Official Luthiers Forum!

I hope to have the top and back attached to my first before the new year, so my goals are:

- Finish Number 1.
- Start an electric Bass as a Father/Son project
- Get a good jump on Number 2 - L-00.
- Continue to practice whenever I can. I am extremly happy with what i have so far, but definately want to get way better in fit and finish (and we''ll see about sound once number 1 is done )

My goals for 2008 was to:
- finish my workshop (check. Small, but so far, it works. Big power tools are in the garage, so sometimes have to walk back and forth )
- Get a good jump on number 1 (check)
- Acquire tools!! (check, got chisels, performax 10-20, drill press, etc)
- Jigs (check. I built a few, and purchased the binding and bending jigs from John Hall)

Glenn

1. If I don't finish my current build before year end, I will need to complete the finishing and buffing before moving on to anything else. I did the first pore filling this morning.
2. Continue on some improvements to my work area so I can be better organized and have a cleaner work area.
3. Decide what I want to build next. I have three things in mind, a classical, something similar to a Taylor Grand Concert, and an Archtop. Need to decide which to go with.
4. Improve as a player and builder
5. Have fun.

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Greg Hatcher
North Carolina

1.) Continue to improve the quality of the "detail" work - ie. fit and finish.
2.) Build a website
3.) Learn how to market (sell) my work
4.) Keep having an absloute BLAST building guitars!

Happy Holidays to everyone!!!

Chuck

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"To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong"
- Joseph Chilton Pearce

START.

I spent this year building jigs and dealing with non guitar related projects.

So this year I will still have the non guitar related projects. And with those I would like to improve my skills so I can apply them to guitar related projects.

I would like to start building something that will one day be part of my first guitar. At least take the first step.

John

Finish my first before Spring arrives. And in doing that I have several goals to strive for along the way.
1 Get organized. I know we all joke about Hesh's level of neat being higher than most, but I wish I was more like him. Well, okay, not the mustache, but organized and neat. I have moments of being about to get there, but its like holding my breath. I can do it, but not for long.

2. Patience. If I work on #1, I think my frustration levels will go down, making it easier to reach this one.

3. Remember to document what I'm doing/done. I get caught up in doing that I forget to document what I've done, right or wrong. I know it will be a great teaching tool, but the lack of #2 makes this one difficult at times.

4. Stop being afraid of making a GLO and just get it done. Accept that it isn't going to be perfect. And that it may become firewood. So be it. You have to cut your teeth on something. At least I will have learned a lot and the next one will be better.

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Aoibeann

1. Actually build a guitar.
2. Buy the brand spanking new release of John Mayes' DVD on dance moves - bloopers included.


I love the night life
I got to boogie
On the disco round, oh yeah.

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John Lewis
Wannabe builder owned by 2 crazy dachshunds

1-Build my first(electric) from scratch. That's already begun, but I imagine it'll take most of the year.
2- Build router templates from the drawings and measurements I took off of a strat-styled body and an LP clone earlier this year.
3- Tools, tools, tools.
4- And did I mention I need more tools?

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

Mainly to build the new shop that I was going to build last year.

To get back to some of the older guitars that need a little reworking.

To try lattice bracing on a steel string.

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

Turn a basement storage room into a shop.

Build a shop-built drum sander.

Complete my second guitar ("Basia", a parlor sized experimental guitar, about 1/3 to 1/2 done right now)

Complete my third guitar ("Grace", an OM-ish sized experimental guitar)

Complete my fourth guitar ("Grace Baritone", another with the Grace body style but with a baritone scale)

Discover the cure for procrastination, though I may wait until 2010 for that one.

Dennis

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Dennis Leahy
Duluth, MN, USA
7th Sense Multimedia

Well...let's see...

- Finish the SE Asian Rosewood OM I am currently building
- Build one of Mr. Payne's SJ's
- Build an OM for a guy who has been hounding me to build him a guitar
- Buy no more power tools!

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http://www.casperguitar.com

This is good - writing this stuff down is a great way to focus efforts so, here's what I've got on tap for 2009:

1 - Complete my first guitar, a stew-mac 000 kit.

2 - Complete my 4th bandura by 6/09 with the following features/goals:

* spherically domed top (prior efforts used an arbitrary dome with a flat rim)
* carbon capped braces 90o to the grain of the top to help hold the shape
* spherically profiled rim
* time permitting, do some chladni testing on the top
* hopefully this will make it so that I can eliminate the "sound post" I use to keep the top from collapsing under the break angle of the strings and improve the low/mid & bass response by freeing the monopole top mode.

