How do you get into becoming a luthier

[metalmaniac]

Hey,
I was just wondering how have luthiers got into the trade,
I'm seriously interested in building my own basses, but the thing is, how do you actually become one.

Have you gone to colleges/courses, family born..

Cheers

[neepheid]

[quote name='metalmaniac' post='87110' date='Nov 11 2007, 11:52 PM']Hey,
I was just wondering how have luthiers got into the trade,
I'm seriously interested in building my own basses, but the thing is, how do you actually become one.

Have you gone to colleges/courses, family born..

Cheers[/quote]

Dunno if I'd call myself a luthier, but I just bought a partially done project off eBay and finished it off. I'm slowly taking on more and more ambitious stuff - a restoration of a 60's Hagstrom and a fretless P (Bullet really) that I'm collaborating with my sister on regarding the finish. I have some walnut (a body sized and a neck sized piece) for my first bass from scratch.

Expect to spend quite a bit of cash and to make none

[Musky]

I don't know about nowadays, but many years ago a friend of mine took a course at the London College of Furniture Making, which was just about the only course available in the south of England. Then again, I can remember a carpentry teacher knocking out a guitar in his spare time. So I suppose it depends on what you mean by 'luthier'.

At the end of the day it's results that matter. If you can figure out how to make a decent instrument on your own, you're a luthier - it's just that some training usually makes a worthwhile shortcut

[Buzz]

I know my local college was offering guitar making courses, although I think last year they changed it to Violins or some other stringed instrument. If you're looking for training, check out either uni or local college evening courses.

As for when you're a luthier, when you can make your own instrument from semi-raw materials imo. Like a blacksmith takes blocks of metal and forges them into shapes and other objects.

[warwickhunt]

To become a luthier you have to break a lot of guitars... then figure out how to put them back together.

In all seriousness I'm sure that there will be courses somewhere but if you want to strike out then you have to have a good working knowledge of woodwork or cabinet making (not just bodging a book shelf) and have a firm grasp of some basic electronics. You'll need to understand some of the science behind how certain materials react/work. Ultimately if you've owned a guitar/bass for a couple of years and haven't stripped it down and tried to figure out how the truss rod, electrics etc work then you probably aren't cut out for it; just my opinion but to be good I think you need a naturaly inquisitive mind that likes to experiment.

[Wil]

I don't think you can really call youself a luthier unless you have an understanding of how to make or repair any stringed instrument you come across, and that would include things like headstocks breaking off and other fun stuff.

I feel there is a distinction between someone with the knowledge to deal with anything that crops up on a wooden stringed instrument and someone who builds and sets up basses, hence luthier and builder. Probably not dictionary definitions, and ymmv.

[ShergoldSnickers]

A friend of mine did a cabinet making course to start with, getting used to working with different woods and tools. As the intricacy of the work increased, doing inlays etc, he realised that building basses would be feasible. He was taught by an elderly gentleman who'd been in the trade for donkeys years and knew all the tricks and techniques. The course was at a local college. Worth a look I'd say.

[jwbassman]

Jon Shuker offers a weeks course where you build you own bass - guess that's as good a place to start as any - [url="http://www.shukerguitars.co.uk/course.htm"]more details on his website[/url]...

Edited November 12, 2007 by jwbassman

[Jono]

+1 on the course Jon Shuker runs. That's me on his site wearing the clerks T-shirt with my beautiful Jazz bass.

Edited November 12, 2007 by Jono

[Tait]

bet the shuker course costs a lot, though.

[Jono]

Around £600 so not cheap I guess but that includes all materials and you do get to take the bass home with you. Definitely an experience you won't ever forget too...

[Adam.M]

£600 is damned cheap, the torres school whateveritis that all the guitarist rave about is 3,000+ or something...

[wizbat]

You mean the Totnes school of guitar making down in devon!
It,s a lot more than just being tutored for a few days while you put together the bits to your new bass, they teach you the whole deal from solid bodys thru to building acoustics as well as neckmaking,fretting,inlays and so on.
I,ve not done their courses but I,seen some of the work done by ex pupils at guitar shows over the last few years and they are very impressive.
It,s probably a bit overkill on the education front if all you want to do is just build up a couple of instruments yourself but definitly the way to go if you are looking to make a career out of it.

[metalmaniac]

Haha, that would eb a dream job for me... what a waste of a physics degree

[charic]

Theres some kind of ritual i believe... probably sacrificing a small goat. Thats how basses are made too isnt it? Magic

[Peaty]

Those courses sound a really good way of learning techniques and getting experience but prior to doing that there are several good books worth reading. I would recommend

Make Your Own Electric Guitar by Melvyn Hiscock

and

Building Electric Guitars: How to Make Solid-body, Hollow-body and Semi-acoustic Electric Guitars and Bass Guitars
by Martin Koch

Pete

[setekh]

id' say that if yo have no training, the following are important

- carpentry. it's always good to know the ins and outs of woodworking (and while you're at it, you can build your own furniture )
- electronics knowledge. you'll have to fix those, so might just know how they work
- knowledge of the particularities of the (many!) types of wood used on the various instruments
- knowledge of the characteristics of the instruments you intend to build/repair
- money and patience. you will learn mostly from experience...so be prepared for some trial and error

(this is as much for you as it is for me haha. man how I feel like learning a few things about carpentry...)

[charic]

Ive always been tempted but ive never really tried wood working n cud b a serious waste of dough if i balls up

[metalmaniac]

same for me