John Calkin

J Calkin Guitars

Thirty-nine-year GAL member and frequent American Lutherie author John Calkin continues to search for life’s meaning in rural Virginia. “I thought I had it figured out, but the Tao backtracked on me and got away,” he reports.

▪ bio current as of 2024

By the same author:
  1. Review: You Will Be a Builder of Musical Instruments by Edward Victor Dick
  2. Press Your Ukuleles
  3. Power Up Your Ukulele Dishes
  4. Lutherie Curmudgeon: A Case of Lucky Accidents
  5. Making a Centerline Square
  6. Review: Jeff Jewitt Finish Buffing Video
  7. Little Dobro
  8. Mask for Belt Sanding
  9. Meet the Maker: Peggy Stuart
  10. Meet the Maker: David Thormahlen
  11. Reviews: Ukulele Making Course with Heidi Litke
  12. Making Control-Cavity Jigs
  13. Review: Building the Steel String Acoustic Guitar by R.M. Mottola
  14. Review: Inlay Techniques with Larry Robinson
  15. Lutherie Curmudgeon
  16. Meet the Maker: Robert Anderson
  17. Product Review: SuperMax 16-32 Drum Sander
  18. It Worked for Me: Sawdust in Fretboard Slots
  19. Review: Electric Guitar Building with Mike Snider (video download)
  20. Cleaning Shop Part 1
  21. Cleaning Shop Part 2
  22. Quickie Sander Fence
  23. Hand Sander Dust Collection
  24. Prepping Rough Planks for Solid Bodies
  25. Pre-bending Herringbone Purfling
  26. Letter: Cigar Box Guitar Swap
  27. Lutherie Curmudgeon
  28. Review: Advanced Ukulele Building with Jay Lichty
  29. Auxiliary Workbenches and Tables
  30. Questions: Good Advice for Beginning Uke Makers
  31. Questions: Cupped Top Sets
  32. Letter to the Editor: Lap Steel Question and Alternative Wood
  33. Questions: Sound of Small Cheap Ukes
  34. Questions: Cutting Clean Rosette Channels
  35. Lutherie Curmudgeon
  36. Questions: Why would I want to use torrified or heat-treated wood?
  37. Questions: Where can I get my wood heat treated or torrified?
  38. Reviews: O’Brien’s Fret Work
  39. The 2×4 Ukulele
  40. Reviews: O’Brien Online Mandolin Making Course
  41. Herringbone Trim and Shell Purfling
  42. Reviews: O’Brien Online Acoustic Guitar Building Course by Robert O’Brien
  43. Reviews: Short Reviews of a Few Interesting Books on the Ukulele and C.F. Martin
  44. Product Reviews: Gatco Edgemate Carbide Knife Sharpener
  45. Questions: Cheap Guitar Design
  46. Lutherie Curmudgeon
  47. Meet the Maker: Roger Alan Skipper
  48. It Worked for Me: Radiused Dishes
  49. Lutherie Curmudgeon
  50. Questions: Bending Cocobolo
  51. The Gibson Monster
  52. Meet the Maker: R.M. Mottola
  53. A Lower-tech Ukulele Side Bender
  54. Reviews: Making Concert Classical Guitar with John S. Bogdanovich by John S. Bogdanovich (10 DVD set)
  55. Reviews: Adjusting a Steel String Guitar by Kent Carlos Everett
  56. Cheap Machines: Drill Press
  57. Questions: Mastic to set shell pieces
  58. It Worked for Me: Purfled Bindings
  59. Lutherie Curmudgeon
  60. Product Reviews: Stew-Mac TrueChannel Binding Routing Jig
  61. It Worked for Me: Alhambra Classical Guitar Mods
  62. Cheap Machines: Table Saw
  63. Fox Bender Upgrades and Bending Updates
  64. Lutherie Curmudgeon
  65. Lutherie Curmudgeon
  66. Making a Weissenborn-Style Guitar
  67. Lutherie Curmudgeon
  68. Reviews: How To Make a Living By Doing Something Crazy Like Building Guitars by Kent Carlos Everett
  69. It Worked for Me: Dust Collector
  70. Questions: B-String Compensation
  71. Meet the Maker: John Calkin
  72. Dulcimer 101
  73. Questions: Bend Temperatures
  74. Understanding Neck Rake
  75. Reviews: The Mandolin Project by Graham McDonald
  76. Meet the Maker: James Buckland
  77. Reviews: Building the Selmer-Maccaferri Guitar by Michael Collins
  78. Meet the Maker: Graham McDonald
  79. Florida Gold
  80. Product Reviews: Plasti-Dip and the Stewart-MacDonald Binding Laminator
  81. Letter to the Editor: Instrument Resurrection Stories
  82. Questions: Damaged Ironbird
  83. Questions: Acoustic Guitar Wood
  84. Questions: Side Bending Heat Blanket
  85. Brave Shaver
  86. Partial Refrets
  87. Mending a Bomber
  88. The Chanlynn Deflection Machine
  89. A Flattop Mandolin Resurrection
  90. Reviews: The Ukulele by Denis Gilbert, and Ukulele Design and Construction by D. Henry Wickham
  91. Resurrecting the Family Guitar
  92. Questions: 12 String Acoustic Guitar Plans
  93. Resurrecting the Family Banjo
  94. Review: Build a Steel String Guitar with Robert O’Brien by Robert O’Brien
  95. Review: Building an Acoustic Guitar by Dan Erlewine and Todd Sams
  96. Questions: Choosing Top Wood
  97. Review: Build Your Own Lap Steel Guitar by Martin Koch
  98. Guitar Swap!
  99. Product Review: The JLD Bridge System
  100. Questions: Hammered Dulcimer
  101. Questions: Saddle Compensation for Octave Mandolin
