Calm down Opprob.
I don't want to be rude but come on - The arrogance is nauseating.
I am not trying to be arrogant here, go over to Totnes and have a chat with Phil, the man who runs the thing. He will tell you the same thing. If you work for 5-10 days you are certainly gonna build some kind of instrument, it just won't be up to snuff when it comes down to that and 2-3 months worth of work.
Just because someone doesn't do it your way doesn't mean its the wrong way.
I didn't say it was wrong i just said i seriously doubt i would be as good as something that is worked on for a good spell longer. I am not saying that mine is better than his either, i certainly think there are so many things wrong with my guitar, but the playability of my guitar, and my buddies on the course is as yet in my experience unparalleled in other guitars. I can sit down in a shop and play a PRS and notice all the things wrong with it, and considering they build their instruments to high standards, that is saying something. I am not gonna say i am better builder than someone at the PRS factory, but then, i am saying that i have experienced a new level of build quality that sets my standards high.
I also think its a bit rash to call yourself an experiences builder - I doubt half the builders here who have built more guitars than you have would call themselves experienced.
Well, i am not gonna say i am experienced as Phil, or WezV, or Feline, or some others on here, but i will say that yes, i do have experience. Getting intimate details and tips from one of the best in the business helps quite a bit. I would say it will be another 10 to 20 guitars before i feel like i would be truly reaching an experienced level at building guitars. Nonetheless, i am a builder and i do have experience, however my translation of that fact was obviously misinterpreted and i apologize.
Ref:
http://www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11917
:)
Glad you caught that sir, my hat is off to you. I am not trying to stir up trouble just explain an opinion, though unfortunately it seems to be turning out to be lethal.
I'd accept 3 months if you're spending at least half that time studying and understanding design concepts, understanding the different properties of the various woods (and combinations thereof), etc, etc, etc. But, even a "perfect" guitar should be obtainable in 2-3 weeks (plus paint spraying and hardening time). Not 3 months. Surely??
Actually, you would be surprised. Most of the time you spend actually doing whatever it is you are doing. Very little of the time is Phil actually explaining details to you. Every now and again he would come over to see how you were doing and tell you if you were doing it right or wrong. I would say time with Phil actually talking about the stuff to us or helping us individually was less than an 45 mins a day on average. There were some days that were quite a bit more than that due to him showing us all how to do stuff, or say we might be gluing something he needed to help us glue. I would say if you narrow it down to about a 2 month period you would be getting close to an ideal beginner work time for that type of precision.
mmmmm .... has anyone ever called you "obsessive" ??
I call myself that every day.
What aspect of the build was genuinely critical to within a fraction of 1mm? I accept that a decent fret job will have the frets sorted to that sort of tolerance, and getting a perfect finish will involve removing scratches that might have a depth of 0.01mm, but - seriously - what else do you do to that tolerance?
i doing a 0.01-0.15 mm tolerance would only be necessary on fretboard relief. However the rest of the guitar should be held to a 0.1 mm tolerance, that is how you get precision in build quality. Talk to Phil about it he will tell you the same thing. Machines produce a 0.3 mm MINIMUM tolerance but the human eye and by hand you can get down to a 0.1 mm tolerance. It is one of the important aspects of why all the guitars coming out of that school play so perfectly.
On a friendlier note: My apologies for not welcoming you to the forum. So, welcome. I have been warned about 5 day gimmick courses, especially by Phil, so i suppose you can understand why i would rather promote Phil's course. If this guy's students like it and go back every year, great for them, seriously, more power to them. However, if you want to learn serious build quality and precision i would say go to Phil, there is really no compromise IMO. I am sure you are gonna build some kind of instrument when you go on the course with this guy, but again i would question the level of excellence in craftsmanship this guy is teaching if it is so durned quick. I am not trying to start an argument, but i am still very wary of such stuff and think that you should consider if you want speed in construction over precision or you want precision over speed of construction.
Your guitars are nice looking guitars, like i said. And i am not discounting them in any way. I am, however, more critical of the course, not faulting you and your decision for taking it.
