Week 1 . . . Day 1

Under Way . . .

The first day of the guitar-building course has finally arrived and I am ready to start at 9:30am and getting on with the instrument.  In fact 9:30am is a ‘late’ start and only applicable to the first day as the normal starting time is 9:00am.  I have already met Richard Osborne a couple of times last week to talk about this and that and the specific dimensions and qualities of the guitar I am going to build and now it is time for action!

Context . . .

So how did it come about that that I am on the other side of the earth in Lewes in the UK attending a month long guitar-building course?  The short version is that I have always been interested in the idea of building my own guitar and have investigated a couple of courses in Melbourne.  Somehow I did not quite gel with either luthier and I also was underwhelmed with the quality of the student guitars I saw – and it turns out there is a reason for this as they only spend two weeks on each instrument.

I have read nearly every book and manual on guitar making (I am sure there is a better term but I don’t know it yet!) and have at various times considered importing a kit guitar or mandolin from StewMac in the USA.  However, I was still concerned that I could not do justice to the finished instrument.

And then . . . a dear friend John in UK had asked me several times if I would like to do Richard’s course, but each time I found a new excuse or just fobbed him off in one way or another.  In April of this year John sent me a note inviting me to use their house in Lewes while I did the course – and that they were going to their place in France for the summer.  How could I refuse?

Getting Here . . .

Of course it takes a lot of organisation to come away for six weeks.  I decided to come a week early so I could get over the journey, set myself up in the house, explore Lewes and surrounds and catch up with some friends in various places, including London. 

So I arrived in the evening of Sunday 24^th July after some 27 hours travelling and I went straight to another friend’s place in Brighton.  Chris and Val very kindly put me up for the first night so I didn’t need to worry about familiarising myself with the house and getting meals and the like.  Chris ran me out to Lewes on the Monday morning, which is only 8 miles, and helped me get things sorted out in the house.

I then spent a couple of days getting some food organised, figuring out the town and generally settling in.  I also took a couple of motorbike rides to Eastbourne and Chichester via some lovely back roads – and I went up to London to see a friend and go to the National Maritime Museum and Royal Observatory at Greenwich.  I also walked many miles around London looking at various things that I wanted to see again. 

Orientation . . .

We all fronted up to the workshop at 9:30am and introduced ourselves.  The other two students are Patrick from Guildford and Phil from Sheffield.  Patrick will be driving down to Lewes each day and Phil is staying for the duration.



Patrick, Phil, Neil & Richard



The first hour and a bit was spent chatting about the guitars that we are going to make and the various steps involved.  Of course there was a workshop familiarisation - especially with all the machines - and of course the safety and emergency briefing.

We were also asked to clean up often but gently as dust is our constant enemy both for ourselves and our finished guitars.  Masks are compulsory - even though they do look a little silly when worn as a hat.



Silly hat party!



Decisions . . .  

One of the first things we all needed to decide was the kind of rosette we would each be using because certain types of materials needed to be ordered in straight away.  Patrick chose to use abalone inlay, Phil a hand made segmented wood and I will use a simpler herringbone and ringed pattern. 

We of course had to each confirm the type of guitar we were going build - even though we all started with exactly the same materials.  Our woods are a Sitka Spruce top, Indian Rosewood back and sides, Mahogany neck and Ebony fretboard - which when we started was a pile of wood and other bits on the bench!



This will be my new guitar . . . !



Getting Started . . . 

The very first task involved scraping the wax off the ends of the pieces of wood - which is put there to ensure slow and even drying of the woods.  We also started cleaning up the various bits and pieces, mostly by putting them through the sander/thicknesser.  Everyone was very tentative at the beginning of the day as we didn't really have any idea how much work was involved in finishing each piece of wood.  I now know that all these initial stages are just to clean everything up so we can see the qualities of the wood we are working with.

At various times Richard stopped and explained some things - like the vastly different sound qualities of various woods.  He taught us the 'tonal tapping technique'.  You feel a bit like a goose holding the piece of wood between a thumb and index finger with that arm over your head so the wood is near your ear - and then tapping the wood with your other hand!  But the variations in sound are enormous.

Phil doing the 'tonal tap'!

Another time when Richard stopped us he spoke of the effect that the different finishes have on the sounds from the various woods - but it seemed like a black art and it is propably wise to stick to the 'traditional' methods that have been developed over the centuries.

The 'dark arts' explained in pictures

And then the good news - there is nothing in making a guitar that cannot be fixed!  I think this was code for us to be a little more confident with the tools and machines.

Really Getting Started . . . Joining the Top

So after some quite tentative fiddling around we were all under way with intent!  Sensibly each student starts at a different point so there are no bottlenecks for machines and tools and also so we can all see what is coming up later.

I started with the front.  The primary task was to confirm which way the pieces of Spruce 'bookends' go together (it is one piece sliced lengthways and then put together at the edges - another 'black art') and get a perfect join so they can be glued and clamped.  Sounds easy . . . but it took about an hour of fiddling around to get it all just perfect!



Planing the bookend joints - on the top



A trial join - whiich is looking good

Starting on the Back . . . 

Once the top had been glued and put aside I turned my attention to the backs.  Fundamentally it is the same process as the top, but the first job in this case is to sand them to the point that they don't have any saw or scratch marks on them.  I did this super-carefully and found a good match - and I am pleased with how they went together.

One of the 'half backs' going through the sander

Getting ready for joining

Joined and very well clamped

Starting the Sides . . .

My last job for the day was to make a start on the sides - and it was here that I need to a decision about the depth of the guitar.  I have decided to make mine a little deeper than 'standard' for a small guitar as it better matches the dimensions of another guitar that I really like - the Santa Cruz H model.

And again, I cleaned up the sides very carefully - perhaps too much so as I later learned from watching Phil that they are 'thicknessed' down to about half their current thickness!  You learn these things as you go along.

The Others . . .

It was interesting to watch how others made progress.  Phil started with this neck - which seemed to take him ages to get the top flat and on one place.   I don't think I am looking forward to that task.  Patrick started with the back and has decided to emphasise the join by putting in several pieces of veneer - something I considered doing but decided against it in the end as I want to do some emphasis around the binding on the sides.

By the end of the day Phil has prepared the top of his neck, prepared (but not glued) his back and thicknessed his sides.  Like me, Patrick had prepared and glued his front and back (but in the opposite order) and has also prepared his sides.

End of the Day . . .

We were all very surprised with the amount of progress that we had made in Day One.  Phil summarised it rather well by saying he had expected the first few days to be very frustrating with a lot of talking and doing little bits and pieces - and he was delighted that the opposite was the case. 

A 'Pint or Two' at Harveys . . .

Phil and I wandered down the hill and across the bridge to the John Harvey tavern - which is part of the famous Harvey's Brewery located in Lewes.  And of course we had to try Harvey's Best!  Apparently John Harvey was a part time brewer in Lewes and in 1838 he set up the current brewery and made it his full time business - which is still running today.

Beginning of a trend . . .