Official Luthiers Forum!

How many of you remember a short-lived 16 page newsletter entitled String Instrument Craftsman published by Guitar Player Magazine in the late 80's? Edited by Jim Hatlo, the publication maybe lasted 20 to 24 issues, as I remember. I wrote a lot of articles for it back the day. Notables such as Roger Siminoff, Bob Benedetto, Michael Dresdner, Bill Cumpiano, Ken Donnell, Ervin Somogyi, and other known and lesser known professionals (like me) wrote articles for builders and repairman. It was a strictly a "how to" kind of publication, offered by subscription.

I had a full set (as a subscriber and contributing author), but foolishly gave them away over the years to young bucks coming up who sought help from me. I was only too happy to oblige. Now the internet is full of more disinformation and outright lies than actual competent advice from experienced professionals and serious amateurs. Now is a great time to bring back the information contained in String Instrument Craftsman for a new generation - but an online version or perhaps re-issued in a compilation.

If you have any old copies you can loan me, or to Dick Boak at Martin Guitars please contact us. I was recently loaned 5 old issues from my business partner and former author Mike Metz of Thesis Audio Service. I had them scanned into PDF files and put on a flashdrive to make them easy to email (Conor Searl got copies the other day). I sent the 5 files to Dick to get the ball rolling. Eventually, Dick would like to gather all the issues on a PDF so they could be put up on the Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans website.

Please help us out in this project if you can. It would be a real tragedy for this vital information to simply disappear forever. Let's resurrect it for all posterity, so we can leave a true legacy for succeeding generations of luthiers.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

I've got issues 1 thru 14 except #4. Which of them do you need to complete the set? I don't recall there being more than 14 .

Check the other thread, would you Carl?

_________________
"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince