My Dream is to be a Luthier

[RkdJehova]

However, I do not know where to begin. I was hoping some of you could assist me, and lead me in the right direction starting out. Many of you have impressed me to the point of awe, staring at the beauty of your guitars for hours. You are truly inspirations.

I plan on applying to Atlanta Guitar Works school to get proper training, but I don't want to go into it completely green to guitar woodworking. Any tips on things I should read, supplies I should buy, and more importantly things I can do to better my woodworking skills before going in?

Every helpful thing you guys can give me will be GREATLY appreciated.

Thank you,
~AJ

[Bofee]

Build an Ukulele. From scratch if you can, from a kit if you have to. It's a good place to start.
If you want to build electrics, put something together from parts.

[low end fuzz]

excellent advice from Bofee;
garage sales and discount junkers are great to learn on; because you dont care about screwing them up, and the hard parts (that need the power tools) are done;
the best way to learn luthiery (imo) is to start from the end and slowly work to the begining ;
ie; learn your setups; then move to fret dresses , replace a nut, start making templates based on qualities you like with the instruments youve been working on and so on,

[Dirk Diggler]

Well I'm going to disagree with starting with a UKE. Couldn't be any further from a bass to build, very few techniques building that will help with a bass. Using an existing cheapo or beatup bass makes a bit more sense I guess.

I asked my uncle once many years ago how he learned to do inlay work, he told me he took his favorite old Martin and went slow and was so careful since it was his favorite axe. He still has it and the inlay is to die for.
I found in my own experience that I started with cutting the wings off a neckthru bass and made new wings for it. The next build was from scratch neck and all. Take your time use your brain, and watch Norm on the New Yankee Workshop and any other things you can watch about woodworking, almost all programs will help you learn about tools and wood.
Good luck,
Dirk

[codyAllen191]

i built a parts bass first.....now im making my rounds at hardware store buying bandsaws and jointers.......oh the fun!

[l337r3nn]

hey dude, i hear what your saying. my best advice? don't be daunted by the daunting tasks. in my experience, the best way to start is to be ambitious as cheaply as possible. the threads here are great for inspiration. but yeah, some things trhat seem difficult really aren't if you are careful and enthusiastic. i am still doing my first project, a seven string guitar, and the parts most people fear tend to be the most fun (A.K.A, the neck) and i can send pics and pointers if you feel inclined to pm me. I'm fourteen and have been using nothing more advanced than a router, electric jigsaw or circular saw (mostly using rasps and chisels, actually ) so pretty much, anything is possible. pm me bout it!

[Arx]

Just go for it.. Build one. Use cheap parts. I have to disagree with the "build a parts bass" recommendations. That's a little too easy.

For my first bass I built a fanned fret 5 string. I started with a fretless neck that I bought from warmoth, fretted it and built a body.

My next one's going to be right from scratch. Pretty much everything. Neck, tuners, bridges, pickups and all.

It's fun, and if you did it right you could probably do it fairly cheap. You'll probably make a lot of mistakes, but making mistakes is a quick way to learn to avoid them.