Official Luthiers Forum!

Let's not forget Luthier Burbank. nyuk nyuk.

Pat

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

Actually, it is this guy:

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

And we all need to make sure we pay homage to Dick Boak...the Martin Luthier King!

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

1) Found Bill Wyza's FAQ on putting together a guitar (electric) from parts. Bought Warmoth parts, made guitar. At some time during this process...

2) Bought Melvyn Hiscock's 'Make Your Own Electric Guitar'. Figured 'hey, looks doable'. And it was. At some time during this process...

3) Bought Cumpiano & Natelson's 'Guitarmaking: Tradition and Technology'. Read it cover to cover. For a few years thought 'hmm, not quite sure this is doable'. At some time during this process...

4) Started lurking/reading/devouring all the information on acoustic building, various techniques, advantages of forms vs free vs dishes vs not on the MIMF.com (thanks guys, Mario Proulx and Mark Swanson come to mind in particular), and eventually figured 'I think I sorta get it now'. At this point...

5) Bought some MDF, ordered bits of wood from Rivolta, built my first acoustic within 4 months during a summer some years back. Since then, well, more reading, more playing around, lots of projects, few completed to date (residency and medical internships == busy. Add a girlfriend, translation work on the side, etc. and you've got a recipe for not-very-much-building-at-all)

The pro's who've spent time with me (Rick Turner, Jeff Traugott, Matt Mustapick, Kevin Gallagher), and this forum, have taught me how to become an expert. They haven't made me one, but they've given me the opportunity to learn how to become one. Reading, trying, reading trying, reading, analyzing . . . I've found the hands on approach to learning that works for me.

I'm much more developed in some areas than others, and I've found that being honest with that has helped me improve much more readily than anything else.

Art is subjective !
Personal -etc..
Science is usually based on experiments to prove or disprove !
it's the only way to get solid data !

personally i just saw a guitar made by a guy that went toCharles Fox's school when it was in Vermont 74-79
And a switch went off in my brain that said i'd love to make a guitar!
Before that I played bass for many bands on the East coast including
Frank Wakefield the Bluegrass mando man !!

After taking the class-I never looked back at playing as much !
I wanted to make guitars-So i joined the GAL and read everything i could !

Mike

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Mike Collins

I worked in the R&D department at Paul Reed Smith for about 3 and a half years. I focused mainly on the CAD/CNC/jig end of the electric product lines, but got to do some light design as well. I became personally interested in building acoustics a couple years ago...and at the end of my tenure with PRS I got to participate in the new acoustic venture that they have going on over there (they are making some really beautiful instruments, check them out if you get the chance!).

Alas, I found something more engineering intensive (I'm a Mechanical Engineer by traded) and have since switched jobs...but not before really getting hooked by the art & science of acoustic instruments..

I've had a lot of help from some excellent craftsman in getting started...it sure made things easier having good sources to check my ideas against..

Trev

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http://www.PeakeGuitars.com

One of my kids got me into Martin kit building in the 90's, read the usual books, then took the Charles Fox course and that was huge. I was off and running.
I pick up several pearls on the forums every week. A big thanks to the few pros that have hung in there with us and to the various forum moderators. If I see certain names on a thread I always check it out.
TJK

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

Several semesters with Robbie O'Brien. It literally changed my life and I'm thankful for it every day.
-j.

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“If God dwells inside us like some people say, I sure hope He likes enchiladas, because that's what He's getting”
-jack handy

I built my first dulcimer from the few books that were available in the 1970s but quickly decided that I should get some real training. I was lucky enough to attend Charles Fox's Guitar Research and Design School in 1978. It was six week course and we all completed a guitar including finish. In addition to learning building methods that I still use today, I learned to work carefully.

Later, in the early nineties, I went to Richard Schneider's Lost Mountain School a couple of times, once as a student and once as a helper. Among many other things, Richard introduced me to the use of vacuum in the shop.

Scott

If Dick's the MLK, who's the Lex Luthier, arch nemesis of all wood whittlers?

Im still learning gitters,
however being a po country foke.. who decided to build his own jigs and tools(when possible).... now Im a master Jigier...
from the Spanish so silent J....
Seriously though building your own stuff sucks after a while... buy when you can LOL
spend your time learning how to build guitars instead... however you do!
Cheers
Charliewood

Hi all- I am new to the forum. I thought it would be pretty easy with my woodworking experience to get proficient at guitar building quickly, and did not believe all those who said it would take 20 - 30 guitars to get proficient. I was wrong. They were right. And I am nowhere near the 20 guitar mark!

I did get analysis paralysis and spent more time thinking about sharpening tools and avoiding mistakes than building. I read all the usual books and watched all the usual videos (was not much on line back then) but the thought of ruining my $400 investment in a kit from LMI made me sick. So I kept buying tools and building workbench(es) and building cam clamps and jigs, but no guitars.

(I snuck tools into the basement shop one at a time and when my wife came down one day she about flipped, but I think she has spent more on shoes than I have on tools, so we have reached a sort of truce at this point...)

The turning point for me was spending a week with Frank Finocchio. It was not cheap, but I figured if I was going to get serious about this, some personal coaching would be beneficial. Great guy. Very talented and a great teacher. His methods were different from Cumpiano's so I had to rethink some things, but it gave me confidence to build and now I mix and match methods and am confident enough to come up with new ideas etc on my own. And hey, all those tools and stuff are coming in handy now.

A year or two after Frank's class I got the opportunity to spend a week in a small inlay class with Grit Laskin. I had read all the books, but they were no substitute for the hands on training. Grit is incredibly talented as well and, like Frank, was very willing to pass on his secrets to upstarts.

Still a relative beginner, but I have built several acoustics and 5 or 6 electrics. Learn something new every time and it is incredible to read all of the info on this forum and see all of the videos on You Tube. You can tell who read which book or watched which video etc by the building styles and other clues. Learning more every day.

By the way, I came back from Frank's with a beautiful guitar and the confidence to finish the kit from LMI. Then I promptly destroyed the sides from the kit!!! After about 15 minutes of cussing and throwing things, I had a revelation. I cut them up for scrap and future bridge-reinforcing plates and have never looked back. BTW, fixing mistakes is half the fun; it lets you practice inlay to cover them up... [/color]

Mike

I'm learning mostly by doing as that's the way I learn best. I attended the Fox class a year or so ago and I'm currently working on number 13. They seem to be getting progressively better so I guess I'm on the right track. There are always lessons (mistakes) on each one, but that's how I learn. This forum and the generous people on it have helped a lot, too. Thanks to all...

Chuck