Official Luthiers Forum!

Well I was going to wait til after ASIA to post this ,but after the thread where a lot of folks said they'll be staying home I figured I'd do it now. If the response is less than hoped, I will repost it again later.

Here goes...

I was out in the shop the other day contemplating how I was going to complete some task that I see done by the big boys all the time. What is not really important. It occured to me that this forum has (collectivly) a huge base of experience and knowledge. I recalled a member posting his recent completion and one of the "big boys" admonishing him as to the importance of mitering his purfligs around the end graft.

So the thought process goes like this. There are a lot of "little things" that go into building a quality guitar. A lot of "little things" that separate a quality guitar build from a so so effort.

Given that, what's the chance of some of the more accomplished builders (don't be shy) putting on a little "how to". It doesn't matter on what. Pick something. Mitering your purfling lines, leveling frets, planning for correct intonation, pore filling, buffing, pre-finish prep, binding a headstock, rosette making .... I could go on and on and on. Really pick anything and just view it as a chance to show off a little. Kind of like being a presenter at a mini master class. It dosen't have to be in response to a question or it could be. I know it takes time and effort, but I'm certain many many newbies like myself would beneft greatly.

Think if this is a doable idea, and we could have these "How To's" archieved some how, What a great resource it could grow to in years to come. Think of it as your chance to be imortal!

Thoughts?

Ronn, I think this is an excellent idea. I certainly don't consider myself one of the "big boys" but I probably could offer a little tidbit. I imagine that the majority of the folks on this forum have something to offer as well.

Something like that would be really helpful. I know that I still have a lot to learn.

Josh

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Josh House

Canadian Luthier Supply
http://www.canadianluthiersupply.com
https://www.facebook.com/canadianluthiersupply?ref=hl
House Guitars - Custom Built Acoustic Instruments.
http://www.houseguitars.com

Ronn...good thinking! While trying to reinvent the wheel, one may not realize he's just spinning on the ones he's got!

Carlton

Ronn, This is a great idea. I'm sure that even the builders with big hearts and a desire to share can only answer the same question so many times in a post before they tire of the process. For those builders especially, it would give them a chance to write it all down and photograph a process just once. (They could always edit or add to it later, if and when they felt it was necessary.)

Hopefully, there would eventually be several variations on each process, you know, like: "this is how I voice a top", which would allow different methods and viewpoints to be exposed.

If Lance decides this is a good idea, I think he might have to do a bit of fancy footwork to create a spot on the OLF site that holds a table of contents or index system, to allow everyone to see which specific tutorials are available (rather than just a search.)

When complete, or when some outline of major processes has been filled in, the whole shebang could be burned onto DVD, and sold to help keep the OLF site going strong.

Dennis

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Dennis Leahy
Duluth, MN, USA
7th Sense Multimedia

Don't forget to check out the jigs section here on OLF. I know Tim McKnight did have his process of fretting detailed at one time and I'm sssuming it is still there. There was also a inlay class which Lance hasn't gotten transferred to the new system. I would also recommend that you pick up John Maye's DVD's as I've learned a lot from them.

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Don Atwood
Arlington, VA

Don, I'll second buying John's DVDs. I had to slap myself in the head several times because I didn't think of some of the things he shows. John does a great job of breaking things down to simplify the process as well.

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Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

THnx for the positive responses guys. John Elshaw just did a great post on building rosettes. That's the type of thing I was hoping for.

Thanx in advance to all the guys that will put up this type of post. Many newbies will profit I'm sure.

Here here!

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http://www.presnallguitars.com