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Ukulele Building: Tradition and Trends from their 2014 GAL Convention panel discussion by Michael DaSilva, Bob Gleason, Jay Lichty, and moderator Woodley White Four prolific uke makers take us into their shops to talk about how and why they build. |
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Meet the Maker: Sergei de Jonge
by Steve Denvir The story of Jean Larrivee’s original workshop in Toronto over forty years ago and the ragged young crew of would-be luthiers who gravitated there is one of the founding legends of the American Lutherie Boom. From that beginning, Sergei de Jonge went on to found a lutherie dynasty in the Canadian back country. |
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Tropical vs. Nontropical Woods for Classical Guitars The Leonardo Guitar Research Project by Brian Garston and Jacky Walraet Everybody loves rosewood. Sounds great, looks great. In fact, it looks so great that we might be “hearing” its lovely, familiar deep color. Would non-tropical woods also make good-sounding guitars? And would they “sound” different if we took off the blindfold? To answer these questions, the Leonardo Guitar Research Project built a matched set of fifteen guitars and compared them under controlled conditions. |
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Meet the Maker: Bryan Galloup by Mark Swanson Bryan Galloup was raised in a family of machinists, hot-rod makers, and self-sufficent can-do types. As a teenager he had the good fortune to be mentored by guitar repair guru Dan Erlewine, and he eventually took over Dan’s shop. Today Bryan builds and repairs guitars while also running an active lutherie school. |
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The Bandola Llanera (and Its Cousins) New World Descendents with Old World Roots by Tomas Orellana The bandola is many things to many people. Several traditional varients exist in northern South America. They share a deep, pear-shaped body, but the number and tuning of strings differ considerably. Author Orellana describes them, then focuses on one regional version. |
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GAL Instrument Plan #72: Bandola Llanera by Tomas Orellana Here’s a detailed plan of one kind of bandola. |
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Viva el Flamenco!
by Robbie O’Brien Robbie O’Brien gets around. Among his many lutherie related projects, he recently went to Spain to film an instructional video on making a flamenco guitar. He met up with some great folks over there and brought home lots of great lutherie info. Warning: This article contains brief mentions of food, dance, song, architecture, passion, history, beauty, and cultural richness. There’s a big, wonderful world out there. |
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Making Bridges for Guitar Repair from their 2014 GAL Convention workshop by Brian Michael and Alex Glasser Even when an off-the-shelf OEM bridge is available, it might not be the best choice for an older guitar. Brian shows us his method of making a matching Martin-style bridge from the broken original. Alex goes a step further and reproduces a failed bridge from a Gibson SJ-200, which is complicated by pearl inlay and cutout wings. |
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Quick Heel-Crack Fix by Todd Mylet Pull a couple frets, chip out two hunks of the fretboard, sink a couple screws, and glue the chips back in. You might not want to do this on a fine vintage instrument, but not every guitar that comes through the door is a pre-war D-28. Am I right? |
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Remembering Victor Pfeil by Robert Miller Victor Pfeil was an old-school violin maker in the 1920s when he invented and then patented an electric solid body violin using a coil pickup. It did not set the world on fire, and Victor continued to make and repair violins for a few more decades. Author Robert Miller was a young man who knew Pfiel at the end of his career. |
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Reviews: O’Brien Online Mandolin Making Course by John Calkin Calkin finds more treasure in the rich mine of Robbie O’Brien’s online lutherie instruction. Instructor Geoff Burghardt covers the process in detail in the 13-hour course. |
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| Questions edited by R.M. Mottola Is hide glue OK in hot, humid climates? Can tung oil give a glossy finish? Is it possible to spray shellac? Can I make an instrument louder by adding unison strings? |
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Web Extras |
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