I see that Stew Mac is selling the GAL Big Red Book series. I've never seen them, but always thought that they should be something that would be a good reference on the book shelf.
As it will cost about $100/book by the time shipping is added, do those of you that have seen these books think it's a worthwhile investment?
GAL Big Red Books
Yes...definitely....no doubt....pawn your grandmother to buy them!!
I rarely have a day in the workshop without consulting the BRB's.
If you join up with the GAL you get a special price on the books and when a new one comes out you get your hands on it before the retailers do. BRB #5 has just come out. My copy should be arriving in a month or two.
Cheers Martin
I rarely have a day in the workshop without consulting the BRB's.
If you join up with the GAL you get a special price on the books and when a new one comes out you get your hands on it before the retailers do. BRB #5 has just come out. My copy should be arriving in a month or two.
Cheers Martin
I've thought about buying them for over a year now. The price has been the main reason that I haven't bought them yet. All of my pocket money goes to tools or wood at the moment. But they are on the wish list.
What about the "Lutherie Tools" and "Lutherie Woods and Steel String Guitars" books. Are they worth getting too?
What about the "Lutherie Tools" and "Lutherie Woods and Steel String Guitars" books. Are they worth getting too?
- If God had intended us to drink beer, He would have given us stomachs. - David Daye.
- The mouth of a happy man is filled with beer. -
- The mouth of a happy man is filled with beer. -
Should be by next week then with our interest rate bound to go up.Dominic wrote:Yep, love them. They are 40 bucks US on the GAL site. You got to be able to get them into Australia for much less than 100 $OZ. Just wait until the US economy tanks a bit more and the $OZ will be close to parity.
Dom
If I buy all of them at once then the shipping is a tiny bit more reasonable. Comes to $300 for all 4 books. I'll go over to the GAL and see if I con get a better deal by joining.
) and never looked at them again.........
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Paul B
I'm sort of the same. I use them as references for what ever I'm planning to work on- like when I was recently asked to build an acoustic bass.
But other than that I don't look at them much, but then I've got a couple thousand books to choose from. I guess I'm a book hoarder (but at least I'm not a neat freak
).
If you are planning on buying them, and they are great reference books, buying them all at once is gonna kill you on freight fees. Better to add one to each stewmac order. I guess that'd end up costing the same, but at least it'd spread out the costs.
But other than that I don't look at them much, but then I've got a couple thousand books to choose from. I guess I'm a book hoarder (but at least I'm not a neat freak
).If you are planning on buying them, and they are great reference books, buying them all at once is gonna kill you on freight fees. Better to add one to each stewmac order. I guess that'd end up costing the same, but at least it'd spread out the costs.
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Dennis Leahy
- Blackwood
- Posts: 872
- Joined: Wed Oct 10, 2007 12:32 am
- Location: Duluth, MN, US
- Contact:
You can get book 3 and the Luthierie Tools in a flat rate box with room to spare. I don't have books 1 and 2 here at home, but if the books are about the same size you can get two red books in the box and have room left over, about the size of a large glue bottle. The flat rate box runs about $39 to Australia, if memory serves. So, if you want all the books, its going to run you $117 just in shipping.
Its a shame that I couldn't just stop by Tacoma this weekend and pick up what you want, but they don't even take phone orders.
If there is a way I can help. let me know. I don't think anyone on this forum lives closer than I do. If nothing else, its less to my house for shipping.
Its a shame that I couldn't just stop by Tacoma this weekend and pick up what you want, but they don't even take phone orders.
If there is a way I can help. let me know. I don't think anyone on this forum lives closer than I do. If nothing else, its less to my house for shipping.
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sebastiaan56
- Blackwood
- Posts: 1279
- Joined: Sun Oct 28, 2007 5:23 am
- Location: Blue Mountains
Well, after posting my original question, I received a very generous offer from one of our members for a new unopened complete set of Big Red Books along with the Lutierie Tools and Lutherie Woods books for much less than half of what the they would have cost not even taking shipping into account.
They arrived in the mail today, and now I've got heaps to read. Good thing too, because I've read every book that the library has on instrument building several times over.
They arrived in the mail today, and now I've got heaps to read. Good thing too, because I've read every book that the library has on instrument building several times over.
I've studied lots of things from botany, horticulture, politics and economics and now lutherie. I love books and buy heaps and have learned one important thing.
That is, It is a mistake to read a technical book once and think that every lesson has been learned. This is even more so with books like the BRB which is so diverse and non-linear. The lesson you learn from an article when you are at x level of proficiency, is not the same when you read the article when your are at x+n level of proficiency.
I go back to re-read for the second time an article in some journal or the BRB and take away totally different messages. Or my eyes pic out subtle differences in model design or jig specification. Always learning.
Plus I love the musty smell of books. And lets face, few would blink at spending $50 on a night out.
Dom
That is, It is a mistake to read a technical book once and think that every lesson has been learned. This is even more so with books like the BRB which is so diverse and non-linear. The lesson you learn from an article when you are at x level of proficiency, is not the same when you read the article when your are at x+n level of proficiency.
I go back to re-read for the second time an article in some journal or the BRB and take away totally different messages. Or my eyes pic out subtle differences in model design or jig specification. Always learning.
Plus I love the musty smell of books. And lets face, few would blink at spending $50 on a night out.
Dom
Your so right there. I've got a set of the Best Of Fine Woodworking that I've had for 30 years. They're great to pull out every now and then and re-read. Some things that were so difficult to grasp when I first read them and tried to accomplish are so simple now, but the subtleties are what intrigue me now, leading to options and variations that I hadn't considered previously.
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