John Calkin

J Calkin Guitars

American Lutherie contributing editor 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 roports.

▪ bio current as of 2007

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. Cheap and Easy Electric Lap Steel
  35. Questions: Flood-Damaged Guitar
  36. Questions: Cutting Clean Rosette Channels
  37. Lutherie Curmudgeon
  38. Questions: Why would I want to use torrified or heat-treated wood?
  39. Questions: Where can I get my wood heat treated or torrified?
  40. Reviews: O’Brien’s Fret Work
  41. The 2×4 Ukulele
  42. Reviews: O’Brien Online Mandolin Making Course
  43. Herringbone Trim and Shell Purfling
  44. Reviews: O’Brien Online Acoustic Guitar Building Course by Robert O’Brien
  45. Reviews: Short Reviews of a Few Interesting Books on the Ukulele and C.F. Martin
  46. Product Reviews: Gatco Edgemate Carbide Knife Sharpener
  47. Questions: Cheap Guitar Design
  48. Lutherie Curmudgeon
  49. Meet the Maker: Roger Alan Skipper
  50. It Worked for Me: Radiused Dishes
  51. Lutherie Curmudgeon
  52. Questions: Bending Cocobolo
  53. The Gibson Monster
  54. Meet the Maker: R.M. Mottola
  55. A Lower-tech Ukulele Side Bender
  56. Reviews: Making Concert Classical Guitar with John S. Bogdanovich by John S. Bogdanovich (10 DVD set)
  57. Reviews: Adjusting a Steel String Guitar by Kent Carlos Everett
  58. Cheap Machines: Drill Press
  59. Questions: Mastic to set shell pieces
  60. It Worked for Me: Purfled Bindings
  61. Lutherie Curmudgeon
  62. Product Reviews: Stew-Mac TrueChannel Binding Routing Jig
  63. It Worked for Me: Alhambra Classical Guitar Mods
  64. Cheap Machines: Table Saw
  65. Fox Bender Upgrades and Bending Updates
  66. Lutherie Curmudgeon
  67. Lutherie Curmudgeon
  68. Making a Weissenborn-Style Guitar
  69. Lutherie Curmudgeon
  70. Reviews: How To Make a Living By Doing Something Crazy Like Building Guitars by Kent Carlos Everett
  71. It Worked for Me: Dust Collector
  72. Questions: B-String Compensation
  73. Meet the Maker: John Calkin
  74. Dulcimer 101
  75. Questions: Bend Temperatures
  76. Understanding Neck Rake
  77. Reviews: The Mandolin Project by Graham McDonald
  78. Meet the Maker: James Buckland
  79. Reviews: Building the Selmer-Maccaferri Guitar by Michael Collins
  80. Meet the Maker: Graham McDonald
  81. Florida Gold
  82. Product Reviews: Plasti-Dip and the Stewart-MacDonald Binding Laminator
  83. Letter to the Editor: Instrument Resurrection Stories
  84. Questions: Damaged Ironbird
  85. Questions: Acoustic Guitar Wood
  86. Questions: Side Bending Heat Blanket
  87. Brave Shaver
  88. Partial Refrets
  89. Mending a Bomber
  90. The Chanlynn Deflection Machine
  91. A Flattop Mandolin Resurrection
  92. Reviews: The Ukulele by Denis Gilbert, and Ukulele Design and Construction by D. Henry Wickham
  93. Resurrecting the Family Guitar
  94. Questions: 12 String Acoustic Guitar Plans
  95. Resurrecting the Family Banjo
  96. Review: Build a Steel String Guitar with Robert O’Brien by Robert O’Brien
  97. Review: Building an Acoustic Guitar by Dan Erlewine and Todd Sams
  98. Questions: Choosing Top Wood
  99. Review: Build Your Own Lap Steel Guitar by Martin Koch
  100. Guitar Swap!
  101. Product Review: The JLD Bridge System
  102. Questions: Hammered Dulcimer
  103. Questions: Saddle Compensation for Octave Mandolin
  104. Review: The Bouzouki Book, by Graham McDonald
  105. Two-Step Cutaway Bending
  106. Product Review: Stew-Mac Shaped Braces
  107. Meet the Maker: Jeffrey Yong
  108. Lacquer Details
  109. Product Review: Spot Check Thermometer
  110. Shifting Gears on a Gretsch
  111. Making Bridge Plates
  112. Kit Review: LMI’s OM Guitar
  113. Questions: Adjustable Truss Rods
  114. Review: Shoptalk 6
  115. Questions: Bending Bubinga
  116. Stop Giving Your Guitar the Finger
  117. Making Kerfed Lining
  118. Review: Dan Erlewine Lutherie Videos
  119. Questions: Damaged Pickup Coils
  120. Meet the Maker: Duane Heilman
  121. Kit Review: Musicmaker’s Irish Bouzouki
  122. Meet the Maker: Ralph Novak
  123. Slotting Fretboards
  124. The Heretic’s Guide to Alternative Lutherie Woods
  125. Kit Review: Musicmaker’s Regency Harp
  126. Quick-and-Dirty Bridge and Brace Repair
  127. Meet the Maker: John Kitakis
  128. Questions: Cleaning Sanding Belts
  129. Letter to the Editor: Vacuum VS Screw Clamp
  130. Wet Inlay
  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. Meet the Maker: Bonnie Carol
  151. Review: Violin Making—Live! Watch Me Make a Cello, Step-by-Step by Henry Strobel
  152. More Binding Tips and Tools
  153. Tales of True Companionship
  154. GAL Instrument Plan #44: True Companion Travel Guitar
  155. Review: Tambura by Dusan Brankov
  156. Meet the Maker: David “Kawika” Hurd
  157. Searching for Blue Significance
  158. It Worked for Me: Belt Sander
  159. Review: Basic Inlay Techniques and Intermediate Inlay Techniques by Larry Robinson
  160. Review: How to Repair Your Diatonic Accordion or Concertina by John Townley and Jehan Paul
  161. Review: Easy Guitar Maintenance and Repair by Harvey Citron
  162. Review: Archtop Guitar Design and Construction by Robert Benedetto
  163. Review: Spray Finishing by Andy Charron
  164. It Worked for Me: Delta Scroll Saw
  165. Questions: Guitar Making Graduated Projects
  166. After the Fox: How Charles Changed my Lutherie Life
  167. It Worked for Me: Cutting/Hammering Frets
  168. Crazy Like Charles Fox: Guitar Making Jigs for the 21st Century, Part 2
  169. Meet the Maker: George Fortune, Jr.
  170. Crazy Like Charles Fox: Guitar Making Jigs for the 21st Century, Part 1
  171. Hangin’ with Augie
  172. Meet the Makers: Jeffrey Huss and Mark Dalton
  173. Review: Musical Instrument Design by Bart Hopkin
  174. Review: Woodshop Dust Control by Sandor Nagyszalanczy
  175. Review: The Ukulele, A Visual History by Jim Beloff
  176. Review: Guitar Electronics with Lindy Fralin
  177. It Worked for Me: Dulcimer Fret Installation
  178. Meet the Maker: Kent Everett
  179. Stage Acoustic Guitars
  180. Questions: String Gauges
  181. Nineteen Stew-Mac How-to Videos 2
  182. It Worked for Me: Lacquer Finish
  183. It Worked for Me: Spray Booth Tent
  184. Meet the Maker: Geoff Stelling
  185. Review: Dobro Set Up & Maintenance by Paul Beard
  186. Nineteen Stew-Mac How-to Videos 1
  187. Nine Mountain Dulcimer Books
  188. Review: Electric Guitars and Basses, a Photographic History by George Gruhn and Walter Carter
  189. A Practical Approach to Hammered Dulcimers
  190. Review: The Art of Inlay by Larry Robinson
  191. Vreeble and Veneer
  192. Making Pickguards
  193. Making Flat Cases
  194. It Worked for Me: Instrument Finishes
  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!