I think there is room for improvement in how leveling is done.....but that device isn't it. It's a good thing it's expensive because I can see a lot of desperate players ruining their guitars with it if it was like $40.

I understand its not worth it for you to sell them, but what about just sharing your stl files then? I'm building a guitar for myself using alot of 3d printed parts, I'd like to take a look at or possibly use those in my own build

I really enjoyed your short summation of your guitar building journey at the end. I can identify with that in my cigar box guitar building journey with a changing focus over the years. Instead of CNC, I 3D print guitar components, jigs, and fixtures to improve consistency, speed up builds, and to minimize woodworking. I do enjoy designing my own parts and constantly experimenting. I create inexpensive kits and then do 2-3 hour build and play sessions. My focus is on growing CBG players by getting guitars in their hands.

To me, it makes NO sense to level under string tension. This completely negates the reason why some relief is put back into the neck in the first place....which is to give a string space to vibrate. If a luthier sands the frets perfectly straight while there is bow in the neck....then he's negating the relief. Does that make sense to you? Am I thinking of this wrong?

Great video! I see myself in there. ☺

52 years ago I had one bobbin and associated alnico bar magnet - wound it with perhps #26-28 - used a matching transformer from a microphone as a step-up- it had adequate output and a very "hi-fi" response - could be ok for some bass guitar rigs.

Great explanation, I saw a person use a body that would accept different type of wooden necks and with a analyzer showed barely any difference whatsoever between the woods.

Batch builder aspiring to be a small factory builder.

Great video on some work efficiencies that can be implemented. Also like the common sence straight forward safety advise that so many youtubers either dont discuss, or ignorantly miss.

I’m shooting for a mix between artisanal and small batch. I bought a small industrial cnc machine with the soul purpose of making instruments. My wife however calls it a really expensive hobby :). Reality is I just can’t afford to be a full time luthier, it could never replace my day job, but I can accept that. It’s not about the money for me, my only goal right now is to eventually see someone play an instrument I have made on stage. Especially because I myself do not know how to play. I feel that is the biggest reward a luthier can get. For that reason I am toying with idea of donating or auctioning of my builds for charity. Make just enough to cover my next build and have some fun. P.S. if your a hobby builder living in the salt lake/utah area I’d love to connect.

Neat discussion. Thanks for the video. Bass guitar builder here. I come from the repair/setup tech side of things working in a high-end shop for many years. The shop closed. I started hobby building and did a lot of partial builds, like a different body for an existing neck or vice versa. Then I transitioned into small batch, artisanal builds (usually three at a time) with an emphasis on one being the special "expression" build. I sort of have models, but I really just let my bliss lead me. I'm just a few dozen build in. I refuse to do custom builds. My time at the high-end shop showed me what those builders experience trying to please certain clients even though the majority of their clients worked out. Also, custom builders seem to hit lean times when no one is placing orders. That path is just not mine. Just my opinion here obviously, but I also think the way is shut for emerging factory builders in the bass guitar realm. The established ones seem tenuous at best and a lot of those folks are reaching retirement age. What's brewing is probably going to shake up the market especially among the parts manufacturers. When I check sites like Reverb, I'm often left wondering if the world needs a ton more basses. There's a glut of instruments out there. I use that as guidance and try to build in the niches that don't appear represented. I also try to keep my output and prices low. I know that wrecks most people's idea of being a successful builder, but I'm cool with degrowth. I just want to build. Perhaps I haven't shaken my hobby builder mentality. Works for me.

Two types i see, and everybody is on a continuum in this regard.. They either conform to tried and true ideas, plans etc. Which they know will produce a successful instrument.. Most people who sell instruments must confirm to this type.. Or other luthiers who want to try different things, to see what happens.. The experimentors. Usually they don't sell their instruments.

I'm a hobby builder/assembler with a little bit of artisanal when it comes to building cigar box guitars since they're one off creations.

is exactly what I thought Juan Leo fender And Gibson built the first electric guitars what did they know about wood tone I believe nothing and the first electric guitar players what did they know about wood I believe nothing what what they did is just play the guitar that's it nowadays some companies like PRS manipulate everything they can on their favor that's it is all about money I think

Hobby builder, each build is the occasion to bring in new tools and skills. The joy is in the journey, but playing your own instrument or seeing it played by someone else is a great feeling too.

I started for sure as a hobby builder with big dreams of being what you are calling a factory builder. At the moment I have little interest in being a factory builder. I have done a few commissions. So commission builder by this definition. And I've built a few just because an idea popped into my head and had to get out. Artisinal by these definitions. Ultimately I don't make my living this way so.... I guess I have to be classified still as a hobbyist at the end of the day. I kept almost all my builds for a long time. But recently I just got tired of the clutter and let them go for stupid low prices just to clear my head of the burden of owning it all and clear my music room of extra stuff I am not using. I try to build guitars now with the working musician in mind. They aren't the most beautiful things I've seen. They are not all super polished and fancy and breathtaking in appearance. I am not yet capable of producing such finish work. But they play awesome. They sound good. And they are super reliable. I want for the guy who has 3 gigs this week to be able to take one of them to all 3 and have it satisfy every aspect he is looking for in function and reliability. I have sold a few to friends, and I know that those probably get looked at and piddled on at home. They close the case and it sits for a while until they open the case again in a month or 2 to look at it and play it again. But I am most proud of the ones I know are out making rounds every weekend in the hands of my working musician friends. The only problem with that business model..... if I've done my job right.... they only need the one guitar from me hahaha Well.... there are 2 guys have 2 each so... maybe I need to work on that haha

I started building as a hobby when I retired from my job four years ago as an elementary music teacher. As I refine my skills and grow my knowledge base, along with learning in a lutherie program at a nearby community college in the Denver area, I’m becoming an artisan. I have developed a couple solid body models and recently built one for a raffle for a theatre program that brought in $1600. I’ve been playing guitar for over fifty years and it lights me up to be able to actually make an instrument that feels, sounds, and looks great. It keeps getting better!

Hobby builder, with two under my strap so far. Both were because in the end I had a very specific idea in my head of what I wanted in a guitar and it wasn’t out there at a price I could afford. But more than anything I truly enjoy creating the thing that didn’t exist except in my mind in the real world. And now I have a really nice guitar, exactly as I wanted it.

Hi, Chris. Holy moly. You just gave us a really useful and important potential typology of who makes instruments and why. I totally need to cogitate on this -- I mean, seriously. I've already been through the VERY SPECTRUM you describe. And I would *humbly* argue that the bass market was quick to conform to the paradigm you describe. Again, I just need to think on this. Here's just one example: in the world of bass, we all know the heavy-hitters. People as old as me know the full spectrum of those heavy-hitters. I'm almost 60. When I was young, you were mostly exposed to the "usual" options: Fender, Gibson, Rickenbacker, etc. Then, we bassists heard, learned, were exposed to... Stanley! (Stanley Clarke, one of the amazing bass triumvirate of the 1970s and 1980s.) And he played something called "An Alembic"!!! That was my first exposure to your Level 3 or 4 builder. Definitely not mass-producing. But whatever the case, I apologize. I need to think on this some more. You have once again "hit a nerve" and unearthed a really important question/aspect of music/instrument design/and so on.

so im making my second guitar. i love the finished product. so far its just for me and my grandkids. when it comes to making stuff for money. i hate that process of sales. but the jem tribute came out wicked and the pia im making for my granddaughter is better by far. we are going to hydrodip it when she gets back from vacation. i found dayglo, uv glow, glow in the dark acrylic paints. i bought 3 sets of the paint so i should have plenty. right now im only building on weekemds. i have about $1500 each invested into the 2 guitar set. will never sell them

I started as a hobby builder in 1982. After an electric, a steel string, a classical and a lute, i found my way to working for Charvel/Jackson in 1985. I did it professionally with the inlay and fretting for over a year. What was a dream job as a 21 year old, soon became something I lost all interest in. It took over twenty years for me to find that lost passion. Now I'm refurbishing the first guitar I ever made in 1982 in my parents garage. Life did a huge circle.

Yep, I'm a hobby builder. Working on my second kit guitar. I don't have a proper workshop so kits are the best option for me. I find it relaxing and satisfying. Definitely not in it for the money. Which is also why I appreciate your knowledge and tips that you share with us.

Hobby/custom/artisan hoping to get to batch soon and maybe, just maybe factory someday 😂

I wish Stewmac would start a “prosumer” line of tools for folks who are not luthiers but need to work on their own instruments. I don’t need SnapOn quality for my personal guitars, but do need the tools.

Thank you so much for your inspirational channel and great how to's. i am building a 7 string with Richlite fretboard. i wish to put in the frets as you did. Also i am going to use aged bone look binding There shall be a dragon skull inlay at 11th through 13th fret. Various other inlay and decor. Neon glow alien glyph letters for the name of some of the notes on the guitar in places. As well as some numbers. It is going to be nuclear radical -so far beyond. It is having a multilaminate neck. 27 stainless super jumbo frets. Angled at the fret board end. A 25.5" straight scale length. And it shall be 3MM wider on each side (54MM) than the custom stainless steel locking nut (48mm) that is bolted to the custom titanium truss rod. The neck is inline reverse, straight, with tilt back. However very shapely and pleasing to see. The neck shall also have Carbon fiber sheets heated and compressed between the sandwiches. The neck is further reinforced with twin carbon rods roughed and hard glued in. The neck profile is reverse contoured and convex in shape with a huge swell at the bass string side where the thumb does not climb. The double action side adjust truss rod is virtually 'non functional' because adjustment for pressure is not needed. The body is not as thick as a standard strat body and is in an extreme aggressive shape and full size totality. The final shape of the guitar shall be adjusted in balance against neck dive.. Body material shall be Swamp Ash with Richlite top. This shall be the most aggressive, brutal, ergonomic, and yet pleasing guitar shape in history rivalling Monson and BC rich guitars, as well as some Ibanez and Jackson models, and roasting all else It shall take every ounce of my personal Drain Brammage to muster it's completion, for it's then quick use and abuse of being played by i am me.

