Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #23990 in Books
• Published on: 2006-11-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 320 pages

Customer Reviews

Another Book for a Beginning Luthier's Library
Classical Guitar Making: A Modern Approach to Traditional Design is a gorgeous book about how to build a John Bogdanovich-style Herman Hauser I guitar. If you are an out and out beginning woodworker who wants to build a guitar from scratch you can make a guitar from this book, but you will either have to own or have access to the power tools that the author uses to build his guitars-a drum thickness sander, resaw bandsaw, and a bandsaw, to name a few. The author really doesn't go into how to use hand tools to build the guitar and doesn't offer alternative ways to use hand tools as does "Guitar Making: Traditional and Technology" by Cumpiano and Natelson. I bought "Classic Guitar Making" to see if I could learn any new tricks in guitar building and I did-how to laminate sides and his binding-cutter router attachment is pretty nice. If a person is patience and willing to take the time to methodically follow Bogdanovich's instructions you can build a wonderful guitar. That can also be said for "Guitar Making: Tradition and Technology", by Cumpiano and Natelson and "Making Master Guitars" by Roy Courtnall. A nice thing about both of these books is that the authors immerse you into the tradition of guitar making as if an old school master luthier was standing over your shoulder telling you about how Simplicio, Ramirez and Torres made their guitars great. Buy this book but only after you have first bought "Guitar Making" and "Making Master Guitars" and all the wood you want to build your guitar with. If you have the money to build and equip a full sized cabinet shop definitely buy this book.

Classic Guitar Making: A Modern Approach To Traditional Design
I had originally checked this book out of my local library and after reviewing it, I knew I had to add it to my collection. It is a great companion to the Cumpiano standard with excellent color pictures. I am working on my first guitar and it is nice to have another book to illustrate different techniques for the different steps of construction. As the title suggests, he only covers classical guitar construction but many of the principals are similar and I would recommend this book to anyone considering building a guitar.

A New Classic!
If it weren't for the fact that this is a step-by-step manual, the causual observer could be forgiven for mistaking this for a coffee-table book. It's almost too nice for a workbench! At the risk of sounding like an advertising blurb, the same passion and craftsmanship Bogdanovich displays in his guitars shows in nearly every page. He knows what he's doing, and it shows; the color photography is excellent, and the text is a pleasure to read - informative and concise without being dry at all.

The beauty of this book is it has something to offer to experienced and aspiring luthiers alike. While the text deals with building a classical guitar almost entirely from scratch, much of the information given is pertinent to those attempting to go the kit route.

This volume picks up where the classic Cumpiano/Natelson text leaves off, as far as the classical guitar is concerned. There are a few typos in the text that should have been caught by the editor, but they are obvious and not likely to cause trouble to anyone building a guitar from the book. All in all, Bogdanovich has kindly shared his skill and knowledge in a very timely, informative volume that I for one am proud to own!