  102. Review: The Bouzouki Book, by Graham McDonald
  103. Two-Step Cutaway Bending
  104. Product Review: Stew-Mac Shaped Braces
  105. Meet the Maker: Jeffrey Yong
  106. Lacquer Details
  107. Product Review: Spot Check Thermometer
  108. Shifting Gears on a Gretsch
  109. Making Bridge Plates
  110. Kit Review: LMI’s OM Guitar
  111. Questions: Adjustable Truss Rods
  112. Review: Shoptalk 6
  113. Questions: Bending Bubinga
  114. Stop Giving Your Guitar the Finger
  115. Making Kerfed Lining
  116. Review: Dan Erlewine Lutherie Videos
  117. Questions: Damaged Pickup Coils
  118. Meet the Maker: Duane Heilman
  119. Kit Review: Musicmaker’s Irish Bouzouki
  120. Meet the Maker: Ralph Novak
  121. Slotting Fretboards
  122. The Heretic’s Guide to Alternative Lutherie Woods
  123. Kit Review: Musicmaker’s Regency Harp
  124. Quick-and-Dirty Bridge and Brace Repair
  125. Meet the Maker: John Kitakis
  126. Review: Dangerous Curves: The Art of the Guitar by Darcy Kuronen
  127. Questions: Cleaning Sanding Belts
  128. Letter to the Editor: Vacuum VS Screw Clamp
  129. Wet Inlay
  130. Kit Review: Musicmaker’s Hurdy-Gurdy
  131. Review: Custom Knifemaking by Tim McCreight
  132. Evolving the Dished Workboard
  133. Review: Installing Transducer Pickup Systems by Dan Erlewine
  134. Review: Archtop Guitar Master Class Series Part 1: Focusing on Bridges and Tailpieces by Bob Benedetto
  135. Kit Review: Stew-Mac’s D-28 Guitar
  136. Getting Fit
  137. Nine Electric Guitar Construction References
  138. Review: Sunburst Finishing by Dan Erlewine and Don MacRostie
  139. Review: Guitar Finishing Step-by-Step by Dan Erlewine and Don MacRostie
  140. Review: Spray Finishing Basics by Dan Erlewine and Don MacRostie
  141. Questions: Superglue Finish Interaction
  142. Questions: Wenge
  143. Kit Review: The Riverboat Banjo from Musicmaker’s Kits
  144. Meet the Maker: Henry Stocek
  145. Letter to the Editor: Price of Vintage Instruments
  146. Product Reviews: Stew-Mac Neck Jig
  147. Meet the Maker: Bob Gernandt
  148. Review: Assembling a Solidbody Electric Guitar by Dan Erlewine
  149. Review: Advanced Inlay Techniques by Larry Robinson
  150. Review: Shoptalk 5 by Todd Sams, Don MacRostie, Dan Erlewine
  151. Meet the Maker: Bonnie Carol
  152. Review: Violin Making—Live! Watch Me Make a Cello, Step-by-Step by Henry Strobel
  153. More Binding Tips and Tools
  154. Tales of True Companionship
  155. GAL Instrument Plan #44: True Companion Travel Guitar
  156. Meet the Maker: Steve Kinnaird
  157. Review: Tambura by Dusan Brankov
  158. Meet the Maker: David “Kawika” Hurd
  159. Searching for Blue Significance
  160. It Worked for Me: Belt Sander
  161. Review: Basic Inlay Techniques and Intermediate Inlay Techniques by Larry Robinson
  162. Review: How to Repair Your Diatonic Accordion or Concertina by John Townley and Jehan Paul
  163. Review: Easy Guitar Maintenance and Repair by Harvey Citron
  164. Review: Archtop Guitar Design and Construction by Robert Benedetto
  165. Review: Spray Finishing by Andy Charron
  166. It Worked for Me: Delta Scroll Saw
  167. Ten Fiddle Books
  168. Questions: Guitar Making Graduated Projects
  169. After the Fox: How Charles Changed my Lutherie Life
  170. It Worked for Me: Cutting/Hammering Frets
  171. Crazy Like Charles Fox: Guitar Making Jigs for the 21st Century, Part 2
  172. Meet the Maker: George Fortune, Jr.
  173. Crazy Like Charles Fox: Guitar Making Jigs for the 21st Century, Part 1
  174. Hangin’ with Augie
  175. Meet the Makers: Jeffrey Huss and Mark Dalton
  176. Review: Musical Instrument Design by Bart Hopkin
  177. Review: Woodshop Dust Control by Sandor Nagyszalanczy
  178. Review: The Ukulele, A Visual History by Jim Beloff
  179. Review: Guitar Electronics with Lindy Fralin
  180. It Worked for Me: Dulcimer Fret Installation
  181. Meet the Maker: Kent Everett
  182. Stage Acoustic Guitars
  183. Questions: String Gauges
  184. Nineteen Stew-Mac How-to Videos 2
  185. It Worked for Me: Lacquer Finish
  186. It Worked for Me: Spray Booth Tent
  187. Meet the Maker: Geoff Stelling
  188. Review: Dobro Set Up & Maintenance by Paul Beard
  189. Nineteen Stew-Mac How-to Videos 1
  190. Nine Mountain Dulcimer Books
  191. Review: Electric Guitars and Basses, a Photographic History by George Gruhn and Walter Carter
  192. A Practical Approach to Hammered Dulcimers
  193. Review: The Art of Inlay by Larry Robinson
  194. Vreeble and Veneer
  195. Origins of the Mountain Dulcimer
  196. Carving Neck Facets
  197. Letter to the Editor: Bosch Laminate Trimmer and Cheap Mando Family
  198. Letter to the Editor: Use Any Wood You Like
  199. Letter to the Editor: Start by Building a Dulcimer
  200. Try Cherry!