How hard to build guitar?

[NJD]

How hard would it be for a master carpenter to learn how to build a
great electric guitar?

I have a good friend who has extraordinary wood-working skills, but he
isn't much of a businessman. He creates a wide variety of items in his
shop and they are beautiful, especially the finishes. He also can
produce intricately carved items.

Anyway, he's been trying to find a niche market of some kind and I
wondered if he might start trying to make guitar bodies or whole
guitars. The carving he does is interesting and the finishes are
stunning. I consider him an artist in his own right and many of his
pieces are museum quality IMHO.

I thought maybe he ought to try his hand at carving guitar bodies.
Maybe there'd be a high end market for one-of-a-kind or limited run
instruments, assuming he could learn how to make a guitar play as well
as I'm sure it would look.

Any thoughts? Worth suggesting? Or should he stick to fine furniture
(my first suggestion)?

--
Nick
http://www.cultv.com Fine arts & more
http://www.ironia.net My last band

[Pete Kerezman]

On Thu, 21 Aug 2003 18:03:34 GMT, NJD <njd@NIXSPAAMcultv.com> wrote:

>How hard would it be for a master carpenter to learn how to build a
>great electric guitar?
>
>I have a good friend who has extraordinary wood-working skills, but he
>isn't much of a businessman. He creates a wide variety of items in his
>shop and they are beautiful, especially the finishes. He also can
>produce intricately carved items.
>
>Anyway, he's been trying to find a niche market of some kind and I
>wondered if he might start trying to make guitar bodies or whole
>guitars. The carving he does is interesting and the finishes are
>stunning. I consider him an artist in his own right and many of his
>pieces are museum quality IMHO.
>
>I thought maybe he ought to try his hand at carving guitar bodies.
>Maybe there'd be a high end market for one-of-a-kind or limited run
>instruments, assuming he could learn how to make a guitar play as well
>as I'm sure it would look.
>
>Any thoughts? Worth suggesting? Or should he stick to fine furniture
>(my first suggestion)?

Have him read the book "How To Make Your Own Electric Guitar," by
Melvyn Hiscock. Once he reads it he can make an informed decision.
Sounds like for him it should be no problem.

Texas Pete

[Pete Kerezman]

Oops. That's "Make Your Own Electric Guitar."


http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/103-4674221-6913456

Very comprehensive. Every electric geetar plucker should have a
copy whether they're going to make one or not.

Texas Pete

[Charlie Escher]

Pete Kerezman wrote:
> On Thu, 21 Aug 2003 18:03:34 GMT, NJD <njd@NIXSPAAMcultv.com> wrote:
>
>
>>How hard would it be for a master carpenter to learn how to build a
>>great electric guitar?
>>
>>I have a good friend who has extraordinary wood-working skills, but he
>>isn't much of a businessman. He creates a wide variety of items in his
>>shop and they are beautiful, especially the finishes. He also can
>>produce intricately carved items.
>>
>>Anyway, he's been trying to find a niche market of some kind and I
>>wondered if he might start trying to make guitar bodies or whole
>>guitars. The carving he does is interesting and the finishes are
>>stunning. I consider him an artist in his own right and many of his
>>pieces are museum quality IMHO.
>>
>>I thought maybe he ought to try his hand at carving guitar bodies.
>>Maybe there'd be a high end market for one-of-a-kind or limited run
>>instruments, assuming he could learn how to make a guitar play as well
>>as I'm sure it would look.
>>
>>Any thoughts? Worth suggesting? Or should he stick to fine furniture
>>(my first suggestion)?
>
>
> Have him read the book "How To Make Your Own Electric Guitar," by
> Melvyn Hiscock. Once he reads it he can make an informed decision.
> Sounds like for him it should be no problem.

Awww, Pete, whatchoo doing giving that fat git a shout out?

That book is a good starting place, fer sure.

The guy I bought my custom bass from is a cabinet maker by first trade I
believe, but he's also a good musician who understands issues like
instrument balance and weight, pickup placement, and so on. Nick, is
your friend a musician too? As we all know, "musician" and "businessman"
are usually counterindicative. But more to the point, how much effort
will it take him to produce excellent playing instruments consistently?
Will he know if they are excellent players or not?

One other thing: super-deluxe finishes are not necessarily desirable
within many styles of music. I know lots of guys who are reluctant to
bring a spectacular looking instrument to a club gig. If it "only" plays
as well as a Fender or PRS (for example), the compelling reason to pay
more than those go for is vanity, it seems to me. If the axe lives in
one's bedroom, all the more true. That's not to deride that market
though; it's very real and potentially lucrative if your friend has the
talent and savvy to tap into it. He needs to generate a buzz at a high
price point though, as he'll never make it going toe to toe against
production stuff.

Suggestion: commission him to build you a guitar, at direct cost more or
less. He can buy a neck ready made, cutting out 75% of the learning
curve. If all you get is a stunning piece of furniture, that's not all
bad. He could even just buy all Warmoth parts, and do a custom finish,
as a start. Or he could add a cap onto a body blank. That way it would
be playable, for certain.


