Official Luthiers Forum!

Well Chris

What you just described is how I build.

Fret wire, glue, tuners, strings and some cheap wate rborn poly from the uncle wally store. Thats where the money goes, oh ya and some beer, well actually it use to be a lota beer, still is but I now make me own way cheaper.

All my wood is begged, borrowed, horse traded, hustled, scrounged or donated. Like $10 and a half hour in the lumber yard flipping 2 x 10 x 8's will yield up to 12 flat tops or 6 arch tops of spruce or fir or hemlock and $20 will get you cedar.

Don't use no fancy jigs, don't use jigs for that matter, bent over cooking pot and a propane torch for many years, now use BBQ starter and a piece of exhaust pipe. Total investment in machinery, drill press, band saw, table saw, belt sander, compressor, buffer, hand planes, way less than $400. Ya me a scrounger. Do garage sales and always drop off a six pack of om brew at the good Reverend Jims Junk Store were me got a lot of me machines for a token donation to support his soup kitchen.

The more time I spent on these luthier forums, the more I got away from my roots as a back in the mts, folk instrument builder and was seduced by the bling. Took me a while to work through that nightmare of "make it look high end." I am now back into
building without drawings, measurements or scantlings what so ever, hardly use
the heavy machinery (left over from a previous incarnation) and much prefer the piece and quiet of hand tools.

for example ... go here and see.

http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=23656

and you may wanna check out my shop.

http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=25595

Your new approach and attitude to building is exactly my take on things and I thank you for being up front about it with us.

We all can't be Alan Carruths or Michael Dale Panes or Howard Kepplers now can we.

Like you say, dudes gotta have a hobby.

Just remember, "bondo works magic" but don't say that too loud around this forum. It really bends some of the "official" (whatever that is) luthiers outa shape.




blessing

Padma


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How many Luthiers does it take to change a Lightbulb? 1.... but it will take him 6-months to build the Jigs!

Jigs really are handy -- when you want to replicate the same action time after time after time.... or you want to speed up the Setup from a while to a little time.... If you are only after doing 1 or 2 guitars, you don't need the jigs as much as a flexible system you can cobble together.... so long as it is stable...

For example -- My binding router setup is guided by a couple chunks of cherry carpet taped to my router.... It's only "adjustable" till you stick it down..... but it has worked for 2-guitars so far.... I keep saying I am going to upgrade it to something better for the next one... but I just keep using it.... and it keeps getting the Pig Clean!

Then... I have noticed it takes about the same amount of time to Hand-plane a Top set as it does to Drum Sand it... because those little 16 or 22" sanders only take off like 0.002" per pass or so.... It's just more exercise the old fashioned way....

Then... Molds and bending forms... While you can buy precision forms, you can make your own out of some 2x4's and cabinet maker's plywood... It may not be quite as accurate, but If the Guitar fits in the case -- no one will really notice that it is 1/4" smaller than the other one....

Then.. on wood -- you can do it on the cheap if you really want to... Just most folks aren't interested in it... The big Secret is that those "Cheap Wood" guitars sound pretty darn good..... Better than you ever think they should!

For example... Join a local Wood Workers club and save scraps as binding wood and Neck/heel block wood and rosette wood and Kerf linings and Bridge plates...
Make your own purflings and rosettes out of Veneer...
Dumpster dive for Spruce SPF 2x scraps for Brace wood

The wood worker's clubs also get you discounts on Lumber at local suppliers.... so it is worthwhile

I pulled a broken Sapele shelf out of the bin at the Wood worker's guild... It will make 2 scarf-joint necks!

Wood wise -- so far I have 3-guitars.... 1 is an Esteban I retopped with a $6.00 top.
#1 real guitar was Cherry/Lutz
#2 Real guitar is Oak/Lutz -- The Oak came from Home Depot!

#3 in process is Af Mahog/Lutz (Or more likely Sapele) -- the "Af Mahog" came from Woodcraft... It cost me $14/bd foot rather than $60 for a guitar set... but it would only cost me like $6.00/bd-ft at the Wood Worker's guild shop....

#4 in process is Brown/Salmon Pallet Wood / 2x4 SPF top... -- Truly built on the cheap, but a royal PITA to do all the joints -- as it is a Size 5 Martin with a 6-pc Back and 6-pc top.....

As they say "When the Student is ready, the Master will Appear!" -- so when you are ready to build on the cheap.... you will find the ideas will come!

Thanks

John

You really CAN build for not a lot of money, and with some really basic tooling. Its really about what you can imagine and think. You don't really need a lot of expensive tools, but you do need to know which tools are essential, and how to use them.

The MIMF $100 Challenge really was implemented to work up this idea. There are a lot of interesting builds in that Challenge. This one is an acoustic challenge, last fall it was the $100 Telecaster Challenge.

I participated, making a classical guitar. I spent no new money; but I had to attribute value to everything that I did use. Still it only added up to $32. You can see the results in a thread I have here on the OLF.

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I'm finishing off a Jumbo in Madrose and the bearclawiest top I've ever seen. the wood in the body cost over $200 which is by far the most expensive I've ever worked on.

NORMALLY I beg, borrow and scrounge.

there is a big shopfitter's company near me. they have the UK contract for fitting out Starbucks & hut as well as a load of REALLY flash hotels and stuff. they dont tender for jobs under £2 million........

anyway, they USUALLY chip thier offcuts and burn them for heating.

last week I took the car and empied thier offcuts box.

of the stuff on the table, there's enough sapelle for 4 necks, enough walnut for 5 mandolins and enough beeck, oak and iroko to keep my highschool students working for 6 months.



I've used wood from school desks, church pews and coffee tables.

NOTHING is out of bounds!!

Ive found that basic tuners work just fine, a $15 piezo sounds pretty much like a $60 piezo and that buying a fret slot saw pays for itself after three fretboards (and you can cut variscale fretboards too!!)

a few months ago I decided I fancied a 5 string variscale bass.

I bought the ebony fretboard, but the body is unidentified wood from the dumpster, the neck is salvaged walnut and part of a school chalkboard frame & all the other bits came from Bezdez on ebay. total cost? under $150. I'll be playing it in church this morning.



next off the wall build?

I'm HOPING someone will try to talk me out of an acoustic explorer shaped bouzouki!!

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Wow, that is one heck of a score for $0 Martin.

Does this help?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eK5kt04bvPM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfGKfwl8opg

Glen

You just listed the 4 power tools closest to my bench - swap the last 2 and you have them in the correct order!