David Oddy
I am presently selling off some of my Old Guitars as I need the space. Click HERE to go see.
I had no training and purely took this up as a hobby. I have played Guitars (badly) for most of my life and building them for me was a natural progression especially in retirement when I now have the time.
These builds, if nothing else, helped me learn about the Art of a Luthier, a voyage of discovery. I learned a lot from my mistakes which may well not be the way to go about this but certainly gave me confidence especially as, when I run into problems, - which I still do - hopefully I have the experience to know how to solve them.
EVOLUTION
From starting to build and finish Kits several years ago whilst living in France to building my own bodies this journey has been exciting to say the least.
On returning to the UK I did not bring any of my tools with me as not knowing where we would live I did not know if I would have the space for a workshop.
The House we purchased had a small Garage which I have made my Workshop and over the last couple of years got together my "tools" again. I did not purchase all new items as my budget would not allow this and have obtained many hand tools second hand vie eBay. I will say at this point that anyone starting out on this adventure should consider old tools such as Chisels, Gouges, Planes, Saws etc. as there is a lot of excellent used equipment out there especially with cutting tools and in my opinion some of the "old" tools are far better than some of the new stuff available.
Make learning how to sharpen tools your first task.
I have some electrical equipment which, if you are serious, you should consider like: Pillar Drill, Bandsaw, Chop Saw, Bench Saw and various Power tools such as Planers, Sanders, Jigsaws etc and again see what is offered on the used market.
I do need to update some of the equipment though and there are certain items I still need like Spraying Equipment, New Bandsaw and Pillar Drill - but I can and do manage without these.
Finishing has proved to be a bit of a problem especially over the Winter months as here in Wales it does tend to rain a lot and get very cold. However this got me into staining and oil finishing especially with Tru Oil and this I can do in the House safely and is very enjoyable. It takes quite some time but keeps me occupied over Winter.
Furthering my Luthier career I decided to open some Facebook Groups dedicated to the Art as well as Home Recording and again over time I have built up a brilliant and loyal membership with over 100,000 Members all dedicated as well. My main Groups have attracted some first class sponsors and I invite you to visit them (see Side Bar on Home Page) and come join us.,
Summarising, for anyone considering this Hobby, start with the basics. Do not spend loads of money as this will not make you any good at this. You need to learn and using basic tools and achieving the aim you are after will do more for your progress than any flashy, all purpose, shiny new bit of gear.
Just remember all the Luthiers throughout history who produced some wonderful instruments that have stood the test of time with simple, basic hand tools.
I will post my work here periodically so please visit occasionally to see what I am up to.
UPDATE
I have now updated some of my equipment and purchased a CNC machine that will cut bodies to my design. I still make the initial designs by hand and once satisfied convert into files for the CNC.
This, I will admit, is causing me some problems as creating the design and the files in the CNC software is confusing to say the least and I still spend most on my time "hands on" rather that using the CNC. Good if you are in business I suppose but not for me.
I have to close down for the winter months as my Garage is cold and damp - not the ideal situation for building Guitars.
I recently purchased a Guitar that had always been a dream to own and whilst confident I could set it up I contacted a so called "Professional" Luthier asking if he would do it for me bearing in mind I am very much an Amateur learning the Art. The response I received was blunt and basically told me that, if I can do what I say, to do it myself. Nice. I hope anyone reading this will not run into such criticism and receive the help and guidance that everyone needs at some time. Also, for me, you will never learn everything about Guitar building as there is always something to learn.
Don't be put off!
I had no training and purely took this up as a hobby. I have played Guitars (badly) for most of my life and building them for me was a natural progression especially in retirement when I now have the time.
These builds, if nothing else, helped me learn about the Art of a Luthier, a voyage of discovery. I learned a lot from my mistakes which may well not be the way to go about this but certainly gave me confidence especially as, when I run into problems, - which I still do - hopefully I have the experience to know how to solve them.
EVOLUTION
From starting to build and finish Kits several years ago whilst living in France to building my own bodies this journey has been exciting to say the least.
On returning to the UK I did not bring any of my tools with me as not knowing where we would live I did not know if I would have the space for a workshop.
The House we purchased had a small Garage which I have made my Workshop and over the last couple of years got together my "tools" again. I did not purchase all new items as my budget would not allow this and have obtained many hand tools second hand vie eBay. I will say at this point that anyone starting out on this adventure should consider old tools such as Chisels, Gouges, Planes, Saws etc. as there is a lot of excellent used equipment out there especially with cutting tools and in my opinion some of the "old" tools are far better than some of the new stuff available.
Make learning how to sharpen tools your first task.
I have some electrical equipment which, if you are serious, you should consider like: Pillar Drill, Bandsaw, Chop Saw, Bench Saw and various Power tools such as Planers, Sanders, Jigsaws etc and again see what is offered on the used market.
I do need to update some of the equipment though and there are certain items I still need like Spraying Equipment, New Bandsaw and Pillar Drill - but I can and do manage without these.
Finishing has proved to be a bit of a problem especially over the Winter months as here in Wales it does tend to rain a lot and get very cold. However this got me into staining and oil finishing especially with Tru Oil and this I can do in the House safely and is very enjoyable. It takes quite some time but keeps me occupied over Winter.
Furthering my Luthier career I decided to open some Facebook Groups dedicated to the Art as well as Home Recording and again over time I have built up a brilliant and loyal membership with over 100,000 Members all dedicated as well. My main Groups have attracted some first class sponsors and I invite you to visit them (see Side Bar on Home Page) and come join us.,
Summarising, for anyone considering this Hobby, start with the basics. Do not spend loads of money as this will not make you any good at this. You need to learn and using basic tools and achieving the aim you are after will do more for your progress than any flashy, all purpose, shiny new bit of gear.
Just remember all the Luthiers throughout history who produced some wonderful instruments that have stood the test of time with simple, basic hand tools.
I will post my work here periodically so please visit occasionally to see what I am up to.
UPDATE
I have now updated some of my equipment and purchased a CNC machine that will cut bodies to my design. I still make the initial designs by hand and once satisfied convert into files for the CNC.
This, I will admit, is causing me some problems as creating the design and the files in the CNC software is confusing to say the least and I still spend most on my time "hands on" rather that using the CNC. Good if you are in business I suppose but not for me.
I have to close down for the winter months as my Garage is cold and damp - not the ideal situation for building Guitars.
I recently purchased a Guitar that had always been a dream to own and whilst confident I could set it up I contacted a so called "Professional" Luthier asking if he would do it for me bearing in mind I am very much an Amateur learning the Art. The response I received was blunt and basically told me that, if I can do what I say, to do it myself. Nice. I hope anyone reading this will not run into such criticism and receive the help and guidance that everyone needs at some time. Also, for me, you will never learn everything about Guitar building as there is always something to learn.
Don't be put off!
