Official Luthiers Forum!

It would be great if it could somehow organise the info in the archives so that all the info on topics such as "helmholz theory" could all be organised into one place.
that would surley stop alot of the repeat qeustions that pop up.

allthough there is a wealth of info in the archives its so hard to sort through at times and can be duanting to someone who is looking for specific info o a topic.

By the way i would probably be willing to donate a back and set plus shipping to such a comp the first idea.
Something nice like high grade mad rose for example.
Joel.

Why limit the request for tutorials to videos only? I know that you are enjoying your new video camera but not everyone who has something to share and the ability to communicate the details has a video camera, video editing software, the knowledge to use either well and a predisposition to show their mug on a public forum.

Some of the most successful guitar building instructional materials available such as Cumpiano and Natelson are text and pictures. Even Robbie has recently used a video format with still pictures to better permit the viewer to catch the details.

Opening up this request/contest to pictorial and video tutorials would be much more inclusive for all and IMHO might be more understandable and easier to follow for some. I would even argue that an excellent photo can be more effective than a fleeting pass of a video camera. The more difficult that we make it for information to be shared the less information will in time be actually shared......

It's all good to me, the more instructional media of all types the better - just don't limit it to videos only please.

And..... personally the idea of a contest with a something in it for the "winner" kind of turns me off. As no stranger to putting together toots for folks I would hate to think that my motivation for doing so was personal gain.

Regarding WIKI how long has it been since the library on the MIMF has been regularly updated? The reason why this has fallen behind is that it takes volunteers to do the grunt work. A WIKI needs to be maintained, updated, organized, and hopefully have the info validated with sources checked out. Who is going to do this?

Don't get me wrong I think that it's a great idea and if we had an organization with people who could be tasked to handle the details it would be great. But realistically if one made a list of the steps required to put this in place, the culture shift required to integrate a WIKI, and the person power that needs to be enlisted, appreciated, and supported this is no small task.

Lastly - even though I feel bad for Al and others when they have to repeat posts regarding topics that have been discussed prior I often "get-it" during a subsequent iteration of a previous discussion. And our membership is a pipeline with new people arriving all the time and some who have been here for a while leaving at times. As such many of the redundant posts/threads are in fact news to someone if not many at times. For the rest of us (me included) if we can put our know-it-all egos aside we might even find something that was not brought up prior in a well worn topic if we give it a chance. The alternative is dismissing someone with a redundant question, sending them to go stand in the corner of the library with tape on their mouth (I spent nearly my entire grade school years this way - seriously....) and damaging the friendly, welcoming, everyone is important forum that we are blessed to have here.

We are looking very hard at the wiki software now. Very hard.

Stay tuned.

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

Seems to me you've hit the nail on the head with regards to how this community can naturally develop. Perfect.

I agree with Hesh re Tutorials - both from the perspective of key points being more clearly visable in stills rather than "flying by" in a (low quality) video, and also videos taking 20min.+ to load for us cavemen still on dial-up!

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Dave
Milton, ON

If the Wiki-OLF worked well (like wikipedia does) it would be monumental in my opinion. I've spent countless hours searching here, other forums, and all over the internet for information. For instance I spent maybe half and hour last night searching for general info on sanding around the edges of the lower bout, like how thin, how far from the edge, etc, but I couldn't find it. If there were a Wikiluthier type project there's a good chance there'd be an article on it. Having a resource for guitar building that is the equivalent of wikipedia would be like moving into a different era.

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Jeremy Douglas

WikiLutherie - ahhhhhh, I can't wait.

While we edit back and forth each other's facts on neck joints, I can sit back and watch as mention of tone-enhancing bridge pins anonymously inserted, and of course the tuning systems, the Bridge Doctor's revolutionary change in lutherie,....

Boy, this is going to be fun to watch.



Maybe they've changed their editing policies since I've checked, but however it works, I don't think I'd want to be involved.

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

Also, you don't need high end stuff to do a video. My little Panasonic digital camera will, easily, do a 10 minute video using a 2 Gig SD card. It's my understanding that basic editing can be done in the Windows Movie Maker program. The hard part is remembering to talk while you are doing a task that requires your attention.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

In regards to establishing a wiki, the form and format need to be well thought out.

David Schramm's "Online Apprentice" is very well organized in that he starts with instructional material on how to build the tools, jigs and forms and then progresses to a very logical series of still picture lessons with instructional text explaining each step. The build sequence is key here; an essential ground-up approach.

We have great contributors who have produced some very good tutorials on many of the phases of construction but other than the few books available I have yet to see on this forum a logical series of construction steps presented for the newbie to follow. Even a cursory outline of the build progression would probably be of value to many.

Advanced construction techniques such as voicing, binding a fingerboard and headstock, making a rosette, arm-rests, elevated fingerboards, double tops, carbon fiber bracing laminates, and inlay techniques should be just that..... advanced techniques... and not part of the basic construction process.

I only offer this because a good wiki is one that is well organized, information is easy to find and well thought out insofar as who the target users are and just how the evolving document will be used.

Just my $0.02 ..... YMMV


Peter

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Peter

Excellent. I, for one, would contribute a lot more material to a wiki knowing that I'll only need to write it -once-!

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Bob Garrish
Former Canonized Purveyor of Fine CNC Luthier Services

No doubt - Wikipedia can generate large scale changes in the truth (or at least what people perceive and quote as truth).

I know Wiki is more than Wikipedia, but I have some problems with the way it works. Yes, it's a great resource to look things up - so long as you check the references. I undoubtedly look things up there on occasion. Still, I much prefer the accountability of openly authored writing by a known individual or group. That's what this forum already does, and the discussions are about as close as we get in this trade to a peer revue journal. Putting it in Wiki gives writings a false air of authority in my opinion. I prefer reading the arguments of a topic, rather than the summary or compromise.

Plus, how can you argue with me about it. After all, it's right here in Wikipedia.

Really though, maybe it would be a great way to organize data here. My main hesitation would be that as anarchistic as wiki is, someone would still have to be the one to set it up and regulate it's use. I wouldn't want to be that person.

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

I think there should be certain requirements for being able to post in the wiki. That would take care of a lot of problems.

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Jeremy Douglas

Hmmm. Interesting to me because I just got a new camera , Canon Power Shot. It will do an hour of video too. As a matter of fact I just finished shooting some video with it for the first time. I grabbed my tripod and tried to put together a little demo on making my dishes. Talk about bad acting, Ha! But know I have to figure out how to edit it and get it to You Tube.
I think it will be some help to someone if I get it done. Myself I think videos are far better then just photos. I get more from seeing it done then stills. I think the thing is if you start to video as you are building then stop the camera and do some close ups and get some different angles you should be able to edit it to get a good enough video. I use to video and edit weddings on the side years ago. But now it's digital and as far as editing I'm back to square one. One other problem is I think I need a new computer. But I'll be doing videos instead of photo essays in the future. I did a photo essay on building a metal Tricone body that I did as I put the body together that's in the MIMF library that's has 100 stills in it. They are easy enough to do if you have the camera standing by as you go. And as a note lighting is very important for video. I guess I'll have to dig out my old video light too.