Members kwakatak Posted March 12, 2010 Members Share Posted March 12, 2010 Has anybody built or attempted to build a guitar kit from LMI? How hard was it to do? Was it more expensive than the others (Martin, Stewmac?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bigald18 Posted March 12, 2010 Members Share Posted March 12, 2010 See the Apprentice thread. BigAl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hudman Posted March 12, 2010 Members Share Posted March 12, 2010 LMI and Stew Mac have kits for almost every skill level. It's probably best to call them and have them give you an idea of what kit will be easiest for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members larry50 Posted March 12, 2010 Members Share Posted March 12, 2010 Rickoshea has a whole thread going on his build of an LMI kit (Apprentice thread). Looking great, but, oy vey, a lot of work with a substantial tool collection (bandsaw, dremel etc.) and a good working knowledge of woodworking apparently necessary or highly desirable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted March 12, 2010 Author Members Share Posted March 12, 2010 I must've missed that he was building an LMI kit. I've been half-following it. Time to perk up my eyes and clean the $#!t out of my ears then. As for TAS, I was actually thinking of using this as an excuse to get out of the house and hang out at a friend's workshop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members larry50 Posted March 12, 2010 Members Share Posted March 12, 2010 The whole idea has piqued my interest a lot, I must admit. I would have to buy a lot of tools though. I have basically nothing and no access to a workshop. Rick's is looking great though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gitnoob Posted March 12, 2010 Members Share Posted March 12, 2010 Start small. http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Kits/Ukulele_Kits/Soprano_Ukulele_Kit.html Even easier/cheaper: http://www.grizzly.com/products/Ukulele-Kit/H3125 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted March 12, 2010 Author Members Share Posted March 12, 2010 Heheh - yea, II have the stewmac catalog too and I was actually looking at the violin kit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bigald18 Posted March 12, 2010 Members Share Posted March 12, 2010 You do not need a lot of tools to build a guitar. A coping saw, a back saw, violin purfling cutter, cabinet scrapers, a few chisels and a couple of planes are about all you'll need. It's harder than using all the fancy tools that Rick got but pretty rewarding when you do it. My first guitar which is now about twelve or thirteen years old was built with no power tools whatsoever except a jigsaw. A mold is nice to have, but not absolutely necessary. There are ways to work around that. You will need assorted clamps, c and wood clamps. BigAl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hudman Posted March 12, 2010 Members Share Posted March 12, 2010 You can buy LMI and Stew Mac kits that require less work than the kit Rick is building. As stated previously, they have kits for most skill levels. I agree with Big Al about the tools. You should re-visit some of Freeman's build threads. He built several kits and I believe he did a couple scratch builds as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rickoshea Posted March 13, 2010 Members Share Posted March 13, 2010 yup, mine is an LMI kit. It's actually one of their "serviced" ones which means a lot of the work (relatively speaking lol) is done for you such as prebent sides, fingerboard already radiussed, braces cut and semi-shaped, neck and headstock carved and the mortise and tenon cut for the neck. I chose LMI as their kits are highly customisable and I had a picture of a guitar that I've always wanted to own in my head so it was possible to customise the kit contents to what I wanted. As for tools .... well, I'll be building more so they're an investment in that respect but you could definitely get away with less. Just be sure to have a crapload of clamps . Many of the required jigs etc you can make yourself. I made my go-bar deck, radius dishes and various other things that cost a fortune if you buy them. I did buy the mold from LMI but on reflection should have made my own as their mold clamps were one piece and not very efficient. Again they're not difficult to make (believe me - if I can make these things you can lol). Woodworking experience is definitely not necessary. I had none. A good teacher however is - I'm lucky in that Gary has and is helping immensely in this regard. There would have been several balls ups along the way without his guidance, tips and expertise. Finally most of the tricky work I'm putting into this is of my choice - such as the inlay work, the end graft, even the reinforcing strips. You could easily do a build with less detail but it's fun to do . go for it .... it's probably the most rewarding thing I've ever tried and the sense of achievement at each stage is immense Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bfloyd6969 Posted March 13, 2010 Members Share Posted March 13, 2010 Start small.http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Kits/Ukulele_Kits/Soprano_Ukulele_Kit.htmlEven easier/cheaper:http://www.grizzly.com/products/Ukulele-Kit/H3125 Heck, even the Western Steel String kit from here is only $90. Looks like alot of the work is already done for you. I'm pretty sure the woods are laminates but it could be a good first build guitar to get the feet wet... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gitnoob Posted March 13, 2010 Members Share Posted March 13, 2010 Heck, even the Western Steel String kit from here is only $90. Looks like alot of the work is already done for you. I'm pretty sure the woods are laminates but it could be a good first build guitar to get the feet wet... According to one source, it's solid spruce on solid basswood back/sides. Apparently sounds good, too! Might be a cool git to have the kids paint some pictures on before applying lacquer. http://web.mac.com/magads/Site/Kit_Reviews_(4)/Entries/2010/12/28_Grizzly_Tools_Western_Steel_String__Kit.