Guitar building course. Advice also needed...

skunkwerx

This is kind of off topic, because half the point of the thread isnt about the guitar course. 

Theres a guitar building course being run near me, out of a small independant music/guitar shop which seems to have either a workshop attached or partnered with it. They do repairs etc, and run these courses.

My mum noticed it, and thought it would make a great bday/xmas gift to me. (I'm totally not happy about her spending that amount by the way, but more on the cost later). 

So, yeah It would be a great thing to do and obviously result in having another guitar, that has a tonne of sentimental value, which would also be used. 


But I have reservations, and I'm unsure if theyre justified.. 


The thing is, the total cost of the course is around the £650 mark. 
That includes tuition, hardware and materials. 

That seems too cheap to me, for a guitar building course. But I don't know. 

Then there is the time frame.. 

You get 12, two hour sessions to complete it. One a week for 12 weeks. 

That seems, like not enough time considering the first session would probably be half health and safety and introductions, and the final one or two simply setting the guitar up and or ironing out any issue which may need addessing so that its playable. 

Now dont get me wrong, that might be more than enough time. 

They make it known that it is a full build from raw, and its not a kit. But there will be 4 students per course, and all building the same guitar, a telecaster, bolt on. So its not fully customisable, and therefore we all follow the same blueprints, so it should be quicker to complete.

Finish is stain, not paint. So again quicker.

They also want all payment up front. Which is odd. A deposit now, then 6 weeks later the first amount of xx, then a further 6 months later the final payment of xx, for a course that begins January 2018. 

Unsure on that. 

But, the actual luthier who is said to guide you on these courses, I have heard of, and can't find anyone saying bad things. 

The downside is, the internet turns up nothing about previous people having done it. Other than the website having pictures of 5 peoples guitars that have previously done it. Doesnt mean its bad, just surprised not one of any previous students have shown off their guitar on a forum (we all would!). 

Ive spoken to the lady who must handle comms between the shop/course and customers, and she assures me the end result will be playable and easily finished in time. 

My fault is, im a cynic and a pessimist. Realist, maybe! 

Now, from the pictures on the website, the hardware on these guitars is wilkinson. Unsure if thats just the pickups though, or the bridge/tuners etc too. I did ask, but didnt get that part responded to. Maybe she didnt know. Fair enough. 

I don't know what wilkinson hardware is like. 

The wood materials are tulipwood for the body, maple neck, bolt on  with either maple board or rosewood board. Forearm + belly carve is part of the build, and a choice of medium or jumbo frets. 

My problem is, I know they assure you its playable etc. But I worry for longevity or future upgrades/repairs. So, playable for how long if the hardware is shite, or the wood not great? 

This is besides the point I know, but for £650, andertons has a beautiful quilted maple thru neck esp with grovers and emgs. 

I dont expect the build guitar to be of that prestige, because half the payment is for tuition obviously. 

Im just unsure. 

The final point here is, I'm seriously in the market for a job ASAP. My current hours are extremely low (great for building a guitar though). But my skills, experience and qualifications (LOL), will only ever serve me for lateral movements in utter shite jobs. Such as retail as I am now, or generally any work I can get has mandatory weekend working. 

Problem being, the next course doesnt run til January next year.. could end near April 2018 depending on when in Jan it starts, and is only on saturday mornings. 

I actually dont know what to do. Especially hard as they want the full amount paid within the next 12 weeks, if I book in for it now.. the initial deposit is non refundable but thats a couple hundred.. so wouldnt wanna lose that anyway. 

So if I go for it, i'll have to commit. 
N I just know the minute we pay up, I'll be offered weekends where I am lol  


So whats your wisdoms? 

beed84

Maybe do a course in furniture making instead. That way, you'll learn how to handle wood and use tools properly. Not only that, you'll get a proper qualification at the end of it too. If after that you want to make a guitar, then you'll be more knowledgeable to do so.

skunkwerx

Thats very true. This course is ained at beginners, or no experience needed as its all guided to the same spec for all 4 students. 

I'd be happy to do that, atleast for now, with the main result being a guitar I've made myself which I can use! Hopefully with input and small mods of my own along the way to boot... 

prowla

I'd be inclined to go on one of the Shuker ones.

ArchtopDave

I can recommend two courses. Firstly, if you just want to do an assembly course of readymade parts, then James at 12thfret.co.uk does a long weekend course. If you want to make a guitar starting with blocks of wood, then Mark Bailey (baileyguitars.co.uk) does a variety of very good courses.I did a Thread here on my Acoustic Build OM Acoustic Build (Mark Bailey Course)

Sporky

Wilkinson hardware is fine; tulipwood is poplar which is soft but perfectly good for making a guitar. 24 hours does sound a bit short to make a guitar, but if they're all the same then it'll largely be from templates so might be doable. It's cheap, but not suspiciously so for what it sounds like is involved. I reckon it'd be quite enjoyable and you'd end up with a perfectly decent instrument.

However, it sounds like a course on which you'll build a guitar, not a course on how to build guitars in general. And you're clearly not much sold on the idea - if you'd rather have a shop-built guitar than one you've made yourself then this just probably isn't for you.

ThePrettyDamned

What @Sporky said. I've done a few partscasters and reckon the time frame is doable as you're doing the same guitar as everyone else, but it might not be about "how to build a guitar" so much as a "build a telecaster" course. 

As a side note, that esp sounds great! 

skunkwerx

All sounds good so far. 

