William cumpiano and jonathan natelson s book on building an acoustic steel string guitar and classical guitars is by no means dated unless you consider the time it was published. Hailed by guitar player magazine as perhaps the finest book on guitars. Over 450 photographs, drawings, and diagrams reveal in exquisite detail the hows, whys, and. The classical guitar making book by john bogdanovich is a complete guide to building a quality classical guitar, widely considered to be the best book on. I hesitated to purchase them before, but stewmacs sale brought them in range of my budget for such items. Classic guitar construction and steel string guitar construction. Discover delightful childrens books with prime book box, a subscription that.
What books for luthiers do you recommend mandolin cafe. Guitarmaking tradition and technology guitar reference. I used a standard xbrace scheme for my soundboard relying very heavily on natelson and cumpiano s book to help guide me through the construction process. Click and collect from your local waterstones or get free uk delivery on orders over. Best guitar building books telecaster guitar forum.
It would have been perfectly fine for me to take this information without giving a second thought as to how it. History and tradition, and for classical guitars we like roy courtnalls book making master guitars. Guitarmaking, tradition and technology 1993 edition open. This build will be an homage to the first edition, along with some updates in neck joint and other construction techniques. I have all the major luthiery books in my library cumpiano and natelson, bendetto and at least a dozen more. William cumpiano presents a step by step tutorial on how to build either a classical or steel string guitar, from scratch. Guitarmaking, tradition and technology open library. William cumpiano and jonathan natelsons book on building an acoustic steel. He wrote an excellent book along with his partner john natelson about it called cumpiano book guitar. Is a great book that goos a few steps futher than most books on bracingtaptones etc.
Guitarmaking, tradition and technology by william r. I did build an ukulele before, with help and inspiration from youtube. Natelson, william cumpiano, jonathan solomon, jonathan natelson. Tradition and technology a complete reference for the design and construction of the steelstring folk guitar and the classical guitar by jonathan d. Building the neck wasnt the first thing that i did, i actually cut out a full sized paper template of the body and then built a guitar work board as recommended by natelson and cumpiano, but i decided to group that stuff in with the next section so ill talk about building the neck first. Guitarmaking tradition and technology by cumpiano and natelson and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. William cumpiano and jonathan natelsons book on building an acoustic steel string guitar and classical guitars is by no means dated unless you consider the time it was published. The book is written from the point of view of one who has taught. There is a lot of information sharing, and quite a few luthiers are very friendly and helpful in answering questions and describing their techniques. Cumpiano is a master guitarmaker and teacher of instrument building and repair in amherst, massachusetts, serving professional musicians across the country.
For electric guitars hiscock for starters and the building topics on this and other fora. The above mentioned cumpiano natelson book is good, also the two don teeter guitar repair books, the two volumes of the big red book of luthirie, bob benedettos archtop guitar book, any good wood technology text books, understanding wood by r. This book has been called the bible of guitar making by many and although it shows some signs of age, the concept and execution are brilliant. It was written by myself and jon natelson in 1985, with a rewrite in the works. They are busy working on a second edition that hopefully will come out soon. I learned a lot by reading posts from the makers forum at. Im proud of myself as i basically had no experience in woodworking before i started with the ukulele, 1,5 years ago. After using cumpiano and natelsons book as a guide to build six acoustic flattop guitars, i found out william cumpianos shop is in northampton massachusetts. Then i came upon a book called guitarmaking, by cumpiano and natelson, after which i began reading and studying lutherie in earnest. Guitarmaking william r cumplano, jonathan d natelson. The man primarily responsible for crafting this singular work, written with thenpartner jon natelson, is william cumpiano, but even this outstanding book pales in comparison to his talent as a luthier and teacher. Complete instructions and fullsize plans by jonathan kinkead. There are two versions now, and between them there is a wealth of information from experts and amateurs alike. It has since become the standard world reference for our industry.
This build will be an homage to the first edition, along with some updates in neck joint and other construction. Guitarmaking, tradition and technology 1993 edition. The mimforum bookstore offers books on musical instrument construction relating to guitar building, violin making and other forms of lutherie, woodwinds and brass, keyboards, experimental musical instruments. Soundboard bracing building an acoustic steel string guitar.
Apr 19, 2005 the man primarily responsible for crafting this singular work, written with thenpartner jon natelson, is william cumpiano, but even this outstanding book pales in comparison to his talent as a luthier and teacher. Since 1971, bill cumpiano has been building and repairing some of the finest handmade guitars and stringed instruments on the planet. With this book the authors fill the gaps that are missing in many of the earlier books on guitar construction. Tradition and technology by jonathan natelson and william cumpiano and build your own acoustic guitar. The sloane books arent as comprehensive as the cumpiano book, but they present some alternative ways of. There are two books by irving sloane that i also found useful. My instruments are inspired by some of the great designs of martin and gibson but. Building the neck building an acoustic steel string guitar. Cumpiano coauthored, with jonathon natelson, the worlds leading guitarmaking textbook, guitarmaking. Natelson builds and repairs classical guitars and is a national. Hailed by guitar player magazine as perhaps the finest book on guitars ever produced, and by booklist as a rolls royce of construction guidebooks, this impressive volume is the first book of its kind to describe in depth how both steelstring and classical guitars are actually designed and built.
Tradition and technology, a complete reference for the design and construction of the steel string folk guitar and the classical guitar, which has been acclaimed as the principal textbook in his field and considered by many as the bible of guitarmaking. Clyde herlitz everything you need to know about guitar making including the preparation and planning, soundboard bracing, assembly, fingerboards, finishing and much more. Natelson builds and repairs classical guitars and is a national supplier of tone woods for constructing stringed instruments. In their book guitarmaking authors natelson and cumpiano included a table containing precalculated fret spaces for a guitar with a scale length of 25. Download and read free online guitarmaking guitar reference by jonathan natelson, william cumpiano. We will be following the first book by william cumpiano and jon natelson, guitarmaking.
First i drew the outline of the guitar body on the inside face of the soundboard using my template as i had done on the outside face of the soundboard. Those are books i can remember because i own them, but. Bruce hoadley, understanding wood finishing by bob flexner, and many others. For this guitar i bought the book guitar making by cumpiano and natelson. Tradition and technology guitar reference by natelson, jonathan. The book guitarmaking by cumpiano and natelson is the must have book on building an acoustic guitar. In due course, i built my first highend vintagestyle acoustic guitar, and baleno instruments was born. Tradition and technology a complete reference for the design and construction of the steelstring folk guitar and the classical guitar guitar reference. I used a standard xbrace scheme for my soundboard relying very heavily on natelson and cumpianos book to help guide me through the construction process. Natelson have had many years of experience in teaching guitar construction. Guitarmaking tradition and technology guitar reference by. The kinkead book came with plans for an orchestra model guitar so i will be able to use part of those plans in the. See all 11 formats and editions hide other formats and editions.
Tradition and technology guitar reference by jonathan natelson. The authors fill the gaps that are missing in many of the other books on guitar construction. Ervin somogyis books are a valued addition to my library. Hailed by guitar player magazine as perhaps the finest book. Fret spacing calculation building an acoustic steel string. Natelson builds and repairs classical guitars and is a national supplier of tone woods for.
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