A Fall In Review

It is simply amazing how time flies when you're having fun. Make no mistake about it, this is challenging work and requires serious focus and discipline but it is fun. It seems like only a couple weeks ago we had an all new class full of aspiring luthiers coming from all over the country for as many different reasons as you can think of. Here we are just a week away from the holiday break!

I'm sure everyone is looking forward to the vacation to spend time with friends and family, catch up on some needed rest and perhaps put in some time working before we kick things off in January.

Everyone here is very excited to begin building their first instrument. Again the class will be divided into 2 sections with the classes running 7 weeks. What we call our "Section 1" classes will begin to build their first flat top acoustic guitar. They will have class 4 days a week and do nothing but work on their instrument. The other half of the class will be in "Section 2" and their classes will be Electric Guitar construction for 2 days, Finish Work for 2 days and then Guitar Repairs where we simulate a working guitar shop and students work on anything that needs fixing. After 7 weeks the students switch sections (rooms) and we do it all over again for 7 weeks.

Before we know it....this -10 degree weather will be gone, green grass will be back, students will be back in one group for the final 2 weeks of the semester when their finishing skills are put to the test on a real instrument. Then...they'll be stringing it up & playing their handmade acoustic or electric guitar filled with pride. Those of course that come to class every day, focus, don't talk excessively and do what is expected of them.

The others will scratch their head and not understand why their instrument isn't done. That however brings me full circle to some advice I give out the first week of school, and just about every week after which is...Come to class every day, on time, focus at your bench and do what's expected of you not just by your instructors, but by the professionals in the field making their living doing what they love and most importantly the people who hire our graduates. If you don't focus, work hard and always try to do your best this line of work will get the better of you.

I talk about that the very first week of school in late August, which of course, will be here before I know it.

So! We all hope the holidays find you and yours happy, healthy and looking forward to an amazing 2010.

Breather...

We have a couple days off school for the MEA days. It's been a great start to the year and a very focused, hard working group of students. They've earned a long weekend and we'll be back to it Monday.

End of Week 3

Wow, week three is just about done. To the rest of you reading this, you may just think that its not a big deal, but to us guitar students, its a HUGE deal! That means that the last week of tools is just around the corner. That is some exciting stuff!! But, at the same time, its also hectic because that also means that we must finish prepping our hand tools with Lisbeth and finish our power tool projects with Brian.

In hand tools, I am finished with the majority of my tools. Its a great feeling being in class and accomplishing tasks. It makes me feel...well, accomplished. I just finished flattening and polishing all my chisels yesterday in class. I thought it would take a real long time to finish, but to my surprise, I finished them all in the one class period with some time left over to work on my stinkin' burnisher. Which reminds me, my goal this weekend is to finish the burnisher at home.

And then, in power tools, I am learning a load of things. It's good stuff. I enjoy using all the quality tools in the shop. I'm starting to get more and more comfortable using them. I can't really wait until we actually start building guitars! Just thinking about it is exciting. Funny story though, not really but...here goes. I was working on my nut and sattle holder project which we take a block "blank" and sand it down to be flat and square to each and every face. And then we drill a hole down the middle, first with a forstner bit only about 3/16th of an inch deep, then second with just a regular twist bit down the center of the block. So I finished all my sanding, meaning I got my block square and flat on all sides. Brian had already set the forstner bit to stop at the required depth...or so I thought. I went to go drill my first hole and waited for the stop. Turned out that someone probably had set it to a different setting maybe the night before. So I obviously drilled too far. I went and asked Brian what I should do. He told me that I could either plug the hole with wood and glue it in, or I could start over. Gluing it in would take longer, so I felt like I wasted half of a day. Great story. And it's true. But I suppose its all part of the learning process right?

Instructor note: Making mistakes is part of learning and perhaps more importantly, how a person responds to that mistake. He did a great job!

Thinking of Enrolling? - What you NEED to know!

