A friend gifts me a rusty old jointer! In this episode of DIY Guitar Making, I remove the rust, level the the infeed and outfeed tables, level the fence, set the infeed table coplanar to the outfeed table, and clean the cutterhead.
DIY Guitar Making Videos
Q&A – Backstrip Woods, Headplate Thickness, and Butt Joints
Mario’s Guitar Speaks for the First Time
Reflections – On Steel String vs. Classical Guitar Culture
Updates from Quarantine
Cost of Getting Started in Lutherie
In this episode of DIY Guitar Making, I break down some estimated costs for tools, jigs, parts and materials to get started in acoustic guitar making. I also talk about the cost of education in lutherie.
Getting Started as a Guitar Maker
How to get started in Lutherie! In this episode of DIY Guitar Making, I discuss things like having basic tool skills, learning to sharpen, whether or not you should build from a kit or from scratch, and whether or not you should specialize in acoustic guitars or go broad and build electrics, ukuleles etc…
Recommended books for new builders:
William Cumpiano’s “Guitarmaking: an Art and Tradition”
Alex Willis’ “Step-by-step Guitar Making”
David Russell Young’s “The Steel String Guitar: Construction and Repair”
Jim Williams’ “A Guitar Maker’s Manual”
Also recommended is a subscription to “American Lutherie” magazine: https://luth.org/journal/
and/or a subscription to “Guitarmaker” magazine: https://www.asiartisans.org/content/magazine.html
More advanced books for further refinement later on in your Lutherie journey:
Ervin Somogyi’s “The Responsive Guitar”
Ervin Somogyi’s “Making the Responsive Guitar”
🔴 Register for an 8 day Hands-On Guitar Building Workshop in Bernville, Pennsylvania: https://ericschaeferguitars.com/learn-to-build-your-own-guitar/
🔴Check out the online course “Building an OM Acoustic”: https://ericschaeferguitars.com/course/building-an-om-acoustic/
🔴Check out the online course: Tru Oil Finishing: A Method for Acoustic Guitar: https://ericschaeferguitars.com/course/tru-oil-finishing-method-acoustic-guitar/
🔴 Subscribe for weekly guitar making tips: https://www.youtube.com/c/EricSchaeferGuitars?sub_confirmation=1 New episodes are released every Friday at 10am
Korean Reality TV show visits Eric Schaefer Guitars!
So, an interesting thing happened… The Korean division of the VOA (Voice of America) have a reality TV program called Across & Around America. It is a travel magazine series presenting a window on life in America by visiting 50 states, meeting people and landmarks around the country. Watch as the hosts learn about scarf joints, bracing patterns, bending wood bindings and more! And we all jam out to a classic Korean song at the end!
Q&A – Teak tonewood, Jackplane Angles and Katalox necks
In this episode of DIY Guitar Making:
Can you use Teak as an instrument wood?
Standard angle or alternate angles for jackplanes?
How does Katalox compare to Rosewood for guitar necks?
Making Mistakes as a Guitar Builder: A Critical Look at my Worst Guitar
In this episode of DIY Guitar Making, I take a critical look at the worst guitar I ever built. I point out flaws and discuss strategies for improving and avoiding some of the common mistakes that luthiers make. Mistakes include gappy joinery, inconsistent binding and purfling thickness, poor design, bad miters and sloppy finish among other things. I even installed the end wedge upside down!