Dana Bourgeois to lecture at the Guild of American Luthiers Convention

Dana Bourgeois has been invited to lecture and to present a workshop at this year's Guild of America Lutherie Convention, to be held June 11 – 18 in Tacoma, WA.  Dana’s lecture, “Techniques for Voicing the Steel String Guitar”, to be delivered on June 12, will be accompanied the following day by a hands-on workshop in which he will demonstrate his voicing techniques on actual guitar tops.

Dana explains his presentation as follows: “Guitars sound the way they do because of design choices made by the builder, and the specific woods selected for building an individual guitar. Voicing is simply a method of optimizing the intersection of these two elements. Over the years I’ve discovered a few guidelines that help me with this process. In my lecture and workshop I will attempt to explain these as simply as possible.”   

Dana’s first GAL Convention lecture, originally presented in 1990, was transcribed in American Lutherie, a publication of the Guild. This article has been read and studied by a generation of luthiers, and is on the syllabus of several guitar building schools.  Here's what was said about the original lecture in 1990:

 "This is perhaps the strongest article ever published in American Lutherie about voicing the top and bracing of the steel string guitar. The fall-out from this piece has been very wide spread." Editor, American Lutherie

This is a wonderful opportunity to hear first-hand the "how and why" of Dana's particular building style.  

 

You can read the original here:  http://www.pantheonguitars.com/DanaBourgeois_articles.htm

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The GAL Convention takes place in Takoma Washington, June 11 - 15th. The convention is open to the public and features a wealth of information, lectures, music, hands-on workshops for anyone who loves the guitar.   and is open to the public.

Dana's shedule:

Thursday, June 12th -Lecture: Techniques for Voicing the Steel String Guitar

 Friday, June 13th - Hands-on Workshop: Voicing the Steel String Guitar

For more information visit their website:  

http://www.luth.org/convention/2008/presenters08.htm

ABOUT THE GUILD

The Guild of American Luthiers is a non-profit educational membership organization whose purpose is to facilitate learning about the art,craft and science of lutherie. Started by a group of budding craftsmen in 1972, the Guild has grown to become a driving force in the current "Golden Age" of lutherie through it's constant committment to a free exchange of information among luthiers of all areas and experience levels. Makers and repairers of guitars of all types, mandolins, violins, lutes, and other stringed instruments have found in the Guild's publications and meetings a place to share their expertise and developing techniques, and to learn from the experience, successes, and trials of others in the field. In over 30 years, we have published over 100 journals and currently 8 books compiled from over half of these. Thousands of members and hundreds of authors and presenters, including many of the world's foremost luthiers, have supported the Guild's free exchange of information and created a culture of openness that has helped advance the craft to the incredibly high level we see today. The Guild (GAL) is supported solely through membership dues, sales of its publications, and donations (donations are tax deductible). Our membership in 2007 included over 3,600 individuals in the US and 40 different countries.

 

Page last updated:  June 5, 2008