Official Luthiers Forum!

I've been in contact with our friend Lance a few times in the last month and I am going to be servicing a new Les Paul that Lance acquired as soon as his daughter who goes to school here brings it up to us. Lance is doing great. Like me Lance is returning to playing and playing mostly electrics also like me these days.

I mentioned to him that I would have never met Dave Collins even though we lived in the same town/city had it not been for the OLF. I also mentioned to Lance how much money our business has made since it's inception and credited him with getting Dave and I together here.

With this the conversation expanded and I have a question now for all of you if I may please?

Please list your or anyone else's business that you started largely because of your participation with and knowledge of the Official Luthier's Forum. I am trying to underscore for Lance just what an economy of sorts he helped create when he created the OLF.

I know that Uncle Bob and RC Tonewoods was likely a result of Uncle Bob's participation here and I suspect that there are dozens of others.

Ann Arbor Guitars with Dave and I was definitely something that resulted from the OLF and as we start our 10th year in a few months.

Who, what other businesses started because of OLF participation please?

Thanks

Just remembered that I also started Lenawee Lutherie a repair business AND Heshtone Guitars where I built my 54.5 guitars also because of the OLF.

I was with OLF when it first started and it is safe to say it helped get my ball rolling.

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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

I credit the OLF to where I am today. I am at the point where I can actually start selling my guitars and turning a profit on them, which is a very surreal feeling.

There are clearly a lot of factors that go into getting things going and I am certainly not "there" yet. But I will never forget what Lance and the OLF have given me. For one, some of the nicest sets of wood I own are because I bought them from Lance

Seriously, it seems like such a shot in the dark to be able to do this thing long-term (full time or not). I feel lucky to able to do it at all, thanks to the OLF and the people that contribute to it.

Good idea, Hesh.

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-Marcus
http://www.bailieguitars.com
Instagram | YouTube

I was well underway long before I found this place, but I sure find it useful!

There have been a lot of builders who hung out shingles and then moved on but they count too as businesses spawned by the OLF if it was significant in their commercial development. We've seen lots of sponsors who started as members too, some are no longer here but they also started largely because of this forum.

I have a number in my head and I think it's low but I strongly suspect that the OLF was the launching point for 20 - 30 million dollars or more of businesses.

From CNC parts makers to finishers I can name half a dozen who started their business largely around this forum and it's members.

I have to wonder if the OLF has spawned other forums and I think that it has as well including the ANZLF who I was a part of when it started and we were all friends from here. John Hall's forum is an offshoot of John's Lutherie journey too so there are two forums that were influenced by the OLF.

I'm hoping to paint a picture for Lance of a job very, very well done by him and most importantly to thank him kindly for helping me find a trade that I simply adore every minute that I spend being a Loofier I suspect that others here are grateful too, let's let him know.

I think that's the case for me, especially since I started just at or before the dawn of the commercial Internet but...

Having said that does anyone know what year did this forum start? I think I joined it but then it wasn't till many many years later that I started posting on it.

I recall Ben Crowe of Crimson Guitars used to be a regular here (or was it MIMF?). I don’t know if he credits his start to a forum, but he sure has built himself an empire since those days! I think we all can deservedly take credit for his success.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Well I didn't start my business because of this forum, but I sure learned an awful lot here thanks to you guys. So a lot of the credit goes to Lance for helping me keeping going! Big thumbs-up to the one and only, the REAL Mister K!




Pierre
Guitares Torvisse

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Pierre Castonguay

I was in my part time business of building custom banjos before I found the OLF, but some threads in the CNC section did fundamentally change how I did certain things, and launched a line of "semi production" banjos that did quite well. I have always done one off, completely hand made banjos, but CNC let me build really nice semi-custom banjos in standard models that could offer some of the hand made custom niceties like hand engraved pearl, etc. in a price range competitive with not as nice (IMHO) factory instruments. In particular, some of Andy Birko's posts got me to rethinking how I had been using CNC before and got me set up with much better equipment (which quickly paid for itself). Thanks Andy.

At any rate, had the forum not been here, I'd have missed out on that whole fun and profitable episode, not to mention the gazillion great ideas that come up on a daily basis here. I'm mostly building guitars nowadays after 30 plus years of not doing that. I'm finding inspiration here on a regular basis that's helped me re-enter the guitar world. Thanks to Lance and to everyone who participates in this great forum!

