# luthierie apprenticeships?



## guitaristgibson (Dec 23, 2008)

I am in grade 9 in St.catharines Canada and i would very like to get into luthierie, I have 6 year experiences in guitars and working on electronics i.e. soldering. I also have been doing wood working and mechanics in my dad and uncles shops and have 97 average in my highschool shop class. I am just wondering if there is a place i could to learn how to build guitars like the stages and steps and any special things involved in building guitars, or someone who would "take me under there wing" ?? any suggestions????:smilie_flagge17::rockon2::bow:


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## guitaristgibson (Dec 23, 2008)

that is like exactly what i would need but 12,000$? wowowow lol and from st.catharines to there is a 4 hour drive (cant do it) any other courses or anyone who would take me under there wing?. willing to go to toronto. i just want to get familiar with the bulding of a guitar and how to do repairs etc. any more suggestions 


and thanks alot for the quick response paul

also be aware that i am in grade 9 and also have school to attend


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## guitaristgibson (Dec 23, 2008)

thanks alot for the help paul, read over the entire site you gave me, absolutely facinating, calling him tomorow and doing some research
anyone else with any other helpful tips would be greatuflly appreciated


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## guitaristgibson (Dec 23, 2008)

thanks alot man, i have recently come across a discovery, a '56 gibson goldtop ORIGINAL, but it has no electronics and it was sitting in my freinds garage for years upon years covered in dust, he gave it to me for free and im gunna fix it up

thanks paul youve been alot of help any more tips, let me no


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## guitaristgibson (Dec 23, 2008)

all right
ill think that over but i have this guitar "shell" at my disposal and i am going to look for some more junk guitars to fix
well ill keep posting at it goes on and post some pics, might need some (alot) of help lol


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

Paul said:


> That might not be the best place to start.....something with less potential value is a better idea for a first project, IMHO.


Paul is giving you good advice here. 

Carefully dust it off and have it professionally appraised to find out what it is worth.

Dave


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## guitaristgibson (Dec 23, 2008)

thanks, conviently enough the garage was heated
very minimal cracks
neck is perfect
i dusted and polished the body,
no scratches
it was kept in hard shell case 
yet strangely gathered dust


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## IronMan (Jan 16, 2009)

when I first started making electic guitars, there was no internet, not too many books, it was live and learn, What permitted me to acheive my goals was perceverance and a lack of money to buy a STrat! I just wanted one then a friend told me you can make ANYTHING out of wood, a guitar is wood whats the problem? There lies a simple truth, lutherie is a form of woodworking, so if you hone your woodworking skills, then you are well on your way to your goal. Now with internet, there is nothing an inquiring mind can not achieve. Good luck with that Gibson, and take the advice given to you, get it appraised before you do anything to it. Here is a good site on how to make one. Have fun !!

http://www.setchellguitars.co.uk/ant/blog/?page_id=6

IronMan


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## Lab123 (May 27, 2007)

guitaristgibson said:


> that is like exactly what i would need but 12,000$? wowowow lol and from st.catharines to there is a 4 hour drive (cant do it) any other courses or anyone who would take me under there wing?. willing to go to toronto. i just want to get familiar with the bulding of a guitar and how to do repairs etc. any more suggestions
> 
> 
> and thanks alot for the quick response paul
> ...


Man I wish I was your age and had a desire to be a Luthier....Here are my thoughts....You are still in school and need to spend most of your time in working on your studies.....By the time you finish your interest will probally change....Maybe,maybe not...When I was a teenager I had interest in only one thing and believe me it wasn't building guitars....Hands on building is the best way to go but not the only way...There is a lot of information out there in the form of videos ,books and the internet is loaded with material..Suck up everything you can get your hands on for the next three or four years... I have never had any training but learned everything that I know from these sources...Ask around there must be hobby builders in your area who could use some free help in the shop...If you were in my area you would be a great asset to me in my shop....Great to see kids like yourself with a dream like that....Hope everything works out for you....Larry


