Six-year Guild member James Ham has recently seen his focus shift from making bass viols and cellos with traditional methods and materials to exploring the use of carbon fiber and balsa wood.
▪ bio current as of 2013
Tag Archives: Ham¸ James
Questions: Orienting Wood Grain of Acoustic Guitar Neck Block
2013
AL#113 p.69
James Ham
▪ How to orient the wood grain of a neck block for an acoustic guitar.
Ultralight Cello and Other Heresies
2012
AL#112 p.6
James Ham
▪ Using a variety of unusual instruments, Ham attempts to debunk the myth in traditional violin making that the classical solution is the only good solution. From his 2011 GAL convention lecture.
Steaming Hide Glue and Laminating Ribs
2012
AL#109 p.6
James Ham
▪ Ham demonstrates his technique of activating hot hide glue with steam to glue top and back plates to ribs. From his 2011 GAL convention workshop.
Questions: Kiln-dried tonewood
2011
AL#108 p.67
James Ham
▪ Kiln dried tonewood compared to fine air dried tonewood.
Meet the Maker: James Ham
2010
AL#102 p.18
Roger-Alan Skipper James Ham
▪ Ham operates from a shop in Victoria, B.C. where he repairs and restores violin family instruments and constructs world class double basses.
Activating Hide Glue With Steam
2010
AL#102 p.26
James Ham
▪ Ham’s technique involving the use of fresh hide glue in assembling basses which involves reactivating dried glue with a steamer after pieces have been aligned and clamped.