Official Luthiers Forum!

I have alot of experience in guitar repair and electric guitar construction, but its always been a dream of mine to build an acoustic. I want to buy a manual/guidebook to use as help/reference, but I do not plan to solely use this. It seems like a good idea so that Im not pulling all of my construction techniques from separate sources, and so that I can get a clear, concise answer for any questions I have where the online answers seem unclear/questionable. I just seems like having a book that says "heres what you do" would help the build process go much more smoothly (though like I said, it will be used as a guide, not necessarily a primary source). What is your favorite book(s) and why? One topic that I am particularly interested in is bracing. Now I know that you could probably throw together a large book on this topic alone, but it would be nice for the build-along manual to go into a little depth of different bracings/SCALLOPING (I plan to do scalloped bracing on this build) though detailed explanations on the subject arent necessarily required. Thanks is advance! -Alex

Cumpiano and Kinkade are both good instruction books and the go to books for first construction. For someone doing scalloping it might be worth while looking at Somogyi with his excellent coverage of the cube rule of stiffness. The Somogyi books are also good construction books but more pointed to how and why guitars do what they do. My favorite books over all are the Gore-Gilet pair. Good luck in your adventure.
Tom

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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

Get the gore/gilet books. Well worth the money, way more useful than the Somogyi books...

+1 for Gore/Gilet

I agree, but for a newbie/first guitar, Kinkade is a good buy.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

i´d also vouch for gore/gillet. specially since you already have experience.

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member of the guild of professional dilettantes

I have had much use out of the Cumpiano/Natelson book. It's like the Old Testament of guitar building books, written back in the eighties I think, but still very useful today. about 1/6th the cost of the Gore books so might be a good place to start.

Edit: why do I like the Cumpiano/Natelson book? Great for a beginner as it is step by step construction with well written and thorough instructions and explanations, details a steel string and classical build so I could get an idea of how both are built, deals with mostly basic hand tools.

Gore - Gilet.

Not cheap but a bargain IMO.

Kevin Looker

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I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

My copy of cumpianos book just about worn out. It is so well written. I believe some one with no wood working experience could build a guitar from it. I re read certain sections all the time. Couldnt do without it. When this one is worn out I'll get another.

The first step in building is to acquire some quartersawn oak and build yourself a mission-style bookcase to hold all of your luthiery-related books, DVD's, etc.

It's kinda hard to pinpoint just one that will serve all your needs. Much depends on your current level of knowledge.
What most people do is take information from a variety of sources and integrate it into the style that best suits their budget, tool/equipment inventory, skill level, and tastes.

I have many (the reason I mentioned the bookcase), and have found that they all have something valuable to offer. I tend to believe that one is best served by the books that are considered comprehensive in regards to construction.
With that said, a "must have" for anyone new to construction and on a tight budget is the book by Cumpiano/Natelson.
I do not yet have it, but my next "book investment" will be the volumes by Gore/Gilet, as I have heard nothing but good about this.

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Always have plenty of sandpaper; it's rough out there!

+1 on the Cumpiano/Natleson book as a primary reference, and also Bob Benedetto's book on archtops. There's lots of good general information as well as archtop-specific info.

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

Personally, I found the Cumpiano/Natelson book coupled with the Kinkade book to deliver everything I needed. Cumpiano is very, very well written and concise while Kinkade adds a simpler perspective with a lot of full color photos. I found both to be must-haves. That being said, I don't yet have the Gore/Gilet books...

I like the Cumpiano/Natelson and Kinkade combo as well. Using only the contents of those books and related information gleaned from on-line resources such as the OLF, I have completed five instruments. The first one was a bit of a disaster (it has become my test dummy), but my subsequent efforts have improved markedly each time. The Gore/Gilet and Somogyi books will be on my Christmas list.

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George :-)

in my opinion you should buy as many books as you can. There is always something to learn. But as a start there is ONLY one book to consider: CUMPIANO and NATELSON. No doubt about that.

Another vote here for the Cumpiano/Natelson and Kinkade combo. The former is much more comprehensive, but the Kinkade book offers a Readers Digest view of the process that, in combination with the excellent color photos, I found very helpful in conceptualizing the various processes involved in building a guitar.

I'd go Cumpiano/Natelson and Kinkade for overview/manual for a first build, Somogyi vol. 1 for understanding how the guitar works, and Gore vol. 2 for more advanced building.

i got gore and gillet's books last night. i am really impressed!! i spent all night going through the build book. i kind of wish i had this from the beginning. i started out with cumpiano and natleson's and it is full of great information but i found i still had some big questions. the gore/gillet book seems way more thorough. i am in the middle of my second build, might put it on hold for awhile as i go through these books.

if you think you are going to build more than one instrument then gore/gillet's book is well worth the investment. if you are not sure then get cumpiano and natleson's.

also there is so much info on this site.

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http://www.wideskyguitars.com
https://www.instagram.com/wide_sky_guitars/

I have practically every guitar book written, there/s a wealth of info in all of them, plus dvd/s and videos.Best advice, jump in , make a ton of mistakes , practice on scrap, get your ego bruised , and oh yes read the gore gilet book. I plan to spend part of my holiday next week rereading it.

Also, supplement Cumpiano/Natelson with William's blog. As he once told me, "What people don't realize is that I wrote that book 30 years ago...that's more than half a CAREER ago. It's a good book, but I've since moved on." In his blog you will find a great deal of great information and musings, as well as things like the updated bolt-on joint and things like that.

Whilst the first of these books is not a "How to make a guitar book" as such it is very much my favourite book on the subject of lutherie: "Things about the guitar" by Jose Ramirez III

http://www.amazon.com/Things-About-Guit ... 8487969402

It's a series of articles covering several important topics, written for a magazine in the 80's but is rather more thought provoking than much of what is to be found in magazines. It's my favourite and is too for a few other makers I know.

Another book that influenced me is the stunning "Cahier d'atelier" by Robert Bouchet. I can't read a word of French but his illustrations are lovely and his method very pragmatic, I picked up several techniques from the book:

http://www.amazon.ca/Cahier-datelier-Ro ... 291414721X

My old boss, Stefan Sobell started off with this one, and influenced him greatly in as much as A P Sharpe hints at "stress free construction" one of the basic principles behind his work during my time there. It's long out of print and now available free:

http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/guita ... 200003.htm




nigel
http://www.nkforsterguitars.com/#/book/4568936095

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nigel

http://www.theluthierblog.com

I used Cumpiano/Natelson for my first builds, and have virtually every mainline book on
guitar building in my library. I believe Gore/Gilet is overall the best reference, allbeit
a bit expensive if you're not sure you'll continue on as a luthier.

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Gene

Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason- Mark Twain

Interesting recommendations, Nigel. Thanks for sharing the links!

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George :-)

The online manual!!!!!! The "OLF"

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MK5acoustics.com