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Old 01-14-2018, 09:08 AM
printer2 printer2 is offline
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Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Middle of Canada
Posts: 5,098
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I was told by a local luthier that I was to come see him with my tenth guitar. I was showing him my first at the time. I was interested in what he thought of the sound, he said it was fine. He did tell me where the construction could be better or how I should be using the materials. We spent over an hour talking, I basically excused myself as he is there to make a living. I find most people building or repairing guitars are pretty good with helping others start off. We were all there and we all have the same passion.

On the tenth guitar, not sure which to bring him, I generally have multiple builds on at the same time, put one off for a while (like the Telecaster) while I build another. I have not been too concerned with my building as I am more interested in experimenting, finding ways of construction I would like to use and trying to learn what makes guitars tick.

Making guitars look perfect takes much more time than making a workable instrument. If you have a nice looking guitar, nice wood, and the binding is not quite up to the rest of the guitar it is something another person would notice. You learn over time, learn by your mistakes, eventually you find what works for you. I know it is said that it takes a while to learn how to make a good sounding guitar. Not to say a first guitar can not sound good, it is not too hard to build a guitar that is equivalent to an average store bought instrument. I think it is not too hard to make a great sounding instrument. Now the trick is to make that great sounding instrument so it can last for a number of years.

An electric guitar is a good place to start learning how to build. You really have to get one thing right, the neck. The bridge is adjustable so intonation is not a problem and the body is not going to fall apart on you. On building an acoustic instrument I recommend people to build a ukulele first (not soprano) as it is less work and you learn all the steps needed to make a guitar. It will give you an idea where you might have some shortcomings and when you build a guitar you don't have to worry too much if you are doing it right, what tools might make it easier for you to build the guitar.
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