Official Luthiers Forum!

I am seeing many new names here on the OLF and I just wanted to ask folks if they would please let us know if you are new on the OLF?

Also for the lurkers how about registering and saying hello?

Many thanks!

Hello, Hesh. I'm here for the Kool Aid!

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Sorry, Waddy, we drank it all.

Pat

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formerly known around here as burbank
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

I'm kind of new here. I lurked anonymously for quite a while, then joined and lurked as a member and have only posted a few times. I'm just on my second build, so I don't really feel like I have much to add to these discussions at this point--maybe somewhere down the line. I do learn something new almost every day, however, which is wonderful. I truly appreciate the welcoming and supportive attitude here and you, Hesh, are very influential in that regard. Thanks!

George :-)

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George :-)

Although I just recently started posting, I've been checking out the site since I started my first about a year ago. It's taken me a year to complete my first three....I'm very slow (it takes me two weeks to watch 60 minutes).

I started because I wanted to build a guitar for my daughter. When I gave it to her, she said that she was surprised that it sounded as good as it did...I'm not sure that was a compliment! So far, I'm still building and giving them away. It works out pretty well. I find that people will take pretty much anything that is free and I am learning. Eventually, I'll make one that's a keeper.

I do want to thank everyone for the help that they have provided, even though it wasn't me asking a lot of the questions. This is one of the most helpful and well-mannered forums that I have ever seen. I've seen so many other forums where the experts would refuse to answer questions from the inexperienced, or would be very sarcastic in their replies. None of that here. Just great people willing to share their knowledge with everyone...even the slow learners like me. Thank you!

Alan

I'm sorta new. I've been a member for a while, but all my stuff is electric guitars right now so I haven't spent a ton of time here. Most of my time has been in the CNC section. I'm hoping to build my first acoustic after the first of the year...so i've been popping in here to read a little more.

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Jeremy Vonk

Welcome to the OLF Jeremy, Alan, and George! Welcome Pat and Waddy too!

Alan that is a pretty cool thing to do with your first guitar giving it to your daughter - good on ya! I think that many of us are surprised at how well a guitar that we build ourselves can sound. It certainly surprised me and became the reason why I built another, and another, and another.....

I suspect that at some point the guitars in your local music stores will no longer have the attraction that they once did.

Jeremy there are actually a lot of folks here who have either built electrics or who are interested in them. More than you might think so maybe you can teach some of us when we take the plunge. I am getting ready to hang my Hendrix pictures in my new shop.

George my friend never think for a moment that your questions are not important - far from it. All of us learn something from the content that results from discussing any guitar related question. For those who already may have some answers it reinforces what they already know which is a good thing too.

Lance and Brock, our dear leaders..... just started a new part of the OLF for folks that are new to building. So you folks will have content that hopefully will be better targeted to your specific concerns. It also tells me that there is a commitment here on the OLF to everyone - but I knew that!

Welcome aboard folks!

Well hi there. I am a lurker so far, as I am just building my first guitar and I know just enough to know that I don't even know what I don't know yet, you know? It's a jumbo, of EIR and an Engelman top - I've been building it at Al Carruth's shop for about a year now - slow I know, but it's almost done. But I just bought two more sets of material from Tom Thiel at Al's shop a few weeks ago, a curly walnut set and a "cooked" curly maple set (smells exactly like sausage and eggs with maple syrup..). And I scored some nice Wester red cedar tops at Goose Bay. So I'll be starting two more, and trying to accelerate my pace a bit...

Lot to learn, for sure. I've learned a lot from reading the posts and archives, and I love the video tips as well.

Steve

Hi - I've been a lurker for a while & just registered today. I've built two electrics with a third in process. I'm hoping to start my first acoustic sometime after the first of the year.

Hi Dexter and Steve! Welcome to the OLF!

Steve learning to build guitars with Al is as good as it gets so even though it's taking you a while you are working with a master.

Welcome aboard guys!

Hi, I am also relatively new on here, but have been lurking for a few years. I have 30+ years of carpentry and fine woodworking experience, but only just starting my sixth guitar.
I have learned a ton from this forum. I don't have enough experience to add much to the discussions, but in time who knows.
Although I have said it before, thanks again to all members on here for sharing the knowledge.

Chuck

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Hi, I am just starting on my first guitar build so I haven't really had anything to ad. I do really enjoy all information and inspiration that I get from this forum. I have been thinking of starting a guitar for a few years but have been too busy in my shop time building furniture.

Mike

I'm new here. Wanting to build a guitar my daughters can learn to play on so I've been reading here and asking a few questions.

There is a lot of knowledge and experince here! I've sure learned a lot reading posts, new and old.

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......

Hi Jer,
Nice to see ya here.
Mike aka Mikro

BTW Jer is a regular on Project Guitar Forum and very helpful!