Dave

In terms of the 20% of my business that is building, this forum certainly helped me work through a lot of the standard issues that new builders encounter, stuff like developing a reliable, repeatable process to get neat binding, and how to execute “intermediate” things like bound sound holes.

On the repair front (the bulk of my business) I’ve benefitted immensely as a rookie repairman from being able to pick the brains of Hesh, Chris, Dan and the other experienced pros. Frank Ford used to post here too and I wouldn’t hesitate to say that his contributions here (in addition to the vast amount of material he published at frets.com) were also instrumental in getting me started on the road to learning about this stuff. I couldn’t find anyone willing to take me on as an apprentice on the repair side of the craft, and so this online assistance massively flattened the learning curve for me.

I was just looking at the top of the page at the sponsors and although I don't think that Amazon was started from the OLF I see some others who may have been.

The OLF has been a great forum and Lance is a true gentleman. He was a lot of help and made me whole when I was (what's a euphemism for ripped off?) "misled" by one of his former associates. The MIMF used to be the go to forum even with all its foibles in the 90s into the 2000s. I can recall Lance posting quite often as a newcomer prior to starting the OLF. The MIMF went a bit sideways for various reasons including its dawn of the internet (might be repeating an old "know everything guy" comment) software at the time along with what were untenable rules for some. The OLF also went that way for a while as the pros gradually stopped posting as the up and comers apparently knew more. A few talented but stuck in their know everything and verging (OK, not even a try at verging) on bully attitudes affected things for a while. It's good to see that there is still some reasonable activity and great advice on this forum although nothing approaching the post numbers that the MIMF or OLF used to see. Social media (youtube, Facebook, Reddit) seems to have a lot more activity but a lot more repetitive and mistaken detritus (history repeats itself everywhere not just on builders forums) for the most part. Still some excellent builders and advice on the OLF which is why I stick around although I was absentee for many years for many reasons. It's certainly not something distinct to a builders forum like OLF and exists everywhere unfortunately. Such are people. Hope Lance and the OLF remains successful for many years to come.

Thanks from here, wouldn't have had the knowledge or confidence without the OLF.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

The OLF was certainly the influence for my part-time repair business. I would not even have thought of doing repairs without the information I got from the folks here. Turned out to be quite a decent money maker. Could easily go full-time if I wanted to but I've actually dialed it back so I can build more.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I was already going when the OLF launched.

Got a lot of good ideas. I would rank Tony Karol’s posts on clever fretboard tapering table saw jigs and bridge saddle slotting and pin hole jigs right up there with the best. I have used them ever since he posted.

Many others to numerous to mention including the continuing flow of good repair advice from Ann Arbor guitars.

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

I miss Tony's posts here. Terry do you remember when he posted the pic of him on the floor rolling in BRW and laughing his butt off?

Tony and I are Facebook friends so he gives me crap every once in a while on Facebook

I don’t remember that but miss him. His techniques were very clever and they worked!

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

I spent countless hours here when I was learning to build, I’m very grateful to have had the OLF going strong as I was still putting all the pieces together

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Burton
http://www.legeytinstruments.com
Brookline, MA.

Yes, I coined the phrase "RITZ" I believe. Or was it the "Crazy RITZ"? So long ago.

I started a guitar business and failed shortly thereafter, so I'm not exactly a stat you want added to the mix...

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Hey buddy it's 2022 (I think...) and here we still are, hope you are doing great!!!

Folks this is the Williams as in the William's jig what I used for 54.5 builds to cut my binding channels. Mine was made by Don himself.

Don and I are both fans of Honduran Rosewood too.

Hey Burton my friend remember when you and I were Joe White's first clients and you jokingly said that you wold bring the turntable Hope you are doing great!!

I do remember! And I sure wish Joe was still offering his incredible services. Another OLF inspired venture.

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Burton
http://www.legeytinstruments.com
Brookline, MA.

Is Joe no longer finishing geetars? He was a master at it and did beautiful work.

Not to worry my friends. Just on an extended hiatus.

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jw ( o)===:::