Presentation Descriptions
Wednesday, July 23, 2:30pm – Workshop: Contemporary Ukulele Making
Participants:
Michael DaSilva, Bob Gleason, Jay Lichty, and Woodley White.
Woodley White is going to demonstrate six ways to attach a neck to an ukulele. Jay Lichty is showing how he cuts and binds a sound port. Michael DaSilva will demonstrate the basic construction of the bevel cutaway, a unique feature on many of his instruments designed to provide cutaway access to higher frets while minimizing disruption of the soundboard and internal air volume. Additionally, he will talk about how he uses math and science in developing new instrument designs and features, in exploring the use of new or unfamiliar materials, and in understanding the impact of construction processes. Bob Gleason will be demonstrating his methods of preparing a tenor ukulele top for installation. Topics of brace carving, top deflection, top radiusing, radiusing the sides and kerfing, and more will be discussed and demonstrated.
Wednesday, July 23, 2:30pm – Workshop: Tales from the Soundhole: Adventures in Acoustic Guitar Repair and Restoration
Participants: Alex Glasser, and Brian Michaels.
Alex and Brian will discuss various acoustic guitar repair techniques. Topics will include flat (matte) finish repairs with color touch-up, how to efficiently make an accurate replica Martin bridge, crack repairs with magnets, tricky neck reset procedures, humidity caused issues, and some neat repair tricks.
Wednesday, July 23, 2:30pm – Workshop: Introduction to CNC for Small and Intermediate Shops
Participants: Sigmund Johannessen, and Chris Klumper.
What Is CNC and how can it applies to the Guitar Building Industry. What is CAD/CAM. Demonstration of cutting a neck and body on the CNC machine. Work piece hold downs.
Wednesday, July 23, 2:30pm – Workshop: Carving and Refining the Modern Archtop Soundboard
Participants: James Condino, and Stephen Marchione.
Using the GAL D'Angelico 18" archtop guitar blueprint as a working template, James and Stephen will discuss multiple historic examples and concerns as they apply to instruments above and below the spectrum in size, contast features and function in some of their personal all time favorite instruments, and then have hands on demonstrations for two different approaches tackling arching, bracing, voicing, and design applied to modern instruments and players, combining very traditionial methods with the evolving use of cnc in the small workshop.
Thursday, July 24, 8:30am – Lecture: David “Jose” Rubio in America
David Rubio, one of Britain’s finest post-war musical instrument-makers, has been described as the “English Gentleman” luthier. However, his career began working from an attic workshop in Greenwich Village, making guitars for the New York Jazz scene, for the flamenco fraternity, but also lutes and guitars for Julian Bream, who eventually brought him back to England.
Thursday, July 24, 10:30am – Workshop: Traditional Lutherie Techniques for Violin and Guitar Making
Participants: Stephen Marchione, and Charles Rufino.
Stephen and Charles will share traditional techniques they have learned from their decades of experience in making and repairing guitars and violins. In addition to demonstrations they will discuss the historical context of these techniques and demystify some old tales that you may have heard.
Thursday, July 24, 10:30am – Workshop: Steel String Guitar Listening Session
Thursday, July 24, 1:00pm – Workshop: Oil Finishing the Classical Guitar
This workshop will cover the procedure I use to prepare and finish a guitar using a hand rubbed oil finish. It is my intention to bring a partly finished guitar to the workshop and work on it to demonstrate my methods. If any participants want to bring their own oil finished guitars to work on they are most welcome.
Thursday, July 24, 1:00pm – Workshop: Make Bread at Bread & Butter Repair: Techniques for Efficiency
Participants: Erick Coleman, Evan Gluck, and Eron Harding.
The saying “time is money” may be old and tired, but the bottom line is it's very true. The faster you can do a job, the more money you make doing it. I personally work very slowly, therefore over the last few years I've been streamlining the way I approach bread and butter jobs in order to increase my bottom line. For the 2014 GAL convention I'll be bringing along the two repairmen who inspired me to pick up the pace without compromising the quality of my work. Evan Gluck will cover his method of leveling and dressing frets while I demonstrate the steps I use to make a bone nut from scratch, Eron Harding will follow up with his multi-point set up and adjustment techniques to get a guitar out the door in an efficient manner.
Thursday, July 24, 1:00pm – Workshop: Constructing and Voicing the Modern Mandolin: Two Approaches
Participants: James Condino, and Andrew Mowry.
