1998 G. A. L. Convention
The Guild of American Luthiers
Here's a quick photo tour of this year's G.A.L. convention at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington. The Guild holds conventions every two or three years and invites members to present lectures, demonstrations and exhibits of their work and ideas. There are lots of things going on simultaneously at these conventions, so I have only a few pictures of some of the events I attended.
This year I presented a lecture/slide show on my views of the ethics of instrument restoration and the current state of the community of restorers. There were lots of other great presentations, displays and concerts that spanned the five days of the convention.
These luthier conventions are the very best forum for sharing information and for "networking" with other luthiers!
First up was Michael Gurian, who spoke to a full house on the development, design and manufacture of marquetry decoration in stringed instruments.
Well known as a guitar maker, Michael currently provides decorative wood marquetry and bridge pins for the industry.
Right after Michael's presentation, we had a brief glimpse of Big Blue Harold (alias Fred Carlson) who appeared among the ranks of organ pipes in this fine new concert hall.
How Harold gets into these things is still a mystery.
The repair staff of The Twelfth Fret in Portland gave a fine discussion and demonstration of some of their repair techniques and ideas.
This is Dave Zogg talking about a customer's old time "parlor guitar."
Here's the boss, Chris Brandt, showing us how he uses a very sharp fine file to slice through the lacquer on a Fender fingerboard to avoid damage when removing frets.
In the evenings we had some fine concerts, including a performance by William Eaton, a Guild member who makes his own unique instruments.
William is head of the Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery in Phoenix.
Eugene Clark of El Cerrito, California, gave us the practical low-down on the ancient finishing technique of French polishing.
There are lots of different approaches to this technique, and Eugene's instruments have the master's touch!
Geza Burghardt (Vancouver, B.C.) presented a very technical demonstration and discussion of French polishing.
He took us through the technical explanation of the traditional finisher's materials. Geza has taken the time to learn the intimate details of the chemicals, resins and gums used in varnishing and French polishing.
Don MacRostie, of Athens, Ohio, showed us exactly how he uses traditional animal hide glue to assemble the fine Red Diamond mandolins he's made for the last 20 years.
I joined Don in this presentation and here I'm discussing the classic "rubbed joint" where simple hand pressure and a sliding motion are used instead of clamps.
Tom Ribbecke gave a lecture entitled "Building with Carved Plates"
Tom's shop is in Healdsburg, California, where he makes some of the best arch top guitars you're likely to run across.
In the afternoons, two large meeting rooms were crammed with displays of luthier supplies for sale, and the instruments made by members of the Guild.
Harry Fleishman hails from Boulder, Colorado, and is known for his creative designs. Look at this guitar with the multiple scale length "fanned fret" design fingerboard.
Zoom in to the top decoration, it's worth it.
Michael Hemken, from St. Helena, California, is new on the professional lutherie scene.
He makes a great arch top guitar in his spare time. We'll be hearing more from him. . .
Don MacRostie brought along one of his Red Diamond mandolins for us to enjoy.
This is Tom Rebbecke with his latest arch top guitar.
Wherever I looked there were luthiers and musicians having a good time.
You'd have to agree that nobody knows more about having fun with music than the Canote brothers. Twins Jere and Greg had their latest CD, "Thinga-Ma-Jig" on display along with the most whimsical instruments in the show.
Jere played some on his minstrel style banjo, low tuned with gut strings.
Here's another of his creations.
These guys really know how to have a good time!
Al Carruth came all the way from Dedham, Massachusetts, to show off his classic-inspired fingerstyle steel string guitar.
Check out the marquetry on this one.
I wasn't the only one at the convention wearing loud Hawaiian shirts. Bob Gleason, of Pegasus ukulele fame, came from Hilo to show his recent work.
Some of his ukes have nontraditional designs.
The maestro of fanned frets, himself, Ralph Novak, shows off his Novax guitar.
Ralph's shop is in San Leandro, California.
From San Mateo, California, it's Hideo Tateno with a maple Dreadnought style guitar.
John Dick of Iowa City, Iowa, played a few licks on his latest rosewood classical guitar.
That's Steve Newberry's knee peeking out from under the towel on the right. We often sat around jamming in the dorm rooms late at night like this.
One of the craftsman at The Twelfth Fret in Portland, Oregon, Saul Koll displayed his latest creations including this headless hollow body electric.
While wandering around the show, I bumped into John Gough of Seattle. He's a great craftsman who specializes in restoring antique banjos.
This is a new neck he'd just made for a Bacon Professional banjo. Who says craftsmanship is a "lost art?"