Customer Reviews

Classical Guitar Making: A Modern Approach to Traditional Design

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

This book is an example of passion with the guitar. It's well written, beautifully photographed covering all steps of classical guitar construction that follows a high grade standard. Even if you don't want to build a guitar, buy it just for the beauty of its pages. I have bought a lot of books about lutherie, but this is one is far the best.
It makes evident in every detail how Mr Bogdanovich loves what he do. Seems to me he had a very good time written it. Go deep!

This is an appropriately big book. Appropriate in that the author addresses each section in the detail that it needs. Whether you want to become a luthier or just want to study the art, this book is an absolute MUST HAVE. The author is excellent at conveying the details of the work in a thorough but very readable way. I imagine that there are so few books on this craft, since their are few people with both the skills of crafting guitars and the skills of writing how it is done. This author has both, in abundance. It also has plenty of pictures and diagrams that are useful, not only as aids to comprehension, but as guides to you will need to use in your own endeavors.
A truly excellent book.

This is a truly wonderful book and an amazing bargain at the price. This book gives you an supremely detailed look at the methods used by one master builder. I have been building classical and steel string guitars for 11 years. (I'm working on number 59. Turns out that Bogdonavich and I started building at the same time. I wish I had the level of success he has had! It helps to go full-time, which I can't do, yet.)

The detail contained in the book is (this word keeps coming up) amazing. He really does cover every step in the process and he describes and photographs every little step of the process including the tools he prefers and uses, even down to series of photos showing how he spreads glue.

This book is beautifully executed. A nicely made hardcover with dust jacket; it's built to last. The photographs, which may be its greatest strength, are profuse, extremely well made and their reproduction is flawless. Pretty much every detail of every process used to build a classical guitar is well explained, both in words and in beautiful photographs. The book includes details of making your own bindings, purflings, and rosettes. The actual methods used by the author are explained in great detail. All the tools are described and shown.

I started out with Cumpiano and Natelson (Guitar Making: Tradition and Technology). That book is still a wonderful book, especially if your interest is in steel string acoustics. We truly live in a golden age of guitar making and the resources available to a beginning builder are more extensive than ever in history. This book is one of the best. Enjoy.

I also recommend:

Guitarmaking: Tradition and Technology: A Complete Reference for the Design & Construction of the Steel-String Folk Guitar & the Classical Guitar (Guitar Reference)

Making Master Guitars
A Collection of Fine Spanish Guitars from Torres to the Present
Understanding Wood: A Craftsman's Guide to Wood Technology
Wood Handbook: Wood as an Engineering Material (this is also avialable free online as a pdf)

And: The Guild of American Luthiers: http://www.luth.org/

Jack Bogdanovich's book is a must for anybody who might be considering making his or her own classical guitar, and very interesting for those who like the instrument, but have no plans to build one.

If you have a chance to lay hands on one of his guitars, you'll see that he can walk the walk; read this book, and you will know that he can talk the talk, too.

I have trouble figuring out which end of a screwdriver to use, but with Jack's book in hand, I think even I might be able to follow his detailed and well-illustrated instructions without hurting myself too bad.

It's a steal at this price.

As a Luthier, I read many articles and books on guitar making. This book is by far the most complete on the subject. Well written and well presented. A budding luthier will surely appreciate this book. It just does not get any better then this one. Especially the associated pictures.

John Bogdanovich is one of, if not, the best luthier and teacher out there. The explanation is VERY clear. Picture is of very high Quality.

RECOMMENDED if ur going to build a classical guitar !!!

His website: [...]

I bought this book twice, some months ago for the first time.
I read it first and afterwards I study it some more, to get full knowledge of some details described.
Shortly after, I went for a trip of a month to Brazil, knowing that I will spend a lot of hours travelling from Europe to Brazil and also have a lot of national flights over there, enough time to do some interesting reading and study, instead of playing as all the other passengers with there laptop during the flights.

In Brazil I always meet with a Brazilian Luthier friend of me, also this trip.
I discovered that he didn't have this wonderful "must have" in his bookshelf yet, and at that moment I decided to give him a nice present, and went home without it.

Afterward I bought myself a new one because there is so much information in this book to expand my knowledge, even after a few wonderful instruments I had build.
I also ordered the templates and the drawings.
All of them have very good and complete information which had given me the opportunity to build myself a wonderful classical guitar. This was the good part, now problems I run in to; dimensions.
My conclusions check and recheck all the given dimensions.
Text and drawings are OK, but the given dimensions are sometimes incorrect and also are a mix up of metric (mm) and imperial (inch) dimensions together.

I feel when reading the book, that the author must be a very good skilled classical guitar builder willing to exchange his full knowledge.
He gave me with his book a look in his world of guitar building, a book with a lot of very nice illustrations and it's not boring reading at all.

I recommend this book as the best there is in classical guitar making, a "must have" for everyone building his first guitar or the more experienced builder.

Ray, from the Netherlands.