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bfloyd6969 Posted March 13, 2010 Members Share Posted March 13, 2010 According to one source, it's solid spruce on solid basswood back/sides.Apparently sounds good, too!Might be a cool git to have the kids paint some pictures on before applying lacquer.http://web.mac.com/magads/Site/Kit_Reviews_(4)/Entries/2010/12/28_Grizzly_Tools_Western_Steel_String__Kit.html Wow, no kiddin. Basswood for back and sides... that's a new one to me. Reading through his writeup, looks like he had issues with neck angle and neck stability. Though it seems like he found some good fixes to those. I'd say for $90 not a bad first start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gitnoob Posted March 13, 2010 Members Share Posted March 13, 2010 I found another article that indicated it's laminated:http://www.usguitarkits.com/files/aw-kit-guitars.pdf I'm tempted to get their classical guitar kit and convert it to a steel-string 12-fret 00. In theory, it just needs a new bridge and new tuners. But it looks like it doesn't have a truss rod, and who knows what the bracing is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Gary Palmer Posted March 13, 2010 Members Share Posted March 13, 2010 Kits are a great gateway if you've an interest in building. You don't need to buy specialist tools if you don't want to or can't justify the outlay and all that's necessary is a good basic selection from a carpentry kit. Buy more tooling when or if you know you're going to take building to the next stage, but you will find times when you need specific tools for certain jobs. The vast majority of jigs, fixtures, etc., can be made or improvised for very little in comparison to the what ready made examples retail for. Rick's kit involves just as much work as any other, but he's making it more his own by adding a few features otherwise not included in others. This is primarily inlay work, but you will find every other step and stage - unless ordered as pre-set via the supplier - is relevant to building a typical kit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bfloyd6969 Posted March 13, 2010 Members Share Posted March 13, 2010 I found another article that indicated it's laminated:http://www.usguitarkits.com/files/aw-kit-guitars.pdfI'm tempted to get their classical guitar kit and convert it to a steel-string 12-fret 00. In theory, it just needs a new bridge and new tuners. But it looks like it doesn't have a truss rod, and who knows what the bracing is. I really like that teardrop guitar kit, very renaissance looking. The US kit is nice too with an included hardshell case... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LaurentB Posted March 13, 2010 Members Share Posted March 13, 2010 I found another article that indicated it's laminated:http://www.usguitarkits.com/files/aw-kit-guitars.pdfI'm tempted to get their classical guitar kit and convert it to a steel-string 12-fret 00. In theory, it just needs a new bridge and new tuners. But it looks like it doesn't have a truss rod, and who knows what the bracing is. There's the truss rod, yes, and the bracing of a steelstring guitar is completely different from that of a classical one, to allow for the much higher string tension.A classical guitar has the braces in a fan shape at the lower bout, while a steel string has a x-shaped bracing pattern. Generally, the hardest things to do well on my StewMac I found was getting all the cosmetic details right. Stupid things like drilling a hole in exactly the right spot (I suspect that Rick is better at this than I am, at least I hope so for his patients), chiseling out those purfling and binding channels, the finishing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted March 13, 2010 Author Members Share Posted March 13, 2010 yup, mine is an LMI kit. It's actually one of their "serviced" ones which means a lot of the work (relatively speaking lol) is done for you such as prebent sides, fingerboard already radiussed, braces cut and semi-shaped, neck and headstock carved and the mortise and tenon cut for the neck. I chose LMI as their kits are highly customisable and I had a picture of a guitar that I've always wanted to own in my head so it was possible to customise the kit contents to what I wanted. As for tools .... well, I'll be building more so they're an investment in that respect but you could definitely get away with less. Just be sure to have a crapload of clamps . Many of the required jigs etc you can make yourself. I made my go-bar deck, radius dishes and various other things that cost a fortune if you buy them. I did buy the mold from LMI but on reflection should have made my own as their mold clamps were one piece and not very efficient. Again they're not difficult to make (believe me - if I can make these things you can lol). Woodworking experience is definitely not necessary. I had none. A good teacher however is - I'm lucky in that Gary has and is helping immensely in this regard. There would have been several balls ups along the way without his guidance, tips and expertise. Finally most of the tricky work I'm putting into this is of my choice - such as the inlay work, the end graft, even the reinforcing strips. You could easily do a build with less detail but it's fun to do . go for it .... it's probably the most rewarding thing I've ever tried and the sense of achievement at each stage is immense Yeah, I see that you also upgraded the tone wood choice as well. FWIW I don't think I'd stray beyond the more traditional rosewood/dreadnought with some possible features: - a one-piece mahogany neck with volute - herringbone body trim/rosette. - a Greven D-28 1930s pickguard - engraved Waverly tuning machines - ebony fretboard/bridge - tea-soaked bone bridge pins/MOP - FWI saddle and nut Basically I'd just want to build a HD-28V but with a standard neck profile on it. As for tools, I may have the use of a friend's workshop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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