Some of you may not have realized that in addition to our joinery and furniture-making classes, we also offer classes in which you can make a guitar by hand. One student who recently completed our Build a Guitar by Kit class sent us these comments on the class:
This past June, I had the pleasure to enroll and complete the guitar making class at the Ploughshare Institute for Sustainable Culture [Heritage School of Woodworking] in Elm Mott Texas.
Under the careful guidance of Master guitar maker Joseph Slack, I enjoyed an intense week of instruction utilizing a LMI Dreadnought kit. The kit consisted of pre-contoured sides, sound board, backing, bridge, neck, and all the wood/hardware pieces to be cut, chiseled, sanded and carefully assembled into a completed instrument.
Every day of the class, long as they were, I greeted with renewed excitement as the building progressed. Joe’s patience, skilled craftsmanship and sense of humor made the class a pleasure and the final product was one of quality, beauty and most of all, great acoustic sound! To go from a Monday morning pile of wood, to a Saturday night of playing the completed guitar with Joe in the living room of close friends, created a memory that will be recounted for years to come.
Before building this guitar I was playing my Taylor with my friends at our community events, but now, the Taylor sits in its case while the hand built dreadnought takes center stage! I will enjoy playing this instrument for years to come and will gladly pass it along to my children when my journey ends, but for now, they can play the Taylor when they visit!
Jim Vest
Below are photos from the class (click for a larger view).
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