.cE

[Pete Kerezman]

On Thu, 21 Aug 2003 12:34:37 -0700, Charlie Escher
<charliejane@gorge.net> wrote:

>> Have him read the book "How To Make Your Own Electric Guitar," by
>> Melvyn Hiscock. Once he reads it he can make an informed decision.
>> Sounds like for him it should be no problem.
>
>Awww, Pete, whatchoo doing giving that fat git a shout out?

Um... he autographed my copy?

>That book is a good starting place, fer sure.

Oh yeah, that's the reason.

>The guy I bought my custom bass from is a cabinet maker by first trade I
>believe, but he's also a good musician who understands issues like
>instrument balance and weight, pickup placement, and so on. Nick, is
>your friend a musician too? As we all know, "musician" and "businessman"
>are usually counterindicative. But more to the point, how much effort
>will it take him to produce excellent playing instruments consistently?
>Will he know if they are excellent players or not?
>
>One other thing: super-deluxe finishes are not necessarily desirable
>within many styles of music. I know lots of guys who are reluctant to
>bring a spectacular looking instrument to a club gig. If it "only" plays
>as well as a Fender or PRS (for example), the compelling reason to pay
>more than those go for is vanity, it seems to me. If the axe lives in
>one's bedroom, all the more true. That's not to deride that market
>though; it's very real and potentially lucrative if your friend has the
>talent and savvy to tap into it. He needs to generate a buzz at a high
>price point though, as he'll never make it going toe to toe against
>production stuff.
>
>Suggestion: commission him to build you a guitar, at direct cost more or
>less. He can buy a neck ready made, cutting out 75% of the learning
>curve. If all you get is a stunning piece of furniture, that's not all
>bad. He could even just buy all Warmoth parts, and do a custom finish,
>as a start. Or he could add a cap onto a body blank. That way it would
>be playable, for certain.
>
>
> .cE

Always listen to a man whose initials are on dang near all new
electronical music gear.

Texas Pete

[NJD]

> The guy I bought my custom bass from is a cabinet maker by first trade I
> believe, but he's also a good musician who understands issues like
> instrument balance and weight, pickup placement, and so on. Nick, is
> your friend a musician too?

Yeah, as a matter of fact he sings and plays both guitar and piano by
ear. He plays remarkably well for a person who couldn't tell you what
chords he's playing.

> As we all know, "musician" and "businessman"
> are usually counterindicative. But more to the point, how much effort
> will it take him to produce excellent playing instruments consistently?
> Will he know if they are excellent players or not?

Well, he'd probably know if it sucked. I could help him out with fine
tuning and things like intonation I suppose.

> One other thing: super-deluxe finishes are not necessarily desirable
> within many styles of music. I know lots of guys who are reluctant to
> bring a spectacular looking instrument to a club gig. If it "only" plays
> as well as a Fender or PRS (for example), the compelling reason to pay
> more than those go for is vanity, it seems to me. If the axe lives in
> one's bedroom, all the more true. That's not to deride that market
> though; it's very real and potentially lucrative if your friend has the
> talent and savvy to tap into it. He needs to generate a buzz at a high
> price point though, as he'll never make it going toe to toe against
> production stuff.

I think he probably has the talent, but not the savvy. I'd have to help
out with that and I might not have the savvy either.

We're both going through hard times. He's been doing commission work
for a lot of years now, but his wife was an executive and by far the
major bread winner. Unfortunately, she was down sized out of a job and,
like me, she's having no luck finding work (certainly there's nothing
even close to her previous pay level).

So he's hurting financially. If I could come up with a good idea, maybe
we could get something going together. I'd handle the business side and
let him do what he does best. He really is very good.

Of course, even if that doesn't happen, I'd be happy if he got something
going just for himself.

> Suggestion: commission him to build you a guitar, at direct cost more or
> less. He can buy a neck ready made, cutting out 75% of the learning
> curve. If all you get is a stunning piece of furniture, that's not all
> bad. He could even just buy all Warmoth parts, and do a custom finish,
> as a start. Or he could add a cap onto a body blank. That way it would
> be playable, for certain.

That's a good idea. I'll do that (though maybe I should find a job
first). Thanks.

In the mean time, I've got some ideas for carved Mahogany coffee tables.

--
Nick
http://www.cultv.com Fine arts & more
http://www.ironia.net My last band

[NJD]

In article <j15akv4n6dp9odnk34an0dkkcnb3rjonoi@4ax.com>,
petekerez@aol.com says...
> Oops. That's "Make Your Own Electric Guitar."
>
>
> http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/103-4674221-6913456
>
> Very comprehensive. Every electric geetar plucker should have a
> copy whether they're going to make one or not.

Thanks. I'll pick up a copy and give it to him.

--
Nick
http://www.cultv.com Fine arts & more
http://www.ironia.net My last band