Official Luthiers Forum!

How useful are the GAL Big Red Books? There are now 6 of them at $50 each. Is it worth getting all 6 for $300? Are there specific books that are really useful but others that aren't worth the price?

I pretty new at this, building acoustic 6 strings. Finishing #2 and partway through #3. I own the Gore/Gilet set, the Somogyi set, and the Cumpiano book.

What is your experience? What have you learned or built from them?

They are reprints of the articles from the newsletter and as such have plenty of information, I have 4,5 and 6 and find them interesting. Joining GAL and ASIA are also great options to get the quarterly issued magazines.

Fred

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Fred Tellier
http://www.fetellierguitars.com
Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/FE-Tellier-Guitars/163451547003866

I love them. I have flipped through them for countless hours over the years. Well worth the money and a great research well.

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

Yes

Thanks. I joined both associations and have been getting the quarterly journals. Great stuff.

Can't beat shop time.
Only you can find your own tone...

They are pretty invaluable; I usually learn something new every time I pick one up.

I think they're worth their weight in gold. The collected wisdom of well over 100 luthiers over 30 years. I read them, I mark articles that I'm not ready to read, I go back to them...

Every time I read through one of them, I learn something new. I own Cumpiano, Somogyi, Gore and Gilet, and I love all of them, and I can't imagine a more valuable resource than the BRBs.

Here's an idea. Call Tim Olsen, the head of the GAL, and make an offer for the whole set. The worst he can do is say no.

Good luck

Steve

I owned a few of them and then ebayed them. They are filled with a lot of great info and definitely are worth it if you already don't have these back issues of the journals.7. I have tons of the journals back issues so I had all the info already. I decide to keep the journals and ebay the books. I occasionally like to pick up an old one an re-read it again.

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Another day, another dollar.

I received the whole set for Christmas. Talk about overload! haha I am making my way through them but have realised I need to take it slowly so I can absorb the information rather than just skim over it. So far, so good.

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Martin Taylor
http://martintaylorguitars.com.au

I have 1-4, which caught me up to the point where I started having all the magazine issues already. I see Michael's point above, it can be much easier to pick up a magazine issue and get into it, but it is also nice to have a smaller number of printed items to search through to find the one you want.

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

In book 1 there is an article on Jack Batts who made fine violins. I used to go to his shop and hang out for hours, he lived In West Frankfort, IL just a hop, skip, and a jump from where I lived. Learned a lot from this man.

Chuck

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"After forty-nine years of violin building, I have decided that the search for a varnish is similar to the fox hunt. The fun is in the hunt."
Jack Batts Maker and Repairer of Fine Violins

I concur. I have #2-6.
Info is broad based on many aspects of lutherie.
buy them over time since it will take months to plow through any given volume.

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Greg
http://garibaldiinstruments.com/

Mine were recycled via woodnet forum ,lots of good info in b red book

I love them, I have learned a lot from them over the years. I like reading them when I'm on the road, in airports etc., so hauling them around gets a bit old since they are on the bulky side. Even though I also have read many of the articles in the GAL magazine, I think its convenient to have them all in one place, magazines tend to get misplaced...

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

Good question, and it is good and helpful to see the replies.
I have been thinking about getting these for some time, and I think it is getting to that time to actually do it

best regards,
Tim

All you guys/gals that are members of both ASIA and GAL ....... ask them to make them electronic and use flip book style books!!!!!!

We've spoke with them and they say they have No demand...... it's incredible to be able search, sort and find articles simply by typing in words or phrases as we do in other disciplines. We've also asked for electronic magazines and again...... they say No demand..........

Blessings,

Kevin

I hate reading off a screen. I'd probably drop my subscription if that were the only way I could get it.

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu