Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
three and a half stars, March 5, 2005
The best things about this recent book on guitarmaking are the extensive use of color photography to document the steps, and the exploration of multiple ways to accomplish a given task, such as making a mold or attaching the neck to the body. Readers who are more visually-oriented would likely find this to be a helpful adjunct to Cumpiano's and Nattleson's seminal book GUITARMAKING: TRADITION AND TECHNOLOGY.
While a book on lutherie, like a cookbook, is primarily judged on its ability to help the reader successfully accomplish the task in question, I must take the author to task here for his shameless self-promotion throughout the work. The author's name conspicuously appears on almost every single page. For example, helpful tips in an aside are titled "Kinkead Tips," and in almost every photo featuring a luthier at work [presumably the author himself], he is wearing a T shirt bearing the words KINKEAD GUITARS, with the logo strategically placed to be in full view. It is distracting, tiresome and even a little insulting to endure this narcissistic self-promotion page after page. Every book on lutherie is a sort of calling card for the luthier-author, and the quality of the book should speak of the quality of the luthier's own work. Kinkead would score more points with discerning guitarmakers and guitarists with a little more discretion, instead of coming off as something of a carnival barker.
That said, the book is nevertheless useful for the above-mentioned reasons, but I doubt that it will ever be a beloved book that I enjoy leafing through over and over like some of my other favorite books on guitarmaking.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best first guide?, January 12, 2005
Having done some reading previously, this book was a pleasant discovery. The aforementioned Cumpiano and others certainly get high marks for exploring the intricacies of the craft but always made it seem formidible. This one in contrast isn't quite as complete, but manages to cut the project down to size to a considerable degree.
Some things to like:
* It has all color illustrations, pretty, but also useful for comparing wood and inlay types.
* Since classical and steel strings differ quite a bit in design and methods, it sensibly doesn't try to deliver both in the same book.
* Very well organized in steps from start to finish.
* The best guide to power tools and their use that I've seen.
* Includes detailed 1:1 blueprint style plans for a pleasing OM style instrument. (Much preferable to having to sketch out your own design on graph paper!)
On the minus side, it only gives a basic list of materials suppliers, not many suggestions for other reading or websites, and, if you want to build something other than the OM, you're kind of on your own. ("Guitarmaking" is still a good idea as others have said; also the web, magazines, catalogs...)
Still, it's more than enough for one book and will give you the confidence to actually build your own beautiful instrument with success.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not for a Hobbyist..., October 16, 2006
Very simply put, if you're a hobbyist that wants to build a guitar, this book won't be much help.
The book isn't bad because it has a lot of pictures and good explanations, the problem is that unless you have a large amount of professional power tools at your disposal, you won't be able to do anything. If you're already into woodworking, or if you're a shop teacher, then this may not be a problem, but an average person will not have access to all the tools required in this book.
Now, besides the drill press, wood router, power sander and countless other power tools you will need in order to build a guitar using this book, the author promotes himself WAY too much. He mentions his own name so many times in this book, and in so many different ways that after reading this book, you'd be more likely to forget your own name than his. Don't get me wrong, the information in this book is valuable, but after reading this book, I almost feel brainwashed, and it's not a comfortable feeling. On average, he mentions his name about three times per page, and in my opinion, it's dishonorable and unnecessary.
All in all, this book has a good amount of information in it and it has some good explanations, but the presentation of the information is purely obnoxious. In the end, the decision is up to you, but if you don't have a garage bursting at the seams with power tools, don't expect to be able to build an acoustic guitar after reading this book. ***If you are just starting with woodworking and want to build an instrument, an electric guitar is much, MUCH easier to make. If you'd rather build an electric guitar or electric bass guitar, I thought that "Make Your Own Electric Guitar & Bass" by Dennis Waring & David Raymond was a very good book. Have fun!
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