Congratulations to the Luthier for completing the project. Cosmetics aside, it plays and sounds lovely. I think what impressed me is how close it was. Ted went through the same steps as he usually does and finesses the details. There was no huge mistake or fatal error. I think that itself says the project was well done.
I come here every week for the expertise which is freely shared and helps me look after my guitars, but I also love the philosophies which you espouse. You are, without doubt, my favourite UA-cam luthier,.
What a lovely little video. Sometimes on any project it's the last little steps that feel like they take the longest and you're already weary. I hope the owner loves his work a little bit more after this.
I built my acoustic guitar in 1992 in Tugaski Saskatchewan under the tutelage of Dave Freeman. I still use it a gigs. It sounds great. That dreadnaught sounds lovely as well. He should be proud
Good on you for giving a little pep talk to all newbie builders. That guitar looks a bit like some of my early electronic builds, and constructive feedback from a real pro always helped a lot on the rare occasions that I got some.
First off, Ted is telling everyone something very important; when you build that first guitar, as daunting as it may seem, is something very few people can do. Be happy that you finished the build and then seek out somebody like Ted to get you to the finish line. The second thing Ted covers is extremely important; in life, there are things where we may cut corners to save money. Nothing wrong with that. When it comes to specialized files like nut files or a crowning file, don't cut corners. When I bought my crowning file, it was expensive but, it has Diamonds and that file will last the rest of my life plus another lifetime. Value is getting something you want or need at a price that is not too high or too low. If I'm pricing tools, I'm looking at the very top and then the cheapest. I try to stay more expensive than mid way. Great educational video Ted!
In the 80s I bought a neck billet without the dovetail cut, a premade neck block and pre bent mahogany sides. spanish cedar 2 piece unglued top, 2 piece unglued. mahogany back , bone nut and saddle blank, uncut spruce braces, blank ebony finger board , prebent herring bone rossette and top purfling with back strip. economy tuning keys and a bottle of titebond glue all for around $200.00 I had a Cheap jig saw a drill, utility knife, and stand paper, was about all the tools I had at the time. To cut out for the inlay purfling I used a razer blade screwed to a small block of wood at the proper width. Finished it with 2 part epoxy and turned out a ugly but nice playing and great sounding guitar, oh yes I also used a ebony bridge.Somewere in the range of $200.00 to $250.00 I was very happy, of course materials have went up since the 80s and I don't know if you can even get neck billets anymore, but a billet isn't much more than a mahogany board. Any way thanks I just wanted to share my 1st build.
I love the synchronicity with Not a Luthier, he also did a video on homemade guitars this week. I find it an interesting change of pace in comparison to established makers, as you can never fully realize how much of an art form luthiery is by only seeing it performed flawlessly.
Given the limitations of YT audio, that thing still sound great! Damn good thing the builder carried on after the binding routing problems; well worth it. Nobody listens to binding.
I have immense admiration for those who can build an acoustic or hollow body electric. I've build a lot of solid body electrics, many with set necks and even a few neck through. I can't even imagine myself attempting the complex artistic technics used for acoustics.
Thanks Tom, always a pleasure to watch you work and particularly when its a project like this. I don't aspire to build my own guitar but have learned much from watching you work and have applied some of your techniques to autoharps where i spend a fair amount of time rebuilding them. Kudoe to the builder he made a quality instrument that he can be proud of and that you have helped him perfect.
I made a Flying V guitar 20 yrs ago ( my first guitar build.) Made many mistakes ( fretboard at the nut is a bit narrow, but not unplayable, almost like some of the early Gibson SG’s) Finished it with an oiled finish. Body’s a tad narrow. ( couldn’t afford a wider two pieces of Brazilian mahogany) Good points,,, self made truss rod ( which works perfectly) Electrics all work. Intonation is good and the action is good. Has been kept at home, never in a case and the neck is still straight. 😉😉 Have played this semi professionally, so very proud of it. Probably cost me £800 altogether to build and probably not worth it, but it’s mine. 😂😂😂
What a class act! I can just imagine some UA-cam guitar jockeys ridiculing a novice builder for some little flubs/oversights like these as if that would somehow make them look better.
