Official Luthiers Forum!

[QUOTE=Serge Poirier] Great pic Pat, you remind me of a teacher somehow...

I'd love to grow a beard too but i still have to be forgiven for stealing a dough roller...better wait me thinks! [/QUOTE]

I think that's a pretty good compliement, Serge. Thanks!

As for a beard, IMO timing is everything with SWMBO.

BTW, Dave, great thread!burbank39108.686712963

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now known around here as Pat Foster
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

Just love this thread!

Robert Dobbs, love your signature sir!

JJ, Touching post Bro, it brought me back to last summer and i can't wait to live great moments like that once again!

Thanks for the advice Pat, i'll add a couple more years and wisdom before i grow one though!

Bring 'em post guys, this is fascinating!

[QUOTE=SteveCourtright] I think, for me, there is less of a schism than Playing vs. Building. I both play (40 years) and enjoy making things with my hands, and for the same reason.

I enjoy the process of creation, whether it is art, music, furniture, fly rods, guitars, writings or whatever. For me the similarity in processes is striking. Creating something that was not there before, and the mental process of making value and artistic and scientific decisions and the physical process of creating with your own hands and skills is magical whether it is something ephemeral, like music, or permanent, like guitars.

What I like about guitars, there is a fusing of both art and science, and both the potential for the ephemeral and of the permanent.

Am I being silly?

[/QUOTE]

Silly!

No not at all Steve.

For me at least you put it all in a nut shell, I feel exactly the same way.

Great thread

Cheers

Kim

Cuz there's guitars that need makin'
Been building for 30 years and playing for 40.

you'd think by now I'd be good at one of those John How39108.915462963

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Tickle your guitar daily, and it'll tickle you back.

I blame it on Rick Davis. I commissioned him to build me a seven string (a thing of beauty). Little did I know then the financial committment that was going to be! I've played full and part time for twentyfive years and for the last 10 yr. have played mainly acoustic,I'm just fascinated with the instrument. I visited his shop in Vermont, and became enamored with the process. I've been a carpenter my entire adult life and I've built everything I have, my house,deck,room addition ,barn,trailer,desk,cabinets,you get the idea, and my shop, out of a lack of funds. With a project manager position for the last 10 years, I don't build anything through the day,and with an insatiable need to create,this is a natural progression for me. I still play, but if I'm not building,I'm thinking about it and it's cut into my playing time for sure. When I do play, it's either the ones I made or the one Rick Davis made. Guess who's is nicer.    Clinton

The reason that I build is that I was a frustrated player. I frustrated with the look and sound of a lot mass produced instruments. I had about 100 vintage guitars at the time and there were some features of some guitars I liked acrossed brands and I wanted to to fuse them together. I also wanted a Paul Bigsby guitar and did not have the $25,000 at the time. $40,000 later I figured I better make more than one guitar. 200 guitars later I still love it. I did take a 6 year break from it when my daughter was born but back in the saddle again.

My first guitar out of the box played much better than I could have dreamed. I also looked like hell but it worked. I was then hooked. My engineering degree finaly found some application. Before making guitars I felt I had wasted 4 years of my life getting my B.S.M.E. I flunked wood working in highschool. I always was into art and very mechanical haveing restored antique cars and motorcycles gave me the mechanical aptitude. My parents and girlfriends thought I was nuts to try and make guitars in the garage.

Making guitars has combined a lot of things I love in life, art ,music,science and engineering. I realy like the fact that it is a combination of the male and female forms. Guitars are just pure sex. mrpbody4439109.9358796296

Thanks Serge. I love old sayings! But, you don’t have to call me sir.

Sir Bro, would be O.K. though

And, thanks to everyone for sharing their thoughts and feelings about why they build!

I hope you all don’t mind, I’m going to get off the intended path of this thread for a minute.

When I read the first post of this thread, I immediately felt the need to express my thoughts.
Then I read all the posts. Then I read them again, and it occurred to me that I was getting to know everyone just a little bit better. And, I’m glad to see that I’m not the only one who feels this way.

What I mean is, you all have expressed that there is so much more than just the mechanics of building a guitar. I see the passion for creativity, the personal drive to accomplish a very challenging task, and, I see that there is a spiritual side to this guitar building thing. Maybe, I’m reading to much between the lines here, I don’t know. What I do know, is that there are a lot of great people here at the OLF! And, threads like these confirm my belief that there are good hearted, humor loving, genuine, honorable, and compassionate people all over the world.

Just wanted to say that I’m glad to be part of it, and not just for the gaining of guitar building knowledge. But, also the opportunity of gaining new friends.

O.K.! O.K.! I know I’m getting to serious here! But, I get the feeling that I’m not the only one who has thought this way. You see, I figure if I’m thinking it, then probably others do too! Not much you can think, do, or say that hasn’t been thought of, done, or said before.

So with that, I LOVE YOU GUYS!!! But, your not gett’in my last beer!

Robert

“Even a mole may instruct a philosopher in the art of digging”

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Everything has beauty, But, not everyone see's it!

