#79 p.46 BRB7 p.224
Paul Woolson
▪ If you’re going to need a bunch of identical parts you might as well jig up to do it. Besides, making jigs is fun. Here’s one method (of many, no doubt) to make bridges a whole lot faster than you can make guitars to put them on. You can do that by hand, too, it just doesn’t feel that way. With 7 photos and a diagram.
2004
AL#77 p.54 BRB7 p.186
Peter Hurney
▪ Hurney’s pantograph uses chain drive and a chainsaw carving attachment on an angle-grinder to shape ukulele necks. The scale of the machine can be adjusted for whatever size neck you wish to carve. There are 7 photos and a series of diagrams to help you along, but if you’re not already a mechanic you’d have to be pretty adventurous to build one of these without help.
2003
AL#76 p.60 BRB6 p.510
Dana Bourgeois
▪ This is an episode in the series that even digiphobes will enjoy, taking the file to the CNC man to actually make necks by computer-guided milling machine. This is not a machine that most of us will ever own, or even want to, but it’s obvious how effectively it might add to ones output. With 15 photos.
2003
AL#76 p.28 BRB7 p.416
Peggy Stuart Don MacRostie
▪ Stuart continues her tale of learning to make a mandolin under the tutelage of Don MacRostie. In this episode of the four-part series, jigs and power tools become more important as the instrument comes together. This isn’t about becoming Geppetto, plying one’s trade with a knife and a chisel. This is about making mandolins in the real world. Routers and tablesaws are staple items, as are several impressive jigs created by MacRostie. With 37 photos and 3 drawings.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
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#74 p.19 BRB7 p.31
Mike Doolin
▪ No, this isn’t a machine for sanding dishes. You’d find that in Good Housekeeping. This is a motorized, dished workboard for sanding the contours of arched plates into your assembled instrument sides. It beats doing it by hand by miles, and Doolin’s clever design looks easier to build than others.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
2003
AL#73 p.54 BRB7 p.28
Mike Doolin
▪ Perhaps you’d care to make all your necks look and feel the same, just as the big factories do. Perhaps you’d like to make them a lot faster while you’re at it. And do it all on a budget? Doolin’s machine may be just what you were looking for. With 8 photos and several diagrams.
2002
AL#71 p.68 BRB6 p.96
R.M. Mottola
▪ Building an archtop bass in the same style as Robert Benedetto’s archtop guitars.
2002
AL#72 p.32 BRB6 p.417
John Calkin
▪ A small shop can easily make all the nice instrument lining it needs if it already has a tablesaw and a thickness sander and invests in a few simple jigs. It isn’t hard, but it isn’t especially fun, either.
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.
2002
AL#71 p.62 BRB6 p.485
R.M. Mottola
▪ Mottola likes the Grizzly H2881 pump sander, a handheld drum sander he uses for sculpting neck heels and the like. He doesn’t however, much enjoy doing business with the Grizzly company. With 2 photos.
2002
AL#70 p.12 BRB6 p.358
Ralph Novak
▪ The author uses neck making in his example of how gearing up to make small runs of like parts can make the small shop more efficient and profitable. With a photo and 9 drawings.
2002
AL#70 p.36 BRB6 p.324
Bruce Petros
▪ The author finds that the General Model 15-250 M1, for $1600, may be the most sander for the money that the small shop can afford. With 7 photos.
2002
AL#70 p.48 BRB6 p.344
John Calkin
▪ Using templates and a tablesaw to slot fingerboards in minutes, and how to make your own templates. With 7 photos and 5 fret scales for off-beat scale lengths.
2002
AL#70 p.63 BRB6 p.464
Kent Everett
▪ A simple fence made for an old 20″ Delta bandsaw.
2002
AL#69 p.56 BRB6 p.481
Harry Fleishman
▪ Guitar maker and teacher Fleishman compares two thickness sanders, the Performax 22-44 and the Delta 31-250, finding that both are useful, have different peculiarities, and that you are better off with either one than without a thickness sander at all. With 2 photos.
2001
AL#67 p.62 BRB6 p.81
Charles Fox
▪ Removing a few millimeters to compensate for the relaxation of the radii when the sides are removed on a Fox side bender.