I like the idea that its basically 'we show you how to build a tele' rather than teaching woodworking in general. As although learning how would be awesome, it would be wasted on me at the moment as I wouldnt have the funding or anywhere to work on stuff afterwards.

Obviously you can sculpt the headstock as you want, and with taking it home inbetween the classes, I could mess with it more to try getting it a little more custom.. maybe do a basic headstock inlay or something. 

How funny though, as I mentioned it only last night.. 

Get into work this morning and the manager casually mentions he has hours going because two people have left since I've been off on holidays... 

So now its a waiting game to find out if these extra hours are going to be a saturday morning... so hopefully I'll know by the end of the week and that will seal the deal either way. 

I reckon I'll do it if I can. 

I haven't got a tele... 

Jalapeno

Where/Who is the course held ?

chillidoggy

I think it sounds like an interesting thing to do, especially if you already have some woodworking skills. I don't think it's a lot of money for what you describe, either. It's clearly not aimed at turning out a master craftsman, rather for those with a general interest, but who knows, it could lead someone on to more challenges.

Maybe have a wander into the shop and having a chat with whoever is running the course first?

Funkfingers

Does the publicity literature for the course mention sponsors, local government education authority or Department Of Work & Pensions involvement? The training provider might be state funded to offer the course(s). This might be a way to help the workshop facility to pay its own way.

There is much to be said for learning through direct hands-on experience. The workshop will have machines to which the average home assembler would never have access. On the other hand, how likely are you to seek/find employment in advanced guitar repair?

The standardised end product aspect worries me slightly.

Many years ago, my father attended a week-long Bicycle Frame Building course. He learned how to perform all of the metal working processes. He also came away with a bicycle frame suited to his dimensional requirements. On one level, that was precisely the point.

In solid body guitar building, bench router cavity cutting is a standard process. It should be no great problem to offer a choice of templates. e.g. HB. single coil, P90, whatever.

WezV

Sounds like the only way they can do the course at that price is to standardise the design.  It will also allow them to buy all parts in bulk.  

it should be a nice insight into guitarbuilding, but you wouldn't learn much just from the course.  However, read Melvyn Hiscock's book cover to cover a few times first and the hands on experience of the course will prove a lot more valuable.

skunkwerx

The course is done at billericay guitar workshop, which seems tied to rainbow music.? Barleylands billericay. 

If you type in billericay guitar workshop in google, it should be right there, a direct link to the page. 


They mention the course is tutored by Bob (forget his surname) of Legra guitars. Which has turned up a couple of things on internet searches. Even one on here If I recall. 

The course is basically aimed at beginners, in that you get to build your own tele shaped guitar, fully tutored so no experience needed (although obviously some would benefit). 

Rather than a gateway into learning the skills. But obviously you'd pick up a few things along the way. 

Hence the basic design I imagine, and all 4 students build the same instrument, with basically the carves, neck profile, frets and fingerboard options being available to change. N stain colour too. 

It actually sounds like what I'd want out of it, as I have zero experience or skills that an employer in the trade would consider me for, and am definately not in the position financially to be able to take it up as a career off my own back. 

So it would be just for fun and to get a guitar out of it, but as its pretty expensive for me, I would need to make damn sure that the finished product is more than playable! 

Of course if I do it, I'd be very tempted to bring some of my own bits.. ie, pick up some fancier looking dot inlays instead of black or white plastic, put locking strap pins in, do some sheilding in the cavities etc. All stuff that should be easy enough to do over the 12 weeks its in bits, without pissing the tutor off too much because I'm going extra, and taking time away from the other guys tutorage. 

To kind of make it, individual, even though its to a template, and also so its got some good stuff from the get go.. 

But yeah, I totally get that its not a fully custom built instrument, but its also not a kit. Its a happy medium I guess if you want a tele shaped guitar that you can say you built from scratch.. 

I get you though about the end result. 
Thats the main issue I'm having. 
I wouldnt feel too happy if I fuck up, or its not very playable, as its sort of a one time course with limited learning, so I'd be stuck with it, or potentially paying for more time with them in the workshop, if they'd even allow it. 


First, to talk to my manager about these damn hours.. you can bet its bloody weekends haha! 

Thanks for the input guys, its always good hearing peoples takes on stuff! 

duotone

Sounds interesting.

http://www.daveking-acoustics.co.uk/guitar-making-course/ This acoustic making course goes on for a year and is £2600

Sporky

skunkwerx said:

I get you though about the end result. 
Thats the main issue I'm having. 
I wouldnt feel too happy if I fuck up, or its not very playable, as its sort of a one time course with limited learning, so I'd be stuck with it, or potentially paying for more time with them in the workshop, if they'd even allow it.

I don't see why you couldn't make it perfectly well in that time. Especially if it's all done with templates.

Funkfingers

If the course guitar is, essentially, a Telecaster, the only components that you cannot easily remove and refit to your satisfaction would be the frets. 

ChrisRG

I can vouch for the course run by James at 12thfret mentioned above. He's a great teacher and is superbly skilled. His own guitars are amazing (http://www.jamescollinsguitars.com/). 

It's a 3 day course and he uses pre painted bodies and pre fretted necks. Everything else is unfinished though. You level and finish the frets, drill and fit the neck, drill and fit the bridge, file and install the nut and install the tuners. You solder together all the electronics which are top quality and include your choice of bare knuckle pickups. The hardware is Gotoh. 

I learnt loads and James does his best to accommodate all of your preferences. I built a sonic blue start and love it.  It plays and sounds great and as part of the course was paid for as a 40th birthday gift, it has loads of sentimental value too.