Hi folks...very new to this..working on #2 but I always thought of it as a way to leave something behind after I'm gone...( well as long as the guitar stays together..I love Neil Young's song " this old guitar"...how he talks about the Martin that he owns..."it ain't his to keep , just taken care of it for a while,,,,how it used to be Hanks..how its seen times of trouble...shed a tear or two"..all that sentimental stuff...I would love it if someday, down the road, if a guitar I'd made..maybe even if it was a stranger that had it...somewhere,  who knows where...that it brought a smile to them...that would be grand! Other than our kids, It may be a little link to immortality ( ...as I said however shortlived it may be)...I know a few of you build for family and friends , just for the fun of it,and that seems great... Irwin R39110.3760185185

I hear ya Robert, just buy more beer.
I do feel a little out of place. See I’m a collage drop out, I was more interest in social activities and that didn’t go so well with school. So I went to work in a factory until I could figure out what I wanted to do when I grow up. Found a job as a welders trainee did that for a year. Then my high school Machine shop teacher called and offered me a job in the machine shop of a local factory. Couple years later I was asked to go into the tool and die shop. 34 years later I still haven’t grown up!    
Dave Rickard39110.3691435185

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Say what you do, Do what you say.

I'm a physical oceanographer disguised as a civil engineering professor, now in my 23d year of post-PhD teaching and research. My work is all theoretical/numerical - all head work, with not much opportunity to use the hands for constructive purposes. I have always missed that a little, even professionally, but not enough to change directions and become mainly an experimentalist. That's been saved for our endeavor of choice here!

I played guitar a little in high school but never stuck with it. Around 1998 (let's see, I was 46 then), I got interested again and got a plywood Indonesian dread to bang on while I looked for something decent (my Larrivee L-9, which is still the guitar that hangs around the house the most.) Found some buds to play with, and started getting a little better at it.

Around the same time, my interest in woodworking picked up a little. This started out partly as an opportunity to spend a little time doing something with my dad that he enjoyed, and wouldn't be able to do much longer, but the bug bit hard, and in the space of a few months I was building benches for me and a few cabinets for the house,
and TAS and WAS started to compete with GAS (hide the paycheck!)

Around 2000, the guitar buds started to think more like a band, and wanted an electric component. This led to the purchase of a Strat. Inspection of the Strat led to the inevitable "heh, I could do this", and 4 months later my first Tele copy was born. The point of no return was past at this stage, and here I am. I'd say the rest is history, but I build so slowly that there is more on my bench still waiting to become history than there is already there.

So I guess I played first, but I didn't play long enough for my skills to survive the inevitable loss of practice time to the woodworking side. I'd say that my playing now sucks, and is way down from where it was 3 years ago.
I'd give it up in a second and keep the building if I had to make a choice, but I don't want to lose the ability to get a basic understanding of how my guitars are doing as I work on them and finish them.

I would love to have these interests transfer over to my kids. All three of them have more musical talent than I ever dreamed of (two of them taught themselves to read and play piano), but at this point they have no interest whatsoever. Bummer.

Jim

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

Robert, great post bro and i would love to steal that beer from you but lucky you, i don't drink anything stronger than pepsi! Would really like to meet you one day, who knows, maybe our Zootman Bob is secretly preparing our second gathering in Fort Erie in July? Looking forward to shaking your paw too brother!

Irwin, welcome to the OLF! Where you from my Canuck friend? Gret post too BTW!

SergeSerge Poirier39110.9315046296

Hello Serge...Funny.. feel I know you ...have been following the forum for a while...you are a great inspiration.. how you dove right in and have made a couple of beautiful instruments for your family ...a well deserved thanks from me for helping me get into the shop again after making my 1st over 5 years ago. ( Currently on #2)

I currently live in Dartmouth N.S. ..I don't know if there are any other Nova Scotians presently on the forum.. I am a Leafs fan...hope you won't hold that against me  All the best!

Thanks for the kind words Irwin!   

Looking forward to see your second guitar and also your first, as soon as we can resume posting pics. No 2 was special for me because it was for Mom but also because i did it with the help of all these great folks who've seen me grow with them so i predict that yours will be just as much fun my friend!

Nova Scotia? Right on, people from the coast are very friendly and welcoming last i heard, being a leafs fan is ok by me as long as my team makes the playoffs with yours bud!

Nice having another Canuck aboard and you can count on my future encouragements too!

cheers

Serge

Edit: My Dad was born on Magdalen Islands BTW! Serge Poirier39110.9384953704

Hesh, It won’t take to much to encourage me!

It’s about the only vice I have left! And, I’m gonna hold on to that 12 ounces for as long as I can!

But, only on Fridays and Saturdays.

Well, maybe on Sundays too.

Oh yeah! Sometimes on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays robertandsons39111.2981712963

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Everything has beauty, But, not everyone see's it!

Hey Serge, I’m always up for a little paw shaking!
But, I usually only do that after I get out from the lake!

OK, I'll bite, where’s Fort Erie? I live in the mountains of North Georgia U.S.A.

