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The Pragmatic Luthier
United States
Приєднався 28 лис 2020
At La Due Guitars, I custom build acoustic guitars, primarily from Northeastern hardwoods. I share videos about guitar making, shop and equipment maintenance and woodworking in general. From time to time, even some humor. I have been a woodworker nearly all my life, a shop teacher for 33 years, a guitar maker for 31 years and a player since 1965. I call myself "The Pragmatic Luthier" because I practice frugality in my life and my work. I'm not easily impressed with the myriad of slick exotic tools, jigs and gimmicks foisted on woodworkers and guitar makers, nor am I impressed with shell game tips and tricks videos aimed at monetizing more than genuinely sharing information and expertise.
The Shop Is A Mess At La Due Guitars @thepragmaticluthier
Guitar making and video production has been seriously interrupted, but I'll be back. Enjoy the video and bear with me?
Переглядів: 631
Відео
Guitars On The Hoof! Procuring Black Walnut At La Due Guitars @thepragmaticluthier
Переглядів 95914 днів тому
A short tour and description of acquiring logs, sawing and stacking Walnut for guitars.
Need A fret Puller?
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A pragmatic solution to the need for a fret puller for occasional use or when price is a tie breaker.
Same Length Every Time
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Simple no measuring way to copy and repeat lengths, in this case, bridge blanks.
Salvaged Materials!
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Salvaged materials offer a plethora of opportunities to luthiers. This video shows an example and encourages you to use them.
It's happening at La Due guitars @thepragmaticluthier
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Things are busy and getting busier at The La Due Guitars Workshop; A quick update.
Still working on them @thepragmaticluthier
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A quick view of progress on three acoustic guitars in The La Due Guitars Workshop
Fretting A Guitar Neck Part 2 of 2@thepragmaticluthier
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Part two of the series, fretting , cleanup, refining.
Fretting A Guitar Neck Part 1 @thepragmaticluthier
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Demonstration, instruction and tips on fretting an acoustic guitar neck.
Sharpening A Scraper @thepragmaticluthier
Переглядів 1,4 тис.3 місяці тому
A demonstration of my method for sharpening and maintaining a scraper
Carving A Neck, Final Chapter
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A view of finished necks with some last minute tips
Brazilian Kazillion! Only The Finest In Guitar Fingerboards! @thepragmaticluthier
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Get em while their on sale?
Carving A Neck Chapter 2@thepragmaticluthier
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Chapter two of this playlist.
Carving A Neck Chapter 3 @thepragmaticluthier
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Chapter 3 of 4, carving an acoustic guitar neck.
Carving A Neck Chapter 4 @thepragmaticluthier
Переглядів 8193 місяці тому
Final chapter in the four part series on carving an acoustic guitar neck.
Carving A Guitar Neck Chapter 1 of 4 @thepragmaticluthier
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Carving A Guitar Neck Chapter 1 of 4 @thepragmaticluthier
Fingerboards Everywhere! What Kind Should I Use? @thepragmaticluthier
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Fingerboards Everywhere! What Kind Should I Use? @thepragmaticluthier
Guitar Fingerboard Radius Jig. Make Your Own Guitar Making Tools @thepragmaticluthier
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Guitar Fingerboard Radius Jig. Make Your Own Guitar Making Tools @thepragmaticluthier
Making Tools To Make Guitar Making Tools @the
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Making Tools To Make Guitar Making Tools @the
Shaping Guitar Headpieces With Templates @thepragmaticluthier
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Shaping Guitar Headpieces With Templates @thepragmaticluthier
Dados, Tenons, Rabbets, Half-Laps! A Multipurpose Router Devise
Переглядів 8154 місяці тому
Dados, Tenons, Rabbets, Half-Laps! A Multipurpose Router Devise
Drilling The Right Depth For Dot Inlays @thepragmaticluthier
Переглядів 1 тис.4 місяці тому
Drilling The Right Depth For Dot Inlays @thepragmaticluthier
Fine Guitar Repairs at JACK'S MIDNIGHT WHILE YOU WAIT SHOP
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Fine Guitar Repairs at JACK'S MIDNIGHT WHILE YOU WAIT SHOP
Tools For A Youtube Subscriber; At The La Due Guitars Workshop
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Tools For A UA-cam Subscriber; At The La Due Guitars Workshop
La Due Guitars: A Little Shameless Commerce
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La Due Guitars: A Little Shameless Commerce
The Acoustic Bass and the Butternut Log Just For Fun
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The Acoustic Bass and the Butternut Log Just For Fun
Don't Buy The Aluminum One! Make An Adjustable Mini Miter Box
Переглядів 3,7 тис.5 місяців тому
Don't Buy The Aluminum One! Make An Adjustable Mini Miter Box
Make your own jigs & fixtures: Pt. 2 The philosophy
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Make your own jigs & fixtures: Pt. 2 The philosophy
Normal fluctuations in the flow. Messes are temporary, just fix one at a time. I know what you mean though, a neat clean shop with everything ready is a great thing.
Thank you so much for all the work you put into this video. I am not a builder, just an old guitar player.
