Official Luthiers Forum!

Can anyone tell me a little about this site--I never knew it exsisted and noticed some fellas that used to frequesnt here are at that site. Was it a spin-off from this this site or a result of some differences?
Maybe I've just had my head in the sand.

Mario DeCostas owns/runs that board.

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

No actually some members there are still members here. Like me. I'm also a member of 13th fret and so are a few guys here. And acoustic guitars forum is another good forum. The more the merrier i say.

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Guitars, guitars and more guitars.

Yep, it is owned and run by Mario DeCosta of Kermodie spruce fame.  Basically it is the same kind of forum as this, only in my humble opinion it is more difficult to navigate around.  You will see some of the same virtual faces there as you see here.   If you read the "Sources for Lutz" thread, that is the Mario who runs luthierforum.com.

I wandered over to luthierforum this week after seeing it mentioned in the "sources for lutz" thread. I agree with Mike about learning from as many sources as possible. I found more tutorials, pictures, names I recognize and new contacts.

It the risk of increasing the bidding, I had a great time at Mario's auction Friday and Saturday. The chat was fun and friendly and the auction items were great. I left with a lot of spruce, some backs and sides and the raffle prize, a top from the 70203 #2 tree.

Note: I have moved way past WAS and now have full WAID - wood acquisition immune deficiency.

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GregH
Fot Wuth

Yes, there are a number of rogues like me that cannot be contained on one forum. Some folks are contented to stay in just one forum or another, but I like to sample the grass from many pastures.

The forums are different, but both deal with lutherie.

I see the OLF with more pro luthiers and semi-pros posting. Though both forums have luthiers posting completed instruments, the OLF has more luthiers posting completed instruments, without showing the process. The Luthierforum has more luthiers detailing and documenting step-by-step progressive "builds." The OLF seems more focused on traditional steelstring guitars, the Luthierforum also has a high proportion of steelstrings, but has quite a few topics on classical guitar construction, ukuleles, a few mandolins, and even a gorgeous cello and violin were fully documented. In my opinion, you'll also find more out-of-the box thinking and experimental instruments at the Luthierforum, though there are luthiers there building very traditional guitars as well. That's not to say there isn't out-of-the-box thinking being expressed here - there is - but the focus here seems to fall more in line with traditions (even if you want to call them "modern traditions.")

I have never thought of the sites as competing, but rather complimentary. I have gotten quite a bit of excellent info from both.

I think both sites are difficult to navigate. I think the problem is the nature of forum software in general. Forum postings are all "stream of consciousness", and it is often difficult to search and find a cluster of related posts. That is especially true because many of us (like me) tend to go off on tangents, and a tangent may have the info I want to find at some later date.

I too occasionally check in to the AGF and 13th Fret, and have checked out the MIMF. Just the same way I have been to many, many websites, and many libraries...

I think some folks get their emotional needs met at one forum, you know the feeling of camaraderie/brotherhood, and I can understand that - nothing wrong with that. I'm just more of a global citizen.

Dennis

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Dennis Leahy
Duluth, MN, USA
7th Sense Multimedia

[QUOTE=GregH]I

It the risk of increasing the bidding, I had a great time at Mario's auction Friday and Saturday. The chat was fun and friendly and the auction items were great. I left with a lot of spruce, some backs and sides and the raffle prize, a top from the 70203 #2 tree.

Note: I have moved way past WAS and now have full WAID - wood acquisition immune deficiency.




[/QUOTE]

I did notice that the bidding on tops was quite a bit higher than usual this weekend     I figured with all of the tops you bought, you were a shoe in for winning at least one of the raffles... and I was right!  I won a billet a few weeks ago.  Now I gotta figure out how to get it re-sawed!

I used to post on the acoustic guitar forum, but ran in to problems being
a business. I had no intention of hawking for business there, and never
offered any services to any member or solicited in any way. To the
contrary, I offered plenty of free advice and more referrals to trusted
luthiers in the area of many members. Still, I used my business name in
my signature as some form of reference or credential when offering
people advice.

The owners saw this as marketing, which was certainly reasonable of
them to do, so I don't blame them. What I did think unreasonable was the
hundreds of dollars they would have required me to pay them for the
privilege of offering my free advice and consultation to their members. I
offered an amicable farewell, I understand, and promptly walked away.

I decided that forums based around the player or end consumer can
often be a very one-way street. All give (because I like to), and no take.
That's fine, but sometimes it can just be too much. I can only stand so
many "how do I set up my guitar?", and takes-twice-as-long-to-explain-
as-it-would-take-to-do-myself, kind of questions. If I'm going to spend
my time in forums, I really prefer to be in company of colleagues as well
as amateur enthusiasts who have techniques and insights to offer as well.

I haven't seen Mario's site. And while this site is great, I still long for a
community more focused around repair and restorations. Builders just
don't know squat when it comes to problem solving. Those that do,
honed their skills in repair. There's certainly much that crosses over
between the building and repair trades. Leads on suppliers is one that
ranks very high among the most valuable offerings of this forum to me. In
all honesty though, I probably find interest in perhaps 1 in 20 of topics
posted here, if that. Still, to the best of my knowledge that repair
community just isn't centralized anywhere online.

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

Dennis buddy some of us just aren't one forum guys.......  We have this insatiable need to get Photoshopped multiple places.........

David I have wondered about this for you and the idea that if one's interest is primarily repair and restoration the OLF does not have an abundance of info that would come your way, or, at least be something that you already don't know.

But I for one really appreciate your posts and read every word of every post that you make.  Thank You for your excellent contributions.

This weekend was my first exposure to Mario D. and the first that I heard about his forum.  I have to tell you that I liked Mario at once and also really appreciated his sense of humor as well.  If I had more time I would check out his forum.

