American Lutherie #155 - Summer 2025

Pat Megowan takes a deep dive into the design and construction of the uke. His aesthetic sense is free, but rooted in an educated appreciation for the classical guitar. Thomas Beltran was a self-starter college kid who managed to cobble together a working guitar in the 1970s, then went on to a career making fine classical guitars. You’ll be touched by Tom's story of kind strangers and generous mentors including Richard Schneider. Tom attended a Kasha-Schneider seminar in the summer of 1983 and now shares never-before-seen photos. Veteran lutherie teacher Robbie O’Brien follows the construction of a classical guitar where a student starts with a box of wood, and strings up a nice classical guitar only six days later (conclusion of a three-part series). Alex Glasser and Brian Michael gave a guitar repair demo at our final Convention in 2023. Steve Kinnaird is a long-time GAL member, an American Lutherie author, and a frequent Convention attendee who makes nice steel-string guitars down in Texas. How do you make a small guitar sound big? Sjaak Elmendorp built a pair of small guitars to test a theory about that. He also goes into the physics of “loudness” in guitars. Bob Gleason was a Guild member forever and an early champion of the ukulele. We remember him in this issue. See details in the AL#155 preview.

The Summer 2025 issue will be mailed to all 2025 members late August.