About

lu•thi•er•y
   [ lōō´-tē-ər-ē ]
n.
the making and repair of stringed instruments, as violins or guitars.
Origin:
1875–80; < French, equivalent to luth (lute) + -iery.

What I Am:

I’m a retired Soldier, a defense contractor and an inveterate tinkerer. I’m a better technician than guitar player, so I can’t resist diving into guitars and my amplifier to see how I can make them better (and eventually make them myself).

What I Am Not:

I am not a luthier. A luthier is a skilled master tradesman who can take a pile of wood, metal and often exotic materials and turn them into a fine instrument. I have the greatest respect for their art, and recognize my own limitations. That said, there are certainly some luthiery tasks that are not beyond those who, like me, are somewhat handy with tools (and are not overly afraid of breaking something along the way).

Why the Blog?

The information presented in my first post is already posted to a couple of guitar-related discussion boards, so why bother blogging it? Well, I have already tentatively mapped out a wish list for at least four more increasingly advanced guitar projects, including the new skills and specialized tools required for each, plus a couple of minor repairs to other guitars. Since not all of these projects will conveniently fit the same discussion board venues as the first project I thought it might be nice to have one location to document all of my projects and my (hopefully) growing skills.