Greetings all! Welcome to my first post on my brand-new blog. I figured since I sent out Christmas letters to everyone with this address on it, that I should at least have something up, so I don't look like I don't know what I'm doing.
The short story: since I'm finally out of school (those of you who know me know what this means) I am finally pursuing something I've wanted to do for several years - build guitars. I've played the guitar since I was 11, and have always been fascinated by every aspect of the instrument. I learned facts about guitars and the people who played them like other kids trade baseball cards. More and more I wanted to get into building, but the time was never right. However, now I have some time and, more importantly, a place to set up a shop in my home. Right now I'm using a downstairs basement that has been rendered unsleepable due to some unforseen water damage. After that room gets repaired, I plan to move operations to a 28x35' heated shop that I'm fortunate enough to have. However, a few more renovations are required before that happens, so I'm in the basement for now. Believe me, since we're in the dead of winter, not having to go outside is a plus.
One thing that really helped me get started was reading Charlie Hoffman's blog at http://www.hoffmanguitars.com where he has a step-by-step guide for building his beautiful handcrafted guitars. He also has links to some other builder's sites and much helpful advice on getting started, tool selection and the like. I am fortunate enough to own one of Charlie's guitars from 1982 and have even been able to visit him in his Minneapolis shop. He and others like him have made me believe, for good or ill, that this goal is attainable, so here I am.
This blog is going to be a chronicle of my labors, both good and bad. Yes, I'm going to post pictures and stories about my mistakes as well as my triumphs. (Probably more of the former, at least for the first few months.) This blog is intended for anyone who is interested in the craft of luthiery, or anyone else with a general interest in guitars. Hopefully I'll be able to encourage some others, and maybe even save a few people some costly mistakes along the way (I'll make them so you don't have to.)
