Reference Library Articles

An 'alembic' is defined in the dictionary as "anything that refines or purifies;" more specifically, it was the vessel in which medieval and Renaissance alchemists combined the base metals they sought to transmute into gold.

The Stick is an ingenious and versatile stringed instrument with a substantial base of players throughout the world

Epaminondas ('Epi') Stathopoulo (1893-1943) became President of his father Anastasios' New York-based instrument building company, the House of Stathopoulo, in the 1920s.

Clarence Leonidas Fender (known as Leo to friends and associates) was born near the town of Fullerton, California, some 25 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles, on 10th August 1909.

The Electric XII was one of the last models to be developed by Fender's original management.

Leo Fender's departure, in 1965, from the company that bore his name did little to dampen his creativity.

During World War II, Gibson manufactured no electric guitars, and its production of acoustics was severely restricted

Orville H. Gibson (1856-1918) was born of an American mother and an English father near Chateaugay, close to the Canadian border in northern New York state

Gibson continued to refine and develop its archtop acoustics throughout the 1930s.

Gibson launched its first full-production electric guitar, the EH-150, in January 1936.

In the late 1950s, Gibson decided to make fundamental alterations to its Les Paul guitars.

Traditional-style electric archtops had deep bodies: Gibson's Super 400 CES and L-5 CES both measured a generous 3 3/8 inches (8.6cm) from top to back

Traditional-style electric archtops had deep bodies: Gibson's Super 400 CES and L-5 CES both measured a generous 3 3/8 inches (8.6cm) from top to back

The approach to Billy Byrd and Hank Garland that led to the creation of Gibson's 'Byrdland' archtop was not an isolated occurrence.

In the 1950s, Fender had shaken up the guitar-making establishment with its bold solid-body designs.

The Firebirds were the last major Gibson electrics introduced by Ted McCarty, who left the company in 1966 after 16 years as its President

Friedrich Gretsch (1856-1895) was a German émigré to the USA who set up a New York-based company making banjos and percussion instruments in 1883

Gibson's departure from Kalamazoo, Michigan, in 1984 did not end the long history of guitar making there.

The peaceful rural environment of southwestern England has attracted a number of leading British luthiers.

During the late 1970s, a new generation of virtuoso American rock guitarists was emerging

Nashville-based luthier Jerry Jones is dedicated to recreating the classic Danelectro, Silvertone, and Coral electric guitar designs of Nathan Daniel

Californian luthier Steve Klein's electric guitars look strikingly unconventional, but their appearance is far from being a visual gimmick

Christian Friedrich Martin (1796-1873) was born at Markneukirchen, Saxony, in the southeastern corner of modern Germany, on January 31st 1796.

Prior to the electronic era, luthiers often sought innovative ways to boost their acoustic instruments' audibility.