Guitar Building Master Class Luthier School.... three weeks

$3,695.00   including materials, wood and finishing supplies.  

 Room and board not included.

This is a three week class on building an all solid wood steel string or classical guitar from scratch.  Starting with a pile of wood, the student will learn complete construction of the guitar including neck carving, top and back construction, bending the sides,  slotting and fretting the fretboard, basic inlaying techniques, setting the neck angle, cutting the dove tail joint,  binding and purfling, soundhole rosette, making the braces, sanding and finishing and final set-up. Each student takes home an all solid wood steel string or classical guitar that he has built from scratch.

I have been doing these unique classes for five years and each class ends up being  a magical experience as the students watch their guitar grow out of a pile lumber.  The class size is kept to a minimum, allowing me to interact with each student on a personal basis.  All of the building revolves around the use of hand tools with only a bare minimum of power tools usage, making it possible for any of my students to return home and build another guitar in their home workshop.  The tuition includes all of the materials needed except the tuners (students choice), instruction, tools to use during the building, a comprehensive guitar building book and many DVDs on guitar building produced in my own shop.

As in all of my guitar building efforts, my main concern in my classes is old fashioned craftsmanship and happy faces on my students.  My youngest student was 12 years old.  My oldest was 72.  To date I have had four women complete excellent instruments.

The building class is held at Hot Strings Guitar Shop in Milford, Connecticut throughout the year.  Class size is limited to three students per class. We are very close to the Milford Railroad Station and I-95 and one mile from several hotels.  If you are taking the train in from NYC, we can pick you up at the train station each day.  We can also pick up and return students to the hotel who do not have a vehicle here. 

Class start dates are:

November 14, 2011

January 9, 2012

February 20, 2012

March  26, 2012

April 30, 2012

Maximum class size is limited to three students.

 Please e-mail me for a complete list of specifications and options.

A quick word about our store:

I have been buying, fixing and selling guitars, banjos and mandolins on E-Bay for over 10 years.  I have a complete repair shop which is part of my retail shop "Hot Strings Guitar Shop" in Milford, CT.  A member of the Guild of American Luthiers, I also produce and sell DVDs on various aspects of guitar and banjo building and repairs. I have produced over 18 DVDs the are sold on E-Bay, Amazon dot com and by Elderly Instruments. Additionally I run a guitar building school with both day and night classes. Well aware of the frightful possibilities that crop up when purchasing a used instrument on-line, I strive to make sure any claims I may make about the instruments I sell are true and accurate. (I have bought more turkeys on e-bay than Carter has little liver pills) You can also visit my other E-Bay store, Hot Strings Guitar, and see the DVDs I produce. 

You can view my repair shop in the "About me" section.