2001
AL#65 p.39 BRB6 p.170
Fred Campbell
▪ A large part of the secret to getting a fine gloss finish of any sort is the preparation of the wood before anything is even applied. Campbell has specialized in finish work for years and isn’t shy about sharing what he knows.
2000
AL#64 p.50 BRB6 p.156
Nathan Stinnette
▪ Stinnette is the Huss & Dalton Guitar Co. employee in charge of converting split red spruce trees into billets of brace wood, and then into guitar braces. The article describes how the rough chunks of wood are converted into quarter-sawn boards and then how the boards are made into braces. With 15 photos.
2000
AL#63 p.34 BRB6 p.108
John Calkin
▪ OK, so you’ve got all the parts for your flattop guitar body prepped for construction. How do you get all the pieces to fit together? The author details the construction methods used at the Huss & Dalton Guitar Co, all of which should prove useful to any small shop.With 21 photos.
1999
AL#60 p.44 BRB5 p.436
Fred Carlson
▪ Hi-Tone instrument cases are reviewed and not found wanting, “a contender for the handsomest case out there, and very solidly built.”
1999
AL#60 p.51 BRB5 p.504
Scott van-Linge
▪ A photo of a modification to the Bishop Cochran plunge-router base.
1999
AL#60 p.52
Cyndy Burton
▪ This column updates several source lists that have appeared in past issues. If you need it to build instruments, you should find a supplier here.
1999
AL#59 p.56 BRB5 p.452
Fred Carlson
▪ Carlson checks out Iboney, a specially treated cow bone used for nuts and saddles. Also in this column is an examination of 3 Stew-Mac tools, a fingerboard and bridge heating iron, a purfling cutter attachment for the Dremel MultiPro, and a binding cutter for the Stew-Mac version of the MultiPro router base. Fred likes the Iboney, and decides that both Stew-Mac Dremel attachments are better made than the Dremels themselves. The heating iron passes inspection, too, but the GAL Tool Guy feels a bit luke-warm about it.
1999
AL#59 p.65 BRB5 p.484 read this article
John Calkin
▪ The reviewer likes this instruction video that is ultimately intended to sell product, and finds that the instruction far outweighs the salesmanship angle of this Stew-Mac tape.
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#57 p.24 BRB5 p.262
Jay Hargreaves
▪ In this installment the top plate is carved and braced. Ribbecke roughs out the plates in a unique vacuum cage that goes a long way toward keeping his shop clean. The chainsaw wheel he attaches to his grinder gives this series its name, and speeds the carving process dramatically. Tuning the top isn’t completed until the guitar is assembled in the next segment. Part 1 was in AL#56. Includes 20 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1999
AL#57 p.50 BRB5 p.324
Paul McGill
▪ McGill’s lutherie shop is in his basement, and keeping his house free of fumes and dust involved lots of planning and not a little money. Here’s how he did it. With 3 photos and a drawing.
1999
AL#57 p.58 BRB5 p.436
Fred Carlson
▪ Carlson takes over the GAL test pilot seat for new tools. This time he flies the Turbo-carver, an ultra-speed carving tool similar to (but not as elaborate as) a dentist drill. Carlson likes the tool but can’t seem to find a lot of use for it in lutherie. And though the tool is fairly inexpensive, he also questions its lifespan.
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#55 p.54 BRB5 p.497
Filippo Avignonesi
▪ A jig to make joints for attaching necks to bodies; both heel and body are slotted and joined by a flat wooden spline.
1998
AL#54 p.56 BRB5 p.476
John Calkin
▪ The reviewer finds this set of 5 videos to be useful and complete for those who wish to build an archtop guitar, but that those who lack previous lutherie experience should also have the book by Benedetto.
1998
AL#54 p.57 BRB5 p.477
John Calkin
▪ The reviewer decides that the book should be of use to anyone who is about to purchase their first spray gear, but that other sources of information are more lutherie-specific.
1998
AL#54 p.62
Cyndy Burton
▪ Where to get the gear you need to do what you want to do as a luthier.
1998
AL#53 p.56 BRB5 p.442
Harry Fleishman
▪ Harry ‘fesses up: many luthiers are just too darn serious to grok good humor. But he, himself, is serious about testing new gear. In this issue he sort of likes a Bench Guitar Cradle, isn’t very enthusiastic about the Ultimate Guitar Mirror, is ambiguous about a fret slotting miter box and saw, finds a good mini-mic to combine with piezo pickups for not a lot of money, hates a commercial go-bar deck, and raves about a neck removal jig for dovetail joints. Whew!
