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I enrolled in the eight week Journeyman's Program at Galloup School of Lutherie in Big Rapids Michigan which teaches basic guitar repair and construction. During the course we will build both an electric guitar and then an acoustic guitar. I thought some people might be interested in how the program is set and and what is covered there. Here is my story and some pics from my first week at Galloup School of Lutherie in Big Rapids, Michigan:

It was really interesting - I'm learning a lot of new things - mostly new stuff for me. I've had an office job my entire life and never really did any work with tools. It was always easier to pay someone to do something around the house, etc. now I have to do it myself. It sure is a learning experience!

There are 13 students in the class - they're from all over the country. Only 4 from Michigan. We're working on a "kit" electric guitar to get us familiar with the shop and various tools around here. We're building a Tele-style guitar that is a vintage amber sunburst. We've finished the spraying and next week we're doing sanding, final clear coats and then onto the electronics and final assembly. Supposed to have complete guitar done by end of next week! Then onto the acoustic which is a build from scratch project.

We received lectures on acoustic and electric guitar components, on finishing and fretting. We get to do a complete refret next week. Also this week we learned to cut nuts and saddles, and the basics of guitar set-up.

Below are some of the pics from the 1st week of class.

Here is the pic of the school in Big Rapids



Here is a pic of the classroom with all our desks



my guitar body hanging to dry after vinyl wash



guitar masked for 1st coat of black sunburst



Me spraying the black burst coat






Guitars hanging to dry after spraying vintage amber transtint - mine is 4th from the left



Well that's it for this week! I'll report back next week on how things went.

Mike

Very cool Mike! Sounds like a great learning experience. Be sure to show us your acoustic when its finished.

Thanks! Keep those updates coming.

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DES - Farwell, MI

Ah! The new spray booth is up and running, great news.

It's looking good so far. Back in the day ( ) we weren't masking the guitar for the sunburst, but I guess this is related to the size of the class (we were 7).

Have fun