Ready to buy first kit

[seanbig]

Chuck,

I would definitely try out a kit from Blues Creek Guitars. You'll get the materials you want and John will help you out every step of the way, if you need it. He is a great teacher.


Sean

[Darryl Young]

I'm on my first and I bought it from John Hall. I like the old Martins and John is an expert on that subject so it worked out nice for me. He can do a Martin kit or a custom kit. From all I've read, you can't go wrong buying from either John or Ken.

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Chuck,
My first kit was from LMI. The materials were very good and you can get Robbie Obriens DVD for free if you by a kit that really does a good job of explaining the process along the way.

However, I think you could not go wrong purchasing from either John Hall or Ken Cierp as they will be right there to help you as you build, and if you need a replacement part it sounds like they step up to the plate and help you out there too.
I would lean you in that direction.

Kevin

[Freeman]

Chuck, you have some really good advice, but I'll add my two cents. I have built kits from several different suppliers and feel that you will get quality materials and help from almost all of them. The only one that I haven't worked with is KMG but his reputation is great and I would have no qualms about buying a kit from him.

Here is my experience

#1 - 000 from Steve Kovacik (pictures in Cory's book). After 5 years this is still my go-to guitar (my D18 sits in the closet). A friend at our local music store played it the other night and asked me to build one just like it for him. There is a build thread at the old forum, search on "freeman". It would be similar to the StewMac 000 and John could supply the same thing

#2 - LMI classical. Classical kits are a bit rare, instructions were fine and the guitar came out very good. I think there is a picture in Bill's book.

#3 - OM sized 12 string from John Hall. I had very specific ideas of what I didn't like about my D12-28 and worked with John to build the "perfect" fingerstyle 12 string. Again, there is a building thread at the old forum. The Martin sits in the closet with the D18.

#4 - a mandolin, this doesn't count

#5 - LMI parlor. Used the "kit wizard" to make this exactly what I wanted to be a gift. John probably could have put together the same thing but its nice to just click options on the wizard.

#6, 7,... I'm pretty much scratch building now, but I continue to buy most of my wood from LMI and most of my tools from StewMac.

A couple of other thoughts. First, download the StewMac instruction pdf's and any other instructions you can get. Read everything you can find. Second, you can (and IMHO should) build with an outside mold - no reason you can't do that with StewMac or any other kit. Third, seriously consider using bolt on necks. I have built several dovetails and I'm starting to feel pretty good about them, but they are really tricky for a first timer. Ironically, my first ones were dovetails, I'm now building bolt ons.

Last comment, if you want to customize your guitar - different woods or bindings or scale lenght or anything else you will be very limited with StewMac. With LMI you can do almost anything (including running the cost up LOL) and people like John or Ken or Steve Kovacik or others can help you make changes in the basic kit.

The members of this forum, John and Ken personally, and other lutherie forums (MIMF, OLF) can provide a lot of help and support as you go thru your first build - you will have a lot of questions and many of us can supply some answers. Have fun and enjoy the journey.

[vacooley]

Just completed my first guitar with a kit from Blues Creek. Really good materials and great support from John Hall. Here is the link: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=555

I purchased #2 from KMG because 1) they had what I was actually looking for on eBay and 2) I just wanted to try them out.

I have no reservations recommending John or Ken. They both helped me on my first kit.