Started my luthiery course, heres the build thread.

[Thrashmanzac]

as some of you may know (although im guessing no one does) i have recently moved to melbourne to do a one year course in luthiery. ill leave out the boring details about the class unless anyone really wants to know, in which case im happy to answer any questions
the first guitar we are making is a telecaster, so onto the pictures:
this picture is glueing the wings on the body for the belly, as the slab of wood (forget the name but it is a specis of pine) was slightly too narrow.


wings glued on.


here you can see my neck blank with the tuner hole drilled. the neck is quartersawn maple, rosewood, quartersawn maple. i chose quartersawn maple to add some stability to the neck, as instead of using a truss rod, we used carbon fibre rods, and i was worried about the neck bowing.


here you can see the neck has been cut out with a bandsaw, after the channel for the carbon fibre rod has been routed. the rod was glued into the neck with aroldite, and a strip of maple glued onto of it. aroldite is some brutal stuff, work fast and dont get it on you!


here you can see the body has been cut on the bandsaw, my baby is starting to take shape! the neck has also been copy routed using a laser cut template.



i hope you all enjoyed my thread, i will continue to update thsi page with my progress throughout the year

[iRaiseTheDead]

I'll be that guy who'd like to hear all the details
Lookin' good so far!

[Thrashmanzac]

Originally Posted by iRaiseTheDead

I'll be that guy who'd like to hear all the details
Lookin' good so far!

thanks man
any questions let me know and ill do my best to answer them

[iRaiseTheDead]

Its like a class and this is your first project? Everyone taking the class is making a Tele?

[Thrashmanzac]

correct, in our construstion classes we will be making three guitars. first is a telecaster, so everyone has to make a telecaster. second is an acoustic, in which we decide if we want a cut-away, rosette, binding, whatever woods we want etc. third is a complete custom, where we get a chance to make a guitar of our own design, bassically anything we want

[Purelojik]

actually i wanna hear more about this course and all. i dont know if i'd ever get a chance to do something like this but if so, more info couldnt hurt

[Empryrean]

Originally Posted by Purelojik

actually i wanna hear more about this course and all. i dont know if i'd ever get a chance to do something like this but if so, more info couldnt hurt

Ditto, it sounds awesome


also; great slab of pine you got there

[Thrashmanzac]

Originally Posted by Purelojik

actually i wanna hear more about this course and all. i dont know if i'd ever get a chance to do something like this but if so, more info couldnt hurt

no worries
it is a cert 4 in instrument making and repair. it's a one year full time course of about 28 hours a week.
within the course we have subjects such as design, set-up and repair, construstion, buisness, and 3d modelling. here is a link to a basic course outline: Northland Secondary College MIT
the course is ran with funding from maton guitars and aims to create a skilled workpool for potential employers to be able to hand pick the workers that best suit them, as well as giving student the knowledge they need to get into the industry and even start their own buisness if they wish. as far as i know it is the only course of its kind in australia.

[ElRay]

Great start.

I added the member built tag.

Don't forget to post here: Guitars built by members of SS.org [Pic-heavy] when she's done.

Ray

[aaron_rose]

yes please details! Great stuff man! The Luthier I met recently here in town uses purple heart instead of truss rods and mentioned using carbon fiber today, I gave him the uneasy eye when mentioned do to it being a new concept for me. I had assumed metal \n/ was the only thing that was feasible "especially for ERG's with the extra whatever it is foot lbs of tension id guess 50 ish for a 8?"

I think its awesome, after reading on it as it turns out this is the classical time honored approach.

[Thrashmanzac]

Originally Posted by aaron_rose

yes please details! Great stuff man! The Luthier I met recently here in town uses purple heart instead of truss rods and mentioned using carbon fiber today, I gave him the uneasy eye when mentioned do to it being a new concept for me. I had assumed metal \n/ was the only thing that was feasible "especially for ERG's with the extra whatever it is foot lbs of tension id guess 50 ish for a 8?"

I think its awesome, after reading on it as it turns out this is the classical time honored approach.

yeah i was quite uneasy about it at first, but the luthiers that teach in the construstion class assured me it would be fine, and if ian noyce gives me advice to do with luthiery, i take it i figure with the combination of quartersawn maple and carbon fibre i shouldnt have any issues with the neck. it will only be strung with 46s anyway

[Fiction]

Sounds like an awesome class man, Be good if there was something like this closer to me, I'd love to do something along the lines of this

[AnarchyDivine88]

So does a course like this teach you starting from a beginner level or do you have to already be pretty experienced in luthiery in order to make it in something like this?

