Hopefully this is the right place for a quick introduction and a few beginner questions...
Over the past year i have dove back into music after over 7 years off - the possibilities of home recording sucked me back in in a big way. After the 7 year layoff, i had to tune up my guitars a bit, and i ended up upgrading my strat - that started a little itch to build a tele (which i havent done yet, and i do have a fender tele so its not a priority, although still a goal). One of the new developments this time around though is that i love playing acoustics more than anything when im just playing for relaxation, and i find myself drooling over the higher end acoustics in the local shops these days. Unfortunately, i cant justify the expense of a good Martin at this time. Long story short, i have decided i'd like to try my hand at a kit acoustic - i figure that would be a crash course in everything i dont know about guitars - fretwork, finishing, neck setting, etc. I'm currently seriously considering getting a stew mac uke kit to get my feet wet - i figure that the price for a uke kit won't cause me any excessive stress, and the tooling and supplies may be a little easier to start off with. Oh, and i have ZERO experience with woodworking, save a class i took in junior high school - but i can assure you whatever i learned then was erased by my activities in my 20's. So onto the questions...
1) Does a uke kit sound like a sensible foundation? I would of course play it, but it would definitely be the precursor to an 000, which is my target build. I'm thinking i'll get a percentage of the required tools for a uke build, spreading the investment over a period of time, if that makes sense...
2) What are the essential shop tools i need for a basic kit, and would I be able to find them at a home depot type store?
3) Bill Cory's book - would anybody care to advise me against the e-reader version? I'm chomping at the bit to read up before diving in, but i would imagine an actual hard copy book that i can keep at my bench would be ideal?
One last comment - i'm itching to get going here, but i definitely AM NOT looking to speed through the processes - i am fine with spending a few months doing things right, and practicing techniques on scrap wood. Just wanted to add that in case i gave the alarming impression that i'm unreasonably overeager.
Thanks in advance for any advice in reply to this post, and of course for all the info already contained in this forum - and the photos of members work here is just amazing