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#51 p.53 BRB5 p.490
James-E. Patterson
▪ Speeding up the sharpening of bandsaw blades.
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#52 p.42 BRB5 p.144
Tim Olsen R.E. Brune
▪ Brune was an original founder of the Guild, has been a GAL convention lecturer, and an American Lutherie author. He’s also a world-renowned maker, dealer, and collector of classical guitars. In this interview he offers some personal background as well as what he thinks it will take to stay afloat in the lutherie world that’s coming. His insider’s view of high-buck instrument dealing is especially compelling. With 7 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1997
AL#52 p.58 BRB5 p.441
Harry Fleishman
▪ Ever thought to look in a fabric store for lutherie tools? I’ll bet’cha that Harry beat you to it. He found a deal on aprons, some good layout tools for design work, and bias tape for tying on bindings. Then he opened a Woodcraft catalog and discovered clamps and a carbide burr cutter he couldn’t live without. Just one more column demonstrating why the editorial staff has developed a fatherly concern for their toolman’s life on the edge of lutherie.
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#51 p.42 BRB5 p.104
John Calkin Jeff Huss Mark Dalton
▪ Virginia luthiers Huss and Dalton show off their shop and talk about the business of going into business. They make 7 high-end acoustics per month, and they make it sound easy. With 11 photos.
1997
AL#50 p.20 BRB5 p.48
Kalia Kliban
▪ Kliban reports on an inlay workshop led by Larry Robinson. Robinson has become a master of shell decoration and an important teacher in the field. This article covers everything from design to engraving, and amounts to a condensed version of Larry’s book on the subject. With 15 photos of the workshop and knockout inlay work.
1997
AL#50 p.44 BRB5 p.41
Michael Hornick
▪ Good lacquer work isn’t mysterious, just a pain in the neck. Hornick has it down to an art and a science, and he offers up his recipe to the last detail.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1997
AL#49 p.40 BRB5 p.26
Richard Beck
▪ Beck’s theme is to keep the quality but cut the time involved in building acoustic guitars. He shares his jigs for shaping headstocks and arching braces using a router table and heavy aluminum jigs. You may have to get a machine shop in on this job. With 13 photos and a drawing.
1997
AL#49 p.54 BRB5 p.436
Harry Fleishman
▪ Fleishman examines two retrofit bases for the Dremel mini-router, and likes them both for different reasons. He also test drives a set of micro-chisels and JAWS, a hand-powered fretting press, and recommends them. With 5 photos.
1997
LW p.80
James-E. Patterson
▪ This article compresses into less than 6 pages everything you need to know about cutting and inlaying shell, except for how to make up original designs. Creativity is a tough thing to teach. Includes 5 diagrams and 6 photos.
1996
AL#48 p.42 BRB4 p.400
Phillip Murray
▪ Even in this age of the bolted on neck, there are plenty of guitarmakers who’d rather use a dovetail. Murray’s well thought out jigs cut both the male and female portions of the joint. With 14 photos and 7 diagrams.
1996
AL#48 p.49 BRB4 p.440
Harry Fleishman
▪ The GAL’s Toolman/stand-up comic checks out a potpourri of rasps, a pair of small drawknives, and a specialized chisel, and suggests what you should do with your junky Model 3 or 4 Dremel tool.
1996
AL#48 p.56 BRB4 p.504
James-E. Patterson
▪ A modified fingerboard tapering jig from an Ervin Somogyi design.
1996
AL#48 p.14 BRB4 p.386
Jonathon Peterson Bishop Cochran
▪ Cochran is a player/maker of electric and acoustic/electric guitars who uses machine shop equipment and supplies to create his instruments. The emphasis is on precision work, duplicable procedures, and practical designs. With 26 photos.
1996
AL#47 p.62
Cyndy Burton
▪ A page of tools especially for the luthier, and a page and a half of tools and supplies of a more general nature. Where to get your tools. Or, at least, where to get your catalogs.
1996
AL#45 p.56 BRB4 p.500
John Jordan
▪ A second set of hollow radius forms lined with sandpaper for fitting the sides to the top and back radii when binding acoustic instruments with tops and backs made in hollow-radiused forms.
