Tag Archives: Mello¸ John

John Mello

John Mello

Since studying with Richard Schneider and Jeffrey Elliott in the ’70s, eighteen-year member John Mello has built, restored, repaired, and sold guitars in the San Francisco area for thirty-eight years, during fifteen of which he eschewed guitar construction in favor of a mortgage and raising two, now-grown children.

▪ bio current as of 2014

Reviews: The Fretboard Journal

2014
AL#119 p.58               
John Mello                                                                                           

▪ John Mello examines two favorite issues of The Fretboard Journal, #32 and #7, and relates the pleasure of the articles with his own mentorship experiences, in particular with Alvino Rey.

Meet the Maker: John Gilbert

2009
AL#100 p.20      ALA3 p.80         
John Mello   John Gilbert                                                                                       

▪ Gilbert, born in 1922, made his first guitar in 1965 while a tool designer at Hewlett-Packard. He has 120 guitars to his credit.

Reviews: Classical Guitar Making, A Modern Approach to Traditional Design, by John S. Bogdonovich

2008
AL#95 p.64               read this article
John Mello                                                                                           

▪ The reviewer finds this book to be “an impressive achievement, a logical first choice of the available stand-alone methods for classical guitar construction.”

Reviews: Step by Step Guitar Making by Alex Willis

2008
AL#94 p.63               read this article
John Mello                                                                                           

▪ The reviewer finds this book to be a useful addition to the beginning luthier’s library, but that it falls short of being a stand alone teaching text.

Letter to the Editor: Regarding Alex Willis book and fretboard tapering method

2008
AL#95 p.5               
John Mello                                                                                           

▪ John reviewed a book by Alex Willis in AL#94. He criticised a certain technique reccomended in the book. Now he thinks Alex was right.

Product Reviews: Luthiertool Binding Cutting Base

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.

Product Review: edge vise, combination slot head fixture, and rosette cutter by Luthiertool Co.

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.

Meet the Maker: John Mello

1996
AL#48 p.28   BRB4 p.408            
Cyndy Burton   John Mello                                                                                       

▪ Mello is a repairperson, guitarmaker, restorer, and instrument dealer. He apprenticed under Richard Schneider and worked with Jeffrey R. Elliott before opening his own shop.Much of the interview dwells upon the restoration of an 1862 Torres guitar. With 11 photos.

This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.