|
|
#1
02-28-2014, 09:11 AM
|
|||
|
|||
1 week guitar building classes: Are they worth it ?
Acoustic concerts, week long acoustic playing work shops, and now I discover 1-week guitar building work shop ! My initial reaction was cool, sign me up, can't wait to build my own guitar. Then I saw the $2700 price tag. Well, depending on woods used, maybe worth it. Then I thought about my mechanical and wood working abilities: None !!!! I get nervous drilling a strap peg hole for my guitars. Would a one week workshop (class size 2-4) be worthwhile for someone as inept as myself and what are the odds of me producing a playable instrument that at least approaches the value paid for the workshop ?
John 
|
|
#2
02-28-2014, 09:19 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
My woodworking skills are minimal, so I would be better off spending $2700 on a really nice guitar. IMO, you aren't paying for the guitar; you are paying for the experience.
|
|
#3
02-28-2014, 09:25 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
My gut tells me that a week-long guitar building class for $2700 should be at least as great of a value as a 4-week brain-surgery class for $150,000.
__________________
"I've always thought of bluegrass players as the Marines of the music world" – (A rock guitar guy I once jammed with) Martin America 1 Martin 000-15sm Recording King Dirty 30s RPS-9 TS Taylor GS Mini Baton Rouge 12-string guitar Martin L1XR Little Martin 1933 Epiphone Olympic 1971 square neck Dobro
|
|
#4
02-28-2014, 09:26 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
If you think you'll have a passion for woodworking, than I'd say the experience is well worth $2700. If you are trying to justify the cost of the guitar you're going to make, then I don't think you're looking at it the right way
 . The guitar you end up with will be worth nothing to anybody else.
__________________
'17 Waterloo Scissortail '17 David Newton 00 Rosewood '11 Homemade Strat Ibanez AS73 w/ Lollar P90s
|
|
#5
02-28-2014, 09:42 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
A 1 week guitar building class is worth it if you want to build 1 weak guitar.
sorry. couldn't help myself
|
|
#7
02-28-2014, 09:56 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Yeah, I don't know how you could build an acoustic guitar from scratch in 1 week. Probably a high-end kit you glue together, then finish, then install the hardware.
__________________
Mike My music: https://mikebirchmusic.bandcamp.com 2020 Taylor 324ceBE 2017 Taylor 114ce-N 2012 Taylor 310ce 2011 Fender CD140SCE Ibanez 12 string a/e 73(?) Epiphone 6830E 6 string 72 Fender Telecaster Epiphone Dot Studio Epiphone LP Jr Chinese Strat clone Kala baritone ukulele Seagull 'Merlin' Washburn Mandolin Luna 'tatoo' a/e ukulele antique banjolin Squire J bass
|
|
#8
02-28-2014, 09:58 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Yes, I'd say its worth it. It may be about $1k more than I'd like to spend but if you will be able to build a guitar on your own after the week is up, for sure. If a lot of the parts are preassembled.... well, thats really not what your paying for is it?
|
|
#9
02-28-2014, 10:25 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
John, I think it's unlikely that the finished product would reflect a 2700$ Price tag. That's not really what those things are about. It's more of a hands on training course for people interested in the pursuit of guitar making, or perhaps as a fun vacation experience that you get a cool souvenir out of. You have to decide what aspect of the idea is more valuable to you, the experience, or the finished product...
|
|
#10
02-28-2014, 10:27 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
what's that joke about lawyers representing themselves...?
seriously, i think if you want to learn a lot about guitar building, then it's a good idea. if you want the best guitar $2700 can buy, then not so much.
|
|
#11
02-28-2014, 10:33 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Quote:
Re Neuro surgery: As a neuropsychologist, I am better prepped for it than guitar surgery. John
|
|
#12
02-28-2014, 10:50 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
I haven't heard about a one week class for $2700. With 4 takers at a time that's pretty good wages from a luthier's perspective! One week is realistically hardly more than enough time for orientation. There are quite a few alternatives out there you might consider, including my own version, which I call "Masterclass".
I charge $1500 a week, and it is one on one 8 hours a day for a six day week. The class is ideally 3 weeks long as that is how long it takes to build a guitar. The student is present and is encouraged to ask questions, all of which will be answered in complete detail, but the student does no work whatsoever, merely observing. In addition to to the fee for being present in the workshop and receiving detailed instruction, there is a tuition for the class. The tuition is the price of the guitar being built, which becomes the student's property at the end of the experience. You might think of it as documentation of the process. Being a "Masterclass", applicants should already be grounded in lutherie if they are to get full value from the experience.
|
|
#13
02-28-2014, 10:55 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Having taken a 2 week hands on acoustic guitar building class ($3500) and a 1 week electric guitar class ($2500) from Charles Fox I'll offer my opinions. If all you want is a new guitar then, like others suggest, you are better off taking the money and buying one. If you want to learn a craft, enjoy woodworking, and have an unforgettable enjoyable experience, then it is easily worth the money.
A one week course seems very short to me to build an acoustic guitar from scratch. In Charles class we put in long and intense 12 -14 hour days to be able to go home with a guitar "in the white" (Completed except for finish) at the end of his 2 week course. I built an Indian rosewood OM with sitka top and ebony fretboard and binding. Its sound and playability compares to any guitar I've owned or played. I've built 2 acoustics and 2 electrics so far. I am also taking a week long course from Charles next month on repair, set-up and maintenance. ($1700) I will say it is a considerable amount of money but this is a craft I plan to spend my retirement doing. I don't take expensive vacations, have other expensive hobbies, or spend a lot of money going out. To ME classes like this are as much about the experience as learning the craft. A great value in my opinion. Hope this is of some value. http://www.americanschooloflutherie....tar_making.htm
__________________
Steve
|
|
#14
02-28-2014, 11:14 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
I think in any sort of 1-3 week course, if your goal is to get a great guitar out of it, you're probably going to be disappointed. Guitar building is a craft, and there aren't any crafts you can master in 3 weeks.
What I would expect, more reasonably, to get out of a course like that, going into it with no particular woodworking skill. 1) A greater appreciation for and understanding of how guitars are built and how they work. 2) A pretty crappy guitar. 3) The knowledge and skills to go out and make a second guitar on my own (if I have access to the gear) that will be slightly less crappy. Is that worth $2700, or $4500 or however much you're being charged? Almost certainly not IF you're only focused on item #2. However, as a way to start a new hobby that might give you joy for years (eg, item #3) and for the experience ... maybe.
|
|
#15
02-28-2014, 11:22 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Here locally there is a luthier who has an 8-day class for only $1,200. While I doubt seriously that any guitar I built would be better than a guitar I bought for $1,200, the experience and first-hand knowledge of how a guitar is built would be very valuable even if I never built another one.
Those who say building a guitar is an acquired skill that you won't get with one pass are probably spot on. You may go through 4-5 incremental improvements before you find you can build a guitar you're proud of. I saw a segment on PBS where Wayne Henderson played his very first guitar for the interviewer. Meh ... it was just "okay" sounding.
__________________
"Alas for those that never sing, But die with all their music in them!" --- Oliver Wendell Holmes Hear my original music at: https://www.reverbnation.com/judsonhair Last edited by Judson; 02-28-2014 at 11:28 AM.
|
