Twelve-year GAL member Sjaak Elmendorp has made classical and steel string guitars off-and-on for over thirty years. In addition, he has built acoustic bass guitars, archtops, ukuleles, mandolins, a kobza, and several balalaikas. Being trained as a physicist, he likes to apply modern mathematics to seek to improve upon the noble art of lutherie, only to find the old masters really had figured it all out!
▪ bio current as of 2023
2023
AL#150 p.6
Sjaak Elmendorp
▪ The technology and fashion of wooden instruments move forward inexorably, although whether that forward motion is the same as improvement can be a matter of debate for decades or centuries. Elmendorp made what he calls a faithful impression rather than accurate reproduction of a 1907-style Gibson L1: small body, carved top, floating bridge, round hole.
2023
AL#150 p.14
Sjaak Elmendorp
▪ When you tighten the strings on an archtop guitar, the neck lifts forward and the action height increases. At the same time, the bridge pushes the top down and the action height decreases. Its a win-win! So you can just feel lucky about it and proceed naively along your life path, or you can do what Elmendorp did: get a bucket of water, a piece of wire, and a dial indicator; collect some data; then crunch the numbers.
2022
AL#145 p.42
Sjaak Elmendorp
▪ Here’s the story of a big guy and his little balalaika. After rashly promising a friend that he would make a balalaika although he knew nothing about the distinctively triangular Russian instrument. We’ve all been there, right? Sjaak went on to explore and build the rare descant member of the family. Mentions balalaika player Jan Van der Hoogt.
2021
AL#142 p.3
Sjaak Elmendorp
▪ Lesson learned from a puppy-vs-guitar encounter: glue down the fretboard extension over the body of a flattop guitar when using a bolt-on neck.
2020
AL#139 p.38
Sjaak Elmendorp
▪ Holland had a lutherie boom in the 1970s, too. Arie started out as a carpenter, but moved into lutherie after an injury. Today he makes steel string guitars and a variety of other instruments. Mentions Roger Siminoff, Irving Sloane, Arthur Overholzer, Cees van Loon, Vox Humana, preparing cow bone, humidity control.
2016
AL#128 p.66
Sjaak Elmendorp
▪ Add a straightedge to your shooting board setup.
2010
AL#104 p.56
Sjaak Elmendorp
▪ Mathematics and parameters used to address the problem of string compensation estimation.
2009
AL#97 p.68 read this article
Sjaak Elmendorp
▪ Tips on building a guitar with a vaulted back, such as the Baroque guitar in Plan #27.