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The Guild of American Luthier's Hardcover Books
The Guild of American Luthiers is a non-profit educational membership organization, formed in 1972 to advance the craft of string instrument making and repair (lutherie), through a free exchange of information.
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By far the most comprehensive and authoritative work on the subject of understanding and constructing authentic lutes. Quality hardcover book of over 250 pages. Historical section covers the development of the lute from the 15th through the 18th centuries with over 100 photographs of ancient lutes by Robert Lundberg and 50 diagrams. Practicum section covers the construction of the lute in minute detail with over 600 step-by-step photographs by Jonathon Peterson and a dozen diagrams. Robert Lundberg's encyclopedic knowledge, insightful analysis, and mastery of woodworking techniques grew out of a distinguished 30-year career in which he examined and measured over 250 extant ancient lutes and built hundreds of fine instruments. Appendices include list of historic makers; catalog of extant historic lutes; bibliography; index. Contains complete reduced images of seven lute plans drawn for the GAL by Robert Lundberg. A work of great value to makers of all kinds of string instruments.
Historical Lute Construction is a resource that every luthier will want to own. It is drawn from a series of nineteen articles which ran in American Lutherie over a seven-year span from 1987 to 1994. About half of those issues are permanently out of print. Considerable effort was expended by Mr. Lundberg and the GAL staff to revise, expand, and augment the material into its present definitive form before Mr. Lundberg passed away in 2001. Historical Lute Construction has the same high-quality sewn binding in gold-stamped hard covers as our other four books. These books are built to last, and built to be used; they will lie open on a workbench.
280-page, high-quality hardcover book, shipped
in a box.
Members — $60 . . . . . . . . Nonmembers
— $65
plus S+H
THE BIG RED BOOK of American Lutherie, Volume
One
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Here's the first in a new series of books taken from American Lutherie, the quarterly journal of the Guild of American Luthiers. Articles in The Big Red Book of American Lutherie, Volume One, are collected from American Lutherie #1-12, published in 1985, '86 and '87. Three years of American Lutherie collected in one big book for one low price! Plus dozens of articles from the Data Sheets and GAL Quarterly published before 1985. About 200 articles on a wide variety of topics related to the art, science, and history of lutherie. Meet famous makers; learn to build tools; get detailed insight into building instruments; find info on woods, glues, and finishes; thrill to the mysteries of acoustical physics; and lots more. Indexed by topic and by author. Back issues of American Lutherie #1-12 would cost a non-GAL member $132 plus postage; that's nearly $100 in savings!
The Big Red Book of American Lutherie, Volume One is a resource that every luthier will want to own. Packed full of information from our early issues of American Lutherie, The Big Red Book of American Lutherie, Volume One contains informative articles by over 140 luthiers drawn from firsthand experience. The Big Red Book of American Lutherie, Volume One shares the same quality sewn binding in gold-stamped hard covers as our previous books (only it's BIG and it's RED). These books are built to last, and built to be used; they will lie open on a workbench.
524-page, high-quality hardcover book, shipped
in a box.
Members — $40. . . . . . . . Nonmembers
— $45
plus S+H
THE BIG RED BOOK of
American Lutherie, Volume Two
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Important Note: The series of articles by Robert Lundberg on Historical Lute Construction do not appear in the Big Red Book series. They form a separate book, which is now for sale.
524-page, high-quality hardcover book, shipped
in a box.
Members — $40. . . . . . . . Nonmembers
— $45
plus S+H
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Here's the third in our series of books taken
from American Lutherie, the quarterly journal of the Guild of American
Luthiers. Articles in The Big Red Book of American Lutherie, Volume Three
are collected from American Lutherie #25-36 published in 1991, '92
and '93. Three years of American Lutherie collected in one big book for one
low price! About 90 articles on a wide variety of topics related to the art,
science, and history of lutherie. Meet famous makers; learn to build tools;
get detailed insight into building instruments; find info on woods, glues, and
finishes; thrill to the mysteries of acoustical physics; and lots more. Indexed
by topic and by author. Back issues of American Lutherie issues #25-36 would
cost a non-GAL member $144 plus shipping. That's a savings of over $100!
The Big Red Book of American Lutherie, Volume Three is a resource that every luthier will want to own. Packed full of information from our early issues of American Lutherie, The Big Red Book of American Lutherie, Volume Three contains informative articles and column by 100 luthiers drawn from firsthand experience. The Big Red Book of American Lutherie, Volume Three shares the same quality sewn binding in gold-stamped hard covers as our other books. These books are built to last, and built to be used; they will lie open on the workbench.
