What a thrill for any musician: playing a fine-sounding instrument that he or she has lovingly crafted from scratch. With this richly illustrated manual, well-known luthier and guitarist John Bogdanovich shows exactly how to build that first, beautiful guitar, using traditional, time-tested methods. All that’s required are basic woodworking techniques and a minimally equipped shop. Bogdanovich discusses the anatomy of the guitar, sound, choosing an instrument, selecting woods, templates and molds, and preparation. In more than 300 pages of text, he painstakingly lays out the details of construction, from assembling the neck and sides to installing the fingerboard and bridge.
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More About the Author
A guitar player since the age of 12, John majored in music at Richmond College in NYC, studying performance and composition while studying the classical guitar privately with Julio Prol. After college he briefly taught music and tried performing. Plagued with performance anxiety John struggled with preforming and opted to change direction entirely. He became an apprentice cabinetmaker working in a well known cabinet shop in New York City where he trained with old world European craftsman. Both these experiences would prove invaluable down the road.
After completing his apprenticeship, John returned to college once again, this time setting out on a career as an electrical engineer. Recruited off campus as an undergraduate by AT&T Bell Laboratories, he was sent immediately to graduate school to earn a masters degree at Polytechnic University. Dissatisfied with corporate life after 10 years as a hardware design engineer John accepted a company buyout and returned to woodworking starting a small business designing and building furniture. Inspired by the work and writings of James Krenov, John was accepted in the fine woodworking program at the College of the Redwoods and studied with Krenov for two years at the school.
In between semesters and in need of a new guitar, John took a guitar making class with Charles Fox in Healdsburg, California and upon his return to the woodworking program John became the first person to make a musical instrument at the school. John was soon after commissioned to build a guitar for a local performer and has been building guitars full time since then. In 1996 J.S. Bogdanovich Guitars was established on the North Coast of California. In the spring of 2004 John relocated to Asheville, North Carolina and set up shop in the mountains of western North Carolina.
For John the transition from guitarist, to woodworker, to luthier was a graceful one. His years of playing provided a solid understanding of the demands a performer makes on an instrument and his years as a craftsman provided a wealth of knowledge and experience in working with wood which is essential for making a fine instrument.
Making that first guitar had changed John's life. He had come full circle and it became clear that all the years of performing and studying the classical guitar had converged with his skills as a furniture designer , woodworker and electrical engineer and were now funneled into a single purpose, making classical guitars.
In 2003 Sterling Publishing approached John to write a book for them on guitar making, In 2006 "Classical Guitar Making: A Modern Approach to a Traditional Design" was released. The book has been successful beyond anyone's expectations and has become widely accepted as a premier reference for building classical guitars. In 2008 John began preparations for the production of a 10 DVD box set entitled "Making a Concert Classical Guitar with John S. Bogdanovich". The video series was released in September 2010 and has received rave reviews from customers and reviewers alike.
Since the books release there have been many requests from readers and viewers for plans, templates, molds, tools and wood and John has tried his best to meet those requests. To help new guitar builders manage the projects in both the book and the DVD John began creating a few products to get people started on the right foot. These products evolved over time into a full line of guitar building products geared to help new and experienced builders improve their skills, and their guitars.
John continues to make concert classical guitars. He also gives guitar making classes in his shop.
After completing his apprenticeship, John returned to college once again, this time setting out on a career as an electrical engineer. Recruited off campus as an undergraduate by AT&T Bell Laboratories, he was sent immediately to graduate school to earn a masters degree at Polytechnic University. Dissatisfied with corporate life after 10 years as a hardware design engineer John accepted a company buyout and returned to woodworking starting a small business designing and building furniture. Inspired by the work and writings of James Krenov, John was accepted in the fine woodworking program at the College of the Redwoods and studied with Krenov for two years at the school.
In between semesters and in need of a new guitar, John took a guitar making class with Charles Fox in Healdsburg, California and upon his return to the woodworking program John became the first person to make a musical instrument at the school. John was soon after commissioned to build a guitar for a local performer and has been building guitars full time since then. In 1996 J.S. Bogdanovich Guitars was established on the North Coast of California. In the spring of 2004 John relocated to Asheville, North Carolina and set up shop in the mountains of western North Carolina.
