Areas/Topics for New Builders to Research and Focus On

[Pa&Bud]

What information do you wish you would have asked about/known before you did your first build or a certain step in the build?

I don’t mean answers like “everything” and solutions are not expected - just some caution signs/topics/focus areas for those traveling down the road without as much experience. It may be a valuable resource to have these captured in one spot so people are less likely to be blindsided and have a better idea of what to research on the cafe and internet prior to diving in to a particular step of the build.

Of course, mistakes will be made - and some things can only be learned the hard way. This thread is to help inform first time builders (selfishly that also includes me ) and maybe even some who already have a few under their belt.

If this is already a forum topic I'm going to feel quite silly - but I was unable to find it.

Thanks in advance to all who are willing to share!

[Marty Jacobson]

Building instruments isn't that hard, you just have to have perfect joinery and perfect finishes on a structure that needs to be hollow, lightweight, and supporting 150+ pounds of tension.
I joke, but my first instrument was OK except the joinery was lacking. After that I made an instrument which was too thin and couldn't stand up to the string tension. Then I built a few more before that was a problem again. After a dozen or so I had it pretty well figured out.

I guess what I wish someone had told me is that it would cost me the equivalent of a decent 5 bedroom 4 bath house to figure out how to build these things well. I would probably have saved up for an Ellis or Nugget or something and have been far better off financially.

Nah, I'm not smart enough to have done that. But building instruments has its own rewards which don't correlate to dollars netted.

Just build as many as you have the patience for, try to make a little on each one or at least break even, and it'll be worth it.

[Ron McMillan]

Building instruments isn't that hard, you just have to have perfect joinery and perfect finishes on a structure that needs to be hollow, lightweight, and supporting 150+ pounds of tension.
I joke, but my first instrument was OK except the joinery was lacking. After that I made an instrument which was too thin and couldn't stand up to the string tension. Then I built a few more before that was a problem again. After a dozen or so I had it pretty well figured out.

I guess what I wish someone had told me is that it would cost me the equivalent of a decent 5 bedroom 4 bath house to figure out how to build these things well. I would probably have saved up for an Ellis or Nugget or something and have been far better off financially.

Nah, I'm not smart enough to have done that. But building instruments has its own rewards which don't correlate to dollars netted.

Just build as many as you have the patience for, try to make a little on each one or at least break even, and it'll be worth it.

It won't help Marty keep the bill-collectors from the door, but I, for one, am glad he went down that route and shared so much about his trials and successes on the forum.

Now, what we want to know is: how is the carbon fiber project coming along?

[Marty Jacobson]

The carbon fiber instruments are waiting for me to get my new shop up and running. I just went from having a whole separate house for my shop to having a two car garage. I still count myself very lucky, but it will take some work to figure out where everything will go. I just got the floor painted and everything is out in the driveway... Probably looks like an epic garage sale, haha.

[Pa&Bud]

Building instruments isn't that hard, you just have to have perfect joinery and perfect finishes on a structure that needs to be hollow, lightweight, and supporting 150+ pounds of tension.
I joke, but my first instrument was OK except the joinery was lacking. After that I made an instrument which was too thin and couldn't stand up to the string tension. Then I built a few more before that was a problem again. After a dozen or so I had it pretty well figured out.

I guess what I wish someone had told me is that it would cost me the equivalent of a decent 5 bedroom 4 bath house to figure out how to build these things well. I would probably have saved up for an Ellis or Nugget or something and have been far better off financially.

Nah, I'm not smart enough to have done that. But building instruments has its own rewards which don't correlate to dollars netted.

Just build as many as you have the patience for, try to make a little on each one or at least break even, and it'll be worth it.

Thanks for tossing in your thoughts and some of your experiences - I really appreciate it. Would it be fair for me to write down three things from you:

- Don't go into it expecting perfection or making any money
- Learn/research about joinery so you can find the successful intersection between strength and thinness
- Research about finishes and the challenges others have had and shared

?

I'm not trying to make a list for someone to open shop from - maybe just something that has some tips and areas to research prior to trekking down the road of enjoying learning as they go and have fun building.

Thanks again!

[fscotte]

Don't use cheap tape.

[Pa&Bud]

Thanks again to those who have added something. If there are enough interest and input - I'll put together a list as an attachment with an edit date at the top so people won't have to search through the whole post if they don't want.

[Pa&Bud]

I'm going to personally add another topic that I wish I had done more research on prior to attempting:

Bending Sides

There's a ton of forum posts about this with tips and tricks to sort through.