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I am nearing the completion of my first build and I am looking to improve my general lutherie knowledge and skills as I dig in deeper with my second build. I have been considering Benedetto's DVD series for archtop building as I see myself moving more in that direction and would like to build an archtop with my next build. however I am also interested in classical/steel string building and know many of the principals of acoustic building can be applied to the construction of any guitar. So I am also considering various other video based building series from bogdanovich, Chris Wynne, Finnochio, etc. I stumbled across Robbie O'Briens course and am very intrigued. at roughly 25 hours it is by far the longest video series on guitar construction I am aware of. I've seen many of The Luthier Tips Du Jour videos and he seems to be a skilled teacher. So I am considering taking it over an archtop specific course simply because it seems more thorough and I am somewhat familiar with O'brien's teaching style. I am also fairly confident I can get a decent grasp of most of the unique aspects of archtop building (top carving and bracing) from other books nd online resources.

anyone have any thoughts on the various dvd/online based building courses? got any favorites? why?

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"All of us contain Music & Truth, but most of us can't get it out."
- Mark Twain

If your avatar is your build it doesn't look like you need it...

I purchased Robbie O'Brien's course and I'm glad I did. I have completed 7 flat tops. I had completed 6 before purchasing Robbie's course and I still think it was worth it, although, there are some things I do differently. Robbie carves his neck on the guitar. I'm just not comfortable doing that... I also got Finnochio's building course DVD's from a friend early on and I think it is very good. Also, check out Kent Everett's DVD's, also very good.

Steve

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

I definitely need a course of some sort

my first build is a semi-hollow electric. it is basically a gibson cs-336 style guitar with tweaks. if you aren't familiar with the cs-336 it is an es-335 type guitar made from solid carved woods instead of laminates. it has gone pretty well. I've learned a lot. I've made some mistakes, but recovered from them all so far. I've bought lots of tools, and made lots of jigs with a lot more of each to do with my second build. I've surprised myself and disappointed myself. I was surprised when I carved the top without destroying the $120 piece of flame maple I bought. I was even more surprised when I carved the neck by hand. I was disappointed when after a 12 hour day at work and 4 hours in the workshop I failed to tighten the collet on the router and a router bit slipped down out of the collet making a route about 3/16 of an inch deeper than intended... but I recovered.

I was thinking my progression from here would be to build a myka style archtop, which still utilizes sides routed from solid wood rather than bent sides, but has fairly traditional top and back archtop plates. From there I'd move onto a standard benedetto archtop, and then from there into the world of acoustics most likely classical. This progression is partially driven be the necessary tooling/jigging required to build those styles and my preconceived notions on the relative complexity of the builds.

at this point I think i could learn enough from O'Brien's Course (and suplement with some books/online resources) to get me through building both archtop guitars I am planning before ever even attempting to build the classical that he builds in the videos.

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"All of us contain Music & Truth, but most of us can't get it out."
- Mark Twain

If your focus is more arch tops, I'm not sure that Robbie's course is what you're after, since it is intended for construction of steel tring flat tops...

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

just so it is clear my main goal at this point is building my skills/knowledge in general regardless of building style so I can become a better builder in general. I think many of the principals involved in steel string and classical building apply to building many types of guitars and could be beneficial for a budding luthier. I would think that bending sides is the same regardless of classical, steel string, or archtop, and so are binding techniques, and inlay, and neck carving and fret work, kerfing, french polishing, etc... but maybe I am wrong. and yes shortly before hitting submit it did occur to me how ridiculous the entire notion of my original post might sound. I basically said "I want to build archtops. Does anyone like this course on classical guitar building?"

I was really just looking for information about any DVD based courses from people that had actually used them. particularly from the perspective of newer builders that were simply trying to build their knowledge of lutherie techniques in general. I probably should have left my building history and desires out of the equation at this point.

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"All of us contain Music & Truth, but most of us can't get it out."
- Mark Twain

Hi-

I have the Bogdanovich classical DVD series and unless you really want to "jig up" like he does, the series can be a bit of a let down. A fair amount of the series deals with building the jigs that he uses, so that you can build using his methods. There is a bunch of info on basic classical building though. It is a good DVD set, just not as good as I hoped for the price.

Anything Robbie O'Brien does is going to be an incredibly useful learning tool. I have always liked his internet videos. They are short and packed with good info. I haven't checked out his classes but I have read that they are great too.

I have watched the Benedetto archtop DVDs and the Stewmac/Don MacRostie mandolin DVDs - both are great. If you want to build archtop instruments these are both required viewing. If you get the Benedetto vids, get the book too. There is info in the book not in the videos and vice versa. The book has plate arch templates too.

My favorite by far is the John Mayes DVDs for steel string building. You can buy these as a set or get the ones you want separately. They are a little different than most lutherie DVD series - all others have a builder making a single guitar/mandolin/ect. from start to finish. John has each DVD focus on a single aspect of guitar building. The other difference is other series don't go into "voicing" an instrument. John has 2 series on voicing the steel string top - these will cut your learning curve by a huge margin. They are voicing 101 (2 discs) and advanced voicing. Great stuff!

I have not seen either of the Finocchio series of videos, so I can't comment. I do want to get them though, as I have heard they are good too.

Good luck-

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John Lewis
Wannabe builder owned by 2 crazy dachshunds

I recently purchased Robbie O'Brien's steel string video set and while I haven't watched all of them yet, based on the content in those I have viewed and the titles of the ones I have yet to watch, I think they are by far the most comprehensive resource available.

Thank you for the compliments and vote of confidence folks. I am glad you are finding the videos useful.

Happy Building!

thanks for the feedback everyone. I think I am going to look at this as another tool investment and while the price is fairly high it may be one of the best tool investments I've made thus far. So I am going to jump in with both feet and do both the Benedetto series and the O'Brien series. I'll spend a few months studying Benedetto this winter and then this spring when the weather turns nice and I feel like spending more time in the shop I'll jump into the O'Brien series.

also I didn't realize Robert O'Brien was a member here. this place really is full of talented and knowledgeable folks.

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"All of us contain Music & Truth, but most of us can't get it out."
- Mark Twain

Shawn, is there any particular reason you prefer DVDs/videos/on-line resources over books or classes?

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Trevor Gore, Luthier. Australian hand made acoustic guitars, classical guitars; custom guitar design and build; guitar design instruction.

http://www.goreguitars.com.au

I am considering taking Dale Unger's archtop course, but that is probably at least a year away from being feasible. I have a family, a demanding career, and I am working on my masters degree so I can't take off more than a few days at a time to go "play with guitars." this is a hobby for me and that isn't likely to change any time soon.

each option has it's drawbacks. I know courses like Unger's and others skip very critical steps in the building process in order to be able to complete a guitar in a week. Unger doesn't cover side bending or finishing at all. Also I believe the top plates are joined and partially shaped before the students begin their work. Not sure what else is prepared for the students before arrival. You do get the very valuable advantage of having a teacher standing right there to help guide you through the steps of the process that are covered. Also while you do leave with a guitar you also only leave with the knowledge you are able to retain. there is also the cost to consider. I can buy 4-5 DVD series and a stack of books and have enough money left over to buy a nice band saw for what it would cost to take one week long building course with someone like O'Brien, Unger, Finnichio, etc..

The video/book based option is cheaper, but it only covers what it covers and if you have questions.... you are out of luck for the most part. there is also no one to stop you from misinterpreting something an making costly mistakes. However with a pile of DVDs and books I can always refer back to them if I missed something. They can be a constant source of reference material.

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"All of us contain Music & Truth, but most of us can't get it out."
- Mark Twain

Thanks, Shawn. I'm always interested in people's learning preferences and why they lean in a particular direction.

I've always been inclined towards books and tuition, but lets just say I was conditioned that way over a large number of years in my youth!

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Trevor Gore, Luthier. Australian hand made acoustic guitars, classical guitars; custom guitar design and build; guitar design instruction.

http://www.goreguitars.com.au