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Hello All.
1'st post on your forum, 1'st of many I hope... My name is Rich and our youngest son's name is Willie. He is 12 years old and is really doing well playing his guitars. He plays the piano and trumpet too but I think the guitar is his passion. My wife and I are really trying to support him as he seems to have a gift for music (don't all our children have gifts?...). I have always been a DIY type of guy and enjoy building and fixing things out of necessity mostly (everything involved in running a household) and for hobby (building furniture, RC air planes, model trains...). We were given a few acoustic guitars for Willie by friends and neighbors (Yamaha, Alvarez, and a smaller starter acoustic I can't recall the name) that he was playing, then he borrowed a Squire and practice amp from his friend and that was it... We were off and running. We got him an Ibanez ART 100 white with a practice amp for his birthday, well actually, we initially got him the starter Ibanez electric but quickly changed it to the ART 100. He and I had no idea what an awesome, adjustable and highly detailed instrument the guitar is... It all started with a broken string on one of his acoustics. We took it to our local music store and as I was asking about the string, Willie was asking if they could get the action a little lower (he also reads a LOT...)? I looked at him and said, "What are you talking about? What is "action"?"... The guy helping us laughed and again, the rest is history. I will cut to the chase, I want to build a guitar with Willie and with all the research we did, we came up with getting the Dreadnought kit from Stew Mac. Your thoughts and comments please. Is this the best kit to get for 1'st build? Thank you so much for your comment and answers.

Sincerely,
Rich and Willie

I'd buy one from your host John Hall at Blues Creek Guitars. It'll be fitted better, better customer service and will sound outstanding. I have bought several from him and parts as well.

I just started building in January. I have built four kits from John Hall at Blues Creek. The support he provides in unbelievable. And his You Tube videos are excellent.

I am now building one that is not a full kit using his side bending machine for the first time.

He can also put a kit together based on whatever material you want and whatever "bling" you want on it.

Rick Gunn

Welcome to the forum! You will get the help you need to build a great guitar for your son.

I was a little unclear but it sounded like you've already purchased the StewMac kit. If you did, it's a good selection and will make a great guitar. If you haven't purchased the kit yet, I would recommend considering a kit from John Hall. Either way you will get plenty of help here.

It's intimidating to make those first few cuts.......you'll see what I mean. <smile> So don't be afraid to ask questions!

+1 for John and Blues Creek. I'd also suggest Bill Cory's guide.
A lot of first timers, like me, opened the box and thought,
'Holy Crap.....what have I gotten myself into.'
With the Cory book for basic guidance, John Hall's videos on youtube
and advice here on the Forum from John and many others I'm
on my way. Slowly, nevertheless, on my way.

-tommyboy

PS- Photos, photos and more photos. We all like photos.

OK... I am sold. Thank you SO MUCH for the quick, concise answers and welcome. I am on several forums for all different things and you guys by far (in most cases) have the nicest welcome and the quickest replies... We will happily get a kit from John Hall and I am looking at getting Bill Cory's guide. Quick question again, is the best place to get Bill Cory's guide at KitGuitarManuals.com? Thanks again for all your help and we look forward to our build.

Sincerely,
Rich

Sorry for the double posts (can you tell I am excited?)... I just spied "KitGuitarManuals.com on the side as an advertiser of this site so my book is already ordered. Thank you.

Sincerely,
rich

Bill has a good book and I also have a series of vids on you tube that are specific to Martin and Blues Creek kits.
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_q ... nXN_1jJpl8
This forum is here to help with information about kits , tools and techniques. Hope you have a good time here

Welcome, and good luck! My best suggestion is to have Willie play a number of different guitars, sizes, wood types, and such, and decide what you like to HEAR, as well as FEEL. If he is young, a dred might be too big to comfortably play, and an OM or something similar might be more comfortable. I am 6', 200 lbs, and am just not all that comfortable with a dred, so I don't build them. I built a jumbo, which is a little bigger, but the narrower waist allows it to sit lower in my lap than a dred...more comfortably. I also have a few OM sized, which actually fit me far better....get the picture? If its not comfortable, it wont be played. Figure out what you like, and then the kit can be supplied to fit your needs. The building process is essentially the same regardless of the final size or shape, and why not tailor it to fit your needs specifically? Good luck, and keep us up to date!