American School of Lutherie
expert training for luthiers of all levelsHands-On Guitar Making
Contemporary Guitar Making
Advanced Design Features
Small Shop Production
HANDS-ON GUITAR MAKING
Class format: Each student creates his Tuition: $3500 plus materials |
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The craft of guitar of making is a rich collection of methods, techniques and skills that can take
a lifetime to acquire and refine on one's own. Because few of us have a lifetime to put it all together, ASL offers this unique two-week opportunity to construct a fine quality guitar while learning the guitar making methods used by today's most creative and successful luthiers.
OVERVIEW
HANDS-ON GUITAR MAKING provides the perfect setting and means to do your best possible work and learning, whether you're a guitar-making novice or a seasoned luthier.
WHAT YOU'LL LEARN
You'll learn a logical, integrated approach to the craft - a synthesis of today's most effective practices and techniques - some as old as forever and some as new as tomorrow. These methods are key to optimizing the quality, efficiency and creativity of your work. They're the logical place to start as a beginning luthier and they're essential for achieving today's extremely high standards of excellence.
You'll learn how to build a guitar of any size and shape without fixed molds and other specialized forms. Working from the raw materials, you'll create the parts, construct the sub-assemblies, assemble, shape, trim, sand, seal, set up and finally play your guitar, learning each phase of the process in turn, in real time at your workbench. The hands-on class experience is designed to prepare you for steady advancement in your continued self-learning.
WHAT YOU'LL BUILD
Classical
You'll build a traditional classical guitar based on Segovia’s famous Torres-inspired '37 and '43 Hauser instruments, the basis for so many of today's best hand made classical guitars. As an example of the classical instrument at its best, the basic Hauser platform provides a solid foundation for your future work on your own. Contemporary design features such as graphite neck reinforcement, slightly radiused fingerboard, rigid rim, and shallow spherical top and back plates are incorporated into today's modern interpretation.
Steel String
You'll select from among several body styles, such as the 00, OM, Small Jumbo, Dreadnaught, etc, which cover the range of today's most popular models. While its bracing pattern will remain true to CF Martin's brilliant X-brace design, modern design elements such as narrow neck profile, compound radius fingerboards, rigid rims, and removable necks bring this traditional instrument into the present and optimized for today's fingerstyle emphasis.
Electric
You'll make a state-of-the-art electric guitar based oneither the Fender or Gibson platform,depending on the focus of the classyou select. Your instrument will include top-of-the-line hardware and electronic components, a full range tone control setup and layout of your preference, and a neck and body designed ahd shaped to be both seemlessly playable and a thing of beauty. This is not your brother-in-law's pretty-face, guitar-shaped, candy apple wet dream. This is a serious professional performance quality guitar, a legitimate, meaningful musical instrument built to deliver whatever you ask of it and blow the socks off anyone within listening distance.Everyone's ideal guitar is unique to his or her own personal taste and musical requirements. This 2-week intensive workshop is your opportunity to create your own guitar with the features and qualities that work best for you. More information
WHEN YOU GET HOME
Making a guitar here means nothing if you can't do it again on your own. Your work space at ASL is a model of compact efficiency which is designed, along with the time-saving jigs and fixtures that you'll use here, to be easily reproduced by you at home. You'll return home with a clear understanding of both what's needed to build your next guitar and how to do it.
