Official Luthiers Forum!

OK Guys,

If you wish to enter the challenge build, and you have completed two or less stringed instruments, please reply to this thread with an "I'm in" or similar. I will keep a running list of the entrants in this post.

After you've replied, please go start your own thread with a descriptive title (see rules thread)

--Jaybird

Here are the entrants:

1) Kent Wilkinson
2) Rob Lak
3) Cap'n
4) Eigenwood
5) Turmite
6) JFurry
7) CommGuy107

I'm In. Don't know what I will do yet but I'm In. I have only 1 complete build in so far.

A little sad to see so few newbie entrants, so i guess I am forced to throw my rosette in the ring. I am likely one of those that will start this year and finish (Why is it "finish" and not "finnish"? That's just wrong.) in 2020 but we can't have just ONE entrant here.

I am still building my first in class, so I won't be starting my first "solo" build until i am done, but i am going to go out and plant a brazilian rosewood tree and a sitka spruce out in the back yard right now so they're ready when I am.

Then i need to hit the tag sales to find some tools. I have a hammer and a nailgun. I'll have to keep an eye open in the obits to look for potential estate sales. I wonder if there's any luthiers in my area in their 90's?

I suppose i'll need to build a shop too. Last time i started a guitar in my garage, i left the braced top on my wife's car.

I have no idea what i'll use for wood. My wife has i nice roll of wood-grained shelf liner so i guess it doesn't matter what i use as it will look awsome with that.

Hopefully i have set your expectations low enough so that you'll ignore the crank handle sticking out the side and the tinny (See! "Tinny" looks right!) sound that comes out when i crank 'er up.

Rob

a couple of suggestions...
1.) entrants put the category they are in in the title of their threads? Won't matter much if we only have 2 noobs, but just sayin...

2.) We don't worry so much about the noobs rules. I wouldn't care if they (we) built with a kit. The goal is to get people building. I'll bet some are intimidated that they will need to spend $$ on something that potentially ends up as a wall hanging in the museum of abberant abstract art. So i am for bending the rules for noobs using kits. Local wood kits are probably difficult to find.

3.) Clarify the reuse rule. There was a question whether reusing old exotic wood table would be allowed. I have some 30 year old barn clapboard i was thinking of using that i stripped off the barn a few years ago. Smells like horse pee but you shouldn't notice much online. It's some kind of cedar but i have no idea where it comes from.

Just some thoughts.

Peace.

I will know if I can enter in a week or two. My initial though is Black walnut B&S, rock maple neck, and maybe cannibalize an old cedar dresser drawer my grandfather built for the top.

I'm lost as what to use inside the box.
The same Cedar for bracing?
What about the end and head blocks...walnut?

Suggestions appreciated (For Northeastern USA)

Thanks,
Dan

Is there a time limit as to when i join?

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To Soundvibe,
I don't think there is a time limit... Just say "I'm in" and if you can get the guitar done in time, you're in!

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To Cap'n,
That sounds like a great idea. Your grandfather's cedar dresser would certainly make it a special guitar!

You certainly could use the same cedar for the bracing, assuming it's quartersawn. As for other wood, I thought you'd have a fairly decent selection to choose from in the Northeast. Try doing some internet research and phoning around local timberyards!

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To Robert,
I agree, it is a bit sad to see so few entrants. I'm *this" close to being in this group but had to enter the other one. (I built my first guitar with a tutor, but I did build it, so my challenge build will be my #4.)

Good luck planting the sitka and brw! Shouldn't have to wait more than a century or two!

If it encourages more people to enter, go for the closest woods you can get! No one wants to invest a fortune in the most expensive woods on their first guitar, do what makes it practicable and affordable, and just try to get at least one part of the guitar from a relatively local source! The more effort you put into finding something local, the better.

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To those who've built under three guitars..........

JOIN the challenge! I guarantee you that you'll get even more help from this already incredibly helpful community if you join the challenge than you would otherwise!

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To those who have never built a guitar............

Also JOIN the challenge! Even the most experienced here will remember how it felt to build their first guitar and in most cases it was a fairly daunting experience!

You've got nothing to lose! Everything to gain! I reckon I'll still be finding my feet by my #10 or #20, so there's no shame whatsoever in finding your first tough going! You'll get marked up just for the extra difficulty of it being your first. Like difficulty scores in Olympic diving!

I wished last year, before my first post here, that I had entered the challenge with my #2. If you feel even the slightest urge to enter, don't make the same mistake, do it! All you need to do is say, "I'm in"..... Then worry about the rest later!

I guarantee that I'll do everything I possibly can (admittedly not as much as most here could) to help any first time builders!

(Any English entrants struggling to find native wood, send me an PM and I'll share my research!)

I hope this is taken in the spirit its meant!

All the best to all,
Nick

Well said, Nick!!

I guess i am in, but this is my first so hopefully it will be done in time.

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Awesome stuff! What are you planning? And do you have Cumpiano's book or another?

I have many books about it and dvds, been wanting to do this for about 2 years so i have done a bunch of research on it but never got to it. I live in a small 2 bedroom apartment with my son and wife, in which my balcony that is 4ft x 9ft serves as a workplace. As you can tell it is not optimal, the main reason for me not starting on guitar building. A table top bandsaw and table saw are the two machines i own.

