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Jai guitar School m eo Brown Buddy Guy Transcribed

Elliott Sharp Master Class The Art of the Archtop Jaimeo

PLUS Brown

July 2013 U.K. £3.50 July 2013 July

downbeat.com Theartof the Archtop A Classic Design Endures as the Choice of Jazz Guitarists By Keith Baumann

The origins of the modern guitar can be traced back hundreds, if not thousands, of years. But for many jazz players, the most important date in the instru- ment’s long history is 1897, when Orville Gibson introduced the first carved archtop gui- tar. Since then, the archtop has made an undeniable impact on the evolution of jazz and popular music. Surviving radical shifts in musical taste and huge technological advance- ments, this uniquely American innovation has steadily held its own and continues to maintain a fiercely loyal following among players and luthiers who appreciate its strong tradition and also understand its continually evolving and limitless potential. Gibson broke new ground when he applied traditional Italian vio- in a few short years the archtop had completely replaced the tenor banjo as lin-making techniques to the construction of fretted instruments in order to the jazz musician’s rhythm tool of choice. Gibson and other manufacturers achieve greater clarity and projection. In the early 1900s, the newly formed continued to refine the archtop by increasing body size for more volume and Gibson Company produced guitars and mandolins that featured carved tops adding cutaways for higher fret access. Eventually magnetic pickups were and backs, X-pattern bracing, floating bridges and an oval-shaped sound added to the archtop, allowing it to be featured as a solo instrument. The hole. In 1922, hoping to boost sagging sales, Gibson hired acoustic engineer unique tone produced by amplifying a fully acoustic guitar endures to this Lloyd Loar to redesign the company’s offerings. Loar made several key mod- day as the heart and soul of the jazz guitar sound. ifications to Orville’s original designs, adding violin-style f-holes, parallel Many guitar builders have followed in Gibson and Loar’s footsteps over bracing bars, elongated fingerboards and tap-tuned carved tops to maximize the last 116 years. Numerous manufacturers and luthiers simply copied the responsiveness. Although he was with Gibson for a few brief years, Loar’s two original Loar designs, but others took their own paths, creating instruments instruments, the F5 Master Model mandolin and the L5 Master Model arch- tailored to the needs of the constantly evolving jazz musician. New York’s top guitar, became part of the fabric of American music—with the F5 man- John D’Angelico and his apprentice Jimmy D’Aquisto were among the most dolin sculpting the sound of bluegrass music in the hands of Bill Monroe and well-known and respected luthiers who pushed the envelope of modern the L5 guitar becoming the de facto standard for jazz guitarists worldwide. archtop design, inspiring a whole new generation of builders. Engineered to cut through the volume of a large orchestra, the L5 was Even though the archtop represents a relatively small niche in today’s designed as an acoustic rhythm instrument. It was so successful that with- overall guitar market, there is a surprisingly large number of luthiers current- Frank Vignola plays a Thorell FV Studio.

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Radio City : O T O H P Wilkie 16-inch Northern Flyer

P HOTO : VINCENT RICARDEL

Wyatt Wilkie works with his homemade side-bending press.

P HO TO : em ily cha rette

PHOTO: bob stamp

Bob Benedetto literally wrote the book on how to build an archtop. Left: carving a 45th anniversary Benedetto guitar headstock.

