Official Luthiers Forum!

Hello all! My name's Brian, I'm a 23 year old aspiring professional maker from the suburbs of New York City. I built my first guitar shaped object at 13 and have been learning and building for the past 10 years. At 20 I decided to take a semester off from college to travel to La Herradura, Granada province Spain to take a month long master class in classical guitar making from Stephen Hill. That semester off has been ongoing as after the course I was offered an apprenticeship with another maker in the mountains of Malaga Spain.

I returned to New York at the end of 2017 and took a job at a local independent craft beer bar to make extra cash while building. That initial barback job quickly led to me becoming the manager with very little time to spend on the craft. After two and a half years of slinging heady beers I decided to put that life on the back burner and focus on guitar making so I packed my bags and boarded an A330 from JFK to AGP on March 1st to work in Stephen Hill's shop once more.

Two weeks after my arrival the scale of Covid-19 became evident and the entire country closed down. I opted to stick it out and have been quarantined for a little over 5 weeks. Despite the quarantine I've been able to spend some time in the shop and would like to share some photos of my work thus far. I know classical guitars aren't the norm for this forum but thought given most people are at home with little else to do a different style of construction would be interesting.

My plan is to focus on classical guitars mainly in the future but my 10 year love affair with steel string guitars continues; before I flew to Spain I completed jigs and molds to build my original interpretation of the classic Martin OM shape. I look forward to sharing photos of that when I eventually return to the states.

Here's my progress on a 650mm scale length concert guitar:

Looking good Brian, that rosette is outstanding!

Looks good and nothing wrong with posting classicals either - we like em all, just happens to be more steel strings around here.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Thanks guys! Hope you're doing well Greg! I remember our conversation on Mario's old forum very fondly!

I've started on a second guitar, this one's based on a first epoch Torres from the mid 1860's but with my own aesthetic flair:

you will learn much and you have the desire go for it

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Hi Brian,
Feel free to post whatever you are building. Many of us are interested in all sorts of instruments.
The first guitar looks like it will be braced as the Frenchman Robert Bouchet braced his guitars. The second appears to have a peghead shape like a cross between an early Romanillos and Fleta.
I have been reading a book about Torres' life and descriptions of his guitars. It seems like he had it much harder sourcing materials than we do today. If he was an unknown maker they would tear him apart on the AGF
Good luck with your guitar building and stay safe.

Good eye, Clay! The bracing pattern is derived from a 1960's Bouchet and a recent homage to Bouchet by Andrea Tacchi. The mosaic checkerboard pattern of the rosette was directly copied from a 1960's Bouchet as well.

The second head is heavily inspired by the 300 series Romanillos guitars as well as Dominique Field's head design

Excellent work, Brian. And that second headstock! What a wonderful combination of visual elegance and strength. Very cool.

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George :-)

I've completed the binding, slotted/glued the fretboard, and today made and glued the bridge to the top. Tomorrow I'll do the fretwork and shape the neck!

Good to hear from you, Brian. I suspect you'll find a lot to be fascinated with on the classical side.

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formerly known around here as burbank
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

Thanks Pat, building classical mainly the past few years has been incredibly interesting to say the least!

I've glue the bridge, planed the fretboard and will fret and shape tomorrow!

your skills have come a long way nice work

_________________
John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Thanks John! Plan to contact you once I'm back in the states this summer about a new bending form!

I've hammered in the frets and shaped the neck. It takes me at least a week of looking at/modifying the heel and headstock transition before I'm ready to varnish

Very clean and elegant work.

FWIW, the one fret extension into the sound hole doesn't look nearly as finished or intentional as the rest of the guitar. I'm guessing that is a deliberate feature that some classical players are asking for. As I don't build for classical players, I wouldn't know. Speaking purely from an aesthetic stand point it detracts from what would otherwise be a very elegant and clean execution.

Thanks for your comment! The 20th fret is a rather common feature as of the past 20 years and overhanging the fretboard below the sound hole lets me lower the internal air resonance to the desired f# despite the very thin back!