Actually thanks to you Ted, I went back to my first Octave Mandolin Prototype, and started a Kung fu neck reset on it (the neck had ended up being slightly out of line). It also gave me the opportunity to correct the chunky neck. The neck ended up too thick because I forgot to add the fretboard thickness into my measurements (a beginner mistake to be sure). Considering all the firsts on my first build, and the fact that the plans came out of my head and not from blueprints, my first was a success from a proof of concept perspective. A playable, but not sellable instrument (Not that I was expecting to make money off of this the first time around). I also used reclaimed wood, Black Walnut from a table I purchased at a second hand store cheap. So the only "new" wood used was the soundboard, fretboard and headstock overlay. I would agree, it would have been nice to have had some instruction. Of course, mistakes were made. Most, I was able to correct. 6 Octave Mandolins later, the latest bears very little resemblance to the first prototype.
I have went back and listened to this guitar multiple times and Im amazed at how good it sounds, To me it's like one in 1000 old martin rarity. Maybe it's just me, but on my end Im very impressed
I haven’t built a guitar yet (I have some other projects to finish) but I fully intend to build one. It is encouraging to hear Ted’s reaction to this initial build that looks and sounds great. I would be perfectly fine with building an unplayable wreck the first time as long as the tenth one incorporates all of my painful learning from the first nine.
I use a rare earth magnet to gauge the depth of the truss rod, assuming I know the truss-rod to be a single-action steel threaded-rod style truss-rod. Stick the magnet to the back of the neck and get a feel for how attracted it is to the truss-rod below the surface of the wood, then use a piece of steel with wood shims in an effort to duplicate the attraction. This is made easier given that the attraction of the magnet grows exponentially as the distance closes.
Surprised at how nice that guitar sounds! Frankly, I expected much less. But it's a guitar I'd be returning to often if it were mine. Sounds wonderful!
I saw a guy yesterday that was telling people to never touch the truss rod because you have no idea what, you're doing and you can mess up and blah blah blah. I couldnt help myself. I had to correct him. Turn the thing. If you don't like the result, turn it back where it was. It's that simple. It's a truss rod, not nuclear chemistry 🤷🤦
I've made 2 acoustics. My first was trash (because I thinned the top too much) and my 2nd I really like (though I haven't finished with the finish, yet....)!
Boy, you really hit the mark with the "executive paralysis" remark for me. I've built two solidbody (Junior and Special slab type...easy peasy, right?) guitars and man, oh, man do I sweat myself into a tizzy with anxieties. I'm done with that for a while for my sanity's sake, but sure enough, now I get requests for builds from friends with "Name your price" attached and I have to turn them down. There is no price you can put on your peace of mind, for sure, and building for one's self means I know where the flaws are and they are mine, I can't do that to someone else. P.S. That guitar sounds dang nice. Builder stand proud!
I felt I'd accomplished a heck of a lot when I replaced the bridge of a 1970's Antoria dreadnaught by completely reshaping a rosewood blank using handtools such as a saw, a half moon file, sandpaper and a hand drill.
Cutting the nut slots too low has never really been an issue on any of my guitars and I screwed up and cut the slots low in more than 1 guitar lol. I had a brain fart one day and forgot to fret at the 3rd while lowering slots. I just left the string freestanding and lowered the slots so they're pretty low. Surprisingly, my guitars still play fine 🤷
My first build was most of a calamity. Had to refret it twice. My first nut files, I made myself out of a spare set of feeler gauges. Not brilliant, but better than the cheap ones I've bought.
Luthiery is something Ive been interested in for quite some time and it is the very points you made in the first couple minutes here that have held me back from even starting; sometimes called, "analysis paralysis" Ive always equated it in my mind as the cheetah on the plain failing to make a kill because the herd has all stuck together, making it nearly impossible for her to choose just which gazelle to zero in on- or "where do I start??" The list of steps in my head and also having the knowledge enough to realize I probably am unaware of many more steps still, oh god where to even begin? This unfortunately is a difficulty I suffer from in nearly every other area of my life as well.
That's a really nice sounding guitar. I remember on my first acoustic build the thing that worried me the most (even after building 15 electrics at the time) was getting the saddle in the right spot, that kept me up at night.
I assume you took the tape off the bridge plate. BTW: The first acoustic guitar I built ha a too-thick neck. Still does. Second one was better. You are right about being familiar with routers being important. I made my living as a carpenter so I learned early which way yo un a router. I used a router attachment for Dremel whin routing for binding. Lesss powerful so it is easier to manage. My second guitar I made a mistake on scale length so I had to fill the saddle rout and rout a new on in the proper place.
I think I bought those cheap Chinese bass nut files you mentioned, not a single one was marked correctly or made the right size.. finally bit the bullet and invested in a set from StewMac.. worth every penny
That guitar sounds damn good
You were very kind to the luthier, which means his next guitar will be even better.
