Making Mistakes as a Guitar Builder: A Critical Look at my Worst Guitar

In this episode of DIY Guitar Making, I take a critical look at the worst guitar I ever built. I point out flaws and discuss strategies for improving and avoiding some of the common mistakes that luthiers make.
Mistakes include gappy joinery, inconsistent binding and purfling thickness, poor design, bad miters and sloppy finish among other things. I even installed the end wedge upside down!

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[short]

When traveling this winter I visited a luthier’s shop in Kailua-Kona Hawaii. In conversation I mentioned my efforts to build ukuleles in my basement and need to get on with it ( so far I have only made tooling) so I can start learning from my “mistakes”. The wise proprietor said to look at them as “additional challenges” and opportunities for improvement, not mistakes. As you gain experience you create fewer “additional challenges”. I like that philosophy.

[dennisneo]

Unless you're a master luthier, that was a pretty good effort.
It is nice to see how more refined your subsequent guitars are. Awesome work.

[johnkarapita]

I really admire and appreciate your candor in going over all these issues out there for the whole world to see. As others have written, many of the things you're pointing out will not be immediately obvious but when you explain the issues, I can understand why you're expressing your dissatisfaction. Most will not seem too serious frankly as the final product still looks pretty sweet. It's very instructive to those of us who may aspire to begin to acquire the skills and experience needed in this amazing, beautiful craft. Thanks for sharing and inspiring. I appreciate the advice too about the perils of biting off more than you can chew - words of wisdom there, for sure.

[timffoster]

Extremely informative!! One of the best ways to leap forward is to reverse-engineer failures in order to prevent them in the future. Good stuff!

[derekfromtauranga]

I build a small number of guitars mainly as a hobby. Cutting the binding channel nicely is the biggest challenge especially if your sides aren’t perfectly square as you mention. I do prefer wood binding over plastic it just seems easier to get a nicer job although plastic protects the edges better. Good information! 👍👍👍

[wolfgangwilleke]

Hi, Eric! Many Thx for this video. In March 2020 I builded my first guitar, together with a prof. Luthier, called Felix Reuter from Cologne. He helped me much, but nevertheless I made some mistakes. I made a Lakewood-copy with Cutaway, and it was pretty difficulty, to install the bindings, because the cutaway wasn't really in the right angle.
So... many thanx for your Videos! Its really a great help...

[robertnewell]

A superb piece of self-critique! Thank you so much. Your honesty is itself flawless!

[Ibratarig]

I stayed up all night last night beating myself up after messing up a neck joint on a build that I have invested quite abit of time into. Part poor execution and part lack of a solid plan. I finally managed to get some shut eye after I convinced myself that its a learning opportunity.
And this morning I got up, all fired up about continuing the build as an experimental one and keeping on the craft with a handy notebook documenting alla the previous mishaps, shortcuts to avoid and no nos!!
One has to start somewhere!! :-)
Thanks for sharing Eric!!

[gelspace]

Dude, I watched this and felt much better about my luthie-screw-ups ( and there are plenty, but I’m making progress). When they let us (from the UK) back into the US post COVID, I hope to come and see in Penn and do a course. Stay safe and well. All the best

[PaulHeagen]

Eric, First, I applaud your openness and vulnerability in doing the autopsy on your early effort. That i how we all learn. I will be contrarian to those who will say it looks great and you are being too hard on yourself. Learning is all about making mistakes and embracing those mistakes as readily as we do our success.

[TheJohnboy]

Thanks for posting this video. It’s actually an encouraging video for those of us just starting to build guitars. I think most of us are our own worst critics and that’s what drives us to aim for perfection. I recently finished my third acoustic guitar and your videos have been a great resource. I’m curious which of your builds was your first sale?

[mahatmadoo]

You learn so much from little things, I really appreciate you doing this video. Hope to build one someday.

[sirico]

Great reflection! Wouldve been awesome to hear how it sounds though...

[rickeydenler]

I refinished pianos in my business for 47 years I done 100 grand pianos some advice good lacquer it's almost impossible to come by due to Environmental regulations but there is one lacker I would recommend Sherwin-Williams cab acrylic lacquer you can put 8 coats on a oak board hit it with a claw hammer and not damage the Finish only dent the wood expensive but worth every dime

[ronaldmessenger]

Another helpful video. I'm on #7 & #8 and I'm still critical of my work. Thanks.

[adrianogomes]

I finished my second guitar in last December and it contains most of the mistakes you've mentioned. It's a normal nylon guitar. Yet, it does not shine nicely like yours. Good sounding though.

Thanks a lot for all your teachings

[therealbanjoben]

This is really good to see. I'm currently on guitar myself (one can dream about needing all those digits one day, right? :) ). It's nice to see where someone a lot further along than me started out.

[newffee]

Overall I think that guitar is pretty good for a first attempt. Considering you tried putting all new techniques together to build the guitar, I mean you'd have to be a pro to execute those techniques. So by doing that I bet you learned so much from jumping in and giving it a go. The Knowledge you are passing on to guitar builders or first time guitar builders is invaluable. Thanks for constructively critiquing your work. Don't be too hard on yourself. You're only human after all. I will be building my second guitar soon. My first was a total bust and i don't even have it anymore. I didn't know about bracing or anything much. But now I have the internet and there's way more resources to look at than back in the mid 90's. I'm going to use Black walnut for the back and sides and I think it's either yellow cedar or redwood for the top.

[scenario]

Great subject no way to get better than look back on your mistakes. Ervin Somogyi loves talking about his early years as a builder thinking he was doing things right, until his work was compared to established builders of the era.

[dartman]

Even with all the mistakes, it's still a beautiful creation that most people would never attempt at all. The fact that you can admit your mistakes and learn from them, is what's important. Thanks for sharing all this info. with us. I think you may have saved me from a headache. I'm building an electric with a natural finish with somewhat open grain. I'll definitely polish it with paste wax to keep from getting the color of a compound stuck in the grain. Thanks a lot. Appreciate it!👍😎🎸🎶