But I also wanted to mention that I have been a very happy customer of Shane's for a couple of years now.  Under the "Black Tiger" is Shane's superb Lutz.  Shane and High Mountain Tonewoods has provided me with the highest level of service and products available.  Uncle Bob, Don Williams, and Steve the caveman at Colonial are in this category for me too.

It's been a while since we thanked our very valued sponsors so I am personally saying thanks now.  Of course the greatest thanks that I can provide these great folks is my continued support and patronage and this will never be in doubt.

Many thanks!

David the luthiersforum does have a repair section thats why i go there. It deals with all string instruments and not just guitar though. Its called the workbench. I have interest in mandos, banjos and violins so thats why i check it out.

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Guitars, guitars and more guitars.

I too spend time on both forums like Dennis. I've been to 13th fret, MIMF, OLF and Mario's site. I enjoy both the OLF and luthierforum the most. If I were posed the question of what I found different between my two favorite luthier(s)forums, I would have to say that the OLF has some of the finest builders around, and Mario's site has a larger percentage of newbies like me. I could be wrong.

I wouldn't know how to start my day without logging on to both sites to see what's new. The information sharing here and at Mario's forum are invaluable to me, and I've made friends at both forums.

Just a few weeks ago, Brad Way and I went to Morral, OH and met Tim and Mary McKnight who we found to be two of the most wonderful and giving people. That wouldn't have been possible had I not been part of this forum because this is where I met Tim.

Today I spent the afternoon with Brad Way cutting 24 back and side sets. Brad and his wife Laura are also wonderful people who I would have not met if it weren't for the OLF.

Keep up the good work Lance and Brock. I love the OLF.

Vince

Thats a interesting site. i'm suprised i havn't came across that before.

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Guitars, guitars and more guitars.

I, too, am a member at mario's as well as several other luthier oriented sites. I mostly hang out here though. As a mater of fact, when I found this forum I submitted my subscription to the forum within a week of finding it. GREAT place!

I have bought from this forum's sponsors as well as bought billets from Mario. I am getting to where I am building so many guitars that I have started trying to buy in bulk. Billets of wood are better for me than individual pieces. Of course there are always customers that want some kind of wood that I dont already own, so I will always be buying some of it one at a time.

I'm glad to see Mario come over with the olive branches of peace and good tidings. I hope good things come of this truce for all.

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Reguards,

Ken H

Like Dennis and several others, I too, visit both this forum and the luthierforum. My name over there is "whitespruce". I guess, to be honest, I consider that forum my "home" forum because I have been there almost from the day it started. But I enjoy this forum, too. I don't consider either forum "better" than the other. They are different and have quite different things on them. One of the big differences is that the luthierforum has dozens and dozens of fully documented builds, complete with the goofs and how they were fixed. The other thing is that nothing on the other forum gets archived, everything stays active. Probably one reason why folks used to this forum get a bit lost over there    As an example, a few years ago I designed an adjustable neck system and posted the whole thing from the experimental prototyping through a full documentation of building the first guitar with it. And there is still a link to that build on the opening page of the Forum. I printed it out once and it was over 150 pages.

And, as has been mentioned, that forum does not confine itself to guitars. You will find ukes, mandos, violins, cellos, and many more, even an upright bass.

There has seemed to almost have been an "unwritten competitveness" between the two forums for a long time I am pleased to see maybe that this is breaking down and maybe going away. There is so much good stuff on both and by being more open and sharing, I think there is more for all of us. There is way too many other things in this world where folks are throwing stones at each other. That is not what lutherie is about

Grant

Filippo, there used to be on-line courses at the MIMF, also, and  participated in a few, as well as co-taught a carved mandolin course with Michael Lewis there.

It's great fun, very educational, but a LOT of work for the teacher(s). Definitely not free.....

free is what you get from us on the forum

Filippo -

The Onlineapprentice courses were indeed free. David seems both attached to the idea of the course as well as too busy to really dedicate the time to it. The Hauser course was finished, and is available on a CD. The Rodriguez course petered out around the fingerboard gluing and fretting stage - David was finishing his performance Masters degree, and I think was also sick for a while. Despite the fact that #2 was never completed, he started a number 3 this January, and made it through posting the pictures (no text) for lesson 1.

Obviously, just too time consuming.

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

The thing I like about luthierforum.com is the step by step builds there - photodocumented...
Its neat to see a few hunks of wood become complete instruments!
Plus there are other instruments beside guitar in step by step, ukes and mandos etc,,,
When I joined a while back it was $20 a year, but now its free Ive been informed.
Cheers
Charlie

Apparently there is a subscription version too.  Don't know what you get over the free version.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

I am member #35 over at Mario's site. Don't know how I discovered it so early on, but that's the way the ball bounced.  I have to agree with many above that the site is different and not "better" or "worse". I like the free wheeling attitude.  No one will ever dis you for making a mistake. As a matter of fact, the bigger the blunder the better the post!

The other site no one mentioned so far that has great people is Mandolincafe.com.  Frank Ford haunts it frequently.  Lot's of transferable info for guitar folks.

Greg N

I'm at the 'cafe every day. I dwell in the Jazz section, but check-in on the builders and repairs section at least twice a day.

I've also been a member of the luthierforum since 02/2004. Mario is a great guy and a good friend. The Luthierforum is where I got my initial inspiration to start building. Anyhow, both forums have a lot to offer. Great people running the forums and knowledgeable members ready to share their love of lutherie and their friendship. Being a newbie, I need all the help I can get.  I see a lot of the same faces at both forums. I would feel like I was missing something if I didn't stop by both forums daily, and I would be----Snick