Luthier advice (Page 1 of 2)

I've read a few books on the subject, and they all say to make a few guitars before setting yourself up as a luthier.

Check out this website:

http://www.mimf.com/

Thanks for the links and input.

Tibernuis is correct Melvin Hiscocks book is considered the bible of electric guitar making. As far as schools go it all depends where your at, how much money you have to spend on tuition (Roberto Venn School of Luthiery in Arizona USA) cost aproximatley $8000.00 for a six week course not counting your tools or materials. You can buy precut & routed bodies and necks and assemble some very nice and quality built guitars. As far as setting up a shop it all depends on the budget again, do you want to attempt making a living making guitars or as a hobby builder as me? You can have minimal power tools and hand tools and still build from scratch. Keep in mind that to build a guitar from scratch you will have to buy raw material which can cost up towards $800.00 ( american) average not counting your labor.  Get together a list of questions and send me an email I will see if I can help you.

Bootlegger.
Bootlegger guitars.

Ok, perhaps I need to give a little background:

I live in the central US.  I am in my mid-forties, and looking hard at changing careers in 3 years, plus or minus.  I am currently looking into the possibility of opening a small music shop, certainly to include guitar repair/maintenance, possibly to include build-to-order jobs. 

I think I might be able to do this for a couple of reasons:  1) I have a good lead-time to do my research and acquire skills and needed material; 2) I have an uncle who has some luthier experience, who was a shop teacher for 30 years (he ought to be able to 'introduce' me to the trade); 3) after ditching my current job, I will have the time and cash needed to attend a reputable course.  Last but not least-- I love guitars.

Part of my current problem is that I really don't know enough yet to know what questions to ask!  I do own 3 guitars that I would feel comfortable experimenting on, and I can do a setup on a solid-body electric.  I'm getting ready to change out the pickups and mounts (maybe the switch, pots and wiring as well) in a hollowbody electric I own (I was an electronics technician in a past life, that stuff doesn't scare me).

If you guys just keep pointing me to decent books and websites, I can figure out enough to know what questions to ask!  Keep it coming!

Thanks, Tibernius.  I have no illusions about making any size of fortune; as a matter of fact, I rather expect a large portion of the business to come from band instrument sales and rentals, rather than building custom guitars

Now I just have to clear some space for a workbench...

Hey, since you know about the electronics, maybe you can fix a problem i'm having with one of my guitars. As soon as i plug the guitar in, there's a horrible buzzing noise from the amp. It only happens with one guitar, and it stops when the lead (cord) is touched. (metal ends on the cord)

Any ideas?

All the websites mention above by Tibernius do have supplies and books on building guitars which is a true statement. You have to determine how and what you want to build. Refer to my prior posting & send me an email I'm closer to home (left coast).

Bootleger.

I could have sworn I responded to that post, with almost exactly the same information. 

Well, it wasn't a loose wire after all.
I fixed it yesterday, the problem was the inside and back of the jack was covered in rust! No loose wires anywhere. Scraped the rust off and it works fine.

I wasn't complaining, I just wanted to make sure that people know that this can cause problems. Rust isn't mentioned in any of the fixes in my guitar books. I apologise, I should have worded it better.

Thanks for the advice as well.

Since this is still about guitar-making, how much does it cost to make a guitar? I know that's a "how long is a piece of string" question, but can someone give me a rough estimate?

which sites are posting music sheets similiar to chordie but for finger work (picking) on artists like peter white?

I think you're exactly right, cytania.  It would seem to me that building a few will give major insight into repairs and maintenance; I'm building the tuition and materials (and books and tools) cost into the business plan, so all that will count as assets if and when the shop becomes a reality.

From my discussions with my local shop guy, some of the requirements for carrying the big brands are pretty steep: $100,000 minimum buy-in for Gibson, I think he said $30,000 for Fender.  Those couple of "to die for" axes on the back wall will probably be from my own collection (again, counted as business assets at start-up).

Thanks for the input, and keep the ideas coming!