As you can see from the following schedule summary, an impressive team of talented luthiers will be on hand to share their knowledge and we have included all the regular events that everyone looks forward to at a GAL convention.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 7
Arrival and registration begin at 2pm, followed a little later by workshops.
Uberguru Dan Erlewine shares tips from
his inner core being as he explains Gibson Electric Guitar Setup. Repair mucho-honcho
Frank Ford gives the lowdown on hide
glue. Wondering how to use that contraption on the cover of AL#76? Don
MacRostie shows you how to do Deflection Tuning in Mandolins. And Geza
Burghardt, Greg Byers,
and Cyndy Burton demonstrate
French Polish: Techniques that Work. Ken
Altman will have a hands-on demonstration on making your own brass hand
plane. Wednesday evening we witness the triumphant return of Tarik and
Julia Banzi, all the way from Morocco, on oud and flamenco guitar.
THURSDAY,
JULY 8
In the day's first lecture, that realizer of instrumental fantasies, Fred
Carlson, comes down to eath to describe his method of Creative Guitar
Making: Teaching the Dream to Sing. Next we'll have two simultaneous presentations.
Jeffrey Elliott describes Restoring
Tarrega's 1888 Torres (the famous instrument will be demonstrated live), and
a session of Electric Guitar Listening will be moderated by solidbody aces Saul
Koll and Tom Jones.
Our three-day Instrument Exhibition, where luthiers will show their latest work and visit the tables of numerous wood, tool, and parts suppliers, begins on Thurdsay afternoon. Included in the exhibition will be a special display of historic classic guitars, presented by Jim Forderer and Jim Westbrook.
Starting Thursday afternoon and lasting into the early evening will be concurrent workshops on a variety of topics: Repair kingpins Frank Ford and Dan Erlewine team up for The Frank and Dan Show — Structural Acoustic Guitar Repair. Classic guitar pioneer Eugene Clark holds forth on The Spanish Guitar: Building on the Solera. Australian luthier Graham McDonald shows us how to build The Irish Bouzouki: A Mandolin on Steroids. Flattop builders Mike Doolin and John Greven bring us up to the minute with Waterborne Finishing Revisited. Thursday evening we'll groove to the far-out mandolin stylings of our own Bruce Harvie, and Kenton Youngstrom will present a program played on some century-old classic guitars.
FRIDAY, JULY 9
We'll begin with violin maker Michael Darnton's
discussion of Style and Line in Violin Making followed by two concurrent events:
guitar maker, teacher, and international workshop operator Kenny
Hill moderates the Classic Guitar Listening session, and a panel of
Mike Doolin,
Harry Fleishman, and Italian
luthier Fabio Ragghianti
discusses Guitar Neck Joints: Attachment Issues.
Late Friday afternoon three more workshops will be presented. Granddaddy of lutherie teachers Charles Fox demonstrates The Universal Vacuum Island; Greg Byers shows us 19th-Century Rosette Marquetry for 21st-Century Guitars; the multitalented Bruce Harvie will tell us about Harvesting Tonewoods, or Why My Back is Killing Me and innovative flattop maker Steve Kauffman will show us his techniques for Structuring Acoustics with Carbon Fiber.
Friday evening's concert features Tacoma's own Gypsy-Jazz group Pearl Django.
SATURDAY,
JULY 10
Kenny Hill is back on Saturday morning
with a lecture about classic guitar making entitled A Luthier's Choices: So
Many Guitars, So Little Time. The concurrent presentations that follow will
include Geza Burghardt discussing Developing
A String Bass and a session of Steel String Guitar Listening moderated by Harry
Fleishman. Saturday's exhibition is open to the public and includes
some silent auction craziness.
Saturday evening is reserved exclusively for the fabulous Guild Benefit Auction, where the comic talents of our guest auctioneers will have us rolling in the aisles while we snag unheard-of bargains.
SUNDAY, JULY 11
Sunday is a short day, but not to be missed! Electric trailblazer Rick
Turner lectures on Moving into the Future of Tradition followed by Tom
Ribbecke on Developments in Archtop Architecture: The Z Axis. An Open
House at Guild Headquarters in the afternoon will wrap up the convention events.