An analysis of their favorite historic mandolins with blueprints and special attention to the numbers and details, and how they use that information to develop their own instruments, including the larger members of the mandolin family. They’ll follow this with live demonstrations of hand fitting dovetails and voicing, along with a discussion of how tradition and CNC complement each other in the small shop.
Friday, July 25, 8:30am – Panel: Ukulele Building: Tradition and Trends
Participants: Michael DaSilva, Bob Gleason, Jay Lichty. Moderator: Woodley White.
This panel discussion between three contemporary ukulele builders will look at construction techniques and methods in this thriving market. Everything from wood selection to use of carbon fiber and epoxy will be on the table. Topics will include items like plate thickness for koa and other non-guitar species top woods; bridge/string connection methods; saddle material and intonation; bracing; optimal desired sound; cutaways, sound ports, electronics, string tension, fingerboard material, body depth, and a lot more.
Friday, July 25, 10:30am – Workshop: Developing Your Sound
Bryan Galloup will lecture and demonstrate methods of tracking building materials to better understand their physical properties and establish a series of markers to help the builder make better decisions throughout the building process. He will also demonstrate the use of FFT (Fast Fourier transform) to analyze tone woods and modes of vibrations in completed instruments.
Friday, July 25, 10:30am – Workshop: Classical Guitar Listening Session
Friday, July 25, , 1:00pm – Workshop: – Designing for Tone, Playability, and Aesthetics
The world of lutherie has expanded beyond traditional classical and dreadnought guitars. Employing art and science in this workshop I will present concepts and methods for taking that tone in your head and bringing it to life along with the aesthetics to make it stand out. Bring your ideas, sketches, and a pad of paper, to workshop with me and share in 40+ years of designing experience. Let's take a step into the future of lutherie together.
Friday, July 25, 1:00pm – Workshop: The London-Made “Melophonic” Guitar
In 1842 a little known London-based inventor, claimed he had made “an extraordinary improvement” in the Spanish Guitar, which contained a radically new form of soundboard bracing. Almost simultaneously, in Pennsylvania, C. F. Martin unveiled his new model, which besides having strikingly similar proportions also contained this new ‘x’-bracing. Was this a mere coincidence between the two guitar manufactories 3,500 miles apart?
Friday, July 25, 1:00pm – Workshop: The Business of Doing Business
This is an interactive, audience-participatory discussion covering good business practices. Topics addressed include customer relations; workflow and scheduling; record keeping; when to say no; business promotion; Internet forum pros and cons; and more.
Saturday, July 26, 8:30am – Lecture: Guitar is a Verb: Innovating Our Way From a Traditional Craft Toward a Contemporary Art Form
Luthier & educator Charles Fox will discuss how a half-century of inspired intuition fueled a historic revolution in lutherie, and how very different creative forces will guide that revolution into the future. Charles will look at design innovations that are redefining the modern guitar, he'll spotlight the key features, ideas, and innovators shaping the craft as it's practiced today, and he'll consider the recent recasting of the craft as a sophisticated contemporary art form.
Saturday, July 26, 10:30am – Workshop: Classical Guitar Setup
In this workshop I want to cover the work involved in setting up a classical guitar from the point of view of the maker working as it were with a blank canvas. In addition I want to approach the set up from the point of view of a repair person who might be presented with a guitar exhibiting a number of problematic issues which will restrict the available options.
Saturday, July 26, 10:30am – Workshop: Mastering Pickups and Truss Rods with Simple Physics
Participants: David King, and Veronica Merryfield.
David will compare and contrast 5 truss rod systems in bass guitar necks for effectiveness, reliability, and ease of installation. Veronica will look at the physics of pickups, without too much math, covering the equivalent circuit of a pickup (including tone control and cable) how each of those elements affect tone, how winding affects those elements, the impact materials have on those elements, how to control winding and design.
Saturday, July 26, 10:30am – Workshop: Ukulele Listening Session
Sunday, July 27, 9:00am – Lecture: Authenticity, Originality, and Unleashing A Personal Style in Violin Making
Instrument makers can struggle with tradition and authenticity vs originality and creativity. After a lifetime as a violin maker, Charles Rufino explores how he has wrestled with this topic and shares his observations and insights into developing a personal style.
Sunday, July 27, 10:30am – Lecture: Considerations in Replicating Vintage Guitars
Alan will discuss the considerations involved in building an accurate reproduction of a vintage guitar. He will use a Larson brothers- built Stahl#6 as an example; the discussion applies to replicating instruments in general. Finishes, adhesives, woods, bracing, arching and many other issues will be approached. Possible modifications and departures from the original design will also be discussed. |
