NZGuitars.com

Has anyone attended this, or heard from someone who has? I'm thinking about dipping my toes into the DIY world, and this seems like a good (i.e. heavily supervised) place to start.

The price is pretty reasonable at AU$2500, given you get to keep the guitar at the end of the course. The real value is of course in the skills you learn (and the friends you make along the way).

Alternatively, has anyone done the Binford course in Auckland? It looks a little more group-focused.

Link: https://fletcherhandcraftedguitars.com/

His YouTube videos are great, but prepare to spend several hours watching him build that Strat! https://youtu.be/NZSDzBv_rIA

Another option is Paddy Burgin in Wellington. Most years, In January, he runs a guitar building course where you build an acoustic. $2500 if I remember correctly.

Yes, I have heard good things about his course. I suspect solidbody electrics would be more achievable than acoustics for a novice, but happy to be advised otherwise!

I think Rob has done the wellington course

AiRdAd wrote:I think Rob has done the wellington course

Yes I have. A great course and you can do it with very little prior woodwork experience. Paddy usually runs it once every 2 years in January and you can build a Dreadought, OM, or Classical.

That’d be a bloody good way to spend 5 times the value of my car
Where’s that lotto win gone now

Single coil wrote:That’d be a bloody good way to spend 5 times the value of my car
Where’s that lotto win gone now

My twenty year-old Toyota works just fine, but I'd rather make a Strat than upgrade it!

It's probably worth the price of admission to just have access to the tools and woods, never mind the expertise and supervision of a master craftsman. The amount of effort Adrian put into sourcing wood and seasoning it, considering how much of it turns into chips/sawdust!

Would be a pretty phenomenal experience, even if you never made a guitar again.

Terexgeek wrote:It's probably worth the price of admission to just have access to the tools and woods, never mind the expertise and supervision of a master craftsman. The amount of effort Adrian put into sourcing wood and seasoning it, considering how much of it turns into chips/sawdust!

Who is Adrian, sorry?

Adrian from ASH Customworks, sadly no longer building, top bloke and gifted luthier. Search the forum for "ash custom" you're bound to find some goodness.

Here even:
http://www.nzguitars.com/forum/viewtopi ... =3&t=36694

Oh yep, I met him a few years back. Yeah the couple of guitars if his I came across were very nice.

Speaking of guitar building courses... I've been drooling after this one https://www.facebook.com/EkkiHoffmann/ . It would be an amazing vacation for both the missus and me. Amazing beaches and guitars, dream vacation!

Id love to do one of the Crimson Guitars courses in the uk, its just getting to the uk and back....