Talk:Classical guitar making

This article has a lot of Original research and external links I've attempted to clean it up and moved all external links to the external links section. I suggest an entire rewrite or possibly   ♫ Slysplace  |  talk  19:14, 3 February 2008 (UTC)

Hmmmm.... multiple issues. Bit of a mess. But I think there's some recoverable content here. Worth saving.

Modern classical guitar is probably even worse. We really need to revitalise the inactive WikiProject Musical Instruments and WikiProject Classical guitar. WikiProject Guitarists is fairly active in maintaining electric guitar articles, and has 52 reasonably active members... hmmm... Andrewa (talk) 05:15, 31 January 2009 (UTC)


 * The article has been rewritten a while back with numerous citations. Additional relevant external links have been moved to the bottom of this Discussion (talk) page, so as not to clutter then main article. Hattermadder (talk) 13:40, 6 December 2010 (UTC)

Expanded
Hi there!

The article has now been expanded considerably, with information that should be of interest to good luthiers. Included are details and links on such topics as acoustics (though the importance of practically experimenting, and learning to judge sound in an unbiased way, and also pairing acoustics and rational judgement with an "intuitive approach with focus on SOUND" - is not to be underestimated!), general overview of luthier's skills, as well as topics that the really aspiring luthiers (who wish to progress beyond those, who are only guitar-furniture makers!) should find interesting (sound aesthetic, historical perspective, link between styles of instruments and repertoire, acoustics, voicing of the instrument, etc.) Hattermadder (talk) 21:50, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

Technical drawings (Plans) of guitars, historic guitars etc.

 * Crane (by Makoto Tsuruta)
 * Technical drawings Ringve Museum, Trondheim (photos: Pages, Italy, 2nd half of 18th cent., Guitar, 19th cent., G.D.Schöne, see also)
 * Technical drawings Edinburgh University Collection of Historic Musical Instruments (see also)
 * Technical drawings Cité de la musique, Paris (for instrument-photos: under Instruments et oeuvres d'art use one of the following inventory-numbers for "Numéro d'inventaire": E.30, E.1411.1, E.375, E.986.5.1, E.0748, E.540, E.1028, E.547, E.546, E.529, etc.)
 * Plans from Istituto per la Ricerca Organologica e il Restauro
 * Drawings
 * Technical drawings Royal College of Music, London (photos of stringed instruments from the museum)
 * Technical drawings (pdf) Staatliches Institut für Musikforschung - Preußischer Kulturbesitz (Berlin)
 * Technical drawings (pdf) Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nürnberg (guitars at the museum, ref)
 * Technical Drawing of The Rawlins Stradivari Guitar, 1700 (link) National Music Museum - University of South Dakota
 * Technical drawings from the Hill Collection of Musical Instruments The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
 * Technical drawing Guitar by Johann Gottfried Scherzer (1861) (see also, 2, drawn by Gary Demos)
 * Technical drawings Guild of American Luthiers (early guitar, classical guitars)
 * Technical drawings Kenneth Sparr
 * Technical Drawings of Musical Instruments - On microfiche, M390 by MMF Publications (see also, contents)
 * Musical Instrument Museum; Brussels (Belgium) (contact)
 * Technical Drawings of Musical Instruments in Public Collections of the World
 * The guitar of Andrés Segovia (published by Dynamic) Segovia's 1937 Hauser guitar, now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (images and information : 1, 2, 3)
 * Measuring and documenting the FE 18 by Antonio de Torres — Preceding unsigned comment added by Hattermadder (talk • contribs) 10:09, 13 December 2010 (UTC)
 * Luigi Mozzani: Life and Works by Giovanni Intelisano, with Lorenzo Frignani description (Minerva Edizioni)
 * Antonio de Torres - Guitar Maker - His Life & Work by José Luis Romanillos
 * Torres plans (see also)
 * Technical drawings lutherie-guitare.org
 * Technical drawings luthier-amateur.org
 * Build a Classical Guitar with Robert O’Brien
 * Technical drawings by Roy Courtnall-Summerfield
 * Technical drawings (Luthiers Mercantile International, Inc.)
 * Technical drawings (Allied Lutherie Ltd.)
 * Technical drawings (Guitar Granny)
 * Listing of various available guitar plans from around the world use search:      Par mots : guitare         ;         Type de documents : Plans d'instruments  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Hattermadder (talk • contribs) 23:32, 11 March 2011 (UTC)

