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发表于 2004-2-17 07:00:00
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吉他中国采访加拿大制作家William 'Grit' Laskin
GuitarChina.com visit guitar luthier William 'Grit' Laskin:
(Mr. Laskin did not have any Classical Guitar on hand today, most pictures shown here are Steel Strings guitars.)
William “Grit” Laskin is the The first musical instrument maker to receive Canada's most prestigious national craft award, the Saidye Bronfman Award for Excellence, he is the originator of the built-in "Armrest" and"Ribrest" edge bevelling and a founder of the Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans (ASIA) and author of the first code of ethics for the luthier's trade. William is also a recording artist with The Borealis Recording Company.
The meeting took place at William’s workshop in West Toronto on Feb. 15th, 2004, 10:30 – 13:00. Not only William is very knowledgeable, he is also fun to talk to. You will see the fun side of William in some of the photos that I took. His climate controlled workshop is nice and clean. After a tour in the workshop, we set down and talk about William and his guitar, here are the details:
Ying: I heard that you build about 12-14 guitars a year (2/3 steel string, 1/3 classical & flamenco guitars) How long does it take to build a steel guitar?
William: It takes about 150 hours for each guitar over a few months. Inlays are extra. I build two guitars at once. Building one at a time is too inefficient, building three or more at a time do not provide enough work variety. I want to be constantly challenged in my work.
Ying: You did two years apprenticeship with Jean Larrivee, what was the most important thing that you’ve learned from him?
William: I would say Craft, Standards of workmanship, help other makers. By the way, Larrivee learned his guitar making skills from a German Luthier who was working in Canada on a short term contract. This German Luthier had learned his skills from a Spanish guitar maker in the World War II prisoner camp. It turns out this Spanish guitar maker was a student of one of the Ramirez Guitar Makers. Ramirez Guitar Making links to Torres; therefore, both Larrivee and I are actually on the Torres Tree of master Guitar Makers.
Ying: What inspired you to become a great artist of the astonishing inlays?
William: Arts are always in my family, but I didn’t really study it, it is something always in me ready to come out, and it did come out over the years. The inlays on my guitars are not for filling up space, more like a view finder of a camera, you only see what’s in the view finder, but the brain will see the whole picture. Each inlay tells a story and I never make two inlays the same. I’m self taught on this art and I love to push the boundaries
Ying: How long does it take to complete inlays for each guitar?
William: It goes anywhere from 10 to 175 hours, depends on what customer requests and the difficulty of the inlay making.
Ying: Are there many classical or flamenco guitarist order your guitars with inlays?
William: Not too many, but I did a few times as requested by customers, include the flamenco guitar you just saw in the paint room of my workshop.
Ying: When did you started to make guitars with "Armrest" & "Ribrest"?
William: That was started back in 1989 to make the guitar easier to play. There are now a few other guitar makers do the same design with my permission.
Ying: What type of sound are you looking for when you build a guitar?
William: Well, no matter how good the inlay is, if the guitar is not a good guitar, then it’s all a waste. The basic sound quality that a good guitar must have is Volume, Clarity, and Strength in higher trebles. I look for evenness, clarity with roundness, all around mature sound and sweet tone.
Ying: What type of wood do you use for your guitar?
William: The choice of wood usually depends on the customer. Normally I use Sitka Spruce and Indian Rosewood. Sitka Spruce is from Western Canada and has the fast sound travel quality among all wood. Brazilian rosewood are hard to find and very expensive, as an alternative I use Ziricote, which is a bit more brittle than Brazilian rosewood, naturally beautiful, and have a wonderful bell like sound. In fact while I was working on Ziricote for the first time, I was working on the sound box using a small power tool, I had mistaken the natural bell like ring as a telephone ring.
Ying: What makes a good Luthier?
William: Just because everything on a guitar is made by hand, do not mean it is a good hand-made guitar. A good hand-made guitar is made by an experienced luthier who makes educated decisions throughout the entire guitar making process in order to obtain the best sound quality and workmanship possible.
Ying: Have you visited China?
William: No, but I’d love to go, well, here is an idea (said with smile on his face): “When your friends in China buy the first guitar from me, instead of pay for the shipping, they could pay my air fee to China and I will deliver the guitar personally and I’d like to meet your friends in China as well”.
Ying: We’d be very happy to introduce your art to guitar fans in China, would you mind that I post this interview on www.GuitarChina.com?
William: Not at all : )
Ying: Thank you very much for your time!
William: You are very welcome!
Look at the Armrest:
William's work Apron: 
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Inlay:
William plays his guitar:
Unfinished Guitars:
发表于 2004-2-19 10:31:00
