Some resources to help you along as
you get started with guitar building.

Beginners Luck?

Whether you believe in "beginners luck" or not, you've found us and that means you'll be off to a great start when you begin to build instruments! We are the ideal place to provide the perfect woods and hard to find tools and accessories that help make your project a success. At LMI we are proud to have assisted literally thousands of woodworkers, musicians, and craftspeople enter successfully into this extremely gratifying pursuit. It's great fun helping beginning builders. Often we meet them later at trade shows or guitar festivals and get to see the fine instruments they have created.

How do we help?

• Our knowledgeable staff is always happy to recommend woods, parts, tools and instructional materials to make your first project a smooth and successful one. You save time and money, not only because our prices are competitive, but because we help hold your mistakes to a minimum.

• We carry dozens of books, plans, videos and DVDs for building steel string and classical guitars, electric guitars, mandolins and dulcimers.

• We offer numerous services to ease your project along when you're not set up for bending the sides, slotting the fingerboard or joining and sanding the top and back plates. Services can often be done to your specifications and there are many, many options for the type of instrument you want to build.

• We offer an informative catalog in both a 192-page printed version as well as the searchable shopping cart version here on our website. Click for your free printed copy.

• We have a wide range of specialty tools for guitar making. We carry jigs for side bending and for routing the binding ledge, specialty chisels, planes and clamps, measuring tools, repair tools, finishing supplies and much more.

• We carry the finest quality woods available with the widest selection to choose from on the planet. Besides our extremely high quality woods, we also carry lower grade woods which offer a fine value and are well suited for beginners who are new to woodworking. Most of our woods are sold pre-profiled, which means that there is no need to invest in expensive re-saw equipment.

• Our kits offer a great way to be assured of the proper combination of materials and will save money at the same time.

Click here to read a review.

Groups and Clubs
These groups offer a great opportunity to network with others who are interested in luthiery.   Some groups (such as GAL and ASIA) are nation wide (even world wide!) but most here are regional groups who hold monthly or bi-monthly meetings. Are we missing your group here? Please let us know!
http://guitarmaker.org .
 The Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans' (ASIA) site. Membership includes quarterly magazine ‘Guitarmaker’.
http://www.luth.org
The Guild of American Luthiers (GAL) - numerous resources for the guitar builder including the quarterly journal, American Luthier.

http://www.frets.com/NCAL
/index.html
Northern California luthiers group.

http://www.seattleluthiers.org/
The Seattle luthiers group.

http://www.maricopaguitarco.com/
ALL/main.htm
The Arizona luthiers group.

http://www.lint.org/index2.htm l
The North Texas luthiers group (LINT ).

http://www.coloradoluthiers.org/
Colorado Luthiers Group

http://www.ukuleleguild.org
The Ukulele Guild of Hawaii is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation, perpetuation and promotion of the Ukulele as a significant musical instrument.

Books

LMI carries numerous books, videos, and DVDs on guitar building. There are a variety of ways to go about things, and we think it is a good idea to investigate a number of books. But that doesn't prevent our staff from sharing their favorites.
We have recently introduced to our catalog and website a fine book by Peter Korn and Taunton Press (Fine Woodworking Magazine) called Woodworking Basics (- LMI part #BM66). If you have never lifted a tool before, or have only limited woodworking experience, be sure to pick this one up.
For steel string and classical guitars our favorite is "Guitarmaking; Tradition and Technology" (LMI part # BS0S) By Cumpiano and Natleson. This book covers basic hand-tool techniques as well as suggestions for the power tool approach. It offers excellent detail in every operation of building!
We are also impressed with Jonathan Kinkead’s book “Build Your Own Acoustic Guitar” (LMI part # BS6).
Courtnall’s book “Making Master Guitars” discusses the design and construction of great classical guitars and is considered the finest book of its kind.
For electric guitar building a great choice is "Build Your Own Electric Guitar" by Melvyn Hiscock (LMI part # BE6). This book covers several types of electric guitars and electric bass in fine detail.
Martin Koch’s “Building Electric Guitars” is very well-done and is the only book that covers semi-hollow body guitars (such as the ES 335).
If you are interested in Archtop guitars, try Bob Benedetto's "Making an Archtop Guitar" (LMI part # BM21). This is the best book on the subject, but perhaps not the best book for those just getting started with guitar building.
For Mandolin Building see Roger Siminoff's "Constructing a Bluegrass Mandolin." (LMI part# BM4) and for Bouzouki building Graham MacDonald’s “ The Bouzouki Book” (LMI part# BM58) is excellent.

All of the books we carry have strong points and we are happy to discuss these with you.

DVDs and Videos

In DVDs we heartily recommend Robert O’Brien’s “Build a Steel String Guitar” (LMI part #BM62), “Build a Classical Guitar” (LMI part# BM61), and "Build an Electric Guitar" (LMI part #BM76). Robert uses LMI kits for the guitars built with these excellent DVDs.
 “Build an Acoustic Guitar” with Frank Finocchio is also very good (available in DVD and VHS).
We also recommend the video “Guitarmaking with Benito Huipe” (directed by Ron Fernandez -LMI part # BM22). Huipe is a classical and flamenco builder who mainly uses hand tools in this video. This is the only video that follows the building of nylon string guitars from beginning to end.

For Archtop Guitar Construction, See Bob Benedetto's DVD set, BM64.

Online Forums
Got a burning question? Need to talk directly with an experienced guitar builder? There are a growing number of online communities that offer advice and camaraderie. 
The 13th Fret
http://www.13thfret.com/
lively discussion on everything concerning acoustic guitars. It's a great place for beginners to go with guitar building questions, but there are also discussions on playing and collecting guitars.
Official Luthiers Forum
http://www.luthiersforum.com , a lively forum for the interchange of information, ideas, and suggestions, moderated by luthier Lance Kragenbrink.
Acoustic Guitar Magazine / Luthier’s Corner –
One of many forums posted by Acoustic Guitar Magazine, moderated by several well-known luthiers: http://www.acousticguitar.com
/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?
ubb=forum;f=12
Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans (ASIA –see organizations left) http://www.guitarmaker.org/

FRETS.COM http://www.frets.com : Not a forum, per se, but an incredible source of information. This well-known site is provided by LMI's colleague and chief luthier, Frank Ford. Literally thousands of pages and pictures on all aspects of guitar repair, upkeep and lutherie. If you want to help support this valuable resource, you can purchase a CD version of it from LMI for easy reference on your PC.

Schools

Here are some schools that teach guitar building. LMI offers enrolled students a 10% discount on any items shipped to their school!
Keep in mind that there are other schools out there and that many guitar makers provide instruction on an individual basis: