I have been building guitars and related instruments since 1994. My enthusiasm for guitar construction led me to deeply explore all aspects of the art and to share as much information as I can with others via my lutherie information website, writing for American Lutherie, published books, and my research publications. I am fortunate to count myself among those that consider building stringed musical instruments to be one of the best things one can do.
Electric guitars and basses are the most popular stringed musical instruments.
Many players dream of building their own instrument. This book provides step-by-step instructions for doing just that. The author is an enthusiastic builder himself, and is also a teacher of instrument construction.
The book is written in a direct and personal style, and anticipates all of the questions a novice builder will ask. This is amazingly confidence-building. For first-time builders of electric guitars, there is no better place to start than this book.
This book tells you everything about making electric guitars following professional standards, phase-by-phase, step-by-step.
It's all about leaving your dent in the universe in the shape of the most beautiful, incredibly sounding guitar you can make—that's clear. But building guitars professionally starts before you even cut the wood: You need to setup your workplace, you have to define your identity as guitar maker, and decide the guiding principles of your endeavor as luthier. What kind of guitars will you build? For whom? What is going to be the winning characteristic of your instruments?
Ukuleles are very popular instruments and it is no surprise that many people would love to make one for themselves.
This book has all the qualities of a great construction book; attention to detail, clear presentation, and optimal construction techniques. The author has honed these skills over the course of his instrument building career and his career as an author of lutherie (the art of building stringed musical instruments) books.
The book includes links to beautifully drawn downloadable plans for a number of ukuleles. Want to build a ukulele? This is the book to get.
The Ukulele is the first comprehensive book on building all styles of ukulele, from the little soprano ukuleles of 19th century Hawai’i to concert, tenor and baritone sizes. The book will lead the first-time ukulele builder through the various steps of crafting a ukulele with detailed written information complemented by nearly 350 photographs and diagrams. Full size plans of all the ukuleles are available to download and print. A full list of tools, hardware and timber required is included. The first chapters are devoted to making the individual parts of a ukulele. These are followed by chapters which focus on…
The constellation we know as Taurus goes all the way back to cave paintings of aurochs at Lascaux. This book traces the story of the bull in the sky, a journey through the history of what has become known as the sacred bull.
One of the living legends of builders of archtop guitars, Bob Benedetto describes his personal construction methods in this excellent book.
Although some aspects of guitar building are common among all types of guitars, archtop guitars have an architecture that borrows a lot from the violin family. Building this style of instrument offers unique challenges, and this book describes the entire process in exquisite detail. This is where many modern builders of archtop guitars got their start.
(Book). The definitive work on the design and construction of an acoustic archtop guitar, this updated second edition features 288 pages of content, including 24 color pages and 4 tear-outs. See what industry greats have said about this book: "I know of no other work offering comprehensive step by step coverage of the making of an acoustic jazz guitar." George Gruhn "This book is for everyone who loves woodworking, loves guitars, appreciates artistry, and believes that organic materials like spruce, maple and ebony can only achieve their highest function through the hands of a craftsman." Howard Paul "I can think…
There is nothing that enhances the process of building guitars more than having a solid foundation in the history of the instrument.
Although there are a number of excellent guitar histories available, few offer as clear and accessible information as this book does. The book is the catalog of a traveling museum show about guitars that was curated by the author at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.
It is lavishly illustrated, and contains just the right amount of text on the subject to keep the reader engaged. No builder of stringed musical instruments should be without this book.
"The guitar and the dog, in order not to be separated from man, have submitted themselves with resignation to the worst alterations of size and appearance." Andres Segovia
Adventures in the Radio Trade documents a life in radio, largely at Canada's public broadcaster. It's for people who love CBC Radio, those interested in the history of Canadian Broadcasting, and those who want to hear about close encounters with numerous luminaries such as Margaret Atwood, J. Michael Straczynski, Stuart…
Most builders of stringed musical instruments desire some information about how the instruments they build actually produce sound.
The problem of producing a book on the subject is that it is highly technical and as such largely inaccessible. Mark French’s work expertly addresses this issue. The result is a work that is as accessible as possible and also complete and technically accurate.
The author has the perfect background for a work like this. He is a professor of engineering technology, and he uses guitar design and construction as the basis of teaching his highly popular courses on STEM subjects.
Featuring chapters on physics, structure, sound and design specifics, Technology of the Guitar also includes coverage of historical content, composition of strings and their effects on sound quality, and important designs. Additionally, author Mark French discusses case studies of historically significant and technologically innovative instruments.
This is a complete reference useful for a broad range of readers including guitar manufacturer employees, working luthiers, and interested guitar enthusiasts who do not have a science or engineering background.
The result of over twenty years of research to identify, catalog, and assess acoustic guitar construction techniques, Building the Steel String Acoustic Guitar
is the most comprehensive source of steel string guitar construction
information available.
Designed specifically to be accessible to the
first-time guitar builder, information is presented as a series of small
and well-defined construction operations. Historical information and
background theory is provided where appropriate for each of these
operations. Construction is presented using tools that most woodworkers
already have, supplemented by a minimal set of special-purpose
guitar-making tools. The construction techniques make heavy use of
simple jigs and fixtures which help achieve precision results. Guitar
construction operations that novice builders find to be difficult and
confusing are broken down into easy-to-understand parts and are
explained in step-by-step detail.
Everybody knows that all animals—bats, bears, sharks, ponies, and people—start out as a single cell: the fertilized egg. But how does something no bigger than the period at the end of this sentence give rise to the remarkable complexity of each of these creatures?
This irreverent biography provides a rare window into the music industry from a promoter’s perspective. From a young age, Peter Jest was determined to make a career in live music, and despite naysayers and obstacles, he did just that, bringing national acts to his college campus atUW-Milwaukee, booking thousands of…
