Official Luthiers Forum!

Hey everyone,

Im from India and new on this forum and id like to thank evryone whose contributed in this forum in anyway as it has beena major source of inspiration for me to start on a project of my own, building a nylon string, My first, and as of now i have no experience whatsoever of wodd work or Lutherie. All ive ad till now is access to the vast amount of knowledge of all the great builders and craftsmen on this forum and the info available on the net.
Now after looking around for a while and planning out how i could go about learning more i have finally gotten acces to a factory that builds guitars here in INDIA, Calcutta. And from my limted knowledge all i can say is that there isnt anyone else that i know off or i can have access to who can make a good guitar here in India but these guys are the best possible ppl i could lean from and one of the oldest manufacturers here.
So now luckily i have been invited to the factory to work on a guitar for myself and learn in the process, Thanks to the owner who seemed like a real nice person.
Now i know that their guitar designs are really simple and from the little ive seen of these guitars, they sound nice but im sure with some help from this community i can try and integrate wht i learn from them and the knowledge i can get from here into making something.
So firstly i apologize if this has been too long a post but id be really greatfull if i could maybe be pointed in the right direction before i head to the factory and start working on a project.
It would be great if someone could help me formulate a plan to work according to and wht i might need before i go there such as templates or design stencils that i could printout and brace designs. I have been doing all the reading up i can and since i dont have access to any any good luthier supply shops here in India i would be greatful to anyone who could send me anything just over email or the internet that could help me get startted.
I would have access to some good quality Indian woods to work on whhich should be farely cheap here so that is something im looking forward too
Id like to thank evryone on this forum once again and anyone who could help me set off in the right direction would be a godsend.

Cheers,
Ankit

Ankit welcome to the OLF!

Something that you could download for free right now that may be helpful are the kit guitar instructions from Stew-Mac. Although some of the info is specific to Stew-Mac's kits much of the info relates to building any guitar.

Here is a link to the page where you can download the PDF file: http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Kits/Acoustic_Guitar_Kits/1/Dreadnought_Guitar_Kits/Instructions/I-5295.html#details

Again welcome to the OLF.

Thanks a bunch Hesh for the welcome and info . This is great actually. A whole bunch of info that is definately an interesting read downloaded a cpl of other pdfs too from there.
Im also hoping to find some basic info on how i can make my own kerfed lining or maybe another lining if there is as it doesnt look like these guys use a lining in theire guitar. is it possible to make a good guitar without any lining and,
i was also wondering wht ur (anyones) take on using truss rods in classical guitar building is.
also do i need to have my own templates if i want a specific style or is it a better idea as it would be my first to work with the templates they use in their factory.
And my last question for now is for classical guitar fronts and backs are they always made using two identical halves pasted at the center or are some evn made cut out of a single peice and is so wht might be the advantages or disadvantages.

Thanks again guys. Hope my questions arent to newbiesh and if they are forgive me

Best,
Ankit

Welcome to the forum, Ankit!

All the very best with your plans!

Welcome to OLF, Ankit! You need to find some more reading material. Let's see, ah, here is a link to Kathy Matsushita's page. Also, here is a page from Hoffman Guitars, that has step by step construction process with some explanations and decent pictures. Hoffman Guitars, Building, Step by Step.

I would also recommend, if you can find them, reading Robert Courtnall's "Making Master Guitars" and Cumpiano and Natelson's "Guitarmaking, Tradition and Technology". The Cumpiano book is more readily available, and is cheaper, but the Courtnall book has more information on the tradition of classical guitar construction, and pictures and plans of the master builders in the book in, roughly, 1/2 size. It is a more expensive book, but is an excellent resource.

To answer your question, tops and backs are generally book matched slices of a billet of wood that are quarter sawn, for stability. They are joined with either a collagen glue(hot hide glue or fish glue) or a AR glue (Titebond or LMI White or other brands). Generally these glues provide good results and the ability to reverse the bond if necessary. Stay with the basic AR glues, as the more "improved" versions, like TiteBond II and III, are not good for guitar building, because they do not dry the same way as Original TiteBond. Water proof glues are not generally recommended for general guitarmaking, though there are uses for epoxies and CA glue in some applications.

Good luck on your adventure!

_________________
Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Hey Waddy,

Thanks
This place is great. Ive been getting just the kind of info i need and im really greatful to all of u who r being of help.
I wouldnt have found half of this if id looked around myself.
Im gonna try and get one of the books mentioned primarily because i need some templates. otherwise is it possible to work out your own calculations and design your own template. Is their a system of calculation u follow to design the sides and tops and backs (are there fixed dimensions) and is there somewhere i could get sme info on that.

Thanks all of you guys,
Ankit

Hi Ankin, no there are no fixed dimensions for the guitar, but some of the standards for scale length, body size, bracing layout, plate dimensions, wood species etc that have been established over the years work well if you intend to build a 'normal' sounding (and looking) guitar. But these standards are far less rigid than in, say, the classical violin world where it seems that even if you make a ‘better’ modern violin that sounds very different from the oldies, not a whole lot of players will be interested. With guitars there is more leeway both in sound and looks, at least for steel strings (which is what I am most familiar with), but many makers of classical guitars also experiment with new design ideas and materials such cutaways, double tops, carbon fibre reinforcement, oddly shaped sound holes, you name it.

A good general guide to designing your own plans can be found in Cumpiano’s “Guitarmaking…” book, it can be used for both classical and steel string guitars. When I design a new guitar, the first thing I decide on is the scale length, which determines the bridge placement. After this you can play around with body shapes, sound holes and brace layouts until you are happy with how things look. Next comes neck joint position, neck dimensions, body depth and string height. I don’t decide on things like the shape of the bridge, headstock or heel, nor trim details as I like to do this differently each time, besides they are not critical geometry decisions and are a welcome chance for me to go a bit free hand.

Good luck!

_________________
Rian Gitar og Mandolin

Thanks arnt. i guess im a lil more clear on a certain few questions i had now and i am gonna order cumpianos guitarmaking cause evryone seems to be recommending it and ive found a place in india that stocks it.
I guess im asking so many questions cause im excited about starting up on this.
All i have to do is wait patiently now till i visit the workshop which should be next week.

Thanks a bunch all of you guys for all the info. Im gonna try and keep u all updated on how things work out. And im sure im gonna have a lot more questions to ask once i start.

Cheers,
Ankit