Thirty-three-year GAL member Rick Rubin has been involved in instrument repair since 1976. In retirement, Rick plans to inflict more guitars, Irish bouzoukis, and octave mandolins on the world, while using up the stash of wood he’s sat on all these years. He’s also a member of an Irish trad band called Floating Crowbar, where he plays guitar, banjo, mandolin, and a little whistle and flute.
▪ bio current as of 2022
2022
AL#145 p.67 read this article
Rick Rubin Michael Elwell
▪ Buzz was a very early GAL member who made beautiful and unusual mandolins and archtop guitars.
2022
AL#145 p.3
Rick Rubin
▪ More input and questions about how a luthier should deal with the challenge of winding down a lutherie career.
2017
AL#129 p.63
Rick Rubin
▪ Use that firm packing foam stuff to clamp a bridge on a flattop guitar. The foam can conform to small transducers that may be glued to the bridge plate.
2016
AL#127 p.65
Rick Rubin
▪ Ironwood works great for bandsaw guides.
2016
AL#126 p.58
Rick Rubin
▪ The same thing that makes crazy grain figure beautiful can make it hard to work with a plane. So use a sander, right? Well, not everyone finds that to be a helpful or welcome suggestion. For them, toothed planes and scraper planes can be the solution. Rubin argues that excellent antique tools are available at reasonable prices and will do the job well.
2013
AL#116 p.42
Rick Rubin Tom Cussen
▪ Irish Banjo maker Cussen discusses his career, beginning in the 1960s amidst the popular folk scene.
2008
AL#95 p.66
Rick Rubin
▪ Reference to article in BRB2 pg.362 on the use of sodium silicate, aka water glass, for ossifying wood.
1990
AL#21 p.38 BRB2 p.362
Rick Rubin
▪ The goal is to preserve instrument wood for centuries, or make it stiffer. Either or both will do. Rubin examines a list of wood additives and lets the reader decide what to do.