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Interested
in building and repairing your own guitars and not interested
in reading all the text on this page, For over a year after I graduated from Portland State University I was plagued with the question, “Now what do I do?” For quite some time, I imagined myself going to graduate school to pursue an advanced degree in some kind of music program — Ethnomusicology, Music History, Jazz Studies, etc. However, I was never fully at peace with that vision. I have always enjoyed schooling, but I was uneasy, as if I was a square peg peering down at a round hole into which I planned on trying to cram myself. After juggling all the options around, I finally decided to try my hand at building and repairing guitars!
The adventure began on Aug. 28th, 2000, when I became a full-time student of the Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery, located in the Phoenix, Arizona. There, I built two complete guitars (one solid-body electric, and one steel-stringed acoustic) and started two others (again one electric and one acoustic). I also received an introduction to many repair techniques and procedures. It was an exciting and challenging experience that I won't soon forget. Check out my Photo Album for a photo-history of my experience at R-V.
After my 5-month stint at Roberto-Venn, I began my apprenticeship with Bay-area luthier Ervin Somogyi. The senior apprentice, Michihiro Matsuda, and I worked 5 days a week for Ervin in an attempt to help Ervin build 18-24 steel-string and classical guitars every year. It was quite the experience and every day brought something new. Under Ervin's tutelage, I learned the fine points of guitar building and French polishing (a shellac-based, hand-rubbed finish). In the evenings and weekends, Michi and I would work on projects of our own which made for a very long workday and workweek. In addition to our time spent with Ervin, Michi and I also apprenticed one day per week with Frank Ford, famed web author of Frets.com and co-owner of Gryphon Stringed Instruments. It was in the repair department of Gryphon that Michi and I spent our apprenticeships doing set-ups, pickup installs, refrets, and other acoustic and electric guitar repairs. Michi and I are now on our own and are excited for the future. Although I returned to my beloved Portland, Michi has remained in Oakland and is setting up shop even as I write this. Again, for a photo history of my experiences in California, please visit my Photo Album.
One project I'm slowly pecking at is my first classical guitar ever. In the Spring of 1999 I met Cyndy Burton and Jeff Elliott, two highly-skilled and well-reputed Portland-based luthiers. Jeff and Cyndy have been very supportive and were instrumental in my decision to purchase many of the necessary tools, handbooks, and instructional texts. I look forward to completing this classical guitar in the hopes of learning a significant amount about these delicate instruments. Also, having one classical guitar's worth of experience under my belt will make Jeff's and Cyndy's consultation services that much more valuable. Jeff and Cyndy offer these services for the amateur and professional builder and although I have already utilized their services to some extent, I suspect I will be visiting them many more times with more complex questions in the future. Below is an image of the plans I am using (original plans drafted by Jeff and published by the Guild of American Luthiers).
Here’s a color image of a 1937 Hermann Hauser instrument that was built for the great Segovia! I expect mine to look similar when it’s finished, assuming no major catastrophes.
At this point, I am planning on using Sitka spruce for the soundboard, Indian rosewood for the back and sides, ebony for the fingerboard, and Brazilian rosewood for the bridge. The rest is still too far down the road for me to consider. If you're interested in seeing the progress, check out the Photo Album!
What else? Well, I've been pretty busy putting together a couple of small shop spaces. With one in my dwelling, I'm able to complete some repair work here at home, but the large tooling will be housed in a nearby rental space. It's in the rental space that I'll be able to do the loud, messy procedures that I'm not able to complete here at home.
For more information
on building your own guitar, please visit my Suggested
Reading and Listening page.