3 - make a second prototype of my quick key change mechanism, 8 strings total.

4 - apply for some grants

5 - find someone with some cad skills and interest to help me make the plans for a bandura with quick key change mechanisms

6 - time and necessity permitting - re-top an old-school trashed bandura I've got with my style of top but with a set of old-style key change mechs that live on the bridge.

Dang, I've got more goals but I doubt I'll be able to get them done in one year!!!

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http://www.birkonium.com CNC Products for Luthiers
http://banduramaker.blogspot.com

2008 saw me build 8 dreads.
In 2009 I'd like to build a OOO with a dred depth box, 25.4 scale length.
I think I can probably make 8 more in 2009.
I am a slow learner so repetition, asking questions and lurking here is key to my learning cuve,
so I'm going to ask more questions.

Organise myself enough that I actually build at least 1 guitar in 2009.

Get business cards into the local guitar shops so I can try and get some repair/setup work.

Hey All:
1. Finish numer 1
2. rebuild shop made thickness sander, minor work on the drum getting it straight across it's lenght and beef up the table so it doesn't shift.
3. Do the honey do list before starting any more guitars( stuff sort of didn't get done the last couple of months), fix crack in kitchen ceiling, repaint.Paint other areas in the house. Make two mantle clocks.Fix wall clock in living room.
4.organize work space, build some cabinets and shelves, new bench and lots of new lighting.
5. Build # 2 & 3 not using the mistakes I made with #1. Slow down build by making every part as clean and precise as possible.
6. don't flex any back, top or side lateraly to see how flexable it is. an 8" x .120 piece of wood will break into two pieces of wood pretty easily. SNAP.

Bill

My 2009 goal is to keep Joe White as busy as possible! Seriously, the list for this year is as follows: (we'll see how far I get)
Cocobolo/sitka dread
Peruvian walnut/sitka jumbo
Sapele/Carpathian L-1
Cocobolo/German OM

John, put me on the list for that dance moves DVD... I can do "start the lawnmower" and the "one-armed tractor" dance, but I have a lot to learn...

09 Goals:

1. Finish #1
2. Learn more humility in dealing with mistakes
3. Learn to sharpen tools better
4. Build a toolbox to transport/protect some nicely sharpened tools if I move
5. Look into building a 12 string for my Dad

as with us all, they go on - French Polishing, do a cutaway, learn inlay techniques, build a human powered guitar = no power tools at all in shop. We'll see. All in all, I'm very excited for this coming year.

For 2009:

1) Finish acoustics #1 and #2
2) Modify electric #1 to improve tone
3) Continue shop organization by building in more storage, improving work stations and building the 20 some odd drawers needed to fill the already built cabinets/slides.
4) Get humidity under control - just ordered an Abbeon hygrometer/thermometer to replace the cheap one that fell off the wall and broke.
5) Spend more time playing the guitars I've built.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

[quote="SteveSmith"]For 2009:

1) ..... deletia....
4) Get humidity under control - just ordered an Abbeon hygrometer/thermometer to replace the cheap one that fell off the wall and broke.
...... deletia...............
[quote]
What happened??? Were you practicing for your appearance in Mr. Mayes' dance video?

My goals:
1. Start building
2. Same as the first!!

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Steve Walden
Aspiring Builder,
Bartlesville, OK

For 2008:

- Finish renovating new garage/shop
- Finish Appalachian Dulcimer (xmas present for wife)

For 2009:

- Finish Bubinga/Sitka OM
- either a cutaway or classical (not sure yet)

Ben

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- Ben Pak
North Wales, Pa.

Finish 2 acoustics that I was supposed to do this year, and also finish a F5 mando that I started 1 1/2 years ago, and maybe a uke for myself. But the reality is that I'll probably finish one of these. Also, continue to learn everything about guitar building, just not enough time in a day to learn all I need to learn.

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Tracy
http://www.luthiersuppliers.com

Finish number 2

Move house - and set up a small workshop - if my wife will let me spend the money

build number 3/4

1 - Build my first guitar! One that will be easy for my daughters to learn to play on. OM body, 1 11/16" width nut, relatively thin neck, and low action. Probably use Lutz, Rosewood, and Mahogany neck.

2 - Build jigs etc. necessary to complete #1

I wonder how much longer it would take to build 2 similar guitars at once? 30% more time? Every cut or jig takes has setup time......but once things are setup, probably would take little more time to do the operation twice.

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......

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!