Well, it all began with two experiences. First was 5 years ago when I met Wayne Henderson at a Luthier workshop and was amazed at his work and ethos. I said “that’s what I want to be!” 5 years passed and there was nothing to show for this dream until I bought a Larrivee parlor a few months ago. The Smell! The Craftsmanship! Now I knew I had to make something like this. I contacted a couple local luthiers who quickly put me in my place (“learn sharpening, read a lot, learn sharpening and come back and see me in a few months”). I was not discouraged that they did not offer to bend my new mahogany sides; I got the message: first build a mold, then a Fox bender, and then think about starting a build guitar.
So I bought a maladjusted Jet jointer to start my project (oops, gotta learn how to align that thing first). I thought this was going to be magic. My joints looked terrible! So, more reading, and came to the conclusion that I best make a shooting board and learn how to use a plane. That worked! I’m still seeking perfection, but I have 2 tops successfully joined! Trouble is the wood started out large enough to build a dreadnought and now I’m looking at ukulele plans. My thanks to Steve Roberson of Colonial Tonewoods for his friendship, advice, and scrap wood to practice on. Check out his site for some great wood at great prices, you won’t be sorry.
I think I am now going about this with patience and tact and really don’t see even beginning on my first guitar until I have all the kinks worked out on each facet of the build. I have some scrap guitars to work on too, so I already removed my first fretboard. Wow is that ever fun!
![[headinwall]](./images/smilies/headbangwalluf8.gif "Mad")
Here are some pics of the humble beginnings: 1st neck removed, 1st fretboard removed, top removed, etc. I figure before I build one, I’ll dismantle one to see what makes it tick.
![[:Y:]](./images/smilies/smiley20.gif "Thumbs Up")