Photos and images of guitars and historic guitars

 * Photos of Romantic Guitars (Collection of Brigitte Zaczek, Vienna)
 * Guitar collection of Matanya Ophee
 * Guitar collection of Lorenzo Frignani
 * Guitar collection of Gianni Norcia
 * Guitar collection of Sinier de Ridder
 * Guitar collection of Félix Manzanero (see also)
 * Guitars from the Musée de la Lutherie et de l'archèterie françaises
 * Photos of historic guitars at the Museum Cité de la Musique in Paris
 * Instruments et oeuvres d'art - search-phrase: Mot-clé(s) : guitare
 * Facteurs d'instruments - search-phrase: Instrument fabriqué : guitare
 * Photothèque - search-phrase: Instrument de musique, ville ou pays : guitare


 * Photos of historic guitars at the Museu de la Música in Barcelona
 * Online catalog - Search for guitarra


 * Guitars at the Victoria and Albert Museum
 * Instrumentarium Lipsiense Studia Instrumentorum Musicae, Germany (1)
 * Guitars at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
 * Lutes, Guitars, and Related Instruments at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Flash page, Flash Audio Tour)
 * Early Romantic Guitar: Gallery of Dated Instruments from www.earlyromanticguitar.com
 * Gallery of Harp Guitars from harpguitars.net

Iconography

 * Iconography

Paintings

 * Musée pictural de la guitare
 * Images, Paintings

Acoustics

 * The Physics of Music and Musical Instruments (2003) by David Lapp
 * Acoustics for violin and guitar makers (2002) by Erik Jansson (KTH - Kungliga Tekniska högskolan: Dept of Speech, Music and Hearing - part of School of Computer Science and Communication)
 * Function, Construction and Quality of the Guitar (1983) edited by Erik V. Jansson
 * Die Theorie der harmonischen Abstimmung der Resonanzplatten bei der Geige ... (1907) by Max Grossmann (1856–1928) (Grossmann's text should not be interpreted as the only way to do plate tuning. They simply represent Grossmann's own theories - which were used by luthier Otto Seifert from c. 1904 - c. 1914)
 * Area Tuning and Hints for Area Tuning the Violin by Keith Hill
 * Videos on Soundboard Tuning and other topics by Custom Guitar Video (search "tap tuning", or "tune top", or "soundboard tuning", etc.)
 * Acoustics articles by Alan Carruth
 * Music: a Mathematical Offering by Dave Benson
 * The Acoustics and Psychoacoustics of the guitar (presents a physics perspective, but is somewhat unrelated to actual guitarmaking) PhD Thesis by Howard Wright
 * See also

Luthier Manuals

 * Contemporary
 * Classical Guitar Making: A Modern Approach to Traditional Design John Bogdanovich
 * Make Your Own Spanish Guitar (1957) A.P. Sharpe (available as PDF download)
 * The Art of Guitar Making (2008) Andrew Allan
 * Historical
 * Nouveau manuel complet du luthier (1869) by J. C. Maugin (start-page)
 * Manuel du luthier (1834) by J. C. Maugin alternative
 * Lehrbuch der Anfertugung und Reparatur... (1828) by Gustav Adolph Wettengel
 * Lehrbuch der Geigen- und Bogenmacherkunst... (1869) by Gustav Adolph Wettengel
 * Neu eröffnetes Magazin musikalischer Tonwerkzeuge (1855) by Welcker von Gontershausen
 * Traditional Guitar construction in central Germany - Sources
 * Theoretisch-praktisches Handbuch des Geigenbaues (1835) by Otto Bachmann
 * Der Bau der Gitarre Fachblatt für Holzarbeiter XVIII (1923) by A. Reuter
 * See also

Varnish for musical instruments

 * Varnish for Violins and similar instruments (archive.org)
 * Instructions for Making an Acoustically Proven Varnish Using only Five Ingredients by Keith Hill
 * The finish by Jose Oribe

Historical Instrument Makers

 * Die Geigen- und Lautenmacher vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart (1904) Willibald Leo, Freiherr von Lütgendorff (1856–1937)
 * Die Geigen- und Lautenmacher vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart (1922) Willibald Leo, Freiherr von Lütgendorff (1856–1937)

Books on guitars

 * Cahier d'atelier : la construction d'une guitare classique by Robert Bouchet
 * The century that shaped the guitar by James Westbrook (see also)
 * Guitars through the ages by James Westbrook (see also)
 * La Chitarra di Liuteria - Masterpieces of Guitar Making by Stefano Grondona and Luca Waldner (preview)
 * Gitarren von Richard Jacob "Weißgerber"
 * The Guitar; by Sinier de Ridder; published by Edizioni Il Salabue; ISBN 88-87618-09-7
 * La Chitarra, Quattro secoli di Capolavori (The Guitar: Four centuries of Masterpieces) by Giovanni Accornero, Ivan Epicoco, Eraldo Guerci; published by Edizioni Il Salabue
 * Rosa sonora - Esposizione di chitarre XVII - XX secolo by Giovanni Accornero; published by Edizioni Il Salabue
 * La Chitarra by Enrico Allorto, Ruggero Chiesa, Mario Dell'Ara, Angelo Gilardino
 * Akustik der Gitarre in Einzeldarstellungen Jürgen Meyer

