So... why guitars?

I don't know why I picked guitars, exactly. There are more lucrative ways to do woodworking, I think. Like cabinets. Everybody needs a place to put groceries... but not everybody needs a wood box that makes noise.

I've been playing music since the seventh grade (bass, mostly), but I'm not what any of you would call a good musician. I enjoy it, but I'm not really very good at it. I've only ever been in one band, and I've never been on stage... unless you count Orchestra classes in middle and high school.

I've always liked the way guitars look, though. They fascinate me. There's something about the way the sides of an acoustic guitar are shaped that seems mysterious to me. Going into a music store just to stare at the instruments is still one of my favorite things to do. I usually won't even attempt to try them out at the store. I'll admit that I've wanted to own almost every decent guitar I've ever seen.

Dad used to play one for my brothers and I at night before bed (though I seem to remember him slapping it like a drum more often than playing chords), and I think that's part of it. I also have what seems like a disproportionately large number of friends and family who play music, and the idea of being able to build an instrument for them appeals to me a lot. Maybe I still feel bad about throwing one of my brothers into that Stratocaster Dad used to have with the ridiculous spiderweb motif.

So, there you have it. A few of the reasons for my mad schemes to become the next Leo Fender or Orville Gibson. I have a lot of friends who play, but I have even more who want to see me succeed in my venture. I appreciate all the enthusiasm and advice you have given me so far, and this journal is as much for you as it is for me.

Up to speed.

So, first things first. To get you all caught up:

A few years ago, I moved from Spartanburg, SC to the Raleigh, NC area because I wanted to learn to do something for a living that wasn't working at Target. To be more precise - I wanted to become a luthier (for those of you who don't know, a luthier is someone who builds stringed instruments).

I chose Raleigh because of it's proximity to Clayton, NC, where my mother lives with a fine gentleman named Keith who crafts wood toys for a living. Keith has a well equipped woodshop and plenty of experience with woodworking (and machining, and plumbing, and welding... seriously, the list goes on), some contacts with craftsmen organizations, and an eye for quality and detail that I relate to well.

So, I've been here three years and haven't built a guitar yet. Or even really taken steps toward building one. So far, I've constructed a nice cutting board for my brother and a shelf for my girlfriend... and both of those projects were completed well over a year ago - and I still work for Target.

Now, though, I've gotten my enthusiasm about the thing back. I don't know what happened - maybe I got tired of playing video games all the time, maybe seeing Angela (my woman) go back to school for something she was excited about got me thinking, or maybe it was something else entirely. Regardless, I'm glad it happened.

Amateur Luthier.

Well, here I am again with another blog. I find myself wondering why I always choose the same layout, but I like the black one. It's classy.

Anyway, I actually have a purpose for creating this one. I hope any of you who find your way here will follow me while I try to figure out how to build guitars. It's something I've always wanted to do, and now that I've (finally) decided to just get of my ass and DO it, I'm really excited about the idea.

Bottom line: Rather than clog up Facebook with posts about this whole process (which most of my contacts really won't care about), I'll invite anyone who is interested here and go into a lot more detail, a lot more frequently.