Cover of American  Lutherie #107

American Lutherie #107
Fall Issue 2011
Web Extras

American Lutherie #107 is available as a back issue, click here.

Page 12 - Lutherie: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow by R.E. Brune
The Lute Maker’s Guild was formed in Füssen in 1562 with about 20 members. Their articles of incorporation laid out the stringent regulations under which a member had to comply in order to enter and stay within the trade, which was protected by royal fiat.

Here are R.E. Brune’s comments about proposed changes to the Lacey Act.

Page 40 - Meet the Maker: George Gruhn by Roger Alan Skipper
George Gruhn describes these banjos in his collection (left to right): 1923 Vega style 9 original five string; 1950s tenor banjo handmade by Fred Van Eps, extremely rare, the only one like it I have seen; Van Eps tenor banjo probably made in the mid-1930s; 1950s original flush-fret scalloped fingerboard 5-string banjo handmade by Fred Van Eps, one of only about fifty made; AA Farland original 5-string banjo circa 1915 previously owned by John Hartford (I was the executor of his estate); circa 1930 Van Eps model 5-string made by Lyon & Healey; late 1930s Paramount Supreme model made by Clifford Essex in England (no relation to New-York-made Paramount banjos); 1950s original 5-string flush-frets Van Eps handmade by Fred, one of about fifty made.
More instruments from the Gruhn prototypes room. Derek takes a few minutes to evaluate the features of a Skipper “New Vintage Series” mandolin. Chill-laxin' with author Roger Alan Skipper and the guitar he made to Gruhn’s specs. Derek Zelenka, Roger, and Andy Jellison talk about lutherie in general and the Roger/George guitar in particular.
 
Lin Crowson in the Gruhn shop resets the neck on a vintage Martin guitar by “flossing” the neck joint.
Dig the crazy aftermarket art. Lin Crowson shows “one of ours” – a guitar that he is considering buying for his own.    
       

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