Thank you to everyone at the college responsible for welcoming new students from the very first phone call to the college, questions about the program, visiting the college, etc...We have made every effort to be sure students coming into the program have what they need, the information gets to them with plenty of lead time and they're ready to hit the ground running the first day of school.

No matter how hard we try there are situations that pop up and present a very serious challenge to new students so I'd like to talk about potential pitfalls for anyone thinking of coming to our program.

Your success in the program is the most important thing to us and we will do everything we can do to help you get to where you're going. That's why I've written this particular blog. The sooner you begin planning your future the greater success you'll have.

Here is critical information for anyone thinking of coming to the Guitar Repair & Building program:

#1 - Don't wait to apply to the college and get the wheels in motion. We have completely filled the program for the 2009-2010 school year. If someone procrastinates they could very well not be able to get in. This will allow you time to fill out the necessary paperwork, apply for financial aid etc.

#2 - You generally receive the first two tool lists at orientation. The hand tools ARE YOUR ASSIGNMENTS for the Intro to Tools class. There is no way the college can loan you tools to prepare in class (flatten, grind and sharpen). If you wait until the last registration day you only have a few days to order your tools. By then the vendors may be out of stock on those tools because so many other people have ordered theirs. If you don't have the necessary tools on the first day your ability to pass that class is severely reduced.

#3 - Don't wait to register!!! You begin the registration with an orientation session required for every student at the college. (see#2) There are 4 registrations for incoming guitar students. Get to the first registration you possibly can and DON'T ARRIVE LATE. The program is nearly full by the end of July.

#4 - The Intro to Tools class is a prerequisite for nearly every class in the guitar program. If you don't pass that you can't continue in the program. (see #2) This class runs the first 4 weeks of the semester. Basically 1 day = 1 week of a normal 16 week, semester long course. If you start 2 days late without your tools YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PASS the class. Or should we say, no one has ever done it in the past.

#5 - Each class is a stepping stone to the next. Intro to Tools is required for the repair courses offered in the fall. The fall courses are required for the spring semester courses, so if a student for some reason doesn't make it through the other fall courses they are unable to come back to build a guitar in the spring semester.

#6 - Our program is a full-time commitment for 9 months. We don't have a way to offer part-time enrollment or picking and choosing only certain courses.

Contact the college with any questions you have, we're here to help!

And they're off!!

Well not quite as I write this blog but...School starts Monday August 24th and we're very excited to welcome a full roster of students this year. There are many great times ahead as students begin their voyage into the world of guitar repair and building and this years class will be the first ones to have the option of a second year diploma. Of course ANY former student of the guitar program can come back for the "Guitar Development & Production" program starting in Fall 2010. We'll be announcing more as the final stages of the development are completed.

Here's to another great year!!

Another Successful Year

Another year has come and gone with a whole new batch of hand-made student guitars. We'd like to wish all of our graduates the best of luck as they move ahead in life whether it be continuing their education here or elsewhere, working in the field or whatever is part of their plan. I'm sure they all have a plan right?

So thanks to everyone in the program, all of those at the college that help our students from the first phone call or email right on through the graduation ceremony. We have a wonderful staff here at the college at all levels which helps make this such a great place to get an education.


Thank you!!

Second Year of Guitar!

This year we worked hard to put together all the necessary planning and information needed to create a second year of the guitar program, then we just waited for state approval. Recently, we got word it has been approved! The Guitar Development & Production program will begin in the fall of 2010.

This is an additional diploma program which will allow students to design an instrument more freely using computer aided drafting and CNC (computer numerical controlled) router technology. Year two will also include building an archtop guitar or mandolin, an inlay class, advanced finishing class and an advanced repair class.

All of us here at Southeast Technical are excited to offer this new diploma.

Get Ready, Get Set....Finish

Although we tell students the first day of school the year will whizzzz by, it still surprises everyone just how fast things go. This week marks the final 2 week period to apply the finish to their acoustic guitars. They've spent a great deal of time prep sanding the wood, having the instructors check for scratches & repeat, repeat, repeat until the guitar is properly prepared for finish. They're spraying a seal coat, doing touch up and repair to any gaps or "wooopsies" and moving onto grain filling.

