estebanana -> RE: Looking for guitar plans (Apr. 14 2015 1:36:57)
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I think plans are good for those who don't have a half dozen old Santos guitars sitting around for them to study. I've come to the conclusion that plans are great for starting out and that the best plans are the ones drawn from guitars of the Mid 20th century. The Hauser, Santos, Barbero, Manuel Ramirez, plans of Spanish instruments before 1950's are better than the drawings of the modern instruments in my opinion. These show the fundamentals and are not confusing. And if followed render a nice guitar as a starting point. They give a good foundation to build on. The reason is that if you don't have a good instrument to lift data from, the plans have excellent data. You can't just become an intuitive builder who has all the dimensions memorized right from the beginning. And I posit the best way to learn the ways to get the fan brace, bridge, top thickness, arching method and all the details is to build the same model a couple times. When you want to make a complicated souffle' you consult a cookbook. After you master the souffle', you don't need to use the cookbook any more. Just try making a souffle' by trial and error. It will be more difficult, so get an old cookbook. ____________ It's really all about getting through the first one because that teaches you which questions to ask next. If you can formulate good questions from what your first work shows you, you will get better help from those who have more time in. It's not critical to think "outside the plan" until later. When you do begin to break away from plans it will just be a natural growth based on your hands on experience. It's been stressed that building from plans is not the traditional way, but today we don't go through and apprentice system generally. Perhaps only 10% of todays builders get that privileged inside education, for those who don't have that rare advantage there is no shame from working from plans. And beginning with a plan will not stunt your growth when you go onto your own direction later. One more advantage of making a good first few guitars with a plan of an old vetted model or famous instrument, it shows you have taken time to study a master maker. That tells the owner of an old guitar collection that you are worthy of having hands on time with their collection. If you come on and say "I made my own model from day one", they might think you are a bit cocky and be less apt to grant you access. Collectors love to see humility in the face of tradition and they respond with generous attention to you. Access to important old guitars can be crucial to your development.
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