[Thrashmanzac]

Originally Posted by AnarchyDivine88

So does a course like this teach you starting from a beginner level or do you have to already be pretty experienced in luthiery in order to make it in something like this?

there a quite a few beginners in the course, very few have made a guitar before

[Metal_Webb]

Originally Posted by Thrashmanzac

the first guitar we are making is a telecaster, so onto the pictures:
this picture is glueing the wings on the body for the belly, as the slab of wood (forget the name but it is a specis of pine) was slightly too narrow.

More than likely Radiata pine. It's really commonly used here in Aus as framing timber in houses.

Wishing you all the best with the course mate! Definitely keep us up to date with it.

[vansinn]

Originally Posted by Thrashmanzac

no worries
it is a cert 4 in instrument making and repair. it's a one year full time course of about 28 hours a week.
within the course we have subjects such as design, set-up and repair, construstion, buisness, and 3d modelling. here is a link to a basic course outline: Northland Secondary College MIT

Looks like a neatly arranged course. I like they've added business and modern 3D modelling.

Please make a post about the 3D modeling part when you get to it.
An outline of techniques and tools would be cool for those who've never dealt with such methods.

[Thrashmanzac]

Originally Posted by vansinn

Looks like a neatly arranged course. I like they've added business and modern 3D modelling.

Please make a post about the 3D modeling part when you get to it.
An outline of techniques and tools would be cool for those who've never dealt with such methods.

do you mean an outline of technipues and tools for the build process? that would be easy enough

[aaron_rose]

Originally Posted by vansinn

Looks like a neatly arranged course. I like they've added business and modern 3D modelling.

Please make a post about the 3D modeling part when you get to it.
An outline of techniques and tools would be cool for those who've never dealt with such methods.

If ya ever need help with 3d lemme know, Im a 3d studio expert. worked on 23 video game titles "bunch of need for speed stuff", and directed the character animation for walt disneys atlantis. I would be happy to help guide ya if ya ever get stuck or just need advise on modeling techniques or modifiers etc.

[demonx]

First of all - congrats. Sounds like a awesome course.

Hard to tell from the pics, but being they're using it for lutherie it's most likely Kaurie pine. Radiata is a cheap construction pine and not recognised as a tonewood, Kaurie Pine is known to be used so it's probably that.

I've never heard of this course, did you mention Ian Noyce is teaching?? If yso you're very lucky.

Not that I could find the time or leave my job for it as I have a mortgage and other costly living expenses, but I'm curious of the cost of the course. I tried looking at the link you provided but couldn't see any info

[Thrashmanzac]

Originally Posted by demonx

First of all - congrats. Sounds like a awesome course.

Hard to tell from the pics, but being they're using it for lutherie it's most likely Kaurie pine. Radiata is a cheap construction pine and not recognised as a tonewood, Kaurie Pine is known to be used so it's probably that.

I've never heard of this course, did you mention Ian Noyce is teaching?? If yso you're very lucky.

Not that I could find the time or leave my job for it as I have a mortgage and other costly living expenses, but I'm curious of the cost of the course. I tried looking at the link you provided but couldn't see any info

thanks mate
yes thats it, kaurie pine! i forgot what it was called. some in the class are using platation mahogany as well.
yes noycey is one of the teachers for the construstion class, i was his gardener for about 4 months last year leading up to the course. in exchange for gardening he would pay me a modest wage and teach me anything i wanted to know about guitars, he is a very skilled luthier and i have a huge amount of respect for him.
the course ranges on price depending on your age and status, i beleive for most it ends up costing about $2500, for others it is closer to $8000, this is due to it being a tafe course, so people can get government assistance to pay for some/all of the fees involved.

[theo]

WOW, this is really awesome, I wish I'd known about this earlier! is this the first year it has been run or is it an established course?

[demonx]

When I saw the pics I thought it was Kaurie straight away. I've used it before. It's a bit soft but still ok for a body. So be carefull not to ding it or you'll be using filler! I wouldn't use it for a neck but it's fine for a body.

Noyce gave me a tour of his workshop back in 1991 (had to think of the year, its been a while) - apparently he's got a whole different setup now in a complete different part of his property.

I've played several of his guitars and each one is outstanding. I give him credit, he is a Master Luthier, exceeding the standard Luthier status and his work resembles this.

I'll say it again you are very lucky to learn from him. I wish I had the same opportunity.

[Thrashmanzac]

Originally Posted by theo

WOW, this is really awesome, I wish I'd known about this earlier! is this the first year it has been run or is it an established course?

to my knowledge the course has been running for about 4-5 years

[technomancer]

Very cool, good luck with the course

[demonx]

I'm curious how much of the course is cnc and how much is handmade? I know noycies operation is cnc based and i read that part of the course is 3D modeling, made me wonder what methods they are teaching.