Official Luthiers Forum!

Goals '09

-Maintain a 3 guitar/yr. schedule (#14,15,16)
-Improve workmanship skills
-Try new sound board materials
-Improve patience (especially at the end of the build.....I get anxious to 'string 'er up!!!' and hence never really finish 'em completely...IMHO)

Good thread. A nice opportunity to organize our thoughts:
1. Keep learning and improving with voicing, fit & finish.
2. Get a few guitars to Joe White.
3. Get those guitars into local music shops.
4. Learn the rules: Be patient, never work when tired or hungry, remember that it's best to walk away and come back tomorrow rather than to keep plugging and f it all up, and, finally, stop trying to catch falling tools!

I want to become more proficient with edge tools and less reliant on abrasives.

_________________
Ken Whisler, guitarist and luthier

To get thru an entire build without a ding in the top.
James

_________________
James W Bolan
Nashville Tennessee

If possible, stop making the same mistakes…

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

But Laurent, the same ones are so easy to make correctly! Practice makes perfect!

_________________
Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

My goals for this year are to:

1. Finish constructing a Woolson neck jig, fb tapering jig, and neck holding jig for carving the shaft and heel.

2. Carve my first neck, and follow up by carving two more.

3. Have the first three ready for spraying by May or June. (One for each of my sons)

4. Start three more by August.

Of course that depends on how much shop time I can actually get in. I still have to get the first one finished.

Vince

I just want to start another archtop. I feel certain that I can eliminate some of the cosmetic problems that I had to camouflage on the first one. Of course, I know even as I write this that I will produce new and innovative cosmetic flaws in the next one, and they will require even more innovation camouflage, but what the heck? I am addicted to the building process now. I need a fix!
Patrick

Now that I have my first ever amp, for which I waited almost 30 years! I have to build my first electric.

Finish 3 Torres SE117 style guitars.

Continue with the Panormo style guitar that is started.

Develop a 14 fret neck, double cutaway, D hole, Fleta-ish classical. I've got a plywood mock up that I've been living with and its soo cool. I've got the solid mold and a neck, made and some tonewood prepared.

Get some really nice spruce to go with some really nice flame maple that I have for a couple of Torres FE17's that I'd like to build.

Study with a real expert to take my work to a higher level. Alone, you can only go so far because you are unable to determine your inadequacies. And your strengths, for that matter.

Continue to show my work to the local music community to build a presence.

_________________
Expectation is the source of all misery; comparison the thief of joy.
http://redrivercanoe.ca/

My goals are pretty simple for this year...to keep building and trying new things.

Only being on my third build I have a lot of mistake still to learn about.