Official Luthiers Forum!

Chris - I just checked out the eBook on your web site. Very cool!

There is no need to purchase a trunk full of tools to build a first guitar. I built my first with one 1/2" chisel, one 9 1/2 Stanley plane, a laminate trimmer, sanding blocks, a small belt sander, a couple of jigs made out of construction ply, rubber bands and masking tape. Turned out great, got me hooked up for life and a job at Pantheon Guitars.

I am surprised no one mentioned GAL and ASIA: get a subscription to both American Lutherie (and Guitarmaker) and buy the Big Red books as you go along. GAL especially is a mine of information, more rounded and more ecumenical than Somogyi's or anybody's books.

The search function on the OLF is great. Of course it is a public forum, so caution and skepticism are recommended. Not everybody posting on the Internet have the knowledge and experience to back up their claims, far from it.

A lot of builders have a photo essay of the making of a guitar on their website, study those.

Apprenticeship is mostly a thing of the past, all of us have learned idiosyncratically. Most builders are too busy to take a student, shops are too small, liability and insurance are other problems etc.
There are a few schools like Galloup, Red Rock etc. and the people coming out of them are usually well rounded, if inexperienced. Finding a job in one of the few production shops in the country after that is a great way to learn and build stamina.

Building and repair are two different things: while very few can do both equally well, they require different mindsets. While a repair guy does not necessarily need to build, I think it is mandatory for a builder to know repair at least relatively well. Warranty demands it.

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Laurent Brondel
West Paris, Maine - USA
http://www.laurentbrondel.com/

So does getting a guitar out the door without mistakes!

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars