Greetings!
Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2018 7:56 am
I've been lurking and dipping my toes in for a week or so. Thought I'd toss up an intro.
I've been playing on and off since the 80s. I recently got back into the guitar a few years ago. I now do strictly solo acoustic stuff, gigging a half-dozen times a year, just enough to keep me on my game. As I've progressed on the acoustic, I've started to become more sensitive to specs. I have a few Ibanez small bodies, all with a short scale necks, 1-3/4 nuts. I'm finding these are the perfect specs for me. Recently I've been trying to find a higher quality guitar off the shelf with the same specs, in the $1500 range. Seems there's nothing until you get up to the $2500+ range, which is more than I can justify at my current skill level. Maybe in a few years. So...I started toying with the idea of building a better acoustic myself, and that's how I found this site. I'm pretty handy with wood, but don't have a workshop or any guitar-building tools, so I'm starting from scratch. I've done enough research and with advice from John Hall I now think this is a doable option. As a first step, I'm going to pick up a few old beat up acoustics and concentrate on learning how to do a fret job (new and refinishing) and a set up and perhaps some other repairs. I'm confident I can pick up the tools and build a decent acoustic from a kit, but when it comes to working on the neck, frets, and doing a precision set up, I'm far less confident. I ordered a notched straight edge and a fret rocker. I will pick up some other fret tools and then get to work. My buddy at the local guitar shop is donating an old acoustic to the cause. Hopefully after a few repairs and some successful set ups I'll order a custom kit and take the plunge.
Hope to see you all frequently! I'm sure I'll have a thousand and one questions as I go.
--Jim
I've been playing on and off since the 80s. I recently got back into the guitar a few years ago. I now do strictly solo acoustic stuff, gigging a half-dozen times a year, just enough to keep me on my game. As I've progressed on the acoustic, I've started to become more sensitive to specs. I have a few Ibanez small bodies, all with a short scale necks, 1-3/4 nuts. I'm finding these are the perfect specs for me. Recently I've been trying to find a higher quality guitar off the shelf with the same specs, in the $1500 range. Seems there's nothing until you get up to the $2500+ range, which is more than I can justify at my current skill level. Maybe in a few years. So...I started toying with the idea of building a better acoustic myself, and that's how I found this site. I'm pretty handy with wood, but don't have a workshop or any guitar-building tools, so I'm starting from scratch. I've done enough research and with advice from John Hall I now think this is a doable option. As a first step, I'm going to pick up a few old beat up acoustics and concentrate on learning how to do a fret job (new and refinishing) and a set up and perhaps some other repairs. I'm confident I can pick up the tools and build a decent acoustic from a kit, but when it comes to working on the neck, frets, and doing a precision set up, I'm far less confident. I ordered a notched straight edge and a fret rocker. I will pick up some other fret tools and then get to work. My buddy at the local guitar shop is donating an old acoustic to the cause. Hopefully after a few repairs and some successful set ups I'll order a custom kit and take the plunge.
Hope to see you all frequently! I'm sure I'll have a thousand and one questions as I go.
--Jim