Official Luthiers Forum!

After thinking about it for years, I finally have decided to try my hand at building an acoustic guitar. I really have no experience with wood working, but am good with my hands. I have looked online at several different "kits", but wanted to ask folks here what recommendations they would make for a '1st time' guitar. Thanks alot!

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Matthew DeLisle

I started 4 years ago with a Martin kit and did not have any issues except the little booklet they send as instructions. A friend did a Stew Mac Dred kit this year as his 1st and it turned out well. These are the only kits I have seen and heard played so can not comment on the others, though I have dealt with and met John Hall of Blues Creek and I would not hesitate to recommend getting a kit from him.

Fred

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

I just noticed this was your 1st post, welcome to the OLF, you can learn a lot here and the members are good people to be around.

Fred

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

Hi Capt and welcome to the OLF!

There are three kits that I would recommend to you and all three providers are sponsors here and have links to their respective sites at the top of every page.

Blues Creek: John Hall has a wealth of knowledge about guitars and Martin guitars and he puts together great kits. The best way to to check out Blues Creek is to call John and speak with him and/or visit his site. He is able to put together custom kits too. In addition many of the jigs that a lot of us use including bending machines, radius dishes, etc. are all available from John at great prices.

LMI: LMI (Luthiers Mercantile International) has the "kit wizard" which lets you spec out your own kit and their kits are available either serviced (many tricky things are done for you) or unserviced. A big bonus when purchasing an LMI kit is the addition with every kit that they sell of Robbie O'Brien's excellent instructional DVD.

Stewart McDonald: Stew-Mac kits are very well documented with both an excellent instruction manual that you can download right now for free from their site AND an instructional video as well. In addition Stew-Mac will take you through an assembly method that does not require radius dishes or an outside mold. This is helpful when starting out because these jigs can be expensive if you don't wish to make them yourself.

All three companies have superb products with excellent quality parts/wood and the service is superb.

Welcome aboard!

Great! Thanks for the warm welcome. I will give John Hall a call! In the next couple weeks I will have made my decision, and hopefully be on my way to making my first instrument.

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Matthew DeLisle

Welcome Capt_Honeycutt…I was a huge M.A.S.H fan.

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Rich S

"The inconvenience of poor quality will linger long after the thrill of a bargain has been forgotten"

I would also recommend John Hall. very nice person, and helpfull like no other. The LMI "wizard" might be good, if you know what your getting !! I checkt it out but I thought there were SOOO many options I got comfused ! John will pick out whatever you want and need.

Welcome to the OLF.

Lars

I have heard only good things about Blues Creek, but I have not dealt with Mr Hall's kits. One thing that sets Stew-Mac and LMI apart is that LMI has a much better selection of classical kits if a classical is what you want. With little woodworking experience I would also recommend study of the different servicing options available. Even with a fully serviced kit there will be challenges aplenty in during contsruction. LMI lets you customize the amount of servicing which is very nice.

Have fun!

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http://www.booneguitars.com
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Stephen-Boone-guitar-builder/488208541257210

Welcome! Having built two kit instruments, I can say that the woodworking aspect is slightly less than the model building aspect. As an expert woodworker and a not so good model builder, there were times I got a bit flumuxed by the instructions. Although clear, I wasn't quite prepared for the way things got put together. I'm working on my third instrument and it's starting from a bunch of flat pieces of wood. I feel more at home.

I say this as encouragement, the woodworking aspect comes into play as you are working with wood. But if you get a pretty highly serviced kit, you'll find it straight forward if you understand how to follow model making directions.

I highly recommend looking at StewMac's instructions, they really will give you a good idea what you are getting into.

One last thing, if you are new to woodworking, you may need to buy a number of good tools and specialty tools to complete the task at hand. Again the StewMac instructions make what's needed pretty clear. This is so much fun, but it's also challengingly meticulous work, but since you've found this site, you'll have a bunch of ready help if you get stuck.

Great tips everyone. I can't wait to get started, and from the looks of it, this forum is a fantastic resource!