Great, informative video! Thank you!
Your absence has been noted Kevin but, sort out your workshop first and foremost !
Great idea, this solves a lot of issues like correct neck profile and allows one to carve the heel correct. You are a great inspiration and thank you for passing on this wisdom.
Les industries de guitare sont en train de tuer la forêt bien souvent pour des guitares bas de gamme qui ne sonne rien vos vidéos sont intéressantes
I’m a decent woodworker with basic cabinet making skills. How would you recommend starting to make guitars in retirement?
You have a great advantage being a woodworker already. You could start with a kit if you prefer, but I think building with a kit is almost TOO "paint by number" in nature. Still, a kit may suit your particular needs. My preferred approach would be to start by obtaining a copy of "Guitar Making Tradition and Technology" by William Cumpiano and John Natelson. This particular book explains and shows you how to build a guitar, in detail and it places much of guitar making in a context, providing at least some reason for, doing what you are doing. It is excellent instruction and an excellent springboard for further development. As a practiced woodworker, you will most likely be able to extrapolate on many of the systems and techniques shown in the book, adapting to your skill and available equipment to the procedures required. Don't fall for buying expensive materials. They won't get you a better guitar. If I can of further help, contact me through my website, www.ladueguitars.com. I would be especially interested in learning from you, what, if any, questions, frustrations, confusions, speed bumps you run into during your experience and of course, the guitar you make. Great good luck. All best.
Wow nice shop extension. What will be your total floor space?
1059 square feet of actual floor space.
You call that a mess? I could only dream of a workshop like yours!
My shop is what it is because I had a dream 50 years ago. You can dream too. All best
All good stuff. No need to explain. Love your work Mr La Due 👍
Look like you're gaining some decent square footage there. I wish I could do that to my basement. 🙄 It's good to have help. Make sure you use it and stick around a while. Good luck with everything. 😁✌🖖
Thank you. I thought it might be foolish spending what it takes to do this, but I'm "sucking the juice out of retirement" and enjoying every bit of it.
@@thepragmaticluthier: There ya go. 😁✌🖖
No apologies needed. I greatly enjoy your videos. Your addition is bigger than my basement shop!
Thank you.I'mlooking forward to producing more useful content.
The addition is nice😊. But you have no idea what a mess is, obviously 😂😂
Well,I might. I used to work with a shop teacher who didn't have a square meter of uncluttered space in his classroom. I don't know how he taught in that; cluttered, dangerous, disorganized and very poor modeling to students.
@@thepragmaticluthier oh dear, mines not that bad, but its still a pig sty. I made the mistake of telling the wife it was okay to store some of our daughter's old stuff in there...and suddenly there was ten times more junk than I thought lol...too late now 🤣
❤
Honestly the hold downs on the sound board is something I needed to see. Thanks.
Thank you! I might do a short video in those boards and holding devices.
That will be a nice addition. What is your total square feet of shop space after this addition? My shop is a mess right now as well. I am putting in a dedicated spray booth. I just keep saying it will be worth it in the end.
My total square footage is just over 1100 square feet.
Thanks for the update. Glad things are going well. How big is the extension? Thanks for sharing.
The addition is 10' X 20', enough top comfortably create a small machine shop. This brings the shop to 1049 square feet of actual floor space. It isn't because I need it., It's because I was a shop teacher; can't live without my own Industrial Arts department:)
Looking forward to your future videos. I wish I had more room in my shop. Not anytime soon :-(.
No worries. You always need more room in the shop!
I can't honestly say that I need it, but I certainly enjoy my shop and work in there every day.
Thank you for sharing! It looks like a great expansion!
A clean shop is a safe shop!
Hey Kevin, looks like good progress, and looking forward to future videos.
Thank you! And thanks for staying tuned:)
Gorgeous creations. Such inspired craftsmanship. Thank you for sharing.
! That's an impressive haul of Lumber; much-more than i expected looking at the felled Tree -- may It make MUCH beautiful music one day!!
I built a 100% black Limba guitar a few years ago, top, back and sides , and neck were all black Limba. It was an awesome guitar.
This was a great perspective on wood and guitars. There is SO MUCH information out on the Internet and I found this a very straight forward presentation. Thank you!
Super helpful, thank you!
I love your out of the box thinking on woods and breaking the traditions of luthierie.
Hello Kevin.....what was the type of lumber you procured ....it's not evident to me !
This is 400 board feet of Black Walnut
@@thepragmaticluthier .........which equals a few guitars Kevin and all at cost price 😉😊
Very nice lumber. I have a neighbor who gave me some walnut and I'm hoping to use it on my next guitar build.😊
Very interesting. How did you learn about the tree? Was it downed when you got involved, or was felling it part of the work you were involved in? Have you worked with these sawyers before? The boards look about 4/4, maybe 5/4 thick - so maybe a year or so to air-dry? Will you cut them into more manageable lengths and dry them further inside before any luthery decisions? Sorry to be so nosy. I liked your video. Thanks for sharing.
The same friend who gave me the Butternut log for the bass guitar had these trees taken down and offered me the logs. I gave the hauler the majority of the logs in trade for moving them. I have worked with several mills and sawyers over the years, this one is one of the best. I have almost all of my lumber sawn 5/4, especially if it is intended for instrument purposes. The lumber will remain in stick as seen in the video for one year and will be moved to a storage building for another year. I reduce each board as needed into shorter billets as dictated by need and what a board can yield. While a lot of my lumber is intended for instrument use, a real deal of it goes for furniture, millwork and any other needs that I may have. I took this lumber because the quality is high and I got it for the price of sawing, a mere $.50 per board foot. The reality is, I'm sitting on more lumber than I can possibly use, abut 2000 board feet. I think I might be compulsive:)
Do you saw parallel to the bark, or just square the logs up and saw them. And, do you saw thick boards to make it possible to resaw for straight grain? And what do you use for resawing?
The sawing method depends on the log and what I need to get out of it anymore often than not it's a compromise, but rarely if ever, do I square a log into a cant and saw from there.
This is why i started with Stratocaster. One can find them for cheap. Its been a joy. I give most of my guitar's away, no profit. Finally got a Taylor k26ce to work on. Lots to learn. Thinking of getting a Dan Erdowin book. Ty
Been sawing lumber since 1974, never heard it said "on stick", actual sounds good we say "stickered up". Must be the Vermont influence. Also, wax up them ends! Maybe ya did already.
Hello Kevin. Thanks for this and many other great videos -- very instructive. How long will these boards remain outside before they are brought into your shop, and when would you expect to be able to use them?
The lumber will dried as seen in the video for a year and then moved into a building for an additional year before anything is fabricated from it.
Gonna be some nice boards when they are dry. Thanks for sharing Kevin!
I like what you said about timber being out of poor country's if only more people would do what you do, it would help the poorer country's or even pay their worth. Thanks for the video. It was very informative 👍
I have really liked the “pragmatic” parts of these videos!
Great tips!
Very helpful - Thank you!
Great information, Thank You
You're welcome. thank you for watching.
Thanks for this, just about to embark on my first wood binding experience so watching this was very helpful! I'll do a couple of test runs and then go for it, I guess!
There is nothing to suggest a priori one could know that perfectly straight even blemish free wood will produce a better sounding instrument. That is just our human predilection to assign other virtues to what we consider to be aesthetically pleasing. I’m not a luthier, so maybe evidence has shown that, but I’m getting the feeling from this video that there’s not much there. One thing that I do know and that most would agree to, is that when you are try to sell a top end ($$$) product it better look damn near perfect.
I'm not sure I understand exactly what your message is, but respect to money spent, it's a convoluted logic and system when you pay big money for that perfect top in one guitar, but obscene dollars for tops that have under water, under ground, or some structure for who knows how long. But none of that is about music; it's ALL about money and putting one's thumbs behind one's suspenders and pushing way out. The more you pay, the farther you can push. Suppliers find ways to market for higher dollars. Builders find ways to maximize their returns and the buyers enjoy the bragging rights that come with affording the whole thing.
Really interesting, thanks
Have you built a hybrid nylon guitar? That is what they call it. With a radius fingerboard, narrower neck. To have a the playability more like an acoustic
To my knowledge and experience, there is no such thing as a "hybrid" nylon string guitar. Beyond the obvious commonalities of body shape, a neck and a bridged, there is no crossover and very little overlap between steel string and nylon string guitars. Even if you want your nylon string guitar to look like a steel string guitar, putting a radius on a fingerboard, giving a non-classical guitar shape, or whatever else one proposes, the result will be all for naught. A nylon string (classical) guitar is, by its nature more easily played than a steel string instrument because the strings are much more flexible. Necks are wider on nylon string guitars because the strings themselves, being of greater diameter, take up more space on the fingerboard. It needs to be wider. Additionally, the idea that a neck becomes easier to play on as it gets narrower, to a point, is a common but misplace notion. There is little or no point to arching the fingerboard of a nylon string guitar. Classical guitar construction best practices demonstrate that clearly and an arched board may actually be a deterrent to playability. The action of a nylon string guitar must be higher than a steel string guitar, given the increased flexibility of the strings. A guitar intended to use nylon strings must be designed specifically for that purpose. Once again, classical guitar best practices demonstrate this consistently. Put nylon strings on a steel string guitar and you will immediately hear a loss of volume, a muddy, inarticulate tone lacking in strength and harmonics throughout the range of the guitar.
I have a possible video topic. For guitar tops, is it better to use flat or radiused braces and what effects are there between the two? Does he amount of radiusing make a difference?
Thanks for this video. I'm going to use your technique on a replica of a 1937 Gibson L-00 that I am just starting!!
Interesting viewpoint. I like all sorts of woods. I'm personally driven by the classics. The guitars that defined a time or music. I'm also left handed so I get what I get, I guess. Some builders don't even make left handed guitars. I personally go out of my way to never consider them if they ever do.
Thanks for sharing!
videos on making a 12 string guitars would be very good for me!! thanks for your generosity and good luck with your new shop