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## guitaristgibson (Dec 23, 2008)

thanks, ever no of anyone in the toronto or GTA that needs help in a shop or any gutar shops that need help let me no, it would be greatly appreciated, and i have contaacted a couple of my friend and you would be surprised how amny people have old, yet rare scrap guitar they have lying around in the attic or garage, ill post some pics of the guitars i have obtained later on, tihnking of doing an entire restoration before attempting to build a guitar from scratch, i have also came into contact with goerge Rizsanyi and he is helping me threw by email some of my restoration, which is awsome, if you haven't seen his work check it out, one of my fav guitar made by him :
http://www.rizsanyiguitars.com/specialty.html
BROWN SUGAR!!!!!


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

+1 to the Dan Erlewine recommendation. I have his book and it's invaluable. Also, the Fender Stratocaster Handbook is indispensible as well, though I know you're looking at restoring a LP.

On the plus side, just installing and hooking up pots and pickups is pretty straightforward. You should be able to do that on your own with some wiring diagrams after you've read up on what's what and how it all comes together. Restoring vintage axes is another ball of yarn though. Like others have mentioned, find a Squier or something to screw around with before touching that Goldtop!


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## guitaristgibson (Dec 23, 2008)

i have acquired some "no-name" guitarsr, well i dont no what they are, will post pics later but thatnks for all the help, im just thinking of sanding down the body and paint it in laquer for a natural finish, would that work?


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## IronMan (Jan 16, 2009)

guitaristgibson said:


> i have acquired some "no-name" guitarsr, well i dont no what they are, will post pics later but thatnks for all the help, im just thinking of sanding down the body and paint it in laquer for a natural finish, would that work?



Well that depends on what kind of wood it is made of,woods with no grain to speak of like alder are used, so they can be painted. Be carefull some real cheap guitars, are made of plywood!! try and see what wood it is first. good luck and show us some pics!

IronMan:smilie_flagge17:


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## cougar2 (Mar 10, 2007)

You are truly blessed to have someone give you a 56 gold top. It may be worth a fair amount, that said I have not checked that out myself to see what they may be worth. Like others have said and now myself, don't do anything yet with the gold top Gibson yet, You will thank us later. Practice on yard sale guitars and the others that you may have first and get some experience. It is great that you have George Rizsanyi willing to help you out by email, and I would say any of us here would do the same for you, including myself. My email is [email protected] and you can ask away. What do you have for tools? I also have a library of videos that I was going to put up for sale, a lot of them you can't get anymore. They are mostly from Dan Erlewine and others from Stew Mac. There are hundreds of dollars worth of them, mostly when our dollar was a 68 cents on the dollar
I would give them to you at a good deal if you are interested in learning. I got my experience from these tapes and also books and when I would go into other luthiers shops, I wouldn't be shy in asking questions. Make a list of what you want to ask, in advance first, it helps. Also check out other luthiers shops on the web and look in the background at the set up and jigs and fixtures, it will help you get ideas for your own.
Hope this helps,
Dennis


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## cougar2 (Mar 10, 2007)

Just one more thing, If you are planning on sanding out the gold top and painting it, then sell it the way it is. Do a search first on this guitar and If everything is there, you have a real prize. The person that gave it to you realy likes you or they don't know what they had. Get some experiance first before you work on it. The cracks, are they just in the finish?, I would think and there is nothing wrong with that. In great shape the priceing that I saw on this guitar was around $2300.00 to $3600.00 depending on the condition.


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## ajcoholic (Feb 5, 2006)

I am 38 yrs old, and have been building guitars since I was 15. I grew up in a family run custom woodworking business, which I took over in the mid 90's and continue to run today.

I have a suggestion: a dedicated luthier school is out of your price range and I doubt you can move away at the age you are at. Finding an apprenticeship might also be hard. But, with my experience, I can tell you that building guitars is 90% plain old WOODWORKING! Yes, there are some specialty skills (such as fretwork, set ups, some hardware, etc) that are specific to guitars - but in general, most of guitar making uses the same skills as making a pice of custom wood furniture. Using both hand and power tools, shaping, sanding, etc. And dotn forget the finishing process (using various stains, fillers, and finishes).

