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Hi All...Was just thinking and wondering others opinions, do you think guitar building classes are worth it or better to learn by doing? I know it may be cheaper to take a class but do you think its personal preference and learning style or are they just a good/bad idea in general?

I started by attending Sergei de Jonge's guitar building course. I found it good in that it gave me a quick foundation to build on. After that I bought nearly every book and video course on the market and continued the learning on my own. Now almost 10 years later I still use a number of the techniques which I learned on my course, but I do a lot of things differently as well.

I think one of the advantages to learning on a course or with another builder is that they can catch you making mistakes and correct you. This can save you a lot of time and money. I still had plenty of "learning by doing" after my course was done (and I'm still learning nearly 100 guitars later), but the foundation I learned on the course was certainly worth the time and money I spent.

Josh

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Josh House

Canadian Luthier Supply
http://www.canadianluthiersupply.com
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House Guitars - Custom Built Acoustic Instruments.
http://www.houseguitars.com

Classes can vary in what you get out of them. There are a few things you want to ask , 1 do you get a guitar or just watch one being built, 2 are the classes made up for the students or is it a set curriculum . 3 how many students.
I would say this , a few things you should be able to take out of a class , Do you learn about tools , and design. Some classes may not finish a guitars if they are short classes that are a week. These are affordable but you will have to do finishing or farm that out.
Learning what works can give you a good foundation in what you need to do in the future. Another thing is what tools do you see that you need and what you don't. In all the money spent in a class will help you far along than trying to build and learn on your own.
Good luck and I hope you find what helps you.

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

John makes a lot of good points, and the things he recommends were part of the de Jonge course. We learned about design, materials, hand and power tools, finishing, and more. At the end of for weeks we all walked away with a guitar that we had made.

Josh

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Josh House

Canadian Luthier Supply
http://www.canadianluthiersupply.com
https://www.facebook.com/canadianluthiersupply?ref=hl
House Guitars - Custom Built Acoustic Instruments.
http://www.houseguitars.com

Depends on personal learning style. I wouldn't have enjoyed a class because I don't like the whole power tools and jigs and "you're no good if you can't sharpen a chisel as good as me" woodworker style. I needed the freedom to experiment and find what works for me, without tormenting a teacher with my goofy ways. Plus I prefer working alone anyway.

But if you want to carry on the building style of someone else, or just want to get through the first one without any worries of getting stuck or ending up with an unplayable instrument due to not understanding something about the design, then a class would be good.

And in my case, I hadn't done any woodworking at all aside from a little bit of carving with a hobby knife and sandpaper, so if you're in similar condition, then maybe a basic woodworking class would be a better place to start so you don't waste expensive guitar class time on learning general stuff.

Also might help sell your early instruments, if you can brag about who you learned from rather than just looking like a total noob out there in the world

A week long class with Charles Fox has helped me quite a bit. The class I took was only lecture and demos, no building, but for me, it was perfect. I can approach building with much more confidence. I am constantly reviewing my class notes and pictures. It is important to have an idea of what you want to learn before deciding on a teacher, Charles' building techniques are what I wanted to learn. Charles has an article on his site about choosing a school:
http://www.americanschooloflutherie.com ... chool.html
Enjoy, the class was an amazing experience, including hanging out with the class mates for meals.
Rob

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http://shastaguitar.com/
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+1 on the Fox class. I took it in 2003. It helped a great deal that I had built 4 Martin kits first.
It was a HUGE step forwards and shaved years off my learning curve. An enormous amount of information is deseminated in one week and you never touch a piece of wood. For me it was perfect.
For this approach I think it's better to have done some building beforehand. You know better what questions to ask.

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

Robbie O'Brien has an on-line course that is pretty good. http://www.obrienguitars.com. It is certainly a good reference and you can learn a lot. Robbie does have some building styles, like carving the neck on the body, which I don't do... But otherwise, in my opinion, its worth what he charges for the on-line course.

I was fortunate to know someone that makes guitars (and had taken a class with Frank Finocchio http://www.finocchioguitar.com/education.html) take me through my first build. So I got to learn from his training. Also, he lent me Frank Finocchio's guitar building DVDs.

John Mayes also has a series of DVDs that are helpful. http://www.mayesguitars.com/newdvd.html

Videos may not quite be the same as taking a class, but you can review them whenever you like and they certainly cost less than attending a class...

Steve

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

I had built a couple of guitars on my own, then spent a month with George Morris at Vermont Instruments, and I figure it took about 10 years off of my learning curve. It starts with designing and drafting your own instrument and selecting materials, all the way through finishing. there were only 4 of us, and everyone was building something a little different, so lots of personal attention and we all also got to see a variety of instruments made from a variety of materials under construction, including the one George built alongside us as a demo. (It should be said also that George may be the most patient and laid-back teacher in the world...) In addition to an amazing guitar, I left with my own copies of all the jigs and tools that I had used, and realized that much of what I had previously purchased was unnecessary, and was replaced with something homemade and much simpler. Long days and nights, but I left absolutely confident that I could design and build a good instrument, with all the nuances, e.g. bound fingerboard, etc. and fix all of the minor catastrophes that always happen along the way. This has freed me to really work on sound, design, cosmetics, etc. as opposed to trying to get my binding on without gaps, or fit a rosette properly. It may not be for everyone, and there is a lot of difference between lutherie schools, but this one worked out great for me.

there are many paths to rome (learning luthiery) pick the one that best suits you! I/ve tried them all , and each one has something to offer.

I think learning style and need for motivation is what led me to take a class.
I watched a couple of friends build and was inspired to pursue the idea. I started buying tools and visiting my friend Peters shop at least once a month watching Him do things and learning a bit at a time. Finally felt ready to begin and signed up for a class at the Woodcraft Store in Orange County Ca.
It was 4 hours one night a week ( 15 weeks ) and we were able to use the tools that were owned by Simscal ( Stringed Instrument Makers of Southern California ). That was so helpful to have a weekly goal with direction and feedback. I still have a lot of tools I want and the class helped me decide which tools are most important.
Personally that was the best way for me. I still have not completed my first but am so satisfied with what I have learned with combining My visits to Peters, My time here on the OLF, My purchase of the John Mayes DVD's and just plain stumbling through my own mistakes.

I also took Sergei de Jonge's course. I absolutely loved it. I had built one guitar (boat anchor) before his course. This may have helped get some of the REALLY stupid mistakes out of the way that everyone makes in the beginning. I don't know. I made that guitar after reading a book a couple of times through.

I will say that if you take a course, take a TON of notes and pictures. I still refer to mine and probably always will. It is nice to learn from a master who can guide you through the rough patches.

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ELEVATE || Next Level Lutherie
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When we do classes we try and design the class to what the student has at home. There is no point it doing it with all the bells and whistles when the student doesn't have that available. We take no more than 2 students so you can get to see 2 different assemblies and we do show you as many techniques as we can

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it