Official Luthiers Forum!

Simple question, what part of guitar building do you enjoy most and why?

I'm by no way an experienced builder (I don't think I can even call myself a builder) but I thoroughly enjoy carving braces. I'm not too sure why I like doing it, but I find it fairly satisfying when I finish, look and smile.

Hi Peter,

Like you, I enjoy the carving process.
But for me, it's necks.
That and bridges. About the only place we get to be sculptors.

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

I really enjoy spraying the first coats of finish. I love to see the dull wood come to life. I also enjoy playing a new guitar.

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I didn't mean to say it, but I meant what I said.
http://www.brackettinstruments.com/

I like bracing the top. It really strikes a chord with me so to speak that it is the most interesting and mysterious part of building a guitar IMHO. I also like that it is really the only part of a guitar that you never again see after the guitar is built. Carving the neck is a distant second place for me.

It's hard for me to decide what I enjoy the most although carving the braces and neck are high on the list. I'd have to say what I enjoy the most is hearing the praises of my Lovely Bride (who by the way is a very gifted musician and song writer) sing praises of how wonderful they sound once completed and strung up, and how beautiful they look. Mind you she is a very strong and relentless critic in these areas. I'm not a great finger-stylist (yet) but I have friends and relatives who are and they really make them sing!

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Bill Hodge


One does not simply, own enough guitars!

I like it when someone buys them.

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

These days it's making bits that work, looking at a complete working rim assembly lifted my spirits immensely. I enjoy carving braces as well, the end product looks so beautiful in its simplicity it's like looking at a wooden mountain range, but with acoustic properties. I also REALLY like bending the sides. Something about that hotness/water/wood combination just feels great to me, especially on a cool day. On a hot day, it's not as fun ('specially not in FL), but what is fun is spritzing myself between spritzing the wood!

1. Bending sides & bindings is always very satisfying - it takes a flat piece of wood & makes it look like a guitar, kinda'. Non-builders seem to think that this is a difficult task, whereas it's quite easy for many woods.

2. Another favorite is leveling the bindings & purflings with the top after they have been glued in place. This is the first time that the various colors can be seen together, pretty much as they will appear in the finished guitar.

3. My third favorite is carving the heel.

4. Everything else.

-Steve

I'd have to go with doing inlay work. I'm new enough to this that almost every other step has me concerned that what I'm about to do will negatively affect the sound or playability of the instrument. With inlay I feel relaxed trying to be creative and not worried if that 1/64th is going to make or break the guitar.

I like it all. I grab a cup of coffee and stroll across the driveway. Open the shop and get started where I left off the night before. It is just so satisfying to finally string one up and start playing it for the first time. Then all of the re-sawing, abrasive planing, fitment, finishing during the build seem to disappear. I liken it to women having children they forget how bad it hurt the last time so they have another and each time it gets easier. I usually start with boards and make everything but the bridge pins, tuners, fretwire and truss rod. I've recently started making two at once because while one is drying I work on the other. It keeps me busy. Been thinking about three at once. I recently bought my first set of back and sides on this forum rather than cutting them myself. It should be like a holiday, sand...join...bend and brace.

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"Try to be the person your dog thinks you are."

http://sites.google.com/site/bertsguitarshop/

I like tooling...trying to find the most controlled and predictable way of doing something. I like precision handwork too (I used to be an engraver) so finishing, fret work, and setup appeals to me...but mostly I like to think about processes.

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I read Emerson on the can. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds...true...but a consistent reading of Emerson has its uses nevertheless.

StuMusic

Ditto. I'm a bit of a speed freak; I can get a process that always works rather easily, but I want a process that always works AND is scary fast. That's lead to some really interesting tooling!

The one thing that I'll be doing by hand for the foreseeable future is voicing tops and I find it really satisfying watching/hearing the top change in real time throughout the process. I'm still considering how to teach a machine to do at least a good part of it, but that'll be way more work than the CNC controller I'm designing right now, and for a much lower time saved/time spent

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Bob Garrish
Former Canonized Purveyor of Fine CNC Luthier Services

Oooh... So many choices.
Not pore filling. That's for sure. Not sanding back the finish, though that is very satisfying. (Once it's done!)
Carving the neck & voicing the top are among my most faves.
But the first hour of playing tops the list. Listening as the brashness fades & the volume increases. Feeling the action & making plans to improve it as the guitar settles. Hearing the quality of the overtones as they develop... That's my favourite. Especially when the instrument speaks in the voice you had in mind from that first day with pencil in hand.
Oh yeah... Buffing's pretty cool too!

