Official Luthiers Forum!

Ok this might sound dumb...

I have a student who is learning guitar building from me. But since I never really thought I'd be doing this I don't really have a defined set of curriculum. So I was wondering, how should I teach him? Are there any curriculum out there that I can take from?

thanks

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

How long is the course?

I built my first guitar with an English luthier living and working in Goa, India. I'd been there a few times and seen a poster on the wall for guitar making courses and decided to go for it.

His course was three weeks (weekends off), 9 hours a day. Obviously, that isn't a lot of time, so it was full on from day one. He was a great teacher and encouraged me a lot. Encouraged me to ask as many questions as possible too, to absorb as much of his experience as possible. I was his only student at the time, so I had one-on-one tuition while he built a guitar for sale along side me.

One thing that really made it feel like I could do it on my own after the course, was the fact that he hardly touched my work throughout the whole build, and when he did, he kinda asked my permission. It really made it feel like it was my work, even though it was still mighty useful to have an experienced eye watching and directing me.

I'll have a look around and see if I can find his schedule, rather than half remembering it.

Another thing that was useful to me, is that before I went on the course, I had almost memorised Cumpiano's book, so maybe you can suggest some books to read.

Good luck, I'm sure all will go well.

(Could someone tell me if I'm allowed to mention his name? I'm certainly not advertising for him but credit where credit's due. I'm not sure I'd be building at all if it weren't for him )

Well it's a one on one thing, and I will be building a guitar alongside him (so that I don't have to be doing things for him). I'm charging by the hour because I have no idea how to figure out the costs, and he's already paid for materials. I'm still waiting for it but the supplier in Europe seems to be very slow in answering emails/phones. In the meantime I'll just instruct him with stuff that I have available at the moment, so we can build the neck. This week I've mostly instructed him on routing binding channels, deconstruction (an unwanted guitar that I was taking apart) such as removing neck and fingerboard. The neck would not remove even with over 15 minutes of steam, and it turned out parts of it was glued in by the finish.... that's cheap guitar for ya.

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

I'm not sure why my post didn't show up, but let me try again. I don't have a curriculum for you, but I have some things to think about.
What are you teaching? The assembly process, or more in depth? Are they going to build along side you, or will you both be working on one instrument? Do you have room for two people to work together? What is your student's experience level and expectations? Will your student bring tools, or do you have enough to share? What about glue, sandpaper, and such?

Think about how you work. Write down the whole process step by step. Break it into manageable chunks. Now think about the order you do things. In your own shop, you can clamp up something and go have a cup of coffee, or work on some other job. With a student, you can't do that. Plan glue ups for the end of the day, or have something else ready to do while glue sets. Get it all written down day by day what you hope to accomplish. You will certainly be faster than your student at most things. Have things ready to work on yourself while they're finishing your most recent step. Talk to your student about it too. If they're struggling, do they want your help? Are they ok if you finish something for them, or do they want to do it all themselves. No right or wrong, just make sure you both know what he wants.

Daily, be prepared before your student arrives. Have tools out or know exactly where they are. Look up dimensions you're not sure of ahead of time. Have jigs out and setup. Is your student making their own jigs?

Oh yes! And start off the class with a serious conversation about shop safety. Then for every new step, review safe practices, especially if there's a new tool involved (even non-powered tools).

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Mike Lindstrom

timely thread... i also have an apprentice now... strange because i know next to nothing, but he insisted... we´ve been at sharpening and plane tuning the last couple of days, and now jointing, joining and thicknessing plates. i really don´t think making rosettes is a must for a 1st time build, but he also seems very interested in doing it. i don´t really know how to take this along and am loosing way too much time him and he pays me nothing... suggestions welcome. but he does play a mean bossa-nova...

- edited for several typos -

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member of the guild of professional dilettantes

Miguel, I can PM you the schedule to the build course I did if it isn't OK to post here(?)...
Quick 15 day course, though I actually had 18 days one-on-one.
(The guy isn't a technology whiz so the drawings are a bit ropey, but it shows his schedule anyway.)

The guy emailed me telling me that a company he knows will send him to China to teach him luthiery for free... so he's not sure if he's going to continue...

I guess you can't beat free.

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

I guess so

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

I looked him up and he says he sprays nitro and buffs the next day. How did that work out?

Also, what about the humidity? It looks like he builds outdoor in the jungle!

Still,...looks kind of like a dream job. November to March...surfing, lutherie, curry,...hmmm......

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Pat

I sprayed on a Friday and buffed on the Monday, but as you'd expect, it resulted in a dull satin finish.

We didn't have much time but he was a great guy and patient teacher. I had no former wood-working experience and not a tool to my name so it was a great way to "get my feet wet", using someone else's equipment and watchful eye.

And, yes, he builds under a bamboo roof in a patch of jungle and a small two room workshop. Humidity was pretty bad, fair amount of "blushing" when spraying.

Definitely a great way to live. I love the lifestyle you can live over there. One of my favourite places.(Although, he's not far from a really bad tourist hotspot, so I had a room in a guesthouse 100 foot from his workshop, and a small flat about 20 miles away in a town I like and rode a scooter between them. (I was there for two months, started the course after a few days and spent another month in beach shacks with my new guitar!)

There are one or two videos on YouTube showing the workshop.