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It has been a while since we have had one. I for one like watching them unfold. I'm not sure I would have the time to enter one anytime soon but that doesn't stop me from wanting to watch one. Anyone want to start brainstorming ideas for a theme?

I thought it might be fun to do a parlor guitar challenge ("real parlors" no counting OO size or anything like that). Or maybe a Terz challenge? Any other ideas?

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

I would be interested. How long do you usually have?


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Build a guitar out of a pallet challenge.
What can you make with a $50 Chinese starter guitar
Rebuild an Esteban guitar.
Music from a tree
Junkyard Resonator
OSB/Masonite/chipboard/cardboard acoustic
Knotty shelf board acoustic
Broken furniture build
Etc

Way too much pressure for me. I tried twice, couldn't do it and it made life not fun. I don't think I could ever do a commissioned guitar.

I definitely would like to participate. I was just getting started when the last challenge was going on. I liked the idea of the local woods challenge. It inspired my to make an all local woods tenor uke this winter. How about a travel guitar challenge? I've been toying with the idea of building a gs mini style guitar.

Yeah, I'd like to do another challenge Terz, parlor or travel size would all be good. Local woods are always fun (especially with my favorite new inlay material, local rocks), and a price cap of $150 or so.

It's tough to come up with good challenge ideas that everyone would enjoy... One that I'd like to do is a "unique bracing" challenge, but I'm not sure many others would enter.

Also might be fun instead of doing small things, to make it a jumbo challenge Minimum 16" lower bout, but the bigger the better. Guitars judged at standard tuning.

I'd be game and it could get me back into the game. I've been wanting to work on a guitar based on an 1850's era Martin (plans from Mike Collins), so Parlor is good. I'd maybe get swamped as usual, though - just too much work these days, and I love the real job. Poor, lonely tools.

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

The challenges are always fun. I'm focused on building OM-sized guitars right now and would be more inclined to participate if that were allowed.

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George :-)

Sounds like there is some interest, hopefully more will chime in and we can get something going. The way I see it we need to determine:

1) Is there enough interest to get this off the ground
2) A theme or parameters (or none at all but that seems more like just a bunch of docubuilds).
3) Time frame
4) Rules or guidelines (nothing strict, just to keep near the theme)

As for point number 2, it seems like there is some preliminary support for parlors, terzs and travel guitars. Those could easily be lumped together into a theme but still having a fair amount of flexibility. Other ideas or discussions still very much welcome!

As for number 3, I will probably enter since I started this thread but doubt that I will be able to finish (shop time is sparse these days), so selfishly I would pull for a longer time frame. That said, too long and the challenge will stall. I suppose we would also need to decide when a good time to start would be. Is spring/summer a bad time? Do we want to hold off and allow people to gather ideas, plans and materials?

Kind of related to number 4, I like the spending limit on these because it helps keep the playing field a bit more even and can encourage creativity but I would like to hear what others think about it.

edit: Sorry George, I didn't mean to sound like I was poopooing your OM comment, I didnt' see it until after I was done typing.

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

I've enjoyed watching and even participating in these in the past. I would stay tuned but am too busy myself to enter in anything. Maybe not this time around but it would be interesting to see something other then a guitar based theme to include maybe mandolin or something, after all it's is a Luthiers forum

No worries, Bryan. It's been too long since we had a challenge around here, so I think it's great that you prompted this discussion.

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George :-)

Same here. I enjoyed the one I did in the past but I pretty much dropped everything else to focus on the challenge. I can't do that now.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Also here. I've entered a couple, but didn't finish either one on time. I may have some time coming up soon.

On that note, it might be fun to do something with an actual building time limit, not calendar days. What can we build in 40 hours? Of course, that would require everyone to keep track of building time (honestly), and I don't much care for that.

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A man hears what he wants to hear, and disreguards the rest. Paul Simon

You know - a fun "challenge" would be to build an instrument to be donated to a charity of your own choice at the end.

And that's the only restriction - that at the end, it gets presented to the charity.

Thanks

I see several people here who's work I really like (and would be love to see them in) indicating that time would be an issue. Would a longer time limit allow people to keep a challenge build going on the back burner? What if we agreed to try and at least check in once a week with an update to keep the threads going but allowed a longer than typical build time?

John, I take your meaning about not restricting it to guitars. That is something to consider as well. At one point (on this forum or maybe another) I suggested a challenge where you try something new. That could be interpreted as an instrument type or size that you have not made before. It could also mean you use a new technique, bracing system, decorative style, finishing system. . . Really anything that gets you to expand your experience or find an excuse to try that thing you have been putting off.

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

I really like this suggestion!

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

Seeing it took me 9 years for the first, and let's say that since I now "Know" (ahem...) what I am doing... that I could cut my time in half... is a 4.5 year timeframe acceptable?

There's a good chance I'd throw my hat in. Small guitars, bracing schemes seem like good themes.

If the time frame was set up so I could build it in the background then I would enjoy doing a real parlor - maybe based on something from the 1800's but set up for steel strings. Guess that would work with either the parlor or something new ideas. I really did enjoy the one challenge that I did participate in.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I like the parlor idea as well - I have a couple of old ones here I wouldn't mind reproducing.

+1 for parlor


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I'm in, I was thinking travel guitar and my latest completion date would be end of November as I want to take it on a trip in December.

Looks like a parlor is leading the pack of ideas. I'm game for one. Less than 13-13.5" lower bout? I could do a pallet build but still looking for the top wood. Or maybe use a piece of construction lumber for a top? Do the whole guitar other than the bridge and fretboard with a 2"x 8"? Talk about a cheap guitar.

I like build challenges, some ideas that crossed my mind:
Build an instrument out of a 2x4, didn't some woodworking site do this?

Everyone build a "Pickin' Stick", fast, easy and fun to build and you'll be surprised how often you pick it up and play it. This would be good for the time challenged participants.

Build something to a certain design spec. i.e. a thin body acoustic for people with shoulder problems, Dreads with belly cuts for beer bellied bluegrassers, perhaps something with built in rhythm correction for players like myself.

The J Brentup/John How thanks for keeping the other long forgotten American guitar manufacturers memory alive ladder braced classic.

This idea is the one interests me the most so far. A resonator maybe.....

A parlor guitar could be interesting as long as the definition of what qualifies as a parlor guitar means a body that falls within a certain size range. I wouldn't be too interested in building to specs of a particular vintage guitar.

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Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right - Robert Hunter