Congratulations to the Luthier for completing the project. Cosmetics aside, it plays and sounds lovely. I think what impressed me is how close it was. Ted went through the same steps as he usually does and finesses the details. There was no huge mistake or fatal error. I think that itself says the project was well done.
I come here every week for the expertise which is freely shared and helps me look after my guitars, but I also love the philosophies which you espouse. You are, without doubt, my favourite UA-cam luthier,.
And my weekends complete ❤
Ted is the real deal. A genuinely nice human being. We need more of that in today's world.
What a lovely little video. Sometimes on any project it's the last little steps that feel like they take the longest and you're already weary. I hope the owner loves his work a little bit more after this.
I built my acoustic guitar in 1992 in Tugaski Saskatchewan under the tutelage of Dave Freeman. I still use it a gigs. It sounds great. That dreadnaught sounds lovely as well. He should be proud
The loudness, sustain and tone are all quite impressive!
The builder & the maestro should be proud. To me sounds always tops looks..outstanding results!
I love the bright projection of this guitar! That is one heck of a first build!
I gained a new appreciation for luthiers especially after watching Daisy Tempest's latest guitar build
Good on you for giving a little pep talk to all newbie builders. That guitar looks a bit like some of my early electronic builds, and constructive feedback from a real pro always helped a lot on the rare occasions that I got some.
First off, Ted is telling everyone something very important; when you build that first guitar, as daunting as it may seem, is something very few people can do. Be happy that you finished the build and then seek out somebody like Ted to get you to the finish line. The second thing Ted covers is extremely important; in life, there are things where we may cut corners to save money. Nothing wrong with that. When it comes to specialized files like nut files or a crowning file, don't cut corners. When I bought my crowning file, it was expensive but, it has Diamonds and that file will last the rest of my life plus another lifetime. Value is getting something you want or need at a price that is not too high or too low. If I'm pricing tools, I'm looking at the very top and then the cheapest. I try to stay more expensive than mid way. Great educational video Ted!
Wow, great sounding.
Huge congrats to the owner/builder of this beautiful guitar! 🏆🏆
Best gang ever. You all are the best. Hope everyone has a great evening
In the 80s I bought a neck billet without the dovetail cut, a premade neck block and pre bent mahogany sides. spanish cedar 2 piece unglued top, 2 piece unglued. mahogany back , bone nut and saddle blank, uncut spruce braces, blank ebony finger board , prebent herring bone rossette and top purfling with back strip. economy tuning keys and a bottle of titebond glue all for around $200.00 I had a Cheap jig saw a drill, utility knife, and stand paper, was about all the tools I had at the time. To cut out for the inlay purfling I used a razer blade screwed to a small block of wood at the proper width. Finished it with 2 part epoxy and turned out a ugly but nice playing and great sounding guitar, oh yes I also used a ebony bridge.Somewere in the range of $200.00 to $250.00 I was very happy, of course materials have went up since the 80s and I don't know if you can even get neck billets anymore, but a billet isn't much more than a mahogany board. Any way thanks I just wanted to share my 1st build.
Thanks for posting Ted
Sounds great.
Must be quite a feeling, to hand a guitar b ack to it's owner, who built it, and say, "Here you go. You built this."
I love the synchronicity with Not a Luthier, he also did a video on homemade guitars this week. I find it an interesting change of pace in comparison to established makers, as you can never fully realize how much of an art form luthiery is by only seeing it performed flawlessly.
I was thinking the same thing.
Sounds great! Now I’m sure it feels and plays equally as great. Good for the owner and you both.
Always a pleasure to watch you work.
What a beautiful guitar! An amazing first build. I love seeing the oil hit the wood!
I love how Bob Benedetto learned how to do it WITH his kitchen table.
Wow, the end result was great!
You are a great human. No refinishing required here.
no mater how bad a day i am having watching your videos and hearing your strumming at the end makes things all better keep up the good work
Given the limitations of YT audio, that thing still sound great! Damn good thing the builder carried on after the binding routing problems; well worth it. Nobody listens to binding.
Many pros would probably roll their eyes at the efforts of an amateur., so it's nice to hear Ted find such encouraging words about this guitar. 👍
I have immense admiration for those who can build an acoustic or hollow body electric. I've build a lot of solid body electrics, many with set necks and even a few neck through. I can't even imagine myself attempting the complex artistic technics used for acoustics.
A new video, great! 😁
Thank you, this was excellent.
I hope the person who made that guitar is still making them. This one sounds great!
Thanks Tom, always a pleasure to watch you work and particularly when its a project like this. I don't aspire to build my own guitar but have learned much from watching you work and have applied some of your techniques to autoharps where i spend a fair amount of time rebuilding them. Kudoe to the builder he made a quality instrument that he can be proud of and that you have helped him perfect.
Imagine how tickled that owner is going to be with his build now! It sounds fantastic and I'm sure plays great! Nice one, Ted!
Thank you Ted 👍👍👍🎥🎬🎸
I made a Flying V guitar 20 yrs ago ( my first guitar build.) Made many mistakes ( fretboard at the nut is a bit narrow, but not unplayable, almost like some of the early Gibson SG’s) Finished it with an oiled finish. Body’s a tad narrow. ( couldn’t afford a wider two pieces of Brazilian mahogany) Good points,,, self made truss rod ( which works perfectly) Electrics all work. Intonation is good and the action is good. Has been kept at home, never in a case and the neck is still straight. 😉😉 Have played this semi professionally, so very proud of it. Probably cost me £800 altogether to build and probably not worth it, but it’s mine. 😂😂😂
You do great work.
What a class act! I can just imagine some UA-cam guitar jockeys ridiculing a novice builder for some little flubs/oversights like these as if that would somehow make them look better.
It sounds really good
Such a clean tone. I was so waiting for you to do a friendly fix of the binding, your ocd must have been screaming.
Sounds great at this end.
Sounds great
Actually thanks to you Ted, I went back to my first Octave Mandolin Prototype, and started a Kung fu neck reset on it (the neck had ended up being slightly out of line). It also gave me the opportunity to correct the chunky neck.
The neck ended up too thick because I forgot to add the fretboard thickness into my measurements (a beginner mistake to be sure).
Considering all the firsts on my first build, and the fact that the plans came out of my head and not from blueprints, my first was a success from a proof of concept perspective. A playable, but not sellable instrument (Not that I was expecting to make money off of this the first time around).
I also used reclaimed wood, Black Walnut from a table I purchased at a second hand store cheap. So the only "new" wood used was the soundboard, fretboard and headstock overlay.
I would agree, it would have been nice to have had some instruction. Of course, mistakes were made. Most, I was able to correct.
6 Octave Mandolins later, the latest bears very little resemblance to the first prototype.
Ted, I really enjoy your narration. It's knowledgeable, concise and clear. You might want to consider the teaching gig if it should come around again.
this was an excellent vid. Thanks so much !!
I have went back and listened to this guitar multiple times and Im amazed at how good it sounds, To me it's like one in 1000 old martin rarity. Maybe it's just me, but on my end Im very impressed
Very nice sound, especially for a first build.👌
Whomever built that guitar as a first try should be proud. Sounds great!
Regulars here know there are guitars not worth fixing. That this one could be dialed in, I’d say makes it a success. Sounds great, as well.
I haven’t built a guitar yet (I have some other projects to finish) but I fully intend to build one. It is encouraging to hear Ted’s reaction to this initial build that looks and sounds great. I would be perfectly fine with building an unplayable wreck the first time as long as the tenth one incorporates all of my painful learning from the first nine.
In the end, it sounds not unlike a L'arrivée. The builder should be well pleased.
Dam that guitar sounds killer !
Sounds good 👍
That is a great sounding guitar, It sounds lots better than many high end guitars to me!
Fun! Thanks.
Im listening through my phone so, you know..
But it sounds good and clean.
Good job to the builder.
Thanx again for the videos.
Great sound and should age beautifuly,Thanks Ted
Always great watching you work. That guitar really sings!
Sounds very good. A Sunburst finish would have masked those edge imperfections.
I love to think of how many people who don't have access to a luthier like you will finish their first guitars using this video.
I use a rare earth magnet to gauge the depth of the truss rod, assuming I know the truss-rod to be a single-action steel threaded-rod style truss-rod. Stick the magnet to the back of the neck and get a feel for how attracted it is to the truss-rod below the surface of the wood, then use a piece of steel with wood shims in an effort to duplicate the attraction. This is made easier given that the attraction of the magnet grows exponentially as the distance closes.
Makes me want to get my Strat kit guitar of the wall and finish the setup part of the project . The setup kinda took the wind out of my sails . Thanks
I am afraid to change my strings! I can’t even imagine building an acoustic guitar. That guitar sounded great !
Having made my first box guitar, I really liked this video. Feel free to do more reworks on first borns....if you can find them.
I really enjoyed what you played on that pretty dern nice sounding guitar.
Masterclass time fellas.
Surprised at how nice that guitar sounds! Frankly, I expected much less. But it's a guitar I'd be returning to often if it were mine. Sounds wonderful!