Great information ❤❤

Definatly hobby. Only 5 built so far. 3 basses, one uke, and one acoustic guitar.

Trying to be a hobby builder. I've build one complete guitar so far and in the process of building the second. Being in the workshop puts me into a zen place. I don't think I'd like to turn it into something professional. I'd hate to lose the joy of it. But who knows.

I was a hobby 'build for me' type, but people saw me playing recognizable but vastly custom shop versions that never existed and that lead to repairing so many guitars and custom inlay that I couldn't stay in a band. Being female, guys were a bit put off that they couldn't string their own Floyd system, let alone build one. Women started bringing in everything....guitars, anything and any size instrument with strings, autoharps, zithers, violins. I now simply build for myself....like the first sentence says, exotic versions of guitars I've wanted. My main one is a custom replica of a 1969 Fender Mustang Competition, 24" scale, 24 frets, school bus yellow, burnt orange stripes, engraved control plate, and an exotic neck of very flamed maple, matching fingerboard, large pearl block inlays, and a zero fret for incredible playability and sound. Gun oil finish on the neck, medium dark. Pickups are Seymour Antiquity for Mustangs. White switches on a pearl pick guard. People see that it is a Mustang, but cannot figure out why it just looks so much better than a 'real' one. I also began building and customizing pedals and repaints, and Champ style amplifiers done my way. Nyms.

I’m 1 & 3 Built 15. Done one commissioned build. Even tho the client gave me freedom but there was still a dead line and the pressure of making this customer happy. I did. But making the customer happy sucked the joy out of what I do. (At least the process) The outcome: the customer’s joy of seeing the final product was quite moving. It was an emotional exchange that transcends a monetary transaction! This was a refreshing video you put out. I’ve met all 5 builders. I’m good where I am. Glad you are to. Keep up the great artisanal builds dude!

Thank you for sharing

I dated a woman from China who works at a factory that produces 24,000 guitars a month. 12,000 acoustics and 12,000 electrics.

Hobby builder for now, started during Covid and kept going. Dozens built with a few making it on stage. Hopefully continuing in retirement from my “real” job.

Artesian here. I build basses, I'm hoping to sell one for the first time that I'm clear coating right now, maybe I'll become a custom builder in the future as I gain a name!

Probably more hobby builder but at begining stages but my own custom type builder right now I am just figuring things out. I just know that I want to build and make what I like. And profile the little things like copying my Jackson neck from 2005 and my yamaha rgx neck. But I had some success this weekend. From my first mistake which was buying a mahogany strat body that came from China. But is not routed for the electronics or trem and that was sanding the neck pocket until I could fit my Jackson neck into the neck pocket as the neck pocket was set up for 25 and half 22 fret neck my made in India jackson neck is 24 frets but the fretboard hangs over the neck. So that's how I know it will work now I did put a ding in the fretboard for which I sanded but I am planning on changing out the rosewood fretboard once I get the neck pocket adjusted to fit that neck so it's serving as a test neck right now. Just to set neck pockets next step is purchase 2 jackson style Chinese necks route for the correct truss rods then put what fretboards I want on them for the 2 bodies I have but after this no more pre-built bodies or necks except a Chinese banana style headstock neck to customize and use as a template to do my own variation on an Eddie van Halen kramer 5150 build but not before I finally get an American basswood body blank and copy and profile my Jackson king v body with one change and that's bieng routed for a floyd rose instead of string through. Anyway thanks to your videos and removing my Jackson neck from it for now I learned that the reason why the neck felt so uncomfortable and I found it hard to play was bevause of the bad string through design. But also the weight and the wood type which I still can't remember if it was northern ash or alder but I think it was an ash body. Which explains the heavy weighty feeling that would pull my neck down. So by going to basswood which my yamaha rgx is made of it will lighten the weight for a king v shaped body and tone wize sound better and ironically testing the same jackson neck on the mahagony strat body it feels much better. And the neck did not want to pull down feeling much better on my hands I just need to get to the tone test stage and if I think the tone needs some brightening before I paint it I can always put a quarter to half inch of maple or popler wood over the top of the mahagany body and just take off a quarter of an inch to half inch of the mahagany from the back if I need to. Which would give the guitar the les Paul wood combo. But we will see I do know the woods of my necks and fretboards jackson maple and rosewood yamaha hondoran brown mahagany bubinga fretboard. So question will be will I put my ebony fretboard on the made in India jackson neck or will it get the one of 2 bubinga fretboards since bubinga is a little brighter than rosewood and I don't like the tone of rosewood. But bubinga looks like rosewood but sounds a lot better. Again thanks Chris for helping us figure out what we want and getting me to think about things I never thought about before like maybe it's not the neck itself but excess weight that might be what makes a guitar or neck or playing position uncomfortable.

Using a cnc machine just makes you like a small corporation. You spend as much time on the computer and let it do most of the work. Building guitars by hand to continue a tradition is a sixth type of builder.

I'm definitely number 2, sometimes I dream about building batches because my income comes 60% from repairs and 40% from custom guitars. But at some point I'd love to stop doing repairs. thanks for the video!

I'm a hobby builder. But I suck at using handtools, so I use CNC for 80% of the work.

Hobby builder. I'm still finishing my first- Les Paul (hardware, electronics not installed, fretjob not finished). After a year and a half of Paul Sellers furniture type builds i started a guitar build about 6 months ago. For now i'm just focusing on building and building as i know there are lot of things i have to learn to build a good guitar. Short term goal - Love the non powered hand tools but i also want to build faster so i'm trying to write (mentally and literally) a guide what i loved using that tools. The parts i didn't like are going all electric. Long term goal - artisanal builder would definitely fit me as long i can use hand planes and similar tools here and there.

I've been a serious hobby builder since age 14. That's not to say off/on that i have not had ambitions to take it further. But largely, it started out as a way for me build guitars I couldn't afford or that didn't exist (i.e., combining offsets with 80s shred machines, elaborate electronics that maximize the tonal options available....weird lo-budget punky thematic builds, experimental ideas). More recently, family has started wanting my work as gifts....so some are getting around. I own over 25 guitars and keep them all ready at a moments notice as I do play a lot....also as a hobby. Though i have made a few bucks here and there doing repairs, custom work, and whatnot off/on.

Definitely hobby, mostly because it helps me understand how the instrument works and then I can better decide what I want in an instrument. This helps keep me engaged in practice and playing. I’ve gotten to the point where I have enough tools to make what I want so I can start making higher end instruments I wouldn’t pay what they are charging. Started out with modding but just gravitated into building. Channels such as yours have been both inspirational and educational. Thanks!

I definitely consider myself a hobby builder. I'm on guitar/bass 6 or 7, plus a couple of mandolins. I build instruments that _I_ want. I'm planning to this even more in retirement. I have no intention of selling guitars, but I'm hoping that schools or similar institutions would like to receive them one day when they're good enough! I don't own a CNC yet, but I do have a side bender!

I am certainly a hobby builder for now, have exceeded the 2 builds you mentioned and trying to get to other categories.

I'm a "bread n butter" Luthier and I'm building alongside as a hobby. My aim is to become what you've described as an Artisanal builder. Jens Ritter is my benchmark. Only when I can turn out work consistently as beautiful as his, will I finally consider myself "a builder". I have a long enjoyable road ahead of me... as well as a storage nightmare for my own builds as my skills progress 😅

Very Inspiring! I built my first kit guitar a few months ago and now looking to buy a Tele body and matched neck to piece together a Texas/Southern-type sounding single coil guitar; however, it a learning process. I'm not looking to make money-it's a retirement hobby that I hope to pass on (with the guitars) to my grandkids. Thanks for the videos!

I'm a hobby builder but I do custom builds as well I make no money and don't care. Its just for fun and have great time doing it!

When working with super open pore dark mahogany acoustic necks, I have yet to find a single product that fills the gaping pours while still providing transparency. Even Stewmac grain fillers do not do this. If you have porous wood, the only real option is to keep slathering on clear finish of some kind until you get level. This is very time consuming and a pain in the butt. If you fill the pores with mahogany colored filler, it will ruin the appearance of the grain. You will be looking at the filler, not the grain. If you use "clear" fillers like Aquacoat grain filler on really dark wood, it will "ghost" the appearance when you put on lacquer leaving a whitish haze. The only consistent way to apply stain is also before any filler is used. Otherwise you are staining filler. Next time you look at a Martin neck from the 70s or 80s, think about how much work it was to get beautiful clear grain leveled lacquer. I've also never found any water base products that work as well as oil based. Add to all this the fact that every peice of wood is going to react differently to filler and finish, and you have a lot of work in front of you.

ASPIRING hobby builder :-)

Hobby builder for sure - maybe I switch to CNC n the future. But we‘ll see.

Hobby builder here, from Italy. I never sold my guitars, I have 18 of them and it's a sort of a zen endeavor for me. I have also big brands guitars but when I play with my band, I always use my own, it gives me immense satisfaction. Cheers to you and all the other guitar makers.