How far is it from Georgia?
How do you get there?
What do you all do there?
Can you buy beer there?

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Everything has beauty, But, not everyone see's it!

Yep, was out on the molehills all weekend - fresh dusting all week long, skiing was great, for Ontario that is, you just get 3 nice turns going and the runs over !!!!. I always say we got ripped off in the ice age - dont believe me, head towards Ottawa, south you have the mountains in New York State (highest in the east - Whiteface, Lake Placid, and to the north is the Laurentians and Tremblant - yet all of that end of Ontario is flatter than a soundboard . Ah well, been to Whistler too many times already .. off for 2nd time to Utah in 12 days for a week ... look out Snowbird/Alta .... mmmmmm ... double black diamonds, the REAL ones.

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

I don’t play but that has not stopped me from working on my first guitar which is a gift for my father. My father who is an active 75 year old still plays almost every day. I’m sure that all of us have met people who just naturally take to the guitar. When I have tried to play you realize quickly that it is an unnatural act and should be stopped immediately. A few years ago I took a tourist train ride on Maui that only went a few miles and then backtracked. On the return ride the conductor played the ukulele and sang. Besides being really good he just looked like he was having so much fun. What was amazing is that he was very big man and had 10 huge fingers and still sounded great. He looked like he enjoyed himself so much I decided to take up the ukulele. Well now I own 3 ( 2 better quality purchased and one I made). I still have no musical abilities but have fun anyway. Now there are two more in the planning stage. Knowing that I have few woodworking skills and few tools has not stopped me. The ukulele I built at Hana Lima ‘Ia is really top notch and really sound great. I gained a lot of confidence after building the ukulele. That combined with access to the wonderful, friendly, and knowledgeable members of the OLF how can I go wrong.   

Philip

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aka konacat

If you think my playing is bad you should hear me sing!
Practice breeds confidence and confidence breeds competence. Unfortunately, I'm stuck in practice.

I build for the chicks. Just for the ladies....

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John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

This is a great thread. I have been thinking about this question for a couple of days now. I built my first guitar in 1980 without even knowing what a single note or chord was. I saw this book by Irving Sloane at the library and "it seemed like a good idea at the time". I've always loved guitar music and maybe I should build a guitar so I can learn how to play it - at least that is what I thought. We'll, that guitar came out really bad - high action, bad finish - the classic "Websters" definition of a bad guitar. Needless to say, I didn't learn how to play or even build another guitar until 2000.

Why the long wait? How about the usual excuses, college, working on the house, kids, work, etc. I think that there was something inside that drove me back to the madness. I've built five since. I've learned very little about how to play, but there is something about building them that gives me life - especially when stringing up a new one! It takes me about nine months to a year to build a guitar, so it is my way of "having babies". I've built one for my wife, sister, daughters, and now I'm just starting one for my son. It is like anything else I've attemted to do, the more I do it, the harder it gets - but I love building guitars anyways.

Ray

Ray

[QUOTE=robertandsons] Hey Serge, I’m always up for a little paw shaking!
But, I usually only do that after I get out from the lake!

OK, I'll bite, where’s Fort Erie? I live in the mountains of North Georgia U.S.A.

How far is it from Georgia?
How do you get there?
What do you all do there?
Can you buy beer there? [/QUOTE]

Oh Robert buddy, you're a ways away my friend, you'd have time to stop for a few on the way there, Fort Erie is west of Niagara falls Canada!   

Quite a ride it would be for you but since you've asked, i'll tell you a bit more...a bunch of us folks went to Fort Erie's OLF gathering last july, some twenty of us went to meet at BobC's (Zootman) cottage and had a wonderful time together talking and playing guitar and singing, made friends for life there that i now consider more like brothers and sisters, i certainly hope there is a Fort Erie 2, last year's was one of the best event of my life...

Beer? oh yeah, i saw some!

Cheers

Serge

Hey Serge,

I’ll tell you right now, if I’m invited, I would love to go!
Of course, I will have to ask for permission first.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been to Canada. And, I mean a loooong time!
Summer of 1976, I think. I remember being at work one day, when I heard over the radio
that Elvis Presley died. That was a sad day for me, he was my singer hero, sort a speak!

I used to live in Toronto, Ontario. I worked at Englington Automotive during the day,
and played the drums with a wanna-be band at night. Ah, Yes! Those youthful memories of not
having anything to worry about, except eating, and playing music. Uhhh, Oh Yeah! And GIRLS!

BTW, I envy you Canadians a little bit. I think Canada is one of the most beautiful places
in the world! And, I ain’t Kidding!

One more thing, How in the heck do you do that quote in the box thing in your posts!

See ya!

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Everything has beauty, But, not everyone see's it!

Robert, look in the upper right corner of a post. The little button that says quote. Click that and it starts a post for you.

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Aoibeann

Robert, you're welcome here anytime bro! 1976? You're due for another visit!

At BobC's last summer, all were invited, hopefully it will be the same this year!

To quote someone, all you have to do is go to the post you want to quote and on the top left of that box is the quote button.

Cheers

Serge