New - J.S. Bogdanovich Guitars Blog - Online Help Forum

A new blog has been posted to act as an online help forum for readers of the book and viewers of the DVD with guitar building questions. I have been inundated with email filled with questions, and responses have not always quick. Often the same questions were repeated. The intent of the blog is for me to commit to a habitual rapid response and open a dialog with readers and viewers. The blog will also act as a database of questions and answers in its archives. Click here to go to the J.S. Bogdanovich Guitars blog.

Guitar Making DVD Available

The guitar building video series is now available in the store. This 10 DVD box set will provide you with all the information and confidence you will need to build a quality guitar. Every aspect of the building process from start to finish is vividly demonstrated and clearly explained. The entire video series was shot by a professional camera crew with two cameras to capture all the detail. Click here for more information.

Next Round of Guitar Building Classes - Winter 2011

There will not be any classes for fall 2010. With all that has been going on with the DVD I need to get caught up with some guitar building. Classes for winter 2011 will be posted shortly. Also, a four day class on assembly will soon be added to the schedule. This class will cover the installation of the top, back, purflings, bindings and fingerboard as demonstrated in the DVD.Look for this, and the new dates for the 2011 winter schedule in the classes section of the site.

New Guitar Building Products

Check out the guitar making DVD series in the store, and be sure to check out the discounted sets for savings. I have bundled the templates and molds with the DVD at a savings of 10%. There are also quite a few other set combinations of templates, molds, and plans with acetates for the guitar in the book.

The solera kit has also been added to the store. The kit consists of a 1" MDF solera shaped base capped with 3mm thick hardwood veneer glued to the top and bottom faces, along with enough basswood pieces to cover the lower and upper bouts, and a set of assembled rims with hardware. Use this kit to construct the solera exactly as shown in the DVD. The solera kit may also be used to build the design from the book. The solera for the book design requires no basswood patch for the upper bout.The solera rims have also been added separately.

There are also many additional helpful guitar building products in the store. For example, an adjustable tuning machine drilling jig, shown here in use is one that I have been using in shop for years. It will locate and drill tuning machine roller holes that are 35mm on centers in the headpiece. The jig is designed to be used in conjunction with the headpiece template which is included in the template set. The holes can be drilled using the jig without the need to remove the template which greatly improves the workflow. The jig is adjustable for different width tuner base plates and comes with two shims for drilling 16 and 18mm wide base plates. Shims can be easily made to accommodate any size base plate.

Ebonized pearwood veneer sheets have also been added. Finding good black veneer for purflings, back strips, and headpiece veneers is difficult and if you are using dyed poplar or castillo you know how it tears leaving little voids where dust can settle and eventually show up through the finish. Ebonized pearwood planes very nicely and leaves a silky smooth, flat appearance.

Lamination wood can also be found in the store. The small quantities and odd sizes of wood required to make one instrument, are difficult if not impossible to find commercially. For those that do not have the ability to resaw, laminations for the linings and sides have been made available. Four sheets of mahogany pre-thicknessed to the size needed for a set of linings, and side laminations in three different types of wood are now available in the store.

Book Going into Second Print

Recently I learned that Classical Guitar Making will be going into second printing. Once again, I want to thank everyone for supporting the book. The book has been successful far beyond everyone's expectations and I thank everyone that has supported this effort by purchasing a copy. I have been overwhelmed by the correspondence from all over the world with such favorable responses and I would like to thank all of you that have either called or written to me regarding the book, I have appreciated hearing from you all. I have also enjoyed answering your questions and hope to add a section to the site which would include some of your questions and the responses. This may be helpful to others.

I was truly surprised how many people are seriously interested in making a guitar. It just goes to show that the guitar is a universal language.

Jim Krenov's Passing

On September 9,2009 Jim Krenov passed away. He was my teacher and my friend, knowing him changed my life. He meant a good deal to a good many people and will be sadly missed. Almost everyone he came in contact with came away with something from the experience, I know I certainly did. We at the College of the Redwoods Fine Woodworking program were lucky to have been part of his life and legacy. We will always remember him fondly. There is a great article on his life at the NY Times online.