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I'm outside looking in, just farther from the window than most.

Like Steve, I've been building my first at Alan Carruth's shop for about the past year or so. Mine's an OM of EIR and bearclaw Euro spruce with bloodwood binding. It looks tiny next to Steve's Jumbo! I'm working on the neck now. The body has 2 coats of varnish on it, as well. I hope to get it done before the end of the year but I'm not so sure that's going to happen. I want to build an SJ next and I bought a set of Oregon myrtle for it that I think will look nice. I also bought a set of black limba from RC Tonewoods, as well as a bearclaw sitka top, so I guess I'm going to make more than one more.

Hesh, you are right. It's been great learning from Alan, especially all the acoustics stuff he shares with us. Plus, we get to play all the guitars he finishes! I've also learned a lot from reading this forum. There is so much great information here. When I start working on one without Alan's guidance, it's good to know there's so many people willing to share their knowledge and be so helpful.

Matt

i registered a few months ago, but im finally finishing up a guitar building course down in Atlanta GA. I do however have a picture of my first electric i built, a few of the acoustic should be up soon.

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measure twice, cut once.

Hesh and Mike...thanks for the welcome!

Mike...congrats on the reso build man! Very nice.

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Jeremy Vonk

Guys welcome to the OLF!

That is a killer looking electric!

Great to have you all here!

I've been registered for about six months, but only chime in when I think someone might be able to benefit from hearing about one of my mistakes--or if I've recently had some experience with a situation that someone describes in a particular thread. Forums like this are a tremendous resource, and I've found luthiers to be very, very generous with their help, sharing their knowledge, and with their praise and encouragement, too. I was pretty timid the first time I contributed to a thread, but I didn't need to be. I built my first guitar more than 15 years ago, before most of us had access to this sort of help. I didn't know any other builders, so I worked my way through Sloan's book, and had reasonably good results. A little later, someone gave me a smashed, neckless, plywood archtop, and I rebuilt that. I used my factory made thinline archtop for a neck pattern on that one. Then spent several years building tools and collecting woods. Finally launched into scratch-building a 17 inch acoustic-electric archtop, which I completed this past spring. I had tremendous help all through that project--given by generous luthiers on this forum and MIMF. Most of you will never know how much you helped me, but your discussions with each other usually answered whatever question I had at the time. I am grateful to have this resource, and I find the exchanges to make for some pretty entertaining reading at times. I'll drop in almost daily. Thanks to all!

I'm fairly new to this great forum. I went to the Galloup School of Luthiery for their tech course in early 2006. Shortly afterwords I got the urge to build. Now I am building number five. I have retired from my engineering career at the young age of 64 and plan to play, build and repair guitars for the foreseeable future. I find enormous pleasure in bringing sound from wood; helping other folks get the most sound and playability out of their guitars and, of course, playing. I lurk around here a lot because this is the place I often find solutions to my questions (I use the search to a lot).

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Ron

CP and Ron welcome to the OLF!

CP building pre-Internet must have been more difficult and my hat's off to ya my friend. I don't think that I would be making guitars today if I had not found the OLF. Good going!

Ron my friend I didn't know that you are in Michigan. We will have to get together and keep an eye out for more regional gatherings.

Thanks Hesh. Yep, I've been wanting to attend some of those gatherings and plan to next year.

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Ron

Hi all,

I've been over at the MIMF for a long time and just registered over here. I've done lots of woodwork from furniture to houses but have made only a few instruments - all from scratch; an electric guitar, a dulcimer, and a bowed psaltry (by request from my wife). My inspiration comes from my great-grandfather who hand-carved a violin for my dad in the later years of the great depression - I still have it and plan to repair it and bring it back to life sometime.

Steve S

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I've been lurking for some time now. I've only posted once, I believe, in response to a Chuck Norris joke...

This place is a wonderful resource for me, and I'm so happy I found you guys! I've been building electrics for 5 years now, and came to lurk here looking for tips I could transfer to my electric building. I ended up being so impressed by the art and beauty of the acoustics I've seen here, I've decided to try my hand at it! I probably won't get to start on it this year, as I have too many electric commissions, but have already worked up some designs for my first acoustic flat-top, as well as an archtop nylon string.

Thank you all again for the wealth of information!

-kyle

Hi All

I'm a lurker who has recently commissioned a luthier to build a classical guitar (of mostly my own design). For the last year I've been reading almost all the posts very closely in order to understand the consequences (for both the luthier AND the new guitar) of my requested design.

I'll post photos when my guitar is finished. It's a weird bird.

Naturally, I've learned an incredible amount and probably have been bitten by the make-it-myself bug just by "listening in" here. (I did put together a Carvin kit in the past with success, so who knows, maybe...?)

Thanks to everyone for making this forum such a respectful, encouraging, and informative resource!