Laurelyn Sexauer's first guitar
 

Having graduated from Sacramento State College a couple of weeks ago, my daughter Laurelyn is spending part of the summer in the shop with me building a guitar! She has joined the plates, and is band-sawing out the top as I write. Earlier today she decided that it will be an L00. We picked H mahogany and a German spruce top for it yesterday. I will offer guidance the whole way, and am building one along side her to demonstrate the moves, but it will be all her hands.

http://mojoluthier.com/LP18/LMS/joining.jpg

http://mojoluthier.com/LP18/LMS/roping.jpg

http://mojoluthier.com/LP18/LMS/topsawing.jpg

http://mojoluthier.com/LP18/LMS/templatedtop.jpg

That's very exciting - maybe there will be Sexauer guitars being built for another 50 years! It's very encouraging to see second generation luthiers learning the craft from family members - congratulations to both of you.

Wonderful. Just wonderful.

Measure twice, cut once...:up:

So how will success be judged in this fine endeavor, the quality of the build and the sound of the guitar, or whether the youth comes out unscathed from the event!

(I had the chance to meet the fine young Laurelyn, a pleasant, mature, intelligent and beautiful young lady she is)

That is SO COOL! Looking forward to seeing the progress!

Too soon to say, of course, but if she remains this open to my input (I am doing my best to stay away from known buttons) the quality of the instrument should be familiar to us. If that happens, our respective sanities should also survive. I have told her not to touch the various blades, but really that is pretty much up to her; I can’t get in the middle of that!

That is incredibly awesome. Good daddy's are are the good stuff.

This is great! I hope this proves to be a wonderful experience for both of you.

Very cool for both of you, Bruce. Looking forward to watching this one.

Neat! I sense a good Spirit about her. All the best with the pursuit! I'm thinking good thoughts.

Laurelyn has been artsy/crafts since she was a toddler. Art supplies were her gift of choice for many years, and additionally she had good rhythm, natural pitch when singing, and a strong sense of time quite early on. There were both piano lesson and violin lessons for almost ten years. Then she became self-conscious for a period of time. We started a guitar when she was fifteen, but didn’t get too far. You may recall that I finished it myself and gave it to her for Christmas a couple of years ago.

She came to me a couple of months ago and asked if she could build a guitar with me this summer. I have warned her that many people find the process addictive, and that she may discover she has a talent for it, but she has not been dissuaded. I am doing my best to remain cool. :)

I would love to reserve my spot to get an opportunity to play it when it is completed. I just live on the other side of town. ;) Really, this is such a cool thread to follow. I hope that the two of you have a blast together.

Best,
Jayne

Short of someone actually ponying up, that looks like first right of refusal to me! Laurelyn is thrilled to see such interest in any case.

We have got the X and upper transverse braces onto the top, and the backstrip in as well. So far there is nothing that is not completely up to my level, and I am so proud of both of us (for different reasons) I can hardly contain myself. My fantasy is that this will come out at pretty much my normal level, and will prove to be the best summer job Laurelyn could have had.

Maybe you found your person to pass along your knowledge to. As said, seeing the Sexauer lineage continue on would be a wonderful thing. Not to put any pressure on Laurelyn. But after she finishes this one and if the thought crosses her mind, 'you know, I wouldn't mind building another one', she might just be on that slippery slope. That is if you two can share the same workspace. ;)