Official Luthiers Forum!

With reference to the recent “hobby/pro” poll, there should've been a third category for folks like me – players without a wood working shop who, under the tutelage of a master, want to design and build an ideal instrument for personal use with their own bare hands. And maybe also acquire some of the skills necessary to set up and maintain their other instruments, including refrets, action set-ups, etc. Kits are one thing, but you still need the time, tools, climate controlled space, and motivation. Without them the results can often be more frustrating and disheartening than satisfactory or enlightening. The opportunity to take a building course from a bona fide luthier was so rare a couple of decades ago when I first looked around for one that I gave up thinking of it as a possibility.

I discovered Tony Karol's course last year by accident. He's a sponsor of the fingerstyle guitar club I'd recently joined and they sent me to him for a K&K pickup installation. I came on a weekday evening and met two of his students a fair way into their projects at the time. Didn't take much to convince myself to rearrange my annual budget and sign up for the next semester, which began four months ago. At first I approached the project as a one-off, but you already know what happens when the dust of Brazillian rosewood infects your nostrils and tightbond permeates the pores of your fingers. And then there's the flood of ideas that can't be incorporated into this build, which begin to dominate your daydreams of the next one – in grad school! (Like Andy's “travel guitar” that dismantles and fits into his knapsack.)

This build (the Raven) is Shane's master Lutz with Koa; for my MA I'm thinking of decade old Adirondack and Joe's three year old cut Cocobolo for a travel guitar with folding or removable neck; and maybe then, once I think I know what I'm doing, the PhD with a harp guitar – or double neck six string/cittern, to use with a loop pedal, or...well, you might say my new hobby is being the perpetual student of a pro. Which makes me wonder how you put that into a poll,

What I find most rewarding, aside from making most every component from scratch, is overcoming the challenges of design innovation – asymmetrical rosette with recon stone, side sound port and reverse camber slothead in balanced proportions, pinless bridge on a multiscale fan fret with weird bird's foot purfling set into the Zircote fingerboard, how all that asymmetrical symmetry affects the bracing pattern – and witnessing how these ideas transform themselves into the resonant reality of wood. I think Tony finds the process equally gratifying, which reinforces my enthusiasm.

I apologise for my loquacity but I offer this story as an expression of gratitude for the wisdom and inspiration I've garnered from the archives of your generous and amiable community, and also to encourage any of you pros contemplating the possibility of opening up your own workshop to student strangers, which in a way is like lending someone on the subway your toothbrush, to go for it. People like me need you. And the true measure of the craftsman's soul is...

                          

And this is what Tony has helped me do so far; please have a look and tell me what you think (before it's too late!)



Thanks

Greg

The Raventhat

Greg,

The Raven will be a superb guitar because IMHO, your passion could not be guided by a better mentor. As demonstrated time and time again here at the OLF, Tony's work is at the very pinnacle of this craft.

Best of all for you and the rest of us whom are hungry for the knowledge, he is also a great teacher possessing the rare ability to cut through the confusion and focus on the the points that need to be understood.

Lucky you, I only which I to could join in on the feast.

Cheers

Kim

Greg that is going to be a beauty. You sure picked a great guy to learn from. Tony is a wealth of knowledge and a Master of his craft.

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Beautiful and unusual tone woods at a reasonable price.
http://www.rctonewoods.com/RCT_Store
The Zootman
1109 Military Rd.
Kenmore, NY 14217
(716) 874-1498

Ah yeah Greg .. how much did I pay you .. the brazilian dust was clouding my memory ... but boy it sure smells GOOD ....

Thank you all for the kind words, as we all know, nothing comes without a LOT of effort, thinking, rethinking, cutting, recutting, and then starting over when it all messes up and goes south.

Master .. me ?? .. I think not ... I have a lot to learn and perfect, still a student like the rest of you, just maybe in a higher grade. I too want to kneel a the feet of the REAL masters someday

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

Excellent progress Greg! Again, I relly like the rosette design. Be sure to take some pictures of the heel when you finish carving it. I think that detail will look really cool.

Tony, you must be a great teahcer. Your student's work reflects well on you!

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Joe Breault
Merrimack, NH
Perpetual novice

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

I think the OLF has a new Poet Laureate.

Ron

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OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

Great musings Greg! It is from wonder that inspiration is born and dreams morph to reality. Having someone like Tony on your wing to whisper encouragement carries you towards success.

We are looking forward seeing the completion of the beginning of your journey through lutherie.

Shane

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Canada

Looks to me like you started in the MA program, and need to think about your PhD!

After taking a new look at all the pix Greg posted I realized how much I have learned on this one so far .... you can teach an old dog new tricks.

The best idea so far was changing the slant of the saddle slot in the bridge blank for a multiscale guitar design (more angle), in order to get more slant as required for the saddle itself, all the while trying to slant the bridge as a whole less - this translated into a better layout for the X brace in the lower bout, which is why we had three goes at the pattern (the first one was an effort over a weeks period, and we kinda forgot how the heck we got to where we were - it was easier to just start over !!!) The very next day I redid a pattern for a gutiar I was about to brace - thank you Greg

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"