JULY 2013 DOWNBEAT 73 ly devoted to the art of hand-building custom arch- produce treble tones that are sweet and lyrical top instruments. In addition, several established gui- like a human voice,” he said. Monteleone tar manufacturers now feature a selection of archtop attributes the endurance of the archtop to models within their product lines. To gain insight its inherent beauty along with its ability into the instrument’s subtle nuances and long-last- to function as an acoustic, electric or ing appeal, we interviewed some of the finest mas- combination of both. ter archtop builders and a few select factory builders. Although each luthier strives to place his individual Benedetto stamp on each guitar, they all share a set of core val- Bob Benedetto is a name ues that define what the archtop guitar is all about. that comes up frequently when The luthiers we spoke with expressed strong talking with other luthiers—no feelings of respect for the tradition created by the surprise, since he literally wrote builders that have preceded them. They are also the book on archtop guitar build- aware of the significant role that players occupy in ing. Aspiring builders around the influencing the evolution of archtop design. From world have used his book, Making the first rough cut of the tonewood to final finish- An Archtop Guitar, to kick-start their ing and setup, luthiers are absolutely in love with the own careers. Benedetto has been in process of building a guitar. the business for 45 years and has grown from a one-man shop into a small man- Monteleone ufacturer. He is mostly self-taught and has a John Monteleone is one of the most background in repair as well as violin making. Right respected builders in the business today. Known from the beginning in 1968, he focused on archtop for his innovative design work and amazing tone, guitars, citing a strong influence from Gibson and Monteleone considers his acoustic archtop guitars D’Angelico. Benedetto feels that the strength of the to be works of “playable art.” Monteleone is primar- archtop lies in its unrivaled sound and unique feel, ily self-taught but credits much of his experience to and he considers himself a refiner of the guitar, not his years as an instrument repairman. He began his a re-designer. “It is mostly the maker and not the building career by making F5 mandolin copies, and wood that makes an instrument,” he said. after growing tired of cloning Loar’s work, he com- Benedetto wholeheartedly embraces the tradi- pletely redesigned the F5, resulting in a new model, tional and sees no need to stray too far from the Grand Artist. Monteleone introduced his first time-honored designs. His refinements are in the archtop guitar, the Eclipse, in 1978 and has gone on fine details, such as tap-tuning and subtle neck to create an array of stunning instruments, includ- improvements. “The real challenge is using the ing his acclaimed Radio City archtop, with its Art same design parameters to create a wonderful- Deco-influenced architectural motif. ly voiced instrument,” he said. Although the com- Monteleone is a custom builder and cites pany has expanded into a staff of 10 and produces D’Angelico as a major influence. “You could really a large selection of models, Benedetto’s involvement sense the skill and personality in his guitars,” he said. remains mainly with the high-end hand-carved Monteleone is also a big fan of the original Orville archtops. Benedetto Guitars offers archtops in a vari- Gibson guitars and utilizes oval-shaped sound ety of styles and price points and does custom one- ports in several of his models. According off work. The Flagship Series features the carved to Monteleone, an archtop should models, and the Professional Series includes lami- have a clear, brilliant tone with a nated and solid chambered bodies. nice balance and plenty of cut- ting power that allows you to hear the wood and not just the strings. “One of my goals has always been to

Claudio Pagelli in his workshop in Switzerland

Pagelli Res Knuchel

74 DOWNBEAT JULY 2013 Laplante 17-inch Sad City

Jean-Pierre Laplante

archtop in 1980, he was instant- ly hooked. Camp- elleone has an art Campelleone Special background, which he Series feels has been beneficial to his guitar building. He offers a select line of hand-carved archtops in his Standard, Deluxe and Special Series. Campelleone’s premier gui- tar is his Cameo, and he also offers a 15-inch design in his EP Series. His primary goal has always been to build a traditional Loar-style archtop, and he said that his attraction to the guitars stems from the beauty of the instru- ments, which are like sculptures to him. In terms of why the archtop has endured for so many years, Campelleone pointed out that the unique sound of the amplified acoustic guitar has never been dupli- cated in a solid body. Thorell Wilkie Utah luthier Ryan Thorell feels Wyatt Wilkie of Wilkie Stringed rhythm playing and note separation are the heart Instruments summed up his infatuation with arch- of the archtop guitar, which he considers to be the top building when he said, “I can’t help myself.” “sound of jazz” and “a living American tradition.” Wilkie started out as a mandolin maker and got Thorell started building guitars in 1996 and carved his initial exposure to archtops through his associ- his first archtop in 2005. He is a huge fan of the Lloyd ation with Calton Cases, where he had to examine Loar archtops and is also influenced by the New and measure instruments for clients ordering cus- York school of D’Angelico and D’Aquisto. A true tom flight cases. Wilkie was fortunate to appren- hand-builder, Thorell feels the archtop’s appeal lies in tice with Benedetto and recalled how “that changed its limitless potential and ability to produce a consis- everything.” He hand-builds two basic models in his tent tone from the lowest to highest notes. The Sweet E British Columbia workshop: the Northern Flyer and and FV (Frank Vignola) are some of his better-know the Strathcona. He also does custom orders. “The models, but Thorell enjoys building custom instru- mystery of acoustic tone is so alluring,” said Wilkie, ments that can be individually voiced for a particular noting that it’s all about the wood. “Acoustic music player. Although he maintains a strong respect and in general has endured longer than amplified music, love for the tradition, Thorell considers his craft to be and it’s about the feel as much as it is the tone.” a vibrant process that is constantly evolving. He often experiments with sound port placement and utilizes Marchione a subtler arch on his guitars’ tops to produce a richer Stephen Marchione of Texas got his tone, which he feels has become more important than start as a violin maker and has been building guitars generating sheer volume. full-time since 1990. He gained a deep respect for the instrument during his college years while playing in Campelleone big bands and bases most of his designs on the clas- East Coast builder Mark Campelleone sic archtops of D’Angelico and D’Aquisto. Marchione started out building electric basses and doing repair pointed out that “the archtop is a transcendent thing and restoration work. But when he built his first that rises above being a simple instrument.” As a

