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I've built about 10 steel string acoustic guitars, and have taken a break for the past year or so.. but I wanted to share this, because it made me so happy.

I spent the weekend with my oldest friend, and he has the second guitar I ever made, about 8 years ago. Black walnut back and sides, Sitka Spruce top. Dreadnaught size. There's probably pictures of it in the archives here. My first guitar was pretty much unplayable. This second guitar, which I made as a gift for my oldest friend, really, really sounds good. It started out sounding pretty good, but after 8 years, it's really settled into a damned good guitar. And the reason that I share this is not a big pat on my own back. Far from it. I look at the fit and finish of this early guitar, and I mostly see the errors I made in design, and in execution. Heck the first thing I see when I look in the soundhole is that the backstrip ends about 1/4 inch from the neck block and I know that that wasn't intentional. But, even with the funky v shaped neck that I was fooling with, it plays well, and it has a really nice balanced sound.

So, there's hope for newbies... the guitar doesn't have to be perfect to be a good (or surprisingly good) instrument.

The second point I'd make is that I think this guitar was better than I was really able to expect because I was building it as a gift for a good friend. There's something about making a guitar as a gift for someone that gives you the permission to be daring in your design choices, but also more focused on getting it right. I've always found it to be a motivating factor to build one as a gift. Once I have the chops to charge for them, I may look at that, but I'm not there yet.... (and then it might just feel a bit like work,,,, )

I am working on my second guitar right now and needed some encouragement like that. My first guitar went well through all the building steps, but it seems like my second is fighting me every step of the way. I even lost a fingernail last weekend when I was putting my kerfed linings through a sander. But I am still working through every problem like it is a learning experience.

Thanks again
-James