Also, my name is Matt. I live in Massachusetts, and have been playing the guitar for about 20 years. My main influences have been various bluegrass players. For the past few years I have been trying to play gypsy jazz. I have a few guitars ; my latest edition to the collection is a wonderful Martin Om-28 marquis.

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Matthew DeLisle

Kits are great ways to get started. Martin kits are very good kits but like has been said the instructions are very lacking. Stewmac's instructions are quite good but are a bit dated to some aspects such as using domed dishes and go-bar clamping . That said they are 100 times better than Matins instructions. My personal opinion is that you want to read and study as much as you can get your hands on prior to stating. Tradition and Technology by William Cumpiano is a great source for how and why and there are many other good books as well. The all have their own techniques so the “How To” may vary but the “Why” is all the same. I built my first off of a Martin Kit but used Stewmac’s instructions along with Tradition and Technology as a resource.

Like others have said we are blest with member and sponsor John Hall of Blues Creek guitars. He offers superb top notch kits and the added advantage of personal contact and assistance. That is hard to bet with a very big stick. Then add to that the option to personalize your kit with wood choices outside the usual Mahogany or Indian Rosewood choices makes Johns kit the best value by far.

Hi Matt,

Welcome to OLF...I'm pretty sure one can (or could) just download stew-mac's kit instructions in pdf format. If you go the kit route, I'd recommend buying a mold and having it delivered either with the kit or in advance of the kit. You'll have quite a bit of spring-back in the sides if you don't get your pre-bent sides into the mold immediately.

Flori

Matthew,
Welcome aboard the OLF. I got me one of them kits from LMI and was proud of doing so. Although, I didn't know at the time when you click on an "item #" it adds it to your order and changes what you already have in there. I thought it would bring up a picture so you could look at it, but is doesn't. So, beware. If you buy a kit from LMI, go through each item in the kit and make sure each piece is exactly what you want.

Like Lars say, it is confusing if you don't anything about guitar making. I inadvertantly changed my backstrip from maple to snakewood.

Other than keeping an eye on what you click on in the Kit Wizard the wood was perfect and come well packaged. Robbie O'Brien's DVD is a must, I'm always going back to watch different sections. John Mayes has some videos on guitar making too. Be worth you while to take a look at his vids.

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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 called John Hall this morning and started asking him some question before I realized he has a great tutorial on his site. I am going to order a few books and videos this weekend, and hopefully order my kit in a couple weeks. I am thinking of starting on with a D-28 with Indian rosewood.

I met as well ask this now too -- what tools do I absolutely need for this project?

-matt

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Matthew DeLisle

Matt, I would also strongly encourage you to buy Cumpiano/Natelson's Guitarmaking: Tradition and Technology. Read every page of it before you start. At the beginning, they give you a tool list with the minimum you can get by with using their methods. They highly recommend a router as well, which is definitely a good idea.

I was able to build my first, an EIR/Sitka classical with their minimum recommendations. It probably costed me around $1200 total for materials and tools. You'll probably spend more than that if you start with a serviced kit, but I'm sure you could get it done for $1400.

-Clint

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-Clint Beacock

I forgot to say 1 thing important. Like so many others have already said Cumpianos book is almost a must, In it you can see the tools you "WILL NEED" in order to build a properly built guitar. other tools are very very good to have, but will make thing more costly. things like concave diskt go-bar deck, etc are things you will see is are nice to have, also alot of things you can build yourself. As I started "not long ago" I hade the thought that all these things are soooo hard to make yourself, and really complicated, this is not the case. for example, - gluing together the two halfs of the top and back , is much much more easier that I could have emagined a while back. Do check out the tutorials page, there you will find LOTS of great help building and putting together things that has to do with guitars.

And second most important thing Post a questing if you are lost .

Sincerely Lars.

All great advice posted above. If you have not already done so, I would highly recommend that you check out [url]kitguitarforum.com[/url]. When coupled with the wealth of information and support available here, you will be well equipped for just about anything you may come across as your project progresses.

Have fun,

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George :-)