1995
AL#42 p.63 BRB4 p.493
Bill Daniels
▪ A simple sander to thickness rib stock for violins and violas.
1995
AL#42 p.44 BRB4 p.190
Chris Foss
▪ Foss describes his permanent setup for drilling tuning pin and hitch pin holes in dulcimer pin blocks.
1995
AL#42 p.46 BRB4 p.196
Duane Heilman
▪ Heilman offers plans for a drum sander that has a radius built into the drum.
1994
AL#39 p.18 BRB4 p.65
Jonathon Peterson Eric Myer
▪ Meyer’s current gig is the manufacture of violin fittings. He describes his peg making process in detail.
1994
AL#38 p.36 BRB4 p.39
Jonathon Peterson
▪ Sullivan built a maximum performance thickness sander for $800 and 100 hours time.
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#33 p.26 BRB3 p.290
Jeffrey-R. Elliott
▪ How does one hack a log that’s 11′ wide into 4000 guitar tops? Very carefully! With 9 photos detailing the decimation of Moby Spruce. By the way, this is a log that Steve McMinn rescued from the pulp mill.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1992
AL#32 p.68 BRB3 p.487
Skip Helms
▪ A few ideas using a router table for classical makers.
1992
AL#32 p.11 BRB3 p.244
Jonathon Peterson
▪ As a maker of fine acoustic instruments Gibson was reborn in Montana. The man in charge of creativity and efficiency leads the GAL team through his domain. With 17 photos.
1992
AL#31 p.14 BRB3 p.218
Gavin Baird
▪ You can thin all your guitar wood on the drill press. Baird’s sander is perhaps as accurate as any. He claims control of the wood to within .001″.
1992
AL#31 p.57 BRB3 p.487
Dale Randall
▪ Problems with burned out speed controls and bearings in the Dremel Moto-Tool.
1992
AL#29 p.38 BRB3 p.174
Gayle Miller Ken Sribnick
▪ Visit a water-powered French sawmill that supplies tonewood to 350 luthiers. With 7 photos. Mentions George Miller.
1992
AL#29 p.56 BRB3 p.483
Nick Blanton
▪ Addressing two problems that can plague Dremel Tools: loose bearings, and an insecure mount in the housing.
1991
AL#28 p.34 BRB3 p.126 ALA4 p.10
Phillip Lea Bob Taylor
▪ Few people in Guitarland are as outspoken and clear-headed as Bob Taylor. Others might say he’s just opinionated. He believes a good guitar is a good guitar, no matter if it was whittled by Gepeto or cranked out by a dozen computer-guided milling cutters. This article offers a peek into the Taylor factory and a guided tour through one man’s thoughts about the contemporary guitar. With 28 photos.
1991
AL#27 p.4 BRB3 p.80
Chris Brandt R.E. Brune Jeffrey-R. Elliott Richard Schneider Ervin Somogyi David Wilson
▪ A look inside the shops of six professional luthiers, featuring floor plans, tooling descriptions, notes on lighting and specialized machinery, and ideas about how work space can help (or hurt) your lifestyle. With a good Q&A segment and 63 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.
1991
AL#26 p.25 BRB3 p.478
Dale Randall
▪ Randall explains how to make it, but not what it’s for.
1991
AL#26 p.26 BRB3 p.60
Ken Warmoth
▪ Most in-the-know electric guitar folks consider Warmoth necks and bodies to be the best going. Here’s how they’re made. With 22 photos.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1990
LT p.84
Tim Olsen
▪ Use plexiglas to clean sanding drums.
1990
LT p.84
J.D. Mackenzie
▪ Recommends a glue for adhering sandpaper to sanding drums.
1990
LT p.90
Tim Olsen
▪ Hinged fence cuts accurate curved pieces.
1990
LT p.114
Steve Andersen Chris Brandt R.E. Brune Ted Davis Jeffrey R. Elliott James Flynn Bob Gleason Hideo Kamimoto Robert Lundberg Frederick C. Lyman Jr. John Monteleone Robert Ruck Richard Schneider Ervin Somogyi Al Stancel Robert Steinegger Janet Toon
▪ Seventeen established luthiers were asked to list ten hand tools, five power tools, and five supplies used as tools. This info was used to determine the most essential tools, including specifics, model and size, source, and any special uses.
