John Garrity was a cabinetmaker in Chicago, IL from the mid 1970's until the early 1980's. Using Roger Siminoff's book, Constructing a Bluegrass Mandolin, he built his first mandolin in 1982, it was a copy of the GibsonTM Lloyd Loar model. In 1983 he spent 3 1/2 months at the Vermont Instrument Workshop learning guitar construction from George Morris. He spent the next several years studying the construction and details of guitars, mandolins, and violins. The following is an interview from February 15, 2004.
Joe Mendel: Why did you decide to exclusively build one style of mandolin?
John Garrity: I thought it best to devote my energy and passion into one thing that I love and to excel in that particular discipline.
JM: Who and what are your influences?
JG: My mandolin teacher, Don Stiernberg had a Grande Artist model mandolin built by John Monteleone and while I was in Vermont I worked up the courage to call him seeking information on how to build a mandola. John was very nice and had the definitive answer for any question I asked. This was when the formerly secretive world of luthierie was just beginning to open up and he didn't hold back any information. I also called John D'Aquisto who was another hero of mine. We talked for 3 hours and he offered me a job. One of my few regrets is that I wasn't able to accept his offer at that time. Those are 2 of my major influences, but also, my grandfather was an amateur fiddle maker and my father was a tool and die maker so I came by it honestly.
JM: Why did you choose the Grande Artist style of mandolin?
JG: I decided there are other paths of evolution that mandolins can follow rather than just making GibsonTM copies. John D'Aquisto and John Monteleone are archtop guitar builders second to none. I've sort of taken their philosophy as my own and used the aesthetics of archtop guitars in my mandolins. I don't use any plastic bindings and I use bookmatched peghead veneers on the front and back, rather than ebony. This is from the archtop world and I think it gives a more organic look and feel to my mandolins. I think the Grande Artist is one of the most elegant instruments there is. I used these to pay tribute to my heroes and use that as my starting point.
JM: I understand that you voice your tops before gluing them to the rim, correct?
JG: Yes, I've built a jig to measure top deflection based on Roger Siminoff's method. I carve the top plate then put it on the jig to carve the tone bars to where the top just deflects under string tension. This way I can see how the top will move under string tension, giving me a very good idea of how the mandolin will sound when it is finished, using the same strings the customer will use. I can tailor each mandolin to the type of music and playing style of the customer.
JM: Do you use a lot of jigs and tooling?
JG: Yes, I love to build jigs. Using jigs makes my mandolins more consistent and my building more efficient. I believe Stradavari would have used any tooling that he had available to improve his instruments and building processes. I find the talk about what constitutes a handmade instrument rather amusing. Where would you draw the line, scrapers?, routers?
JM: How many instruments do you build at a time?
JG: I build them one at a time, I can put more of myself into each one that way. If I were to build 3 or 4 at a time I don't think I could have as good a feel or pay as much attention to detail in each one.
With a quick wit and ready laugh John is willing to share any information about his instruments and his methods of building. He can be found on The Web at http://www.home.earthlink.net/~mandolinmaker/. His e-mail address is mandolinmaker@earthlink.net.
Listen to an Example (1.47MB)
The player on the mp3 is Wayne Fugate from NY. Wayne worked with Barry Mitterhoff for years and also has studied with Mike Marshall. He has a band in NY called Out To Lunch, and they cover the gamut of styles. You can google him for more info, or email him at wjf1@optonline.net The mandolin being played on that mp3 was named the 'Scottish', and now belongs to a guy in Virginia.
John Garrity
mandolinmaker@earthlink.net
http://www.home.earthlink.net/~mandolinmaker/
