Luthier Acoustic Guitar Construction

DIY Network: Musical Instruments

1 of 3

http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/cda/article_print/0,1983,DIY_13881_2...

DIY NETWORK

To print this page, select File then Print from your browser
URL: http://www.diynet.com/diy/hb_musical_instruments/article/0,2033,DIY_13881_2778041,00.html

HANDMADE GUITAR, PART 1: INTRODUCTION AND WOOD SELECTION
From "Handmade Music"
episode DHMM-101 -- MoreProjects »
In this episode of DIY's Handmade Music, host Jeff Wilson introduces viewers to the world of vintage luthurie. We see
how stringed-instrument builders (luthiers) mix contemporary materials and "old school" know-how to create guitars that
resemble -- and sound like -- beloved vintage guitars. Over the course of the guitar-building series, we see an elegantly
built vintage-replicaguitar built from the ground up -- literally.
In this first of four episodes focusing on guitar-building, we learn that the "gold standard" for bluegrass pickers is the
famous Martin D-28 guitar built in the 1930s and the early 1940s. Viewers find out how master guitar-builder Lynn
Dudenbostel crafts new guitars that meet the high standards set by the great luthiers of yesteryear. Also in thisfirst
episode, viewers also are introduced to two luthiers -- John Arnold and Ted Davis -- whose passion for replicating vintage
guitars borders on obsession. Arnold and Ted know that reproduction of vintage requires a specific type of wood: red
spruce. Martin Guitars used this particular type of wood to build tops for the famous D-28 during the golden era, but
during World War II the aircraftindustry depleted the supply of spruce wood so guitar manufacturers switched to
alternative wood. Today after sixty years of growth, the red spruce tree is once again available for selective harvesting.
For John and Ted, it's been a long time to wait for the revival of great sounding guitars.
This episode follows the men on a quest to harvest one red spruce tree. When it's located and cut LynnDudenbostel
begins creating a guitar using the wood supplied by John and Ted. If Lynn does his job well, viewers will be treated to a
sweet sound not usually produced by a new guitar. This show follows the construction of the guitar's top and back
including the precision carving of brace wood.

The Martin D-28 -- the "gold
standard" of acoustic guitars.

Luthier John Arnold could be
calledpassionate when it
comes to the quest for the
perfect guitar sound. For this
series, he located and harvested
a red spruce tree for the
creation of guitars like those
used on the classic Martins.

The Legacy of Red Spruce
The vintage guitars of the 1930s and early '40s had a material advantage over the manufactured guitars of today. They
were made from a type of wood unavailable tobuilders for more than 50 years. "The most desirable instruments made by
Martin," says Lynn Dudenbostel, "had tops made of Eastern red spruce. Until the past twenty years or so, that has been to
builders. During the war, spruce was in high demand for building aircraft, and instrument builders had to seek other
alternatives."
Now that red spruce is available again in limited quantities, thedistinctive sound of the vintage guitars can be recaptured.
Luthier John Arnold took DIY along on his quest to find a red spruce tree for use in building guitars. That quest took John
to the mountaintops of West Virginia where this unique type of timber can be found (figure A).

Figure A

Locating a tree for harvest on private land is the biggest challenge. John was able to locate a mammoth300-year-old spruce ( figure B), and was able to
negotiate with the land owner on which it resided for harvesting the tree.
Given the large diameter of this tree (figure C), there is raw material in this spruce for hundreds of guitar tops.

09/09/2006 6:30 PM

DIY Network: Musical Instruments

2 of 3

Figure B

http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/cda/article_print/0,1983,DIY_13881_2...

Figure...