What's a luthier?

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

Luthier vandross 

[prowla]

17 minutes ago, RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE said:

Luthier vandross 

Yeah, don’t forget Lex Luthier too…

[Hellzero]

And the master Martin Luthier King.

[Owen]

12 hours ago, Staggering on said:

 

Especially if he is working on your double bass. 🙄

That pain is real. 

[tauzero]

3 hours ago, prowla said:

Yeah, don’t forget Lex Luthier too…

 

And Idris Elba's character Luthier.

[Bolo]

15 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Luthiery is the art of making and repairing stringed instruments

Apologies, but it is a craft, not an art. Let's not sell craftsmen short here.

[zbd1960]

11 hours ago, OliverBlackman said:

An interesting point because I’ve heard of (people I deem to be) luthiers of solid body guitars/ basses sub contract the paintwork/ gloss of the instruments they build.

Part of that is likely to be not wanting to buy specialist equipment / facilities, and part because they don't think that aspect is something that they are good at

[BassAgent]

4 minutes ago, zbd1960 said:

Part of that is likely to be not wanting to buy specialist equipment / facilities, and part because they don't think that aspect is something that they are good at

Exactly. Same goes for not crafting your own hardware. Any person who builds a stringed instrument from bare wood but uses existing hardware (e.g. Hipshot or Gotoh) is still a luthier in my book. It's the wood crafting that counts.

[Terry M.]

Interesting topic. I'd always considered Leo Fender to have been a luthier but reading this thread I'm not so sure now 🤔

[BassAgent]

Leo Fender was not a luthier and he never claimed to be one. He was an engineer and inventor.

[Beer of the Bass]

12 hours ago, OliverBlackman said:

An interesting point because I’ve heard of (people I deem to be) luthiers of solid body guitars/ basses sub contract the paintwork/ gloss of the instruments they build.

 

Apparently more common than you'd think with small builders, because the market for solid body guitars and steel string acoustics still demands nitrocellulose, and the logistics of setting up spray facilities to modern safety and environmental standards don't always add up for a smaller operation.

[Terry M.]

2 minutes ago, BassAgent said:

Leo Fender was not a luthier and he never claimed to be one. He was an engineer and inventor.

Noted. That was based off my own ignorance. 

[BassAgent]

1 minute ago, Terry M. said:

Noted. That was based off my own ignorance. 

Oh sorry reading it back it was formulated a bit too bluntly. Didn't want to make you sound dumb or ignorant  

[Stub Mandrel]

16 hours ago, OliverBlackman said:

I’d trust someone who has studied in a renowned workshop over a college any day! 

 

Depends on the college. West Dean has a very high reputation for training people in practical crafts, for example.

[Terry M.]

3 minutes ago, BassAgent said:

Oh sorry reading it back it was formulated a bit too bluntly. Didn't want to make you sound dumb or ignorant  

No offence taken whatsoever. And it's true,I was ignorant of the facts 😊

[Hellzero]

7 minutes ago, BassAgent said:

Leo Fender was not a luthier and he never claimed to be one. He was an engineer and inventor.

Leo Fender was NOT an engineer at all, but an accountant and was a radio repairer hobbyist, nothing more...

 

But sure he was an inventor

[Stub Mandrel]

2 hours ago, Bolo said:

Apologies, but it is a craft, not an art. Let's not sell craftsmen short here.

 

Fair point.

[BassAgent]

4 minutes ago, Hellzero said:

Leo Fender was NOT an engineer at all, but an accountant and was a radio repairer hobbyist, nothing more...

 

But sure he was an inventor

I stand corrected! Absolutely true.

[Stub Mandrel]

1 hour ago, BassAgent said:

Exactly. Same goes for not crafting your own hardware. Any person who builds a stringed instrument from bare wood but uses existing hardware (e.g. Hipshot or Gotoh) is still a luthier in my book. It's the wood crafting that counts.

 

The irony is my skills and workshop are far better suited to making the hardware...

 

I do plan to make some necks, I  have done a very rough job once many years ago on a tiny electric four  string (uke sized). I plan a bass strumstick and if that is successful maybe a bass.

 

I think the big skill is making good acoustic bodies.

[Hellzero]

1 minute ago, Stub Mandrel said:

I think the big skill is making good acoustic bodies.

You nailed it.

[Stub Mandrel]

10 minutes ago, Hellzero said:

Leo Fender was NOT an engineer at all, but an accountant and was a radio repairer hobbyist, nothing more...

 

But sure he was an inventor

 

By US standards he would be considered an electrical engineer.

[Rosie C]

3 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

I think the big skill is making good acoustic bodies.

 

Especially back in the day making round-backed lutes. I'd love to make something like this, but my woodworking skills extend only about as far as putting up a batten for a curtain rail!

 

[BassAgent]

6 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

By US standards he would be considered an electrical engineer.

Self-taught, then. He had an education in accounting.

[Hellzero]

13 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

By US standards he would be considered an electrical engineer.

And I'm the pope.

[asingardenof]

It should mean that someone has been trained and/or served some sort of apprenticeship in making instruments. A mutual and sadly no longer with us friend of myself and @Merton did a luthiery course in Totnes some years ago, and following his journey highlighted how much work and dedication there is involved for a good one (and Kieran was a good one - I played an acoustic 12-string guitar he built and it was joyous). I used to get my instruments an initial setup from an actual luthier in Penzance some years ago and it was fascinating talking to him about his work.

 

These days a lot of people get called a luthier because they can do guitar setups and repairs.