1990
LT p.79
Ted Davis
▪ Official-looking 18″ power-feed shop-made sander requires no welding or machine shop work.
1990
LT p.83
Dave Flager
▪ A table to mount a portable belt sander on edge.
1990
LT p.84
Rich Westerman
▪ A source of quality cloth-backed abrasive rolls, and a belt cleaning material.
1990
LT p.84
Tom Peterson
▪ Spraying with silicone lubricant can extend the life of power abrasives.
1990
AL#23 p.30 BRB2 p.412
Gary Fish
▪ Fish converted a sewing machine to wrap bow handles.
1988
AL#15 p.46 BRB2 p.86
R.E. Brune
▪ An intense description of Japanese classical guitar making taken from Brune’s convention lecture. Life in Japan is probably not much like you imagine it to be, it is far more interesting. The Q&A segment deals more with Brune’s own guitar work. With 21 photos inside a Japanese “factory.”
1988
AL#15 p.64 BRB2 p.81
John Schofield
▪ Schofield uses a pin router to cut matching f-holes in his mandolin tops quickly and safely.
1988
AL#16 p.8 BRB2 p.115
Jonathon Peterson
▪ This is 9 photos and a small description of the machine that might be the production archtop maker’s best friend.
1988
AL#14 p.48
Nicholas-Von Robison
▪ Robison saws off the tip of his thumb. A shop safety reminder for the experienced craftsperson.
1987
AL#11 p.44 BRB1 p.440
Tim Olsen
▪ A rollicking, good-time account of a era gone by and a free-spirited maker of outrageous electric guitars who was pretty much unknown outside of his own territory. It’ll make you feel good.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1987
AL#10 p.47 BRB1 p.401
John Schofield
▪ Schofield offers a table saw slotting jig that is simple to use and as accurate as your own layout work can make it. The drawing is rough, but it’s enough. The formula is an alternative to the more common “rule of 18.”
1987
AL#9 p.14 BRB1 p.312
Steve Grimes
▪ Grimes’ pantograph for routing archtop plates is heavy duty and not real cheap if you have to job out the welding, but it accurately removes 90% of the excess wood. Several drawings accompany the detailed description.
1987
AL#9 p.18 BRB1 p.316
Richard Ennis
▪ Ennis’ carving machine is not as straight forward in use as Grimes’, but its construction should be within the reach of most luthiers. A router mounted in a carriage rides over template rails to cut the contours into the plates of an archtop instrument.
1987
AL#9 p.42 BRB1 p.336
Richard Jordan
▪ Jordan’s article outlines all the steps he uses to shape a classical headstock. He cuts the slots with Dremel router, router base, and fence, and they come out very clean.
1986
AL#7 p.59 BRB1 p.239
Steve Andersen
▪ Anderson built a gridded table that uses the vacuum created by a squirrel cage fan to capture sanding dust.
1986
AL#5 p.42 BRB1 p.188
Richard Ennis
▪ Ennis describes how to cut fret slots on a table saw using notches in a fixed bar as depth stops to regulate the fret spacing.
1985
AL#4 p.43 BRB1 p.136
William Conrad
▪ Conrad explains how he converted his Dremel moto-lathe into a miniature table saw.
1985
AL#2 p.44
Richard Ennis
▪ Ennis kerfs wide boards on the table saw, then rips them to twice the desired width. He then rips each of these at an angle with a bandsaw to produce (after they are sliced lengthwise) two lining strips.
1985
AL#2 p.48
Mark Goulet
▪ A thickness sander drum is produced from scrap lumber without the use of a lathe.
1985
AL#2 p.49
C.F. Casey
▪ Casey prefers laminate trimmers to Dremels.
1985
AL#1 p.51 BRB1 p.29
Joel-Ivan Hawley
▪ Hawley describes a method of sawing part way into a 4×4, then clamping it to the bandsaw table and using it as a table for sawing the outline of a guitar or banjo peghead.
1985
AL#1 p.53
William McCaw
▪ McCaw ruined a classic peghead when the cheap collar of his router gave way.
1985
AL#2 p.7 BRB1 p.47
Ron Lira
▪ Lira recommends specific routers and bits.
1985
AL#1 p.46 BRB1 p.26
Michael Jacobson-Hardy
▪ Jacobson-Hardy describes devices based on pneumatic cylinders for bending sides, clamping braces to plates, clamping plates to sides, and holding neck blanks in a lathe.
