Cost to be a luthier

[The Saint]

I am new to this and am quit interested as I am a musician, love music, wood instruments and creating. I could see myself (as a hobbyist) dabbling in this and becoming quite passionate about it was well. I have a world renowned luthier 30 mins from my house (Sergie De Jonge) who provides guitar building classes which of course I would attend. However as a hobbyist I would like to know what is a ball park figure to maintain an adequate shop.

Thanks

[enalnitram]

You could buy a guitar kit for $350-500 (or more), including shipping. As a builder you should have a bandsaw, a thickness sander (or very nice planes), a way to bend wood, as well as various jigs to slot your fingerboards, rout slots for nut, saddle, etc. radiused dishes. a nice caliper. dozens of other little things, which all add up ... all this will be definitely pricey. if there is a temptation to, say, just get the cheap band saw, you will almost always be flirting with false economy.

if you build a kit, at the very least you will need a drill press, a router, hacksaw, chisels, lots of clamps, and a few other things. I probably put about $700 into my first guitar, total, but it was sinking money into the instrument and into tools that I will use forever. I borrowed a bunch of stuff to build that first one. I bought a few power tools. I made several jigs, which isn't hard to do. However it isn't easy to be exacting. So I'm actually remaking some things that I did last year. It's a process, not a goal or a single figure. but I so far have spent less on this hobby than my wife does on movie rentals. (I remind her of this often!) and with each commission I acquire new tools.

"adequate" is a relative term, and adequate this year may be different than "adequate" next year.

an adequate shop is going be several thousands, give or take a thousand? oops, did I just discuss pricing?

[Bruce Sexauer]

I built my first 2 guitars in 1967 at a kitchen table with $150 for tools AND materials. Ten times that could do it today, and you'd have more tools at that. A complete shop without some of the popular "boutique" tools (you do NOT need a thickness sander; a plane and scraper are fine) could be established for under $5K, including a bandsaw (Delta 14" w/extention block).

[OddManOut]

Q: How does one make a small fortune in luthiery?

A: Start with a large one.

[cotten]

I'm not a builder, but I do have a comment. Like other interests, I suspect that it is easy to start relatively small and add things as you go. This is true of photography, golf, cycling, coin or stamp collecting, even boating. OK, maybe not boating , but most other things.

I'd say that if you're interested, the best first step would be to take advantage of those De Jonge lessons! You'll find out first hand things that even the best, most experienced of us can't tell you.

cotten

[Brackett Instruments]

The biggest cost for me was......my sanity

[The Saint]

Originally Posted by OddManOut

Q: How does one make a small fortune in luthiery?

A: Start with a large one.

That's good!

[JohnM]

Originally Posted by The Saint

That's good!

It's funny cause it's true!

Just finished my taxes and it's sad that I could, almost literally, go work at 7-11 and make about the same amount of money.... and get benefits! However that would be depressing not to get to work with my hands and create.

To the OP; You can do it with very little. It just takes a lot more work. My first 3 were built in my dining room in a 1 bedroom apartment before I was married. I only had a few hand tools. I had no clue what I was doing and these "guitars" totally sucked, but hey we all have to start somewhere, and there wasn't the amount of instruction back then as you can find these days.

[Kitchen Guitars]

One day I was doing restoration work at a table in a basement. Next thing I knew I owned a small guitar company for cheap. Learning a Bandsaw is tougher than bending a side!
For ever 3 people that want to build there's at least one running down the road screaming. So, keep your eyes open for opportunity.
I have learned by Buddies, books and DVD's. I never took a lesson.*
While I have learned a bunch doing everything three times. There is something to be said about just learning how to do it right the first time from a pro !
For folks wanting to build, that build, restore.... Folks toward the East. Look into A.S.I.A
* I bought the fellow out. 3 weeks later I went to McJam and I exhausted Poor Tim McKnight with my excitement and empty head. Then I went to A.S.I.A Took 3 days of fantastic classes. Met 100's of folks with the same affliction. Hung out with new guys to Kevin Ryan. An amazing (affordable) 3 days.
The event info is http://asiartisans.org/content/
2011 ASIA SYMPOSIUM
June 8–12, 2011 at East Stroudsburg University in East Stroudburg, Pa

The Symposium is very close to the Martin Guitar factory. Thats a great tour.
BTW = I am on my 3rd and 4th guitars. I plan on taking many classes in the near and distant future.

[Kitchen Guitars]

Originally Posted by JohnM

It's funny cause it's true!

Just finished my taxes and it's sad that I could, almost literally, go work at 7-11 and make about the same amount of money.... and get benefits! However that would be depressing not to get to work with my hands and create.

To the OP; You can do it with very little. It just takes a lot more work. My first 3 were built in my dining room in a 1 bedroom apartment before I was married. I only had a few hand tools. I had no clue what I was doing and these "guitars" totally sucked, but hey we all have to start somewhere, and there wasn't the amount of instruction back then as you can find these days.

Hey folks! John Mayes here has a great set of Build DVD's available.

[Dave in Tejas]

Here's the secret...just start.
Pick up a really busted-up guitar for nothing, and rebuild it.
If you stick with that, move on to the next something.
Pretty soon you'll be felling Spruce trees.

Don't be limited by the cost, or how many tools you're told you need. Figure out how to do it without all that.

Oh yes, read, read, read, but later, after you start.

[dekutree64]

If you want to build nice proper looking guitars, and don't have most of the tools, expect at least $1000 for the first. Unless you buy a kit, that will save you a needing a bunch of the tools so you could get it done cheaper.

Forgive the outside link, but here is a list of essential tools that I wrote up a while back: http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/v...=tools#p404601

If you just want to make music and don't care what it looks like, then check out this guy, he's awesome http://www.dennishavlena.com/
I find it highly amusing how many luthiers are named Dennis. Never run across such a concentration of my own name in any other field

[Shabby Chic]

A lot more than you think.

[John Osthoff]

Get Cumpiano and Natelson's book, Guitarmaking Tradition and Technology. While some of the book's techniques are slightly dated by today's standards, I feel the main intention of the book is to show how to make a guitar without the expense of a fully equiped shop. It does a good job of this. They show you some techniques using power tools, but also show alternate methods using hand tools.

One thing you will need (a lot of) is clamps. You can build your own clamps (I didn't) but then you need the tools to do that. You will also need a fairly stable environment to work in.

Sometimes the cost of doing this sort of thing can't always be measured only in monetary value, but I won't go into that right now

[Haans]

More than a plumber and less than a cabinet shop owner.