That guitar may have some authentic boo boos but it sounds very good. A thumbs up to the builder, he made a good guitar.
Daggum boss very pleasing tone and actually good looking guitar 🎸 cheers 🍻 boss
I saw a guy yesterday that was telling people to never touch the truss rod because you have no idea what, you're doing and you can mess up and blah blah blah.
I couldnt help myself. I had to correct him. Turn the thing. If you don't like the result, turn it back where it was. It's that simple. It's a truss rod, not nuclear chemistry 🤷🤦
I've made 2 acoustics. My first was trash (because I thinned the top too much) and my 2nd I really like (though I haven't finished with the finish, yet....)!
I was waiting the whole time for you to oil the fretboard & bridge!😂
Nothing wrong with the sound of that one. Nice even tone an all strings not glassy or dull sounding on any of them.
Boy, you really hit the mark with the "executive paralysis" remark for me. I've built two solidbody (Junior and Special slab type...easy peasy, right?) guitars and man, oh, man do I sweat myself into a tizzy with anxieties. I'm done with that for a while for my sanity's sake, but sure enough, now I get requests for builds from friends with "Name your price" attached and I have to turn them down. There is no price you can put on your peace of mind, for sure, and building for one's self means I know where the flaws are and they are mine, I can't do that to someone else.
P.S. That guitar sounds dang nice. Builder stand proud!
I really enjoyed this: I just finished a Stew Mac guitar kit. It does not look great but it palys really good and sounds great!
Making an acoustic guitar is something on my bucket list that I will probably never get to.
I wish you could put inlays on the fretboard.
I felt I'd accomplished a heck of a lot when I replaced the bridge of a 1970's Antoria dreadnaught by completely reshaping a rosewood blank using handtools such as a saw, a half moon file, sandpaper and a hand drill.
Cutting the nut slots too low has never really been an issue on any of my guitars and I screwed up and cut the slots low in more than 1 guitar lol. I had a brain fart one day and forgot to fret at the 3rd while lowering slots. I just left the string freestanding and lowered the slots so they're pretty low.
Surprisingly, my guitars still play fine 🤷
A new week is about to begin …
Jit flinging out like woah!
My first build was most of a calamity. Had to refret it twice.
My first nut files, I made myself out of a spare set of feeler gauges. Not brilliant, but better than the cheap ones I've bought.
Luthiery is something Ive been interested in for quite some time and it is the very points you made in the first couple minutes here that have held me back from even starting; sometimes called, "analysis paralysis" Ive always equated it in my mind as the cheetah on the plain failing to make a kill because the herd has all stuck together, making it nearly impossible for her to choose just which gazelle to zero in on- or "where do I start??" The list of steps in my head and also having the knowledge enough to realize I probably am unaware of many more steps still, oh god where to even begin? This unfortunately is a difficulty I suffer from in nearly every other area of my life as well.
Sunday with Ted - done !
That's a really nice sounding guitar. I remember on my first acoustic build the thing that worried me the most (even after building 15 electrics at the time) was getting the saddle in the right spot, that kept me up at night.
The first seven minutes of this video are more sweet and Canadian than Grade A Amber Maple Syrup
I assume you took the tape off the bridge plate. BTW: The first acoustic guitar I built ha a too-thick neck. Still does. Second one was better. You are right about being familiar with routers being important. I made my living as a carpenter so I learned early which way yo un a router. I used a router attachment for Dremel whin routing for binding. Lesss powerful so it is easier to manage. My second guitar I made a mistake on scale length so I had to fill the saddle rout and rout a new on in the proper place.
I think I bought those cheap Chinese bass nut files you mentioned, not a single one was marked correctly or made the right size.. finally bit the bullet and invested in a set from StewMac.. worth every penny
$100 piece of mahogany! 😱 That there folks is why quality gee-tars are spendy!
Whatever the owner paid for Ted to set it up was money well spent. My guess is it will now be played more than ever.
Sometimes, you need to hand the ball off to get it over the line. Seems to have worked well in this case.
You're also a pretty good guitarist.
Not first!
Definitely need some Ted chillness after watching the Patriots remind us that the Tom Brady era is long over.
Right!😭😭
When doing my first few builds in the late seventies I would get mahogany for neck stock at a local woodhouse for three dollars.
The first set up is like snipping the umbilical cord on your first baby!
Shout out to Robbie O'Brien 😀. Built one with him 3 or 4 years ago.
Executive paralysis 🤌
good
Ted posted a video? Insta-LIKE!
I'd happily play that! Great episode again.