Like MOST:
Bending the sides
Carving the braces

Like LEAST
Paying for the materials
Waiting for materials I should have ordered earlier

I can relate to that

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I didn't mean to say it, but I meant what I said.
http://www.brackettinstruments.com/

Bending the sides
Planing a spruce top to thickness is right up there to.

I know I'll like it when it finally happens

One of the things I like the best is closing the box. I usually have the neck roughed out by then with the headstock overlays done so, overall, the parts are now more like a guitar than not.

Other favorites: shooting tops/backs, making bridges, carving the neck, stringing up the final result.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Things i like so far:

tooling
problem solving
resawing, and dressing my own stock
learning how to sharpen chisels well, i find it relaxing
headstock inlay
fretboard inlay
and the backstrip and tail graft

Things i don't like so far

how bad i am at keeping the faces of the top, back and sides shop rash free. What a bummer to see deep sanding marks under the finish.

I didn't like binding. but i'm making a gramil and i did a test last night with it and was so into the process. i think i'm gonna be a gramil & chisel guy now.

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brendan 3.0 new and improved, with better interpersonal subroutines

Bending the sides on the pipe. It's like fooling mother nature. That doesn't mean that I'm particularly good at it.

Hugh

Probably the most satisfying part of the build is the completion of the box. Bindings in, neck attached the whole thing scraped and pre sanded and I can pick it up as a whole item and get a good look and feel.
Applying the finish to watch the wood transformation is a treat....but I hate doing the finish.

Waiting DAYS for the finish to harden is painstaking.

The first sound to project from your guitar is absolutely breathtaking and exciting. It's almost like you need to have a ceremony before you sit down and pluck the instruments first tone.
Kent

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Wood Creations by Kent A. Bailey
EXCELLENCE IN SCULPTURE, CARVING, LUTHIER, ARCHITECTURAL MILLWORK AND DESIGN

http://www.kabart.com

I enjoy many of the things listed above, finish work is right near the top.
But what I really enjoy most, and I know I'm crazy, making a mistake, correcting
it and the next time, doing it right the first time. I.E. learning. It's the best feeling
to know that your mistakes made on the last guitar are no longer mistakes- you've
moved on to small victories.. That feels good.

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Bruce Herrmann
"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."

Wanted to post and couldn't decide on what. Perhaps those steps that complete without any forehead slapping and hairs pulled. Then i read Bruce's comment and instantly thought "this is it". Doing right something that didn't work well on the previous attempt. But in general I too like carving braces and tuning the plate, also making the rosette.

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Build log

This will offer diminishing returns since the sleepier you get, the more sharpened chisels are nearby.

Napping in an iron maiden? Muy malo.

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I read Emerson on the can. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds...true...but a consistent reading of Emerson has its uses nevertheless.

StuMusic

I like......buffing.
I like......cutting nut slots.
I like......stringing her up.


See a trend? - Yeah, it's nice when you get so close you can almost hear the first sounds come from the guitar.

I also like that point at the beginning, when all is possibility, and I'm imagining back and side/binding combos, what I'll do different.

I like gluing braces - it's when it starts to feel like a musical instrument, and it's hard to screw it up badly. I like scalloping braces. Tapping the top is when it's just starting to sound like a musical instrument. I like joining the back and top to the sides - then it's starting to look like and instrument.

I don't like ALL of the process..... but pretty close.

I really like the early stages - going from rough boards, to resawn slabs, to thicknessed pieces, to something that begins to resemble a guitar. Neck and heel carving are right up there.

Things I don't like so much: finish sanding, and, well, pretty much all of the finishing process except the actual spraying, which is enjoyable. I like the results, but it's mostly really tedious. This probably explains why I have about 7 guitars that are almost all 'done' excepting the finishing work.