I'm Abram, a 20 year old amateur builder. I've been working on guitars for the better part of 4 years and I know this is what I want to do with my life. Thankfully, I live in Arizona in the United States which happens to be home to Roberto Venn School of Luthiery. The program is around $13,000 which my family and I would struggle to cover even with FAFSA.

Does anyone know of any resources where I can apply for scholarships to help cover tuition for the school? Glad to answer any questions you lovely people have!

Best,

Abram Tribby

I've been thinking I only like five of them, should I keep building?

I do enjoy making them but they cost about $300each to make.

It might be fun to see if a guitar shop could sell them.

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!

Born in a small mountain village in China, Tillie developed an early connection with wood while growing up around forests and traditional timber craftsmanship. That childhood exposure later evolved into a professional passion for fine woodwork and instrument building.

After earning a degree in international business, Tillie began her career at a guitar factory in Beijing, where the sound and artistry of handcrafted guitars especially the rich resonance of finely built acoustic guitars sparked a deep commitment to the craft.

Today, she leads a dedicated team of skilled craftsmen from her hometown, building premium custom guitars, including handcrafted acoustic guitars designed for clarity, balance, and tonal depth. Using carefully selected domestic and exotic tonewoods, each instrument is created in collaboration with musicians to meet exact tonal, visual, and performance specifications  all while accommodating a range of budgets.

The mission is simple: to create custom guitars that provide a lifetime of musical enjoyment.

Every Byron custom guitar is crafted with premium materials and personalized to match each musician’s unique style, whether it’s a powerful stage-ready acoustic guitar or a finely detailed custom build tailored for studio precision.
 

It comes from a lawfirm that looks legit when googled.

anybody have any idea how to identify if its real?

Crazy!

It's been painted already and he has all the parts.  I have no idea what to quote him.  Any insight you can offer would be appreciated!!!  

I'm making Guitars for fun, so I'm trying to keep the cost as low as possible!  

I guess if I was able to sell for $2,000 it wouldn't be such a big deal!

My husband is going to be retiring from building guitars in June of this year. He leases a 2500 workshop in Oceanside, California that is filled with all of the equipment necessary to build high end acoustic guitars. 

I am starting to put the word out about this and am hoping to find a luthier who is interested in buying the business. 

Any thoughts and/or suggestions?

Feel free to check out the website at: https://zoe-guitars.com/

Thanks,

Sally Weimer

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/18fUyY2w17RfdN6RnsK1KOra3nlygZyHFO-KebyYOh4/edit#gid=1468792147

figured you guys might need a thing of the sorts:) If this is of value, and any would like help fitting this to your business needs please contact me! would really like to make this a lot more robust! Note:This tool and my help offered above are absolutely free, im doing this just because i really love guitars and figured i could help:) if you would like to discuss my business analysis advice in exchange for a deal on a build im more then happy to discuss that too:)

Hello, I am conducting undergraduate research on guitar building and design as part of my degree at Sussex University. I would be very grateful if you could spare a couple of minutes to fill out an anonymous survey (link provided below). Your feedback is greatly appreciated. 

https://universityofsussex.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cFUMGSEyDMYKZ02

But how would I make a career of this? I would LOVE to work at PRS but I want a liveable job. I want to work with instruments because that's my passion. Yet I think this would be a hobby more than anything. But I want to make money from this! What is the best way to go to be a luthier? I have already looked into Roberto Venn and that's very expensive for five months. Basically my plan is college, then get a job, then go to luthiery school and get certified and then work and have this as a hobby.  But where could I make money from it?

I am currently 15 years old and have been playing guitar for 3 years now. I am in tenth grade and I am considering college, specifically in engineering or finance.

It all started with a visit to the PRS factory in Stevensville Maryland. My mom had mentioned PRS guitars in the past and at the time, I had only been playing for two years (this was last August 2019) and I thought hey this would be a cool trip. I knew some stuff about PRS but never really saw them in guitar stores, or never paid attention to them when the store did have them. So we go, and I was excited to see how a guitar was built. I expected to see some cool stuff but nothing too fancy. I was very much wrong. The attention to detail, the care, the craftsmenship, the dedication PRS puts into their instruments is unbelievable. I learned that it takes a whole month for them just to build a neck. Most of it is drying the wood. By the end of the tour I had the PRS kool aid and was hooked. From that point I wanted a PRS.