I suggest you try and find a part time job with a local woodworking shop. That might be easier to find - and you could possibly learn basic woodworking skills while getting paid to do so! Keep an open mind... sanding is a skill that many dislkie but is vitally important. Learning how to identify wood, read grain structures, machine different woods, gluing, etc are all parts of both buidling guitars AND furniture.

Just an idea... I started making guitars with a basic set of woodworking skills Ilearned from my father. I certainly noticed over the years as my knowledge of woodworking grew, my guitarmaking became easier, faster, better.

Best of luck! 

Andrew


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## guitaristgibson (Dec 23, 2008)

well for now i am doing the best i can, i have far excelled past my classmates and i am working 2 hours after school each day in the shop, as my tech teacher is willing to teach me, also every once and a while i stay for a couples hourd at my local shops to learn wiring and repairs, and i work on motorcycles alot at my dads shop and hes teaching me welding, which im not sure if it helps you with guitars lol, also i have access to basicly every tool so i got a couple junkers and im gunna rip them a part just to get the feel for building guitar, also dennis im gunna email you about those video's, were are you located?

p.s. thanks for all the help guys


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## guitaristgibson (Dec 23, 2008)

ALSOOOOOOO
UPDATE ON THE GOLD TOP
brought it into the shop in it old rusty hinged case 
and right on the spot my dealer says pick some stuff out
im like what?
and hes like you have a 1500$ credit if you hand this over to me
long story short i walked out of there with a worn firebird studio, takamine 12 string, both in hardshell case and some boss pedals
all brand new
best find of my life!


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## guitaristgibson (Dec 23, 2008)

comment noted lol


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## guitaristgibson (Dec 23, 2008)

anyone make any breaks?


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

guitaristgibson said:


> ALSOOOOOOO
> UPDATE ON THE GOLD TOP
> brought it into the shop in it old rusty hinged case
> and right on the spot my dealer says pick some stuff out
> ...


*You didn't get the 1956 Gold Top professionally appraised before trading it !!*  

I'm not 100% sure...but I think the dealer got the best part of that deal BY FAR....sorry to rain on your parade.

Oh well, it is done now.

...Maybe I'm dead wrong here. Let's see what others have to say.

Enjoy your new gear.

Dave


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## Zeegler (Jan 2, 2006)

I agree, that goldtop was probably worth twice that, if not more. However, if you got some good gear out of it, and you're happy, then that's all that matters. It's just a shame to see a dealer take advantage of someone like that. 

Now, as for the luthiery, the important thing is to learn as much about guitars as you can before putting sandpaper or saw to wood. By that, I mean setups, and maintenance. You need to learn about neck angles, intonation, fretboard radii, electronics, etc, etc, etc. I built my first guitar before I fully understood all of these things, and made a few minor mistakes that should not have been made. You're doing the right thing by starting out with old, cheap guitars to experiment on.


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## guitaristgibson (Dec 23, 2008)

i have recently came into contact with someone who builds and repairs guitars through GM (my moms work) and now i usually spend my weekends at his shop rippin apart my scrap guitars or letting him teach me, one of the nicest guys i no by far, starting on a tele next month when he has the time, this depepnding on GM's current status which is not very good as most of you probably no

also on the goldtop, i got a good deal because the guy at my dealer took it apart in front of me and for some odd reason there were no wires under the pickups and knobs : S, also the head was minorly cracking, ive known the guy since i was eight and i dont think he would rip me off, anyone no why there wouldnt be any wires or anything : S, just wondering lol seems pretty strange

one last thing, i was at my girlfreinds house and found a really old epiphone ( which she said i could have for valentines day) and basicly played it for hours and it was amazing, but i cant figure out what model it is, it has a fender style body, a gibson explorer style headstock and three single coil pickups. also it has a ivory white paint? anyone know what it is?

thanks,
nick


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