How does LMI 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.

Plus:

• We carry dozens of books, plans, and videos for building steel string and classical guitars, electric guitars, and more.
• We offer numerous shop services/customizations 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 website with a searchable shopping cart.
• 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 all dried to perfection for optimal dimensional stability. Don’t begin your project with wood that might present problems for you down the road. We offer a huge selection to choose from with prices in ranges that fit most budgets.
• Our Kit Wizard offers a great way to be assured of the proper combination of materials and will save money at the same time.

GROUPS & CLUBS

These groups offer a great opportunity to network with others who are interested in luthiery.   Some groups (such as GAL and ASIA) are nationwide (even worldwide!) but most here are regional groups who hold monthly or bi-monthly meetings. Are we missing your group here? Please let us know!

Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans (ASIA)
http://asiartisans.org
Membership includes quarterly magazine ‘Guitarmaker’.

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

Guild of American Luthiers (GAL)
http://www.luth.org 
A nonprofit educational membership organization that promotes learning about the construction and repair of stringed musical instruments. Publisher of American Lutherie magazine.

Luthiers Interactive of North Texas (LINT)
http://www.lint.org

Seattle Luthiers Group
http://www.seattleluthiers.org

Stringed Instrument Makers of Southern California (SIMSCal)
http://www.simscal.com

Ukulele Guild of Hawaii
https://www.ukuleleguildofhawaii.org/
A non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation, perpetuation and promotion of the ukulele as a significant musical instrument.

BOOKS

LMI carries numerous books and videos 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. All of the books we carry have strong points, and the staff at LMI is happy to help you choose the book(s) best for you.

Following are some of LMI’s favorite books and videos:
BOOKS

“Woodworking Basics” (BM66) by Peter Korn and Taunton Press (Fine Woodworking Magazine). If you have never lifted a tool before, or have only limited woodworking experience, be sure to pick this one up.

“Guitarmaking; Tradition and Technology” (BSOS) by Cumpiano and Natleson. This is a standard for steel string and classical guitar construction. This book covers basic hand-tool techniques as well as suggestions for the power tool approach. It offers excellent detail in every operation of guitar building!

We are also impressed with “Build Your Own Acoustic Guitar” (BS6) by Jonathan Kinkead

Martin Koch’s “Building Electric Guitars” (BE10) 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” (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 “The Ultimate Bluegrass Mandolin Construction Manual” (BM56).

VIDEOS

We heartily recommend Robert O’Brien’s “Build a Steel String Guitar” (BM62), “Build a Classical Guitar” (BM61), and “Build an Electric Guitar” (BM76). Robert uses LMI kits for the guitars built with these excellent DVDs.

“Guitarmaking with Benito Huipe” (BM22) directed by Ron Fernandez.  is the only video that follows the building of nylon string guitars from beginning to end.

John Bogdanvich’s video set “Making a Concert Classical Guitar with John S. Bogdanovich” (BM91) offers extensive, detailed instruction, combining modern and traditional methods.

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

ARTICLES:

LMI is constantly adding to our library of informative articles and blog posts. The main ones we recommend for beginners are:

Alternative Tonewoods – A great introduction to tonewoods that will help you decide what woods to choose.

Choosing & Applying a Guitar Finish – This article covers all of our finish products. You can find additional finishing articles in our Help Center that cover different finish products in-depth.

Essential Lutherie Tools – for beginners struggling with what tools to purchase!

Wood Grading – More information that will help you choose the right woods.

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.

Frets.com
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.

Musical Instrument Makers Forum (MIMF)
mimf.com 

Official Luthiers Forum
www.luthiersforum.com
A lively forum for the interchange of information, ideas, and suggestions, moderated by luthier Lance Kragenbrink.

LUTHERIE SCHOOLS & ONLINE COURSES

Here are some schools and online courses that teach guitar building. LMI offers students enrolled in a lutherie school 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:

Schools in the USA

American School of Lutherie
www.americanschooloflutherie.com
Portland, OR
(503) 292-2385

Anzalone Guitars
www.anzaloneguitars.com/workshops
Blauvelt NY

ARC Guitar School
www.arcguitar.com
Winters, CA

Colorado School of Lutherie
www.evd303.com/school.html
Arvada, CO
(303) 777-7411

Eric Schaefer Guitars
www.ericschaeferguitars.com
Reading, PA
(610) 639-2777

Finocchio Guitars – Frank Finocchio
www.finocchioguitar.com
Easton, PA
(610) 258-5154

Fretted Strings Lutherie School
www.frettedstrings.com
Davis, CA
(530) 304-1886

Galloup Guitars – Bryan Galloup
www.galloupguitars.com
Big Rapids, MI
(231) 796-5611

J.S. Bogdanovich Guitars
www.jsbguitars.com
Swannanoa, NC
(828) 398-8704

Lessons in Lutherie with Brian Burns
www.lessonsinlutherie.com
Ft. Bragg, CA
(707) 961-1064

Musician’s Institute / Guitar Craft Academy
www.mi.edu
Hollywood, CA
(800) 255-7529 / (323) 462-1384

Nazareth Guitar Institute
www.americanarchtop.com/pages/nazareth-guitar-institute
Nazareth, PA 18064
(570) 856-1324

O’Brien Guitars Online Courses – Robert O’Brien
www.obrienguitars.com/courses
Denver, CO
robert@obrienguitars.com

Palomar College
www.palomar.edu
San Marcos, CA
(760) 744-1150

Red Rocks Community College
www.rrcc.edu
Lakewood, CO
(303) 914-6514

Red Wing Technical College
www.southeastmn.edu
Red Wing, MN
(612) 388-8271

Roberto-Venn School of Lutherie
www.roberto-venn.com
Pheonix, AZ
(602) 243-1179

San Francisco Guitarworks
sfguitarworks.com
San Francisco, CA
(415) 865-5424

SIMSCal — Stringed Instrument Makers of Southern California
www.simscal.com
Stanton, CA

Joe Slack  
wehjs@hal-pc.org
Waco, TX
(254) 829-2720

Utah School of Guitar Making
www.facebook.com/UtahSchoolofGuitarMaking
Mapleton, UT
(385) 685-8011

Vermont Instruments
www.vermontinstruments.com
Post Mills, VT
(802) 333-4308

Whetstone School of Lutherie
www.whetstoneschool.com
Brattleboro, VT
(802) 579-1661