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I think your situation will sound familiar to lots of others here. Guitar making can be difficult to get in to for those sorts of reasons. I don't have kids myself and I'm lucky to have access to a garage to use as a workshop. I don't have a table saw or bandsaw though! Must make things tight space-wise!

Just goes to show, you don't need acres of space to build a guitar... In fact, I know of at least one guy who pretty much entirely built his first guitar on a small trolley not much bigger than the body!

Can't wait to see your progress!

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For anyone thinking of building their first without access to power tools, I think Cumpiano's is probably the best book to look at. He gives a pretty much all hand tool approach. And lots of people on here built their first guitar from that book and can answer questions for you.

It goes without saying that making a master guitar takes serious experience, but making a perfectly decent guitar is totally achievable first time out. Many THOUSANDS of people every year make their first guitar! I had no woodworking experience at all before I made my first.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Hi Michiyuki,
If you have been researching I am sure you have come across this website by now, but just in case you haven't I thought I would share it with you as it strikes me as something you would be able to relate to!!
http://acousticguitarbuild.blogspot.co.uk

Thanks flounder. Appreciate it

I have the Cumpiano bible in my collection. I secretly am working my way to make an archtop though hehehe. Hey nick how is you make that thickness sander I saw in another thread?

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Working very well, thanks! I use it for all sorts of things I didn't anticipate! Most of the time I just pull it slightly away from the wall, but if I need to, I wheel it out into the middle of the garage and make an afternoon of it!

I thicknessed both the top and back for my last guitar from 5mm to <2mm in one lazy afternoon. Accuracy of ~0.2mm. The plates for the guitar before that took me a couple of weeks to thickness with a plane, scraper and sandpaper... Not that I worked on it 8 hours a day for two weeks, it was just such a nightmare that I couldn't bare doing it! (I have since found out that I wasn't getting the blade anywhere near sharp enough. I also have a much nicer plane now, rather than one than the cheapest available in 1983! But that plane cost more than the motor for the sander, so I'm glad I made it!)

I will of course be using my thickness sander for my challenge build but I absolutely do intend to refine my plane skills 'till I can thickness a plate efficiently the old fashioned way. Will make me feel a bit more like a proper guitarmaker!

Can't wait to make an archtop one day, too! I'm thinking of buying a violin top set, joining it up, and carving it occasionally in front of the telly of an evening. Gonna focus on flattops for now though.

I'm in if you'll have me.

This is my first build, and it comes with a major caveat. I'm using local black walnut back and sides that my dad cut and has been air drying for four years. BUT, the rest of the parts for the build are coming from LMI. I like the idea of using all local woods, and I've even noticed that we have Engelmann Spruce in these parts up high, but that's a little too ambitious for me for a first build.

First post used to enter the challenge! Excellent stuff! Glad to have you aboard, eigenwood!

If Englemann is local then use it! It's not necessarily a harvest it yourself build. If the species of tree is close then it don't matter where you get the wood. Look forward to seeing your progress. And if you have any questions just ask. Someone will have an answer for ya. Good luck!

I've lurked here off and on for a few years just mulling over the idea of building a guitar. It feels right that a first post should be to join a contest! I'll need every ounce of motivation to finish this thing well.

I already ordered and received the parts I'm using, which include a Sitka Spruce top. I'm in eastern Oregon, so at least we're still in the same state regarding where it grows naturally.

Off-topic question: has anyone collected timber for personal use on federal land? We have areas up to about 8,000 feet nearby and I've often thought that Engelmann Spruce growing up high might make for useable tops.

Michiyuki,

I definitely can relate to cramped conditions. I think I let small apartment situations prevent me from embarking on this adventure long ago. I have a 2-year-old and a 4-year-old which usually means I can't leave anything out if I'm not working with it in the present moment. While my situation has recently changed somewhat (I now have an 8x10 room which I'm converting to a shop! Yay!) I look back at the past year or two and wish I would have spent less time forum wandering and just started building Keep at it!

I'm in. I have built 1 and 1/2 guitars!

I have never even attempted anything acoustic so I want to try my hand at that!

I need to know if anyone has built an acoustic with red oak back and sides? I just got some killer spalted red oak that is just spectacular and would love to try it, but don't want to go there if it is going to be dead sounding!

Mike

Here are a back and side blank that will be resawn into sets. I should get two sets from these two pieces and I have another pair that I will resaw at the same time. Personally, I have never seen spalt this wild in oak. North east, Ok, North west Ar lumber.
Mike

Hey guys, new member.
Say that I've only completed two guitars, but have started seven (I have a problem with starting and not finishing), which category would you like me to enter? The rules say competed, but I just want some confirmation.
EDIT: no matter which class, I'm in!

Welcome! Glad to have you aboard! I think 7 partial guitars will push you into the more than 3 builds group. I've entered that group though at a stretch I may be able to make case for entering the less than 3. (I built my first with a tutor, so this is the third I've made on my own.)

Anyway, if you know what wood you're using, start your build thread!

Nice looking set! I've heard of several people using and liking oak for backs and sides. Go for it!

I'm in.