Articles

 * Acoustical Technology Training by Keith Hill
 * Aspekte des Gitarrenklangs (alt) by Angela Waltner
 * Der Instrumentenmacher Christoph Ehrlich (1781 – 1830) - Beschreibung und Analyse von zwei Gitarren aus dem Historischen Museum Bamberg Project 2003/4 by Thomas Ochs
 * Das Modell „Rekord“ von Richard Jacob „Weißgerber“ - Beschreibung und Analyse Project 2002/3 by Thomas Ochs
 * Classical Guitar Intonation (alt) by Greg Byers
 * Intonation by Mike Doolin
 * Intonation by Jeremy Locke
 * Improvement of intonation and playability of guitar fingerboard. by Sebastian Stenzel
 * Article on Doubletops by Fritz Mueller
 * Article on Doubletops by Alan Dunwell, steel-strings guitar maker
 * Transcript of Ralph Novak's Lecture on Scale Length and Tone to the 1995 G.A.L. Convention From American Lutherie, published quarterly by the Guild of American Luthiers.

Interviews

 * Name's Greg, not Jose - Guitar Maker Greg Smallman Interview with Greg Smallman, John Williams and Craig Ogden (28 November 2009; Robyn Johnston and David Le May; ABC Radio, IntoTheMusic) audio interview
 * Meet the Maker: An Interview with Classical Guitar Maker Geza Burghardt (ref) (Guitars International)
 * Meet the Maker: An Interview with Classical Guitar Maker Jeffrey Elliott (and Cyndy Burton) (ref) (Guitars International)
 * Meet the Maker: An Interview with Classical Guitar Maker Hermann Hauser III (ref) (Guitars International)
 * Roxele (by Hajo Dezelski) - Interviews with Matthias Dammann, Urs Langenbacher, Achim Gropius, etc.
 * An interview with Richard Schneider by Michael Keller, 1978
 * "A renaissance man" - An interview with Michael Kasha (The Spectrum, Fall/Winter 2005)

Luthier Videos

 * Custom Guitar Video
 * Frets setup Fernandez "Custom Set-up"
 * "Luthier Tips du Jour" by Robert O’Brien
 * Gourmet Guitars
 * Guitar making by Kim Hee Hong from ALMA guitar (website login needed to view videos)
 * Classical and Flamenco Guitarmaking with Benito Huipe (produced by Ronald Louis Fernandez)
 * French Polishing for Guitarmakers by Ronald Louis Fernández
 * Classical Guitar Making by John S. Bogdanovich
 * Build a Classical Guitar with Robert O’Brien
 * Online Apprentice by David Schramm (see also)
 * Build your own lute by David van Edwards

Associations

 * Guild of American Luthiers. Non-profit educational membership organization, formed to advance the craft of string instrument making and repair through a free exchange of information.
 * Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans (A.S.I.A.) Association established in 1988 to help provide a sense of community and professionalism to the field of stringed instrument making and repair.
 * Classical Guitar Museum (UK)