If the gaps are small they simply drop fill with some lacquer and then lightly scrape the fill level like in the picture above. Otherwise they do touch up techniques using fill sticks, burn-ins and scraping to hide any problem areas. From there they move onto applying a paste wood filler like in the picture below.



This process is critical to filling the pores of the wood while adding a decorative touch where you can make the pores really stand out or just blend in to the overall color of the wood. After the filler has dried overnight guess what.....more sanding! Once all of the excess filler has been removed the instrument is then re-sealed and any necessary grain lines are carefully painted in to hide the filled voids then topcoats of lacquer can be applied. It's a great deal of work to achieve an industry standard filled, level gloss finish. The guitar show is coming up and for the most part students are on pace. If you're in the area come on down to hear these fine hand-made instruments May 12th in room 314 on the Red Wing campus starting at 12:00pm. Another batch of great students & great instruments.

Songs from the Wood

An acoustic guitar starts life as a pile of wood. Well, hopefully not a pile, exactly. In truth, we respect our woods. We sticker them up to get plenty of air. We spend hours admiring their voluptuous figures. If things go well, we take them home to introduce them to our parents.

Above all, we try to use them well. Unlike, for example, the typical "unplugged" album, acoustic construction is hardly laid back and unplanned.

For this year's class, the process started about five months ago, when Mr. V. had several past graduates bring in their guitars. It was an opportunity for us burgeoning builders to hear what all those woods had to say. We heard Sitka spruce tops side by side with Engelman. We heard mahogany say "hola" and koa say "aloha." It was also our chance to see these woods with a finish, in combination with each other, in real instruments.

Having received those glimpses of the final picture, we set about purchasing the pieces of our own puzzles. That led to the piles of wood I started this post with. Perhaps more interesting to the layman is what we've done with the wood in Acoustic Construction over the last month.

Most of the first week was spent making templates, molds and workboards, so our guitars can come out guitar-shaped. In the picture on the right, you'll see the two halves of my guitar top (Carpathian European spruce, for the curious); I was in the process of straightening their edges on the joiner plane to prepare them for gluing.

I skipped ahead a little bit and jointed and glued my back together early (Australian blackwood). It was large enough that I could cut one end off to make a book-matched rosette for my top. I lined the inside and outside of the rosette with thin strips of white and black purfling to complete it, glued the whole thing in place, and scraped it level to the top.

After that, I cut the soundhole and glued in the top braces. Just this week, I finished shaping the braces and voicing the top--that is, shaving down the braces to change the stiffness and improve

the tap-tone.

Sometime in there, I found the time to bend my sides and glue in all the blocks, braces and kerfing to hold them together. I radiused the sides to match the top and, in one of those moments of gratifying success, at one of those points where the goal becomes tangibly closer, glued the top to the sides this afternoon. I now have something that looks, from the front, like a real guitar, albeit without a neck. It's indescribably fulfilling to have put that pile of wood through a transformation into . . . well, okay, it's pretty much just a wooden drum at this point, but the point is, it's not a pile of wood anymore.

Of course, I forgot to bring my camera home, so you don't get pictures of that just yet. With any luck, I'll get my back braced and glued on next week and begin work on my fingerboard and neck. It really is nice to watch that pile shrink.

Guitar Show 2009

This years guitar show will be held May 12th, Room 314 on the Red Wing Campus at 12 noon. Instruments will be on display as well as played by professional musicians. It's a phenomenal day for friends and family to enjoy hearing the work put in by our students. It's also a great day for folks to stop by if they're thinking about enrolling in the program.

The show is open to the public and is free of charge. We hope you'll be able to stop by and enjoy some great sounding instruments played by very talented players.

Electric, so Frantically Hectic

Here we are in second semester, the scholastic equivalent to a rebound relationship: it's familiar but not quite comfortable, challenging for its own reasons . . . and fairly likely to end in tears. Maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but the stakes are definitely rising.