For John the transition from guitarist, to woodworker, to luthier was a graceful one. His years of playing provided a solid understanding of the demands a performer makes on an instrument and his years as a craftsman provided a wealth of knowledge and experience in working with wood which is essential for making a fine instrument.
Making that first guitar had changed John's life. He had come full circle and it became clear that all the years of performing and studying the classical guitar had converged with his skills as a furniture designer , woodworker and electrical engineer and were now funneled into a single purpose, making classical guitars.
In 2003 Sterling Publishing approached John to write a book for them on guitar making, In 2006 "Classical Guitar Making: A Modern Approach to a Traditional Design" was released. The book has been successful beyond anyone's expectations and has become widely accepted as a premier reference for building classical guitars. In 2008 John began preparations for the production of a 10 DVD box set entitled "Making a Concert Classical Guitar with John S. Bogdanovich". The video series was released in September 2010 and has received rave reviews from customers and reviewers alike.
Since the books release there have been many requests from readers and viewers for plans, templates, molds, tools and wood and John has tried his best to meet those requests. To help new guitar builders manage the projects in both the book and the DVD John began creating a few products to get people started on the right foot. These products evolved over time into a full line of guitar building products geared to help new and experienced builders improve their skills, and their guitars.
John continues to make concert classical guitars. He also gives guitar making classes in his shop.
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28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent book,
By
This review is from: Classical Guitar Making: A Modern Approach to Traditional Design (Hardcover)
The author starts the budding luthier with the construction of molds and jigs. The order in which this is presented is excellent: by the time you get to the construction of the solera, you should be quite proficient at cutting the outline of the guitar in MDF (medium density fiberboard) with a 14" band saw. My solera turned out very well. A note on materials: John notes that the material for the molds will require two 4' x 8' sheets of 3/4" MDF and 1/2 of a 4' x 8' sheet of 1/2" MDF. 4' x 8' sheets of MDF are VERY HEAVY and impossible to work with in a small shop. I purchased 2' x 4' sheets instead and the results were great. Also, a 2' x 4' sheet 5/8" thick should be substituted for one of the 3/4" sheets, for the lining bender jig. This will save a bit of planing.
One should note the typo on page 51: under "Cutting the Pieces," "10 inches wide and 20 inches long" should be "10 inches wide and 24 inches long." On page 58 where John specifies "six pieces 24 1/2 inches x 10 1/2 inches," pieces only 24" x 10 1/2" will do very well. The plan for the caul on page 123 is missing. The author says it was accidentally cut out of the book, and he wrote, "The laminations are masonite thinned down to about .090 to make them easier to bend. I use about four of them. The outer one has sixteen pieces of 3/4 MDF glued from top to bottom along the length as shown on page 123. The pieces that go over rounded areas must be shaped to fit flat on their entire surface." The author will offer printed plans for the guitar at some point in the future. Overall a very nice book. I've just finished bending the sides according to John's instructions and I look forward to the next steps in this very interesting project.
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent book for classical guitar makers,
By C or E Kleinman "Ernie or Cathy Kleinman" (lees summit mo 64081) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Classical Guitar Making: A Modern Approach to Traditional Design (Hardcover)
This book is sure to please the most discriminating maker of guitars. The photos of all the different phases of guitarmaking are clearly explained with a multitude of colored photos. The language is clear and concise. The illustrations and color photos speak for themselves, of the many varied operations involved in guitar making. My only problem was figuring out how to make a 15ft and 25 ft radius jigs.Of all the 12 books I own on guitarmaking. This book, in my opinion, is the most comprehensive in detailing , every aspect of this demanding and rewarding craft. My hats off to Mr. bogdanovich for an excellent job.
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent...,
By
This review is from: Classical Guitar Making: A Modern Approach to Traditional Design (Hardcover)
Very well written and presented, although I agree that there's nothing truly 'modern' here; a formal presentation of lattice bracing or composite tops (10 year old technology) would be needed to earn the 'modern' moniker. But for traditional style building (with interesting personalized wrinkles) it's an excellent text. Highly recommended, and the first true competition for the Cumpaino.
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