I have the first neck I ever made, 45 years ago, hanging on the wall of my music room. It reminds me of why I was meant to be a programmer ...

@duxxck

3 жыл бұрын

Haha I am a programmer who is just starting out with guitar building. Looking forward to have a 45 year old neck in the future :)

A great teacher once told me, "Amateurs practice till they get it right, professionals practice until they DON'T get it wrong."

@bobsullivan5714

5 жыл бұрын

If it ain't broke, fix it until it is!

@jukeboxzero4373

3 жыл бұрын

Measure once..cuss twice!

@PiLLbOt100

3 жыл бұрын

The difference between an amateur and a professional is pay rate.

"Dude, suckin’ at something is the first step to being sorta good at something." ―Jake the Dog, Adventure Time

@ryanintopeka

3 жыл бұрын

This comment hasn't gotten the appreciation it deserves. Thank you for laying the Jake Wisdom down.

8. Learn to recognise when you've done enough each day and tired. When you're knackered, you WILL make mistakes.

@autizmo2963

8 жыл бұрын

I've known about this channel for about two days now and every video I keep learning about this. Before that I've been watching videos of people making guitars and I would learn quite a bit from them but I'm learning way more watching these. Thanks

@Sikayta

7 жыл бұрын

CountryHouseGent this is also a great rule, rest is important

@Expedient_Mensch

6 жыл бұрын

Oh most definitely! Nothing like blowing away 12 hours work because you are too knackered to think clearly.

@fishbake7

6 жыл бұрын

Very true! I like to work on things but when I get tired and to where things are a bit blurred, taking even a short break or even a nap is like rebooting your computer or defragment your brain a bit. Did you know that when you sleep your brain actually organizes itself. Usually after your rest you see even a nagging problem in a different light.

@ericmcrae7758

6 жыл бұрын

This is so true, Ben missed this one. I do wood turning and I would say nearly all my mistakes occur when I am tired and just try to do a bit more. You dont want to know how many perfectly good lumps of wood i have ruined - a lathe is not very forgiving!

I got one... When you're drilling holes for machine heads, clamp a board under where the hole breaks through so you don't chip away half of your headstock

@noneofyourbeeswax01

5 жыл бұрын

_Now_ you tell me...!

@dsan94

4 жыл бұрын

Also brad points

@CorbinMusso88

4 жыл бұрын

Also, start with a small bit, drill through with that, then drill halfway from each side with the final bit.

@markphillips573

3 жыл бұрын

Now that is the most excellent tip anyone can get... thanks, Mark..................

@rodparker4514

3 жыл бұрын

Use a reamer running backwards and and come in from both sides .

Very helpful video. Around the year 1500, a noble man from italy is visiting a sculptor to see his progress. He finds him sitting in front of a huge block of marble, staring at it. Friends and family were worried, he did the same thing for 4 months. What are you doing? the noble man asked. He turned around and whispered "I am working." Three years later the work was done. Michelangelo had finished the statue of david. I love that story. Sometimes you have to lean back and comtemplate what you do, how you envision something, what you learned from previous work before you're going to do something similiar. Good planning is the base for every success. (Unless you land "a homer" ^^) What i learned in engineering very quickly is that most of the time the 80/20-Rule really applies. The first 80% of the work takes 20% of your time and you'll need 80% of your remaining time to get the last 20% to finished. Ben talked about the finishing process before. Lots of luthiers just want to play the guitar and don't put in the time that is needed for a good finish, what every sees looking at your work. One of my professors told me, that one of the main qualities of a good engineer is to make the decision to start all over again, to not hang on to the previous ways and work too much to let it go. With lots of planning, timetables etc. you can reduce the chance of unexpected fuckups immensely.

Make sure you're following the right plans, I once started making a guitar and it was only near the end I realised it was actually a chair!!!

@devonwillis2093

6 жыл бұрын

think i laughed too hard at this lol

@sgnt9337

6 жыл бұрын

gerbutt Everything was going great until you tried tuning it!

@TheMusicalMedic

6 жыл бұрын

Slap some strings and a pick up on, you've got a chair that doubles as a guitar.

@nightlurker

5 жыл бұрын

That's a new keyboard you owe me. Another thing to avoid, don't read the comments while drinking a cup of coffee!

@Hathorr1067

4 жыл бұрын

I made a cricket bat once. It started as a violin bass.

I'm hip deep into building my first four guitars and I'm loving making mistakes. The next 4, or 40 (if it ever comes to that) will be the better for these early errors.

"Loose & sloppy is not fun" - Ben Crowe, 2016. Amen

@frederickthorne2496

8 жыл бұрын

+JH Scofield ..sometimes loose and sloppy can be fun. heh :)

@satchboogie2058

8 жыл бұрын

If it is loose, it means 1 of 2 things, either: the thing you want to put in the hole is too small or the hole is too big. Both things are not fun.

@SimonChampagne

7 жыл бұрын

I cannot begin to understand how in the world he did not burst into intense laughter right there. :P

@jackbyrd4921

5 жыл бұрын

If it doesn't fit you must acquit!

@mrbangham

4 жыл бұрын

There are only two kinds; loose & sloppy ones, and sloppy & loose ones!

I think one of the biggest mistakes one can make is to be afraid to make a mistake. A mistake is just an opportunity to learn.

@plasticglueman9966

3 жыл бұрын

And lose money

"Just crack on and do it." Best thing I've heard about building guitars in quite some time. Thanks for putting value into figuring things out by.....figuring them out. Cheers!

Ha! Something you said at the beginning of the video reminded me of something my figure drawing professor used to say in college... "The difference between a student, a good artist, and a master is that the Student makes mistakes, the good artists know how to hide their mistakes, but the masters make the mistakes work for them!" :)

@Sailabear11

5 жыл бұрын

Awesome advice! Thank you!

I can so relate to number 1. hollowbody les paul isn't the best thing to choose as your first build...

@RickDrift

2 жыл бұрын

Might as well build an acoustic

Point 3, so true!! I started out with the notion that only hand tools would do; using power tools is cheating. 7 guitars in and I now have a bandsaw, belt sander, router, pillar drill, table saw...and so on. It's all good!

Don't curve over the edges before you have measured everything... Have you ever tried taking an accurate measurement from a curved edge?

Greetings from Texas! Great video Ben. I've been building guitars for most of my life but I've taken about 15 years off. I'm getting back in to it and this has helped remind me of all sorts of things that I have pushed out of my brain. Thank you for taking the time to do these videos. This is my favorite KZread channel by far.

The man that taught me to build had a simple philosophy that I've followed and preach to everyone. If you're building a custom, build two just like it, or even better three. If you can't afford to make it 2 times, you can't afford the mistakes you're bound to make on the first one, and why not have a spare? If you get good enough, you'll always have a couple examples of every good build you do, and that has its own reward. I've done that almost without exception, and have kept dozens of good builds for myself or sold the 2nd as a spare or backup to a client, or even a new customer. I highly recommend it as a practice.

@jacobsamano9761

Жыл бұрын

Nice theory but for an amateur it’s biting off more than you can chew.

One mistake I made the first time I tried to rebuild a guitar was that I didn't know anything about scale length at the time & didn't know why I couldn't tune the guitar again. I was 17 & lucky I knew some older guitarists who helped me fix it. I learnt a lot just from that first attempt & Books are very helpful. Now I'm 50 & still playing around. I believe if It's something you love , keep doing it. Cheers Y/All.

Everyone I know or have met says they dislike sanding. I must be weird, I love sanding wood. It puts me in a very serene place. I've a nice piece of very old English oak as for my hand sanding block. This is like an old friend to me. Stick me in a corner with my oak block, different grades of sandpaper, some music, (maybe Red, or Three of A Perfect Pair) some good headphones and I'm as happy as a pig in shit. Bring me a good cup of coffee every now then and I'm a super happy bunny.

@sgnt9337

6 жыл бұрын

Andy Mitchell I like it too, sometimes. I switch back and forth. I wish I had better luck with sharpening scrapers (hit and miss, for me), they work great, better than sanding sometimes, especially with hardwood.