What exactly has been going on? Those of us losing the most sleep are probably those in Mr. Vincent's section, who are currently engaged in the enviable & challenging process of building an acoustic guitar. The rest of us are likely sweating a little less, being engaged the first half of the week in finishing class. Mr. B has kept us occupied with more than a dozen projects, introducing us to a broad swath of finishes and application techniques, and a *seemingly endless stream of study guides. You'll see in the photo my very first project board, wearing a few coats of brush-on shellac (and, behind it, the next several ducks in the row).

Thursdays are filled with repairs. In addition to making Fender nuts and practicing crack repair, we've been asked to bring in project guitars of our own. Say--for example--your brother tried to pull the frets out of his Ibanez with pliers and sanded most of the finish off the headstock. Oh, and it had a plastic nut to begin with. Sounds like a project, right?

And then there's Friday. --Electric Construction day-- Let's just say that it's a lot of fun, although--as I hinted earlier--at times harrowing.

"What's so scary? Don't you just buy a neck from Warmoth and a body from Stew Mac and bolt them together?" Short answer: no. Long answer: read on.

The first step in production is blueprinting. This apparently simple task of slapping straightedge to paper and drawing a few lines belies a number of important design concerns. Is there room in the neck for the truss rod? Is the body cavity deep enough for the electronics? Where do you put the flaming-skull decal? If you squint at the picture, you can see that I took inspiration from Rickenbacker's 300 series, which meant figuring out how to convert a neck-thru design into a bolt-on (neck-thru designs having been nixed by the instructor).

The first day of class (or two, in my case) spent blueprinting, we move on to making templates, and it's . . . it's a toolroom blitz. Superfluous sweet paraphrases aside, template making is a time-consuming process of roughing out shapes on the band and scroll saws and then sanding and filing them down to the desired dimensions. Most of these templates are later used for routing and flush-trimming the body, so the more time we take making them flat and smooth, the better our guitars will wind up. (Thanks to Cory C. for letting me photograph his mad filing skills.)

Then things get stressful. Once our templates are complete, we start working on our actual electric guitars, with our actual wood. After prepping our stock and gluing it together where necessary, we set into it with saw, sander and router, and that's when the tears might start to flow. Witness Luke R.'s "shark attack" router incident. The area circled is an area that is of the most concern, requiring a patch of wood, contouring, filling or all of the above. To his credit, he took the loss with his usual joie de vivre.

And that's the semester summary thus far. Next week, the sections will switch places, and we'll each receive a new set of challenges--and, no doubt, make a few new educational mistakes--in our ongoing development as luthiers.

*instructors note: Yes study guides, homework occasionally - this is school remember!

In-State Tuition for Everyone

If you're thinking about the guitar program and are from out of state you should know that all Guitar Repair & Building program students pay in-state tuition regardless of what state they reside in.

If you'd like to find out more about our program check out the guitar section at:

http://www.redwingmusicrepair.org


If you'd like to get information about admission to the college check out the admissions page here:

http://www.southeastmn.edu/admission/index.html


It's best not to procrastinate, often times by the time the snow starts to melt we're getting near full for the following fall!

We're back!

This week marked the start of the spring semester. David's group has begun building their acoustic guitars and in 7 weeks the build will be complete and we'll be switching groups. Currently my group of students is in Finish Work and Guitar Repairs for the 7 week period. Tomorrow Jan. 16th I'll have folks beginning the process of blueprinting their electric guitars for the class that runs every Friday for 16 weeks.

Every year goes by so fast and even though I know that....it's still amazing how fast it goes!!!

Today was -22 degrees with a -40 below zero wind chill. Kinda tough to sell the idea of graduation being here soon but I swear, it'll be here before we know it. -22 degrees below zero!!!!! The coldest day here in 5 years. That didn't stop us from getting to work though.

Hopefully I can find a student to volunteer to blog about their acoustic build or possibly even their electric build. Stay tuned...