How to Build an Acoustic Guitar From Scratch
A fine acoustic guitar is beautiful to the eye and the ear. Highly-trained specialists called luthiers build quality guitars. With the right tools any individual can build something that looks like a guitar. However, it isn't likely that a homemade guitar will be playable. Many elements go into the construction of a guitar, and it's a combination of precision and experience that makes them sing. A guitar builder must understand how a guitar works and have strong woodworking skills. You can learn the required skills, but it will require an investment of time and money.
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Instructions
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Training and Resources for Guitar Building
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Learn to play the guitar. It may sound simplistic, but if you're considering building a guitar and then learning to play it, you've got it backward. Playing a guitar is critical to understanding the elements involved in building one, and in designing one that's right for you. Until you have played for a while you will not understand your own preferences. After playing you will know what size guitar you prefer, what kind of neck suits your hand, and if you prefer a brighter or deeper sounding guitar. All of these issues will affect the type of guitar you decide to build. It's better to spend $100 now on a cheap guitar and learn, then spend up to six months of your time to build a guitar you don't like.
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Learn the parts of a guitar and how it works. Several resources exist on the web to teach you about guitar mechanics. How Stuff Works (see resources below) has an in-depth explanation of the acoustic guitar.
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Learn about wood. The woods that compose a guitar have a direct effect on its sound. Choosing a wood for the soundboard (the top of the guitar) is the most critical. For instance a spruce top gives a guitar a bright sound, while a mahogany top gives it a richer, deeper tone.
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Investigate Luthier Training. Several schools in the U.S. teach guitar making. The "gold standard" of U.S. guitar schools is the American School of Lutherie (ASL) in Portland, OR (see resources below). Charles Fox, who began making guitars in 1968, runs the ASL. The ASL teaches students to make acoustic steel string and acoustic classical guitars. In one of their weeklong courses, with the help of their instructors, you can build a guitar you can take home with you.
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Apprentice with a local luthier. Every major city has its share of luthiers. It's possible that one in your area might be willing to teach you the craft.
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Build an acoustic guitar from a kit. Several companies like Stewmac (see resources below) offer guitar kits. These kits can be expensive, and require the purchase of tools, but if you're impatient to build a guitar and cannot take the time to go to a school this could be a viable option. The beauty of a kit is that all the difficult engineering and design decisions have already been made for you.
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Tips & Warnings
Consider building your guitar with environmentally friendly recycled or sustainable woods.
Always woodwork in a well-ventilated area.
Resources
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Comments
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Building a guitar is complicated and best done under the supervision of a master luthier. There are several guitar building seminars, teachers, camps available that help with building a guitar. Part of the problem is that kit guitars end in kit guitars. If you want a really good guitar, take a class or attending a camp.
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bertzie
Aug 11, 2010
Worst. Ehow article. Ever. You should feel ashamed. This article offered exactly zero useful information.