JULY 2013 DOWNBEAT 75 player himself, he feels that these guitars with the player who relates to the feel thing between an archtop and a are extremely compelling and deep- and unique acoustic properties of the flat top with lots of warmth and ly satisfying to hold and play, and that guitar. He offers three models in his a longer note sustain. He puts his hand carving is the only way to truly Premium line and three models in the personal stamp on his guitars with voice an instrument. “You really have to Standard line. In addition, Andersen custom cutaway profiles, beautiful listen to the wood,” he said. Marchione builds a line of Specialty models. comma-shaped f-holes and utiliza- offers hand-built archtop models that tion of non-standard woods such as range in size from a 15-inch up to an D’Lorenzo mahogany, rosewood, cedar and wal- Steven 18-inch and even include a 7-string and Scott Lawrence of D’Lorenzo nut. Two basic models are available Andersen baritone design. Guitars in Oklahoma tries to stay directly from D’Lorenzo Guitars: the “at the intersection tradition of and fully acoustic NCAT (New Concept Andersen innovation.” Lawrence warmed up Arch Top) and the Blue Flame Seattle’s Steven Andersen on a few flat-top guitar kits before Electric Archtop. has been building guitars since high building his first archtop in 2003. school. After starting his own shop, His background includes experi- Laplante Andersen began to focus on build- ence as an instrument repairman as Jean-Pierre Laplante is a ing F5 mandolins and doing repair well as furniture building and cab- Canadian luthier who wants to push work. The opportunity to examine inet restoration. Lawrence used the the archtop in new directions. Mainly and work on a wide variety of clas- Gibson ES-175 as a take-off point for self-taught, he built his first Telecaster- sic archtop instruments was a signif- his first archtop but utilized a hand- style electric guitar in 1993 but began icant factor in sparking his building carved top instead of the usual lam- his love affair with the archtop in career. Andersen built his first archtop inate to increase acoustic responsive- 2003 when he was commissioned to in the late 1980s and considers him- ness. He also cites Benedetto’s book build a guitar in the L5 style. Laplante self to be mostly self-taught. “James and CDs as learning tools and draws immediately realized how much more D’Aquisto was a big inspiration, par- inspiration from D’Aquisto’s inno- rewarding this process was for him ticularly his innovative cutting-edge vative attempts at improving acous- compared to building solid-body guitars, which inspired me to create tic tone. Lawrence summed up his electrics. He is highly influenced Andersen my own designs,” he said. Regarding attraction to the archtop by saying, “It by Benedetto for the basics but Electric his personal building style, Andersen is classy, beautiful and graceful even cites Monteleone as a major inspi- Archie noted, “There is always room for inno- without ornamentation.” As a build- ration for innovation and design: vation and experimentation.” A true er, he is constantly evolving and tak- “He is so creative and inspired me artisan who builds each guitar one at ing chances, which he feels is the only to move away from the tradition, and a time, by hand, Anderson said that he way to innovate. Lawrence shoots for [Monteleone] showed me there is still senses a deep emotional connection a different tone, searching for some- room to take the guitar somewhere else,” he said. Laplante enjoys the challenge of building and hopes to push the envelope of the arch- top and expand its audience. His feeling on the appeal of the guitar is that each one has its own per- sonality, and from the player’s per- spective, it makes you want to play differently and inspires new ideas and creativity. He addresses the archtop’s ongoing evlution with several design changes, including lighter bracing the finest spruce tonewood is grown. techniques and redesigned soundhole Pagelli offers several archtop mod- placement. Laplante produces numer- els, including the Patent, Traditional, ous archtop models from his one-man Jazzability and Ana Sgler, and also shop, and he noted that the 16-inch does plenty of custom work. dual pickup laminate models like the Springtime and Summertime are the Sadowsky bread-and-butter of his business. He Roger Sadowsky began his also offers several fully carved models. journey with repair and restoration work. Realizing that to be a great Pagelli builder you need to be around the Claudio Pagelli, who builds great players, he relocated to New his guitars in Switzerland, also utilized York. Although he considers him- Benedetto’s book in developing his self self-taught, Sadowsky spent two craft. He loves the old Epiphones and years as an apprentice to Augustino Strombergs but goes his own way with LoPrinzi. As a repairman, Sadowsky designing archtops for open-minded became aware of the problems asso- players. Several of his models feature a ciated with amplifying an acoustic radical departure from standard arch- guitar. He also spent 15 years servic- top designs, and he prides himself on ing jazz legend Jim Hall’s D’Aquisto improving upon the ergonomics of the archtop. These experiences set him guitar. Pagelli describes his guitars as on a mission to design and build a “Swiss precision with an Italian flair.” road-worthy instrument that could He feels he has an advantage living be easily amplified. Sadowsky worked close to the Swiss Alps, where some of closely with Hall in developing his