@DialektLp

5 жыл бұрын

I don't hate or dislike sanding but it's one of my least favourite parts of work. On the other hand, I love scraping and filing

@tariqxl

5 жыл бұрын

Ditto, I like long, arduous, monotonous and/or repetitive task that I can almost switch my brain completely off. I actually enjoy washing up , although I can only do these tasks for a while, I begin to get deathly tired when bored. I was crap at gaurd duty in the army, kept falling asleep lol.

@nicholasloh8342

5 жыл бұрын

I agreed with you until I read oak, I have a very serious hatred of oak because I made an oak and alder top for a large nightstand it was a b**** to get flat because of the difference in hardness

@klausscharlipp6501

4 жыл бұрын

I for myselve love sanding and polishing work, wood or metal doesn't matter. Probably because of the visual process it's going though..getting nicer and shinyer each step. Damn my bad english..

"If you have never read a book.....first of all, you've made some very poor life decisions." hahaha......love the color commentary.

@jackielinde7568

7 жыл бұрын

This comment alone got me to subscribe to the channel. :D

@tomasotreasaigh111

5 жыл бұрын

If you have never read a book.. you probably go around telling people the earth is flat.

I am a craftsman of a different field and I can say that the number one quality of a professional is to know how to improvise solutions to the unexpected and how to craft your own tools.

A "rabbit hole down which you will fall"! I love it! SO VERY TRUE!

Really nice, Mr. Crowe. Didn't see the other golden rule besides MEASURE MEASURE MEASURE CUT...Never forget PRACTICE ON SCRAP!!! :D Cheers!

I really enjoy these videos. I have been building for 15 yrs and have made about 40 instruments. I was lucky enough to be able to do a paid apprenticeship during some of that time, and one thing I learned was that there are very few things that cannot be fixed, and by learning to fix your mistakes you learn some solid repair and restoration techniques. On the tool front I would say to follow Ben's advice - you really don't need as many tools as you may think. You can make many of the things you need as you go. Scrapers - save the sandpaper for finishing. Buy old tools and learn how to sharpen them. My teacher once told me that you don't buy a plane - you buy a plane 'kit' and you learn how to complete it so that it is useable. Finally, my favorite tool is a fancy french hand cut rasp that I bought years ago. For general carving I find it indispensable.

Measure, measure, and cut! Measure, measure and cut! You brought me down in hysterical laughter and then tears. Years ago, I was fabricating a pattern for an O gauge commuter train (yes I do trains too), with a possible production deal. I was doing the front end, making corners sharp and adding nice details rivets and all, and suddenly something wasn't right because it was 5mm short!!! This perfectly killed the project, and took me a year to recover from it. Oh how I know to measure, measure, and cut.

I've been doing this for 15 years and this is the best common sense video I've seen. Took the same route and have been learning daily.

This may be the best guitar building video I have seen and no guitars were even built! Thank you for the honest video!

#7 I have always heard it as "Measure twice, Cut once" but YES! This is VERY important!

Ben, I can't thank you enough for this video, some of you points I'm following through already. I'm about to start building guitars myself and will need to watch this video more than once, cheers.

Ben, I’m building my first guitar - a relatively cheap kit, bought online - and I think I’ve been bitten by the luthier bug. Been playing guitar for 40 years and the experience of seeing my own custom instrument come together (however awkwardly) has been an absolute blast. Then, in the process of trying to learn how to fix mistakes or figure out the next steps, I discovered your channel and WOW, what a window into the world of both guitar building and the creativity and skills behind your creations! As i struggle to bring my Les(s) Paul into being, I know that I will build another. I need to. I want to apply what I’ve learned and to grow into this hobby I’ve discovered. Thank you for sharing your craft, your artistry and your sage advice. When I am finished with this current guitar and am sitting here with a fistful of fret buzz and 60 cycle hum, I shall remember your wise words and crack straight on with the next one. Cheers! Leighton Vancouver, BC

Guitar building books are expensive but i was fortunate enough to get a good book as a gift, I also have a book on finishing, woods, hand tools, the history of guitar devlopement. Don't regret reading a single one.

hello. for sometime now i've been watching you. im 54 yrs old. iv done so many projects involving wood. and even tin artwork, and your right you really don't need schooling because you yourself are the artist and or maker. i've been think now about getting into guitar making. and i really like your advice. and it something all just dive into and along the way all learn very fast all what i need to do.

