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I want to be a luthier where do I begin?

T

Tommy-P

Nov 9, 2007
36
0
North East Coast, England
#1
Hi. Although I would sincerely appreciate any advice that anybody has to offer I am mainly seeking any info and tips that English luthiers can give me, particularly any from the north east.

After carrying out the obligatory mods that everybody has on friends guitars and bass's such as fretlessing, adding new pickups and switches, I got a real buzz and decided that this is something that I could sink my teeth into.

I have seen courses advertised for learning down in totnes and thought that maybe in a few years I would. But now I'm stuck in the North East without a job and it was suggested to me by a friend that as nothing else seems to be coming up that maybe I should concentrate on gaining experience as a luthier.

How would I do that? Start building kits? Go spend a few weeks shadowing an actual luthier if there is any out my way?

How did you start?:help:
 
#2
Although I can't help specifically on your geographical location, this is how I started.

I got a book on general woodworking to understand wood, tools, techniques in general. I built a couple of simple pieces of furniture (a small table and a baby chair for my new born daughter at the time).

Then I got Melvyn Hiscock's book, read it cover to cover a few times. Visited the local lumber yard, got some wood, ordered some hardware and electronics and started building. Many questions asked on the MIMF. First one was riddled with mistakes, but it sounded good and was playable enough to want me to build more. Haven't been able to stop since.
 
#3
Hey Tommy,

Jim Fleeting is in Ripon in Yorkshire, his sites at http://www.guitarrepairman.co.uk/
Im just a player, but I would guess that the town you are based in would determine how much work you would be able to find. I would guess Durham and Newcastle would be good places to set up because of the number of local student bands.

wilser said:
I got a book on general woodworking to understand wood, tools, techniques in general. I built a couple of simple pieces of furniture (a small table and a baby chair for my new born daughter at the time).
Click to expand...

Hey Wilser,

Ive always wondered, did you build the furniture specifically to get the skills to make instruments, or because they seemed like cool projects by themselves and the instruments just followed?
 
#5
my suggestion would be: learn by doing. I'm gonna take a similar approach in a few months when i get some money together. I've taught myself bass from my own nouse and a bit of youtubing, now i am to do the same thing making a bass:P

trial and error will be your best friend, and never think of something you've made as a failure, more like a lesson that's taught you to do xyz and now pqr

:)
 
#8
Hey Tommy,

There are a few schools around that you can enrole and do a full time course. I'm not sure about NE England but in Glasgow there's Anniesland College that runs a 2 year course in guitar making. They also do violin making so if you wanted to go down that route it's another option. And far as I know the course is free to EU students.

As far as I know down in Newark they have a guitar making course aswell in Newark College - a separate course to the famous Newark School of Violinmaking. So apart from the DIY route it's also possible to get full time guidance. I've seen some of the guitars from Anniesland and they're made to a very high standard.

Best of luck with it.

(By the way, I was in your boots about 6 months ago except i wanted to build double basses. I talked to a few local violin makers and luthiers and they gave me advice, told me how they got started etc, gave me a few numbers and now I've given notice at my job, and in a few weeks time I'm going to be starting a degree in violin making in London Met University (used to be London School of Furniture Making). Can't wait. So best of luck!)
 
#9
I don't know that It'll be easy to jump into as a career or anything, but as far as learning to do it goes, just go for it. I built my first bass with a pre-built neck, and am now working on my second one, which is from scratch. It's been fun, and I've learned a lot. I had never really worked with wood before, with the exception of building a bunch of speaker boxes throughout the years.

My suggestions are to start with reasonably cheap and easy to work materials and parts. Don't go too crazy on your first few basses. You'll make a few mistakes anyways. If you're careful, you shouldn't make any major ones, but in the case that you do, You'll feel a lot better replacing a <$100 plain alder/ash/basswood body blank, than one with a highly figured top/bottom worth several times as much.

The better workability will be a huge help too. Nice simple wood is a lot less prone to tear-out, etc, and is much easier to plane or route (especially when you're starting out, and not always using the best tools).

You're going to end up needing a lot of tools, and they're probably a better place to spend the cash on your first build. $400 worth of materials, and $1000 worth of tools will probably help you build a better bass than $1000 of materials and $400 worth of tools. A fairly cheap router, and a good drill press (minimum 12"), some rasps or surforms, a set of cheap mini files, Sanding drum set for the drill, Router bits (especially template bits), twist drill bits, forstner bits. are pretty much the minimum, I think (That's what I used on my first build). Since then I've added a jack plane, since I started with unsurfaced wood this time, and a jigsaw, since cutting the whole thing out with a router was a huge hassle.

-Nick
 

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