Stewart,
I think several of us were of the opinion that the damage to the fibers that
would result from using such a plane would preclude their use in the making of
a quality instrument. It would be somewhat like building a lute using veneer
for the ribs.
I remember reading that there was something like the free guitar with the
mandoline deal during the "taterbug wars". This was a period of intense
competition between Lyon and Healy, makers of "taterbug" mandolines and Gibson,
who had just resurected the medieval cittern as a series of flatback mandolines
which we now think of as bluegrass mandolines. I"m not sure which one was
offering the guitar/mandoline deal. It may well have been Lyon and Healy
because, as I understand it, at some point in this period they were giving away
free a small Clark harp with the purchase of a pedal harp. Either way, the
"free" instrument had to be paid for somehow, but the plan was that it would be
paid for in the long run by obtaining increased market share. It is likely that
they hoped to eliminate the competition alltogether.
Craig
Craig R. Pierpont
Another Era Lutherie
www.anotherera.com
Stewart McCoy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Dear Garry,
Did you come to any conclusions about the possibility of luthiers
using Spelk-like planes to run off lute ribs quickly and cheaply?
The thread seemed to get diverted onto something else.
Many years ago I read somewhere that, if you bought a new guitar (I
forget where), they'd give you a free mandoline to go with it. This
would (I guess) be some time in the early part of the 20th century.
I'm afraid I can't remember any more details. It strikes me, that if
shops could afford to give away a free mandoline with every guitar,
either the guitars were overpriced to accommodate the free offer, or
mandolines were very cheap. If they were cheap, they must have been
made in huge quantities, efficiently, quickly, and at very little
cost.
I understand very little about the making of instruments, so I would
be interested to know if any makers on the List have any further
thoughts about your Spelk plane hypothesis. It seemed a neat idea.
Best wishes,
Stewart McCoy.
---------------------------------
Do you Yahoo!?
Meet the all-new My Yahoo! – Try it today!
---------------------------------
Do you Yahoo!?
The all-new My Yahoo! – Get yours free!
--
To get on or off this list see list information at
http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