Thanks for an ever useful topic! You asked us to add our mistakes in the comments- here are several: 1. Label the top and bottom of your guitar sides before cutting the purfling channel on the top, or be prepared to add purfling to the channel you just cut on the back. 2. When cutting channels for binding and purfling, cutting the binding channel (side) FIRST so you have more of the top surface to index to when cutting the purfling (top) might be a good idea. Its an EXCELLENT idea if your using an indexed router like TrueChannel Binding Router Jig by StewMac. If you don't, your little dish shaped bearing surface won't be able to ride on the top as you cut the binding channel on the side (you just routed the top bearing surface off). 3. Always, always, wear a respirator approved for solvent vapors if you are applying lacquer or lacquer sanding sealer (even a puff from a rattle can). One puff locked me up for a week twice. 4. Open up the acoustic neck tenon pocket AFTER you cut your bindings and purflings. Otherwise, when you get to the hole you just opened, you will have no reference surface for your cutter to sit on. That is, provided you have learned your lesson about cutting all those channels with only a chisel, provided that you you DID design for binding and purfling. Too much? Then just use #3. And you DONT what to know what "locked me up for a week" means. "Twice" means I didn't learn the first time.

Truly! Thank you for everything. I will be beginning my journey as a novice luthier and will be buying your tools as a courtesy of all the knowledge you've shared with me. THANK YOU!!!!!

This is a great introduction to building guitars. I'm in the middle of my second build and really enjoying the processes - many helpful tips and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Trying to remember what I was doing on Jan 29th, 2016, instead of watching your video. Thanks for your courage to open up such vital insight on guitar building...!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have messed up trimming the edge on a neck to shape by routing the neck such that the blades of the router bit tore into the grain --- this led to a sizeable tear out at the 12th fret. To fix it, I decided to make the neck bound. This covered up the problem and classed up the guitar a little. Trying to make mistakes into features is something I am becoming used to.

@cdreid99999

6 жыл бұрын

I bought a JEM kit (Which turned out to be stunningly good). Reshaped it etc etc. After reading for days on painting i decided on bright blue lacquer covered with a tin blue metallic auto lacquer.. sunbursty. The blue ended up being dark. I had to paint outdoors and its HUMID here and 80 daytime 40 nighttime. The metallic crackled HARD mostly near the edges. so i .. sanded that part off. And it's BEAUTIFUL! Has sortof a faded jeans look its absolutely stunning :)

I really liked this video. Getting ready to do my first build and found it just in time. Thanks Ben!!

Thank you for your information I am learning all the time from wonderful people like you. It is just so great to be able to see an hear you telling us what you have learned and now pass on to the public so we can learn from your experiences. You rock man.

Brilliant presentation Ben, great bullet points. Yes, measure twice and cut once, one of my favourites. Thank you so much, awesome!!

I'm about to start on the journey of making a guitar for myself. I found this video very encouraging, so thank you for the benefit of your experience and whatnot.

Ben thank you for this video. Part of these videos is helping to demystify the entire process, finally you've addressed what is probably the most important--mistakes!

I built one guitar back in 1982. It was a Christmas gift for my best friend. I took a humbucker, a neck, a bridge and electrics from an Aria Pro 2 and slapped them on an old wooden toilet seat. He tuned it up and loved it. I think I'm ready to start a new build.

@CrimsonCustomGuitars

3 жыл бұрын

While I find myself seriously tempted to replicate your build myself! B

Always enjoy and learn from your videos. Started out buying a cheap electric just to disassemble/reassemble and modify. Learned soldering, setups and minor repairs. Put guitars together from parts. Now in the process of building a guitar from a pre planned block of wood, starting with making a template. Each step a process and learning experience, but such an interesting rabbit hole.

This was lovely. Masses of passion, which is what it's all about isn't it. Making mistakes is the best thing you can do. You'll think about them every time you're about to make them again. Make 10 Strats. Burn first 8. Repeat.

Great advice Ben!! I'm trying to think of when I quit making mistakes. Glad I can improvise. Thank you for all you share.