About a month later I heard about an event a local store that is now a authorized PRS dealer was holding a release event of 6 private stocks with a special "Chessie fade" finish, which is in reference to the Chesapeake bay and how it looks from satellite. Me and my dad went and thought it would be cool. Paul Miles was there, Skitchy from PTC, and so many more PRS people were there as well. We get there and Paul Reed Smith is there, the man, the myth, the legend in the flesh. And get this, he came up to me and just started talking to me about guitars. I was wearing my PRS merch and he noticed my shirt and he said "I like this kid's style" and I said he missed the hat and he had a good laugh from that. We then sat down and the store owner talked about the event and what the inspiration was and Paul told stories about Santana and how he started with him. He then opened the floor to QnA. He was such an open person, being the head of a company and was such a nice guy and so genuine. He wanted to stay in contact with people who had wood and he threw out his 5 credit cards into the crowd for a joke and debated tonewood with a heckler and had a laugh about the lefty that was there. I then asked him a question about whether PRS would ever consider going into a SS amp market and a pedal market and he explained that tubes were just better, and he said something else that resonated with me. He told me he could see a bright future in me. That made me so happy. From that point on I wanted to build guitars.

Now I would love to work at PRS and build for them, but I would also like to have a job where I can live comfortably. I want to do something I love but be able to live comfortably. I don't know how much a luthier or repairmen or a tech make, but I would love to pursue a career in luthiery. 

I have time to consider but I don't know what the best path for me is.

I'm based in north east England. I'm thinking of making a couple of builds akin to a gold top let paul.
I'm wondering if anyone knows where i can buy plain maple/sycamore caps, or boards to process down.

I haven't seen anything that works out cheaper than lower grade flame maple caps.

Talking about prices, there is a door company who advertise on tv and their prices in some cased are 4 times what I would charge (with no fuss) And yet I get people who see my quotes and ask "Why is it so expensive?"

Some people come out with these "tactics" (ie.) I spend half an hour measuring and adding up figures then tell them the price, and they say the last guy's quote was a $100 less. So I say "well get him to do it" and they reply "Ooh but he can't get here till March"

I had one job where I was fitting skirting throughout the house and in the meantime the lady had all the relatives over for lunch and a bit of tv. When it came time to do the loungeroom, I had to explain to them that I needed to get to the wall behind them. So they shuffled the armchair forward a few inches.....

I had a lady who wanted me to put the hinges of a door the other way round so the "knuckles" or "pins" were not visible. So I explained that the door has to open outward, but she still wanted the knuckles on the inside. I explained again that if you put the hinges that way round then the door would open inward. She still didn't understand

On a shelving job I didn't do once, the guy saw the timber I had, and said its not the same as the existing timber. I said its Meranti just the same, yet he insisted that it was different. So he took me inside and showed me what he was talking about, and all the timber supporting the shelves had short grain, like 45 degrees. I said you can't just go and buy timber that has grain like that, and he reckoned "yes you can, if you go down to Bunnings they have it in the shelves"........This guy expected me to go hunting round hardware stores to find timber with matching short-grain timber that will support shelving, which you would never see anyway.....

That's just a couple of things I can think of at the moment. I'm pretty sure Luthiers would also get some outlandish expectations. Are there any stories you want to share?

I know I could do a scarf joint, but I’m planning on starting a small custom guitar business on the side and will be using a cnc. Therefore, I’d rather just have a big enough stock.

Thanks!

I'm an owner of a local eastern-European workshop that produces high-end electric guitars.

I want to offer our guitars to shops and dealers in the US and Western Europe.

Does anyone knows what considers common for dealers to charge from the final price to the customers?

Thank you

One thing I purchased which is most annoying is JUST some STRINGS from a supplier who only sells guitar strings. They are out of stock of some DMs I ordered. Its been over three weeks now and I'm wondering if Dean Markley Signature nickel steel are still in production

I'm just wondering is anyone else is in the same boat?

Anyway, I am always looking to expand and have some idea's for cutting Fret Templates and pickup templates out of acrylic.    Before I do so I'l like to  make sure they work for people and get feedback,  similar to what I did with the guitar templates.

If there are any accomplished Luthieries (sp) out there that would like to work with me send me a note.   I cannot afford to pay you for your time, but I will send you free templates and definitely listen to your advise.

Oh the pain!

Spending hours trying to make do with home made gear and botching things up. The little voice in my head kicks in..."just buy that thing from StewMac"........Ahh, okay

WHAT! - its Two Hundred Dollars? ..............."just buy it"........................"and that thing..............and a few of those"

Now its nearly Seven Hundred Dollars..........oh the pain

......."just buy it"

But I recently discovered the name's already taken - http://www.focusdesignstudio.co.uk/douglas-guitars.html

Oh well, I have a brother named Les, and a brother named Paul, I wonder if I can do anything with that?