classical guitar building

[chris horton]

i am english man who lives in india and tools are not as available as in the west.
if you have any expirience in building your own calssical guitar than i will form some questions once you make contact with me, or would like some information of any website about the subject.
thank you
chris

[John]

Go to the MIMF; the Musical Instrument Makers Forum, and you will find our pretty well all that is fit to print on the craft of guitar making

[Lou_williams]

John,

Do you have a link to that forum. Making a Guitar is one of my goals and I have not had time to get into it yet. I know that there are schools in my area N. Cal, but I can't take the time to go right now.

[John]

Guys,

A word of caution. I got into woodworking by way of evolving from a guitar repair/setup guy to a luthier (guitar-maker) wannabe.

Just about anybody can make an electric guitar body (especially anybody with woodworking experience, like you guys). If you are going to make the necks and fingerboards yourself, however, or if you're going to make acoustic instruments, you'll save a lot of money, time, blood, sweat, etc. if you follow a couple tips that I wish I had known of;

Don't use expensive materials such as ebony on your first couple of attempts. You will most likely throw away your first 1/2 dozen necks.

Before attaching a neck to a guitar permanantly, such as with neck-through or set-in necks, take the finished neck to your local "certified" luthier and see what he thinks of it. Don't be surprised if he says "nope. try again." (I got really sick of hearing that, and he got really sick of seeing me).

Don't try anything fancy, even though you may be very accomplished in doing such things in other mediums. Things like abalone inlays or cosmetic laminates.

If your going to try an acoustic, make it a classical rather than steel string. The nylon strings carry a lot less tension, do not require a truss rod, and are more forgiving in general. Plus - higher action is more acceptable with a classical and if your neck is a little off, that's what you'll have.

Please don't take this as "high and mighty" advice. I don't mean for it to sound that way. I've done everything I'm telling you not to do at least twice, and I have about $3,000 worth of kindling to show for it. I wish I could bring myself to throw them out, but the 200+ hours of work per guitar stops me even though they will never be playable. Guitars represent very precise balances of strength and plasticity, and building them makes your average amoire look like a walk in the park.

Hope this helps; please email me and let me know how it turns out if you remember.

J

[Lou_williams]

John,

Thanks for the reply. I know that it is a very very difficult task. It is something I would like to learn how to do. I don't play, but my son does. I would like to get to the point where I could build an acoustic steel string. I know that is the hardest and I don't assume that it will happen quick. I have been in woodworking for enough years to understand the tough tasks. What I need is direction to start to learn the issue. I know lots about harmonics and wave theory. You get a lot of that stuff in engineering school. Is there a good basic book on the subject that would give me a start to ask the right questions.

Lou

[John]

There's a book called "Guitar Making - Technique + Tradition" or something like that. It has very comprehensive coverage of all the steps. I think the author is "Compano" or something. Sorry, I don't know the spelling exactly.

J

[Lou_williams]

Thanks,

I find the book and buy it.

[Desparad0]

A great source for information on guitar building of all styles as well as supplies is Luthier's Mercantile. There handbook/catalog was enormous in helping me to build my fisrt guitar. You can find them on the web at lmii.com

[Glen]

Anyone want to try a violin?

Just kidding. This sounds like a formidable undertaking. Also seems like this would require a specialty shop like the woodcarver vs the cabinet maker or a shop specializing in chairs.
I've mentioned before that things/work seem to come in waves. May do 20 custom book cases in a row then some vanities and I fell into a rash of intrument repairs, couple violins, a bass and a few fiddles, a banjo. Point is I fabricated more bizzare jigs
in this time span than ever before, each unique to the situation.
I started refusing the work. Mostly because I was getting into an area I knew little or nothing about. Try resetting a sound peg in a violin, you'll understand. This is an art I've no time to master and to my misfortune I might add. Good luck !

Glen

[Lou_williams]

Glen,

One of the major differences between you and me is I don't have to be able to pay the bills from my woodworking. I would like to but, I don't know have to. As a result, I can look at learning a little art along the way. Carving and marketry is not something that I have wanted to do a lot of for the decorative aspects. But, I think this is something that I would like to know how to do for this application.

Lou