Total noob looking for advice!

[Insomnomaniac]

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"Originally Posted on:"Sat Aug 14, 2010 1:46 pm""

Hi Guys,

I am a carpenter and joiner by trade and a (VERY average) guitar learner by hobby. In the junction zone of these two parts of my life I find a comfortable resting place for an interest in Luthiery.

I am interested in trying my hand at building myself a guitar and/or looking at the possibility of making some for friends/family who want something a little bit different/special.

What I want to know is, where do you think I should start? Would I be better off doing an accoustic or an electric first? Full size or something like a Uke? Kit project or scratch built?

Ultimately I'd like to try a variety of things, but I'm looking for a good start point...

All advice is very welcome!

Ian.

[Ron Wisdom]

Welcome Ian. You're starting a habit that will be very difficult to break. My background is sort of like yours: I've built furniture and cabinets for years, and have beat on my guitar for many years. So, looking for a challenge, I decided to build a guitar and combine my two main interests. This is the way I approached it: I bought 4 or 5 books and started reading, then I spent 8 months building/buying specialized tools and jigs and templates, etc. Then I spent 6 months making the guitar. It took so long because I was very careful and afraid of the intricacy of the work. It came out great and is still the guitar I play the most. It is a cherry dread. I have completed 12 instruments now: 11 acoustic, both dreads and OMs and one semi-hollow electric. I'm proud of all of them.

To me, a solid body electric would be the easiest, if that's what you want. If you want an acoustic, I say just jump in and build what you want to play. Mine are all scratch built, but many here will recommend you start with a kit. I think, with your experience, though, you should just pick what you want and start building.

Good luck and ask a lot of questions. There are some fine builders on this forum.

Ron

[Allen]

My preference is for acoustics and if you start with something like a uke, the investment in materials is going to be pretty minimal, and the concepts are exactly the same. Don't try a soprano first up though. They are actually quite difficult to build and sound good compared to a tenor or concert. And I can garantee that you'll find someone who would love to get a uke as a gift.

[seeaxe]

Gidday Ian and welcome.

I am a fan of serviced (serviced means some of the difficult stuff done for you - see the LMII website for a good description) kits to get started because it avoids the outlay on some of the more expensive tools and avoids more difficult steps, like sanding and bending sides. Having said that I bent my first set of sides the other day and that was very cool! I cant wait to do it again, so I guess it depends on your initial level of confidence.

Once you have had a go, you will have a better idea of what tools you will need and whether you want to invest in some of the more expensive machinery. As you are in Oz, through this forum, you might also find you can link up with others and swap favours.

Electrics are fun and a bit easier (Actually I suspect its just as hard to build a really stellar electric guitar but average electric is easier then average acoustic IMHO)

But if its an acoustic you really want, I'd go for that first, as Ron says. The buzz when you string it up and hear that it doesnt sound like crap and actually sound fantastic is pretty amazing!

I like buying books, so I bought a few, but this forum is probably just as useful and free so you could get away with out. I bought Cumpiano, which is the most often recommended text but the kits I bought came with good instructions and the Stewmac one came with a DVD so I didnt really use Cumpiano to build either guitar. Beautiful book though.

Most books adopt one or other build method. I suggest you decide what build method you prefer and buy the book that best suits that. Libraries have a surprising number of gutar building books, so have a look at your local first.

The most important piece of equipment you are going to need is an understanding wife, as she won't see much of you once you get going.

Good luck!

[Hesh1956]

Start with what you know the most about i.e. if you primarily play an acoustic guitar or an electric guitar or a uke learn to build what you play.

Why? Because at some point you will have to set up your instrument for the player and if you as a player of this sort of stringed instrument have preferences, likes, dislikes your understanding of how the instrument needs to be set-up will go a very long way in helping you achieve this goal.

After that the only thing that you need to learn is how... to get that set-up that you prefer/desire.

If it were me, and it once was..., I would start with a kit. Besides the woodworking of which you have some advantages kits, some kits..., can come with excellent documentation which can go a very long way to ensure your success.

Most of all though this should be a very good time for you as it often has been for many of us so unless you are a sadist cut yourself some slack and build what you know, perhaps get a kit, participate here on the ANZLF with these great folks, and Bob's your uncle.

Good luck and welcome to the forum.

[Insomnomaniac]

Thanks for the advice!

I'm thinking I might start with a solid-body electric, then a tenor uke, then a nylon string classical/accoustic...

I figure that way I can work on picking up different skills gradually. Teach myself neck building, fretting, finishing, setup etc on the electric. Then teach myself hollow construction on the uke, then tacke the bigger guitar.

Ultimately I'd love a 12 string semi-accoustic, but I think that might be a somewhat ambitious first project!

I currently own an Ashton brand dread, but I'm not that happy with the setup/string height/playability. Sounds ok, but hard to play! I also have a Greg Bennet Torino electric which is a very nice twin-humbucker which plays well. The only thing it doesn't have is a tremolo, so I'm thinking of fitting a Floyd Rose style one on the electric I want to build.

Does that sound like a sensible approach, or am I kidding myself about the gradual learning idea?

I figure I'm looking at a couple of years at least to get through that lot!

I'd like to do the electric using all native timbers if possible (why not?) - any suggestions on any particularly suitable timbers? I'd ideally like to do the body out of full thickness timber rather than veneer it to give myself a bit more freedom with the shaping and/or carving...

[seeaxe]

This is the final re-constructed message of this topic posted by the ANZLF help team.

If you are going the electric route, there are some nice plans on this forum.

Good luck
Richard