76 DOWNBEAT JULY 2013 first archtop guitar, which, like Hall’s turing Canadian woods and built Korean factory and features the EXL- Mandolin Company. Eastman trans- D’Aquisto, was a laminate. “I was try- entirely in North America. According 1, EX-SS and EX-SD. lated Benedetto’s videos into Mandarin ing to build a guitar that Jim would to Godin, value and innovation are to train the company’s craftsmen. “We be comfortable with,” Sadowsky said. keys to the success of the company’s Ibanez wanted to build guitars with the exact The resulting guitar was the Jim Hall archtops. He feels that demand for Ibanez, which started out same methods used during the gold- model, his premier archtop. archtops is high with many musicians by copying classic American guitars en age of archtop design,” said prod- Sadowsky’s archtops are made in discovering jazz and taking it in new in Japan, began building archtops in uct specialist Mark Herring. Eastman Japan, where he also manufactures directions. Godin archtops are man- the mid-1970s but really made a mark built its flagship models, the AR805CE his Metro Line of basses. He does the ufactured using CNC machinery and in 1978 with its first George Benson and AR810CE, in 2001 using tradition- final fretwork, electronics and setup laser cutters, techniques that play a signature guitar. Ibanez later expand- al hand-carving techniques and estab- at his shop in New York. Sadowsky’s major role in allowing them to offer ed the line with a Pat Metheny model. lished a new standard in quality from a main goal is to produce guitars for consistent quality at attractive prices. In distinguishing Ibanez from a cus- Chinese manufacturer. Producing fully gigging musicians, and all his mod- tom builder, company spokesper- hand-carved guitars out of an Asian els feature a special laminate top that D’Angelico son Ken Youmans said, “We build factory was a visionary concept and not only offers resistance to feed- D’Angelico Guitars owns the guitars for a market segment as has allowed Eastman to offer profes- back but responds well acoustically. exclusive rights to use the name of the opposed to an individual player, and sional-grade instruments at extreme- He sees a current trend toward small- world-renowned guitar maker (who even though we do production, it is ly affordable prices. “We walk the er body sizes and shallower depth and passed away in 1964). Initially offer- still an art form to us.” While arch- fine line between manufacturing and reflects this in many of his guitars. ing only inexpensive import copies of tops are not huge sellers for Ibanez, hand-crafting,” Herring explained. Affordability is also a top priority for the legendary archtops, D’Angelico the guitars are a point of pride that’s Eastman now offers a selection of all Sadowsky. In addition to the Jim Hall, Guitars has recently undergone sig- critical to the company’s reputation. solid-wood, hand-built archtops and Sadowsky Guitars now offers a wide nificant changes, revamping its Ibanez currently offers three lines of recently added a laminate model. range of archtop models, including the import line and introducing a new laminate guitars in its archtop series. Jimmy Bruno, the LS-17 and SS-15, USA Masterbuilt Guitar, which is Manufactured in China, the Artcore ore than a century after its plus a semi-hollow model. an entirely hand-crafted clone of a is the most affordable line, followed Mintroduction, the archtop gui- 1943 Excel. According to Sales V.P. by the Artstar Series. The Japanese- tar is still very much alive and well. Godin Adam Aronson, D’Angelico Guitars made Signature Series represents Although it is always evolving, it Godin Guitars was a well-es- used the original blueprints and an Ibanez’s high-end offerings. never loses sight of its roots. While it tablished company before it released MRI machine to reproduce an Excel continues to attract and inspire new its first archtop guitar. Robert Godin, as closely as possible. “D’Angelico Eastman fans, it never leaves behind its loyal a jazz player, felt there was a lack of was a major player and was known Having produced a full line devotees. Its magic can be found as decent affordable guitars, so he decid- for quality,” Aronso said. “We want of orchestra instruments for years, much in the skilled hands of its ded- ed to fill the void with the 5th Avenue, to live up to the name.” D’Angelico’s archtop guitars were a logical next icated builders as in the artistry of its an all-acoustic laminate archtop fea- standard line is manufactured in its step for the Eastman Guitar and great players. DB

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