1984
DS#300 LT p.101
Duane Waterman
▪ Simple table saw uses a 3″ blade mounted directly on the shaft of a small motor.
1983
DS#245 LT p.86
Al Leis
▪ Customized bandsaw from a kit.
1982
DS#219 LT p.82
James Cassidy
▪ Adjustable work surface for an edge-mounted belt sander assures perpendicularity.
1982
DS#204 BRB2 p.289
Kent Rayman
▪ The author uses a table saw and no jigs to help speed up the creation of classical guitar bridges. With 5 drawings.
1982
DS#212 LT p.83
John Zuis
▪ Make a peghead splice with a disk sander.
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#194 LW p.45
James-E. Patterson
▪ Convert a Sears 12″ bandsaw to cut guitar sets.
1981
DS#196 LT p.77
Art Smith
▪ Uses a 10″ sanding drum. With 3 drawings.
1981
DS#169 LT p.108
John Judge
▪ From the Guild factory in the ’60s: a power-sanding table and a huge pin router.
1981
DS#178 LT p.78
Al Leis
▪ Open-sided sander utilizes a 6″ drum arbor-mounted on an electric motor and covered with a dust collection system.
1980
DS#147 LT p.76
Peter Estes
▪ All-wood thickness sander.
1980
DS#149 LT p.61
Bruce Scotten
▪ Try end mill cutters to machine channels for rosettes and binding.
1980
DS#161 LW p.46
Tim Olsen
▪ Pretty big saw for a little shop.
1980
DS#140 LW p.80
Larry Stevens
▪ A drill press only wants to make holes, but you can train it to do a lot of tricks. For instance, why not use it to mill the slots for rosette rings to snuggle into? Groovy! With diagrams of the cutting bits.
1979
DS#120 LT p.21
Bill McCall
▪ Sharpen the blades while they are mounted in the machine.
1979
DS#110 LW p.46
Peggy Stuart
▪ Set up a Rockwell bandsaw for best resawing performance.
1979
DS#105 LT p.23
Dick DeNeve
▪ Belts that are already worn by wood may have a life left for grinding metals.
1979
DS#105 LT p.87
Tim Olsen
▪ Extend the life of your bandsaw blades by five of six times using a Dremel tool.
1979
DS#107 LW p.93
Boyd Butler
▪ How to jig up a bandsaw to kerf linings one strip at a time. With 1 diagram.
1978
DS#88 LW p.78
Tim Olsen
▪ Are you tired of rosettes that are just rings around the soundhole? Here’s a jumping off point if you want to take the plunge. The next step is to get rid of the round soundhole. With 3 diagrams.
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#72 LT p.98
Des Anthony
▪ Combination tool is useful in a lutherie shop.
1978
DS#81 LT p.82
Rolfe Gerhardt
▪ Remount a 6×48 belt sander on edge to find a variety of new uses.
1978
DS#65 LT p.88
Tim Olsen
▪ Machine manufacturers have become hip to the health problems that accompany the use of their equipment, and most incorporate dust collection ports into their new machines. This was hardly the case in the old days, and there are still tons of old machines in use. If you have one you are responsible for your own health, and thus the modification of your machine. The author’s ideas can be adapted to almost any bandsaw.
1978
DS#66 LT p.74
Hank Schrieber
▪ The power feed for this drum sander uses a separate motor.
1977
DS#48 LT p.73
Kent Rayman
▪ Again, this is a variation in the Ruck-Brune sander. You need to read all these articles before beginning construction of your sander in order to avoid mistakes that others have already made.
1977
DS#55 BRB1 p.36 read this article
Jeffrey-R. Elliott
▪ Various chemicals have been used for centuries to color (or de-color) wood. Fiddle makers are hip to tons of these, but Elliott describes a couple that he finds useful on his guitars. He also advocates lubricating tools and work surfaces with carnauba wax, which will not contaminate your wood.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1977
DS#57 LT p.20
Shelly Sax
▪ Get the right wheels for your grinder.
1977
DS#41 LT p.72
Tim Olsen
▪ Variation on the Ruck-Brune sander, that is.
1976
DS#37 LT p.70
Derek Iverson
▪ Iverson’s was the first report on a truly useful shop-made thickness sander at a time when there were no inexpensive commercial units to be had.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.