Great channel, great delivery-I'm learning and I love it! I have the wood and all the tools I need so am about to embark on my first guitar, watching this channel makes me even more enthusiastic about the challenge-and challenge it most certainly will be but I am relishing it!

I recently built an electric guitar for my senior project from scratch. The neck was the hardest part, by far to make, but it sounds as great as the $25 pickups can sound.

The advice you give in this video is the best, the absolute best. This advice can be applied to so many fields of interest. I really appreciate hearing such crucial advice from an expert in his field.

''Cuz I'm an asshole, basically..'' hahhaa this guy is HILARIOUS. love his brand of humour and his sharing of knowledge is excellent

I have watched this tutorial few times over the last year (since I started with my very first guitar body) and honestly, couldn't agree with you more , especially on #1 and #7. I do hope to start with necks by the end of 2021 and until then I will concentrate on bodies and finishing methods. Thanks for this one and for all other tutorials - it is a great help for me

measure, cut , measure, scream in anger and self-hatred because you have cut off too much

@RaichuMGS

5 жыл бұрын

Measure twice cut once!

@carls8286

4 жыл бұрын

Oh, yes, been there...Me: measure, measure, measure, cut.....aarrgghh.

@neon_man9099

4 жыл бұрын

Carl Sundbaum or theres the classic: “measure, measure measure, cut. oh crap, ive cut my finger off”

I would say 'knowing when to stop' is the most important lesson to learn but people do need to realise that it is not the same a 'giving in' or 'quitting'. Learning to recognise that a mistake can sometimes be rectified and sometimes not is a crucial skill. People quit when they don't know how to proceed or are disappointed with their results due to bad choices.

@PelleKuipers

8 жыл бұрын

+Ian Clarke YES. That is something I still have trouble with after building for two years. It's also in a different way: you should stop when you get too tired and are not focused enough. And realising that building something is 90% measuring and drawing up plans, making jigs, and 10% actual work on the guitar itself.

thank you very much, I've watched this video and another of fretting I am very thankful for your information. have a wonderful day yourself I will be checking into more of your work

What an awesome video man, thank you for sharing your experience and learning curves.

I don't believe I would ever attempt to build my own guitar. I know exactly what your talking about when buying tools. I thought I really wanted to learn wood carving. Went out purchase great tools at high prices, Started but never finish one project. Tools sit now unused for my wish to learn has ended. I thought it would be much easier then I found it to be in the end. Excellent video Ben!

Just want to let you know these videos are definitely appreciated man, I'm in the process right now building my first it's going to be cigar box, I'm starting off slow, but I'm trying not to follow in the tradition of using nuts and bolts and nails are frets on a piece of 2x4! your videos are definitely helping me put a little more of an actual guitar touch to it. Just want to say thanks man!

A very humble video! We all make mistakes: Mine among the worst, to be honest. I thoroughly enjoy your videos. You are instructing a new generation of Luthiers!! Your easy going style lures hobbyists into the dark craft lol!! Aside from that, you are a true Luther and thank you for sharing your expertise with the masses!!

Hi Ray here from across the pond thank you so much for taking the time to share what you have learned,It’s great to see people spreading knowledge about a skill they have learned.

@66PAINTMAN

6 жыл бұрын

well said

These are great videos Ben.Cheers

So glad I decided to watch this video. I’m a recent customer and am on my third build (first two came out as expected…). I needed to hear “know when to quit”. While I learned a lot trying to over due it on my first two, hearing know when to quit has influenced the direction of this current build.

Excellent tutorial Ben...really enjoy your explanation of things

Nice bit of realism! Love it

i love your videos, and thank you so much for posting what you do on youtube. It's so much help!

@CrimsonCustomGuitars

4 жыл бұрын

My pleasure, I love doing it! B

Very good advice Ben. I'm sure I've made all of those mistakes, and some you would never think of. All part of the process.

wow.... intelligent approach for the beginner guitar maker (luthier... such an huge word...) thank you!

In the process of building a guitar for myself out of black walnut wood inherited from my grandfather. Won't be worth anything to anybody except myself as a sentimental piece. Your lessons and videos in addition to others I've watched, have been invaluable. Thanks for the time and effort.

This is such tip top info. Thank you.

I started building electric guitars in 1983 , All I had was a router Porter Cable with a D handle , one old Baily smoothing plane handed down , some files and scrapers . To glue the body didn't have bar clamps I used 2x4's to make a clamp with bolts on one side and had a few small c clamps. Made my fret saw out of an exacto that I reduced the teeth to fit the fret . I worked . Later I got more clamps C and pipe clamps and bar clamps , I cut out bodies with a coping saw and hand sanded the final shape. Later I got a table top drill press and a decent jig saw to cut out necks and bodies. I made templates with router guides to route out the truss rod slot. always measuring the guide bush to make certain the route whether a rod slot or pu cavity was the proper size . The worst one was a finger board I spent days hand sawing to shape and slotting and didn't have any idea of using pins to prevent the board from slipping , I always lucked out before. Had to plan it off and start all over. I knew wood working at 7 my father was a carpenter building custom homes and made cabinets as well , I was always around wood. I did help . I still work with the same basic tools some are better and have more of them yet basically ever body and neck is still besides a router and jig saw done by all hand tools. When I glue up a 2 piece body the joint is the center line and I hand plane the top and back flat by this method as well as the finger board and neck . I use a router for any round over , never had a router table. I have chisels and spoke shaves all are old stanley or sears . Most were all set necks with home made truss rods. 5 were bolt on neck 4 strat copies and one tele . The tele was just a shape I tried to copy from a photo and the strats I was given a 59 strat trace from some one who once worked for fender and he traced it out for me and I made a template from it using 1/4" thick veneer . Each pick up route was from one template I moved along referencing the center line and spacing on that template factoring it the router guide. It was time consuming yet they did come out proper. Now at 70 I want to build just one more strat neck because I don't like the way one turned out , I bought a spray gun in 85 to paint my car and a touch up gun and air brushes and learned how to paint from books as well as how to build a guitar from three old books / Last strat I used a # 3 passche air brush and stew mac water based lacquer and it turned out the best of all others . I began with a brush and hand sanding to lay down lacquer. For this new neck if I get the desire going I will make a template off a 2001 plan I have sitting since 2001 and for once be able to at least do the neck shape off a template using my old router. Route out the rods slot before the neck blank is tapered as I always did yet at least have the necks shape and tuner holes and center line all there then I can glue on the finger board and then flush rout it to the routed out neck rather than planing and sanding for days . I dislike making templates yet this time I will give it a shot . William

What a fantastic video, thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience with us. I'm just starting out, I've bought a few bits from you recently for my Stingray bass build including one of your spanky precision levelling blocks that came in a giant Toblerone box and I've got some of your Stunning Stains winging their way to me too. I'm a former engineer but my areas were classic motorcycles and vintage cars, I did mechanical and electrical work predominantly but I also did machining and fabrication so I'm turning what skills I've got onto LuthI..Luther..luthier... making noisy shapes out of wood. I find it very rewarding and so far even with mistakes I'm finding that the results are paying off...

I've been at a vocational school in Minnesota, US, for a few years learning how to build instruments, I've built two violins (not proud of either, most like to be burned soon) two guitars last year both of which are not great but at least one is playable, and now this year I'm building 3 guitars and 2 ukuleles. All I can say is that you get better at this at an exponential rate and that you WILL make mistakes, you just need to learn from them and remember to not do it again. "Half of our job is fixing our mistakes, hell maybe 75% of our job is fixing mistakes" - said by one of my teachers in my first year.

I met Ben a few years ago at a guitar show - he is a very smart and cool guy.

just about to start out on my first project. really really enjoy watching your vids thanks so much

Ben.... you say your not the best, be that as may.... you are so the most entertaining and personable of all I have viewed on KZread. Thank you for all of your videos. I wish I lived in the UK in order to take a course there. Maybe someday.

Im just Starting out learning about repairs, So I'm just refinishing a Peavey Patriot and am waiting for the Stain from you. The Purple looks sick !!! Going to change the tone knob to a cut off switch and swap the pick up. Im really excited to work with the Stunning Stains I watched a few videos you did and decided to tackle it. Keep your fingers crossed for me lol

Great tutorial. Lots to take on board 👍

Wow - there are some good points for everyone (all levels of wood working) in this vid. I specifically appreciate that you tell about your own mistakes. It gives your message some weight :)

Great video, Ben! I also have a tip for beginners: Start by setting up guitars in need of repair. Understand how to modify/repair unplayable guitars. They are cheap and sometimes free. Experiment with those. If you can make a poorly set up or unplayable guitar playable, you are well on your way.

Excellent video with lots of great information......! Thank you

Thank you so much for this video. I am in the middle of my first kit build, because of not wanting to bite off more than I can chew with woodwork before I know the basics of how to assemble. The hardest thing I've found is the finishing. I have the finishing oil, which I plan to use on another, more expensive project. But what I've learned is that you need to make damn sure to go slow with applying finish, and ensure you apply it evenly. I've had to sand it back twice now and restart by touching up my stain. Thanks to your stains, this was an easy process, but the finishing has been the hardest thing. The advice to go slow and be patient is sage advice indeed. Also I did about a year of repairs on other instruments before I even tried assembling a kit. This helped me assemble some basic tools and understand the proper tolerances for things beforehand.

On my 3rd build, I set the neck angle too shallow. to compensate, I ground down the bottom of the TOM bridge on the belt sander so I could get tje action low enough. Worked great.

Another great video, I really enjoy these.

Great points made on tool selection!

thank you for sharing your knowledge. I wish I lived close enough to follow you around but I guess I will just have to learn through you tube. Thanks again!

Lovely video, thank you.

Thank you I enjoyed it. Good advice and your absolutely dead on in passing on your experience to the novice.

Some of the best advice given! Cheers from Tasmania

@CrimsonCustomGuitars

3 жыл бұрын

Glad it was helpful! B

Ben, thank you so much for this! Excellent

Your videos are so helpful

this is great advice for building anything. good stuff.

Just finished my first guitar build, there are definitely a couple of these tips I wished I'd seen before making it. I over sanded the neck pocket (or the neck itself) and had to come up with a way to salvage the build. I ended up routing the neck pocket a fraction wider and then surrounded the pocket with brass bar stock. I was frustrated with myself for the mistake (and for the extra couple of tedious hours it added to the build) but the results ended up beautiful. I'm already planning my next build. Now I just need to learn how to play guitar.

Brilliant video. Watch your videos all the time and they really do inspire you to think "right I'm going to build a guitar,I'm just going to do it". Everything you touched on though is the exact things those starting out need to hear. I think everyone has wanted to start out complicated,or think they need every tool because a specific builder uses one(guilty 😅). I've really wanted to build one for quite a while because of watching your videos but realistically it's very difficult as I don't have a suitable work space(just a back porch) and very limited funds,every tool or material is pushing my limited funds 😅. I think the problem with most of us is we might watch a video online and as cheesy as it sounds you just get so inspired. Taking on board "don't bite off more than you can chew" and that each area is a skill in itself. For someone who can barely make a box maybe I should perfect the basics to save the headaches. Sorry for the long message 😅 great stuff as usual 😁

Love your videos. Informative and down right funny. Planning on just getting to it.

probably the smartest guitar making video I've seen.

Measure, measure, cut. Something my dad taught me when I was a teenager. Love you videos dude. This one was so spot on. Looking at building my first one from scratch very soon. You've been an inspiration and an encyclopaedia of craftsmanship knowledge. Keep up the great work at crimson guitars 👍

@CrimsonCustomGuitars

3 жыл бұрын

Hey Allan, thank you for your support! I couldn't even stop if I wanted to, and I really don't want to! B

i fully admit that i bought a shinto rasp because of you ben. don't regret it for a minute and it only cost me 20 bucks!

Thank you so much as a beginner it was very good lesson that I learn.. Thank you so much

I've started this year using a cheap workmate on the porch. Of course there was a figure in the basswood, making the planing harder but I enjoy the effort in the handwork.

Here's an old one - digging a second hole because the first one wasn't big enough. Ok, it's not about guitars, but I just love it. Maybe I just made my first guitar mistake!

Many thanks for this 🙂