Spinning the wheels.

Manufacture and building are not the same thing.

I'll let that sink in... it took me a while, but I'm over the shell shock.

Ready?

"Manufactured" is everything you've bought.
"Built" is that antique table you got from your grandparents in the will.

See, that little distinction was tripping me up. I've been researching every little scrap of information on building instruments, and trying desperately to outline the process of guitar making, just so I'd know where to start.

Here's what I figured out:

There is no clear starting point beyond a block of wood. Sure, there are things that need to be done for each instrument... but the method is up to me.

Woodworking seems to operate that way. You figure out how you want to do it, and if it doesn't work then you try something else. If it DOES work, you remember how to do it so you can do it again later.

I like this idea. A lot. It's hard to reconcile this trial-and-error way of doing things with math, though - shapes are just geometry with the math done for you.

Still no contact from my maybe-a-mentor, by the way. I tried to call him, but he was out playing music - which seems like an appropriately objectivist sort of a hobby. This is looking great already, and I still haven't even touched a piece of wood.