Sound-documents of historical guitars

 * Recordings by Brigitte Zaczek: Sound samples
 * Museum Cité de la Musique
 * Les instruments du Musée de la musique : campagne d'enregistrement 2004
 * Jean-Baptiste Voboam, E. 999.15.1 - 1708:  Jacaras (Santa Cruz)
 * Jean-Nicolas Lambert, E.997.3.1 - about 1780:  Marizapalos (Guerau)
 * Jean-Nicolas Grobert, E.375 - about 1830:  Cantabile en ré majeur (Paganini), Romance (Paganini)
 * René Lacote, E.995.26.1 - about 1850:  Fantaisie sur dux motifs de la Norma (Coste)
 * Antonio de Torres, E.963.2.1 - 1883:  Recuerdos de la Alhambra (Tarrega)
 * Francisco Simplicio, E.997.14.1 - 1931:  Una Limosna por el amor de Dios (Barrios Mangoré)
 * Julian Gomez-Ramirez, E.996.21.2 - 1938:  Prélude no 4 (Villa-Lobos)
 * Robert Bouchet, E.988.5.1 - 1964:  Etude no 2 (Presti), Nocturno no 1 (Moreno-Torroba), Amours perdues (Kosma)
 * Enrique Garcia, E.989.17.1 - 1981:  Adelita (Tarrega), Marieta (Tarrega), Sueno (Tarrega)
 * Les instruments du Musée de la musique : campagne d'enregistrement 2006
 * René Lacote, E.980.2.306 - about 1850:   Valse, extrait des 36 pièces originales pour guitare (Berlioz), Menuet n°6 opus 11, extrait des oeuvres pour guitare (Sor)
 * Les instruments du Musée de la musique : campagne d'enregistrement 2008
 * Louis Panormo, E.2006.1.1 - 1850:  Liebesbotschaft (J.K. Mertz)
 * Santos Hernandez, E.989.18.1 - 1931:  Museando, solea (M. Berschadsky)
 * Ecoutez les instruments du musée
 * Jean Baptiste Voboam, E.999.15.1 - 1708:   Allemande (Campion),  Italienne (Campion)
 * Jean-Nicolas Lambert, E.997.3.1 - 1780:   Folies d'Espagne (Merchi)
 * Francisco Simplicio, E.997.14.1 - 1931:   Milonga del angel (Piazzolla)
 * Concert - Citéscopie : la guitare : concert-lecture : concert-lecture enregistré à la Cité de la musique le 14 octobre 1995
 * Weißgerber-Klangdokumentation
 * Die Weißgerber-Gitarren des Musikinstrumenten-Museums Markneukirchen played by Christof Hanusch (Richard Jacob "Weißgerber", Musikinstrumenten-Museum Markneukirchen)
 * Gitarren von Richard Jacob Weißgerber (1877-1960) played by Thomas Müller-Pering (Instrumentarium Lipsiense - Vol. 4)
 * Zavaleta's Collection of Fine and Rare Historic Guitars;     Zavaleta's Classical and Flamenco Guitar MP3 Sound Gallery
 * Lutes, Guitars, and Related Instruments Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Flash Audio Tour)

POV and Questionble Assertions
There seems to be a great deal of personal opinion injected into this article, and the conclusions draw in some of these sections are not well-supported by evidence or citation. I note that someone else flagged many of these sections as far back as 2011.

For example, some information on the acoustical research done on violins may be of interest as a parallel to that done with guitars, but it is carried on in unnecessary detail, and connections drawn that aren't supported. The situations with the two instruments are not closely equivalent. Stradivari was a master instrument maker, and he did produce a number of instruments other than violins and cellos. But we don't have a great deal of information to indicate that guitarists of that day necessarily considered Stradivari's guitars to be at the same pinacle of perfection as violinists considered his violins.

Violininsts and guitarists, even in Stradivari's day, were pursuing different aeshetics. The violin was then -- and is now -- a concert instrument, intended primarily for use in orchestral settings. Sometimes as a soloist, to be sure, but always ready to blend back into that ensemble. The guitar, on the other hand, was then -- and is now -- primarily a solo instrument, usually played either alone or in small ensembles in a salon setting, and also a folk instrument. It lives in an a different acoustical Zeitgeist from the violin, and always has.

Excepting Stradivari's instruments (the few surviving specimens of which, BTW, have been very thoroughly studied), we have literally thousands of old guitars, from all periods, residing in museums and private collections. A great deal of study has been devoted to these instruments, much of it during the same years that violin makers were disecting their Strads and Guanaris. Books, scholarly articles in luthiery journals, and dissertations attest to this research. The fact is that while luthiers may spend some time to experimentation, most of their efforts are going to be devoted whatever aesthetic is currently in vogue among performers, which in turn is largely dictated by what audiences are willing to pay to hear. This has ever been true for both violin and guitar.

If there are actually people who believe " that guitar making today is still lagging far behind professional violin-making ", my guess is that the people who believe that are probably violin luthiers. I know a goodly number of guitar luthiers, and have yet to hear any of them express this sentiment.
 * If you were to ask guitar luthiers about the state of violin making today, I suspect many would express incredulity that violin makers apparently have yet to discover geared tuners, prefering instead to continue to use the laboriously-fitted, ever-slipping, 400-year old friction peg design. ;)

I suggest a vigorous laundering of this article to remove POV sections, and/or adding more specific supporting citations from reputable sources. 67.206.183.63 (talk) 11:10, 5 July 2015 (UTC)

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Torres did not use fan bracing??
There is something wrong with this sentence:

"Francisco Sanguino was one of the first to experiment with fan-bracing, then came Páges and Panormo—but Torres did not use it, still had more tonal energy spread over overtones, compared to the Torres guitars, which focus tonal energy more in the fundamental (desirable in Spanish music)."

I'm no expert in this topic, and know little of Sanguino, Páges, and Panormo, and so I'm not qualified to fix this. But Torres was well known for his fan bracing. Was "ladder-bracing" meant here instead of "fan-bracing"? Or did two sentences accidentally be merged in a incorrect way? --Ericjs (talk) 17:37, 8 June 2018 (UTC)