Official Luthiers Forum!

This should probably be in off-topic but here we go....

Chris Pile's comment about who you can trust when reading material & watching videos online made me stop and think about what the OLF makes possible. I was super lucky back in 2015 when I found the OLF. It was literally the first place I subscribed to, and I started building instruments using the information found here. For the longest time I did not join any luthier Facebook groups or follow any luthier or woodworking subreddits. It was just what I could learn on the OLF and from its members. Probably for good reason as those other places can become pretty obnoxious.

I've had the opportunity to meet many of you in person. I've taken classes from Hesh & Dave, Brian Howard, & Greg Maxwell. Flew to Scotland twice now to hang out with Colin North. Drove to West by God Virginia to meet Don Parker. All good stuff. I don't have a lot of time to build at the moment. I'm in the throes of aging parents, estate sales, assisted living -> nursing homes, and all that comes with it. I make up for it coming here and seeing all the fantastic work and information being shared.

So, what has the OLF made possible for me? I got to accompany my 11-year-old playing a Paul McCartney tune on a guitar I built for him:



Fast forward to today, he's 15 with long hair and I'm teaching him to travis pick. F'n awesomeness:



Very grateful.

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Insta - https://www.instagram.com/cbcguitars/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/cbcguitars

Beautiful Brad, this is great to read and see, thank You!!!

It’s making it possible for me to do the best job I can making my first guitar, which is to be a gift for my son, who is 36. He graduated university in 2009, and I proposed to make him a guitar as a graduation gift. It’s gonna be a little late, obviously, but hopefully it’ll be a well made instrument, thanks to this forum.

Once more I must stress the community of this place. It's literally connected me to luthiers within a few miles of me, and around the world. That is priceless to me.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Getting to know you, Brad, has likewise been a real blessing. Thanks for all your help. Our prayers go with you down this road of dealing with elder care. It's no picnic, I know.

Piling on the OLF appreciation: I first learned this stuff by reading the Cumpiano book way back in the late 1990s, and building the steel string from that book. I read lots more books, and bought DVDs, etc., over the years, and built more guitars. However, the most dramatic jumps forward for me, as a committed hobbyist/potential seller someday, have come from the OLF and from getting connected with Robbie O'Brien. Robbie's value is self-evident; his educational offerings are, to me, the top of the heap, in just about all areas of building. Through the OLF, I have learned soooo many important techniques and approaches that I would not have learned anywhere else. Like Brad, I have gotten the opportunity to meet some great OLF-connected folks in person here in the Ohio/West Virginia/Virginia part of the USA. And I have even gotten to meet some folks getting out of the craft and buy some of their tools and supplies, thanks to the OLF Classifieds. I'm very thankful for all that the OLF provides.

been doing this for years and the good guys will share their knowledge and experience both good and bad. Hesh and I have a long history and we often play devils advocate to make a point.
No one knows it all but you can learn from anyone , even if it what not to do. In my years I learned from some great builders and inlay artists like David Nichols , CF Martin , Wayne Henderson Milt Hess and many more.
I pay it forward as much as I can , when I started we didn't have info at hand like this so hope you learn and share as well . Many I have been with were just fantastic people and shared so much.

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

More giants of inspiration.... Bob Benedetto, Grit Laskin, Bill Cumpiano, Michael Dresdner, Dick Boak, ad infinitum.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

I found maestronet for violin making 20 some years ago when I wanted to make instuments. It seemed when looking on.The internet, that everyone and their brother made guitars, so I picked.vio!ins. The carving seemed cooler.than flat.wood.and braces. Maastricht was.then, and still is the place for online violin makers.
OLF seems the be the same for guitars. No others.seem to be.as.active. After making a 1/2 scale 5 string , based on a Strad guitar for one of the grandsons, and fixing the broken rib, and neckli joint on a alto? Uke for.The other twin, I was hooked. I saw an AMATI archtop on Danny Koentopp?s site and had to.make one. Why not? I never saw or.held.a.real.violin before I started.Making them either.
I wanted some.online support.
OLF was the only site that seemed.worth it.
I still haven't looked.at.or.played a real guitar! But I keep making them,.and they seem.to.sound good.
They certainly sound better than.I can type.with thumbs.

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Why be normal?

I'd love to have been on the MIMF.... But they won't let me look around without signing up... Their loss.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

mimf was one of the first ones the lady that used to run threw me out so I never went back

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Frank Ford was a great repair guru
Steve Kovachic
David Laplante
so many great builders and repair folks

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

I remember waiting with anticipation in the 70s for my monthly dose of Guitar Player, Frets and Pickin' mags, only to crack 'em open and thumb right to John Carruther's columns. There were others of course, but John really started me going in without (well…) too much fear. This is where I began learning about this stuff. And then later, Dan the Man took over, and introduced us to those masters such as Frank et al. Thanks to the Internet and this forum, we now have access to the minds of the very best among us. This is priceless and I suppose the OLF has played an immense part in this.

I know it has, and still does for me. Thanks guys and gals. You're an awesome bunch.


Pierre
Guitares Torvisse

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Pierre Castonguay

The OLF is my bible haha. Have made all sorts of luthiers friends along the way. I spent a lot of time int he beginning reading thru all the old posts. lets start a separate category of how to toots.

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https://www.instagram.com/fostinoguitars/
https://www.facebook.com/PuraVidaUkuleles/

It’s no exaggeration to say the information and mentorship I have received on the OLF was a critical component of my education over the last ten years as I went from “guy building his first guitar” to full time repair guy who even gets the odd commission. Chris Pile, Hesh and others have taken the time to help me over many lutherie obstacles and I am very thankful.

The only other online resource as reliable and useful for me has been Frank Ford’s frets.com, every word of which I’ve read dozens of times over and indeed I maintain a small shrine to St Francis of Palo Alto in the corner of my workshop.

Not quite a reply to Brad’s question, but apart from the factual information, of which there is lots, what I take from this (and some other forums) is a sense of companionship. That there are lots of people round the world who think this is a worthwhile thing to do. To try and make the best guitars we can.

Perhaps particularly for us amateurs working away in garden sheds, in kitchens or even if lucky in RH controlled shops it can sometimes feel a slightly lonesome occupation. To hear from people, at all levels of skill, how they face the same issues and find solutions or workarounds really helps to keep us going.

Let’s keep the flow of information going!

Dave M