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The fourth in our series of books collected from American Lutherie, the quarterly journal of the Guild of American Luthiers. This new volumes contains about 90 articles from American Lutherie issues #37-48, published 1994 through 1996: a dozen issues of American Lutherie collected in one big book for one low price! A member would pay over $120 to buy all these back issues individually, a non-member even more!
The Big Red Book of American Lutherie, Volume Four is a resource that every luthier will want to own. Packed full of information from our early issues of American Lutherie, The Big Red Book of American Lutherie, Volume Four contains informative articles and column by 100 luthiers drawn from firsthand experience. The Big Red Book of American Lutherie, Volume Four shares the same quality sewn binding in gold-stamped hard covers as our other books. These books are built to last, and built to be used; they will lie open on the workbench
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The fifth in our series of books collected from American Lutherie, the quarterly journal of the Guild of American Luthiers. This new volumes contains about 150 articles from American Lutherie issues #49-60, published 1997 through 1999: a dozen issues of American Lutherie collected in one big book for one low price! A member would pay over $120 to buy all these back issues individually, a non-member even more!
The Big Red Book of American Lutherie, Volume Five is a resource that every luthier will want to own. Packed full of information from our early issues of American Lutherie, The Big Red Book of American Lutherie, Volume Five contains informative articles and column by 80 luthiers drawn from firsthand experience. The Big Red Book of American Lutherie, Volume Five shares the same quality sewn binding in gold-stamped hard covers as our other books. These books are built to last, and built to be used; they will lie open on the workbench
The Guild began publishing in 1973 and soon instituted a series of technical articles printed on 8 1/2" x 11" paper punched for a 3-ring binder. The Data Sheet series, as it was called, eventually ran to 300 titles across ten years. As early as 1978 the Guild's Board of Directors was discussing plans to republish the data sheets arranged by topic. The Resource Book Series meets that goal by presenting, in an orderly and streamlined form, material of lasting practical value from the Data Sheet series as well as the GAL Quarterly, which we published from 1973-1984. (Beginning in 1985 all GAL publications were combined into our present format, American Lutherie.) The Resource Books feature quality sewn binding in gold-stamped hard covers. These books are built to last, and built to be used; they will lie open on a workbench. We ship them in a cardboard box.
Lutherie
Tools is the first of the Resource Books,
published in 1990. It is about designing, making, and maintaining lutherie tools
and is a summary of contemporary jigs, short-cuts, day-to-day operational techniques,
and sources of supply. It consists of ten chapters including: measuring and
inspection tools; bending irons; knives, chisels, scrapers, and planes; clamps,
gluing, and holding devices; routers; sanding machines; bandsaw and drill press;
circular saw; and approaches to tools. Each section is replete with high-quality
black-and-white photographs as well as line drawings, many with detailed measurements.
Interspersed are full-page photographs showing the workshops of various well-known
luthiers. The appendices are comprehensive including references, sources of
supply, and further reading. A survey of 17 respected luthiers is particularly
interesting since each one discusses his or her main focus as a luthier as well
as the hand and power tools they prefer. Some of the most preferred tools are
surprising, such as a microscope, dental tinfoil, and beer (for attitude adjustment!)
128-page, high-quality hardcover book, shipped in a box.
Members — $25. . . . . . . . Nonmembers — $30
plus S+H
Lutherie Woods and Steel String
Guitars is the second of the Resource Books and began
to roll off the press in February, 1998. This matching volume to our popular
Lutherie Tools book contains information collected from the Guild's 1973-1984
publications, plus new and updated material that will appear only in Lutherie
Woods and Steel String Guitars. There are fifty pages of mostly new material
on lutherie woods, including an introduction to taxonomy, the "Top Forty
Lutherie Woods," information on resawing, and an extensive commented bibliography
of wood identification books. The book also features over 60 articles and tips
on a wide variety of topics related to building and repairing the steel string
guitar including D'Aquisto's "Variables in Archtop Design," resonator
guitars, vintage restorations, Gallagher, Turner and Klein guitars, inlay patterns
and tips, side bending, binding, linings, cracks and joints, bridge gluing,
bracing design, fret scales, neck and head repairs, and more. The book is fully
indexed and also has a number of useful appendices including philosophical approaches
to lutherie, thumbnail reviews of over 80 lutherie books, an updated sources
of supply list, a list of lutherie schools, and references to further reading
in American Lutherie magazine.
160-page, high-quality hardcover book, shipped in a box.
Members — $25. . . . . . . . Nonmembers — $30
plus S+H
