Hope all is well with you and that you've had an enjoyable summer!
Other than wishing I had a swimming pool, I that I could jump in every hot California day, it has been very nice for me. ;)
A few weeks ago I had the very cool opportunity to talk to Pauline, one of the awesome people at WiMN (Women's international Music Network), and talk a little about building guitars, playing and teaching music, and learning woodworking from my awesome Dad. :)
I thought it would be fun to write a few posts about what I have learned in my last year working in a guitar shop!
If you're like me and have always had an interest in stringed instrument construction at one level or another, either to build your own instrument or to do minor repairs on one of your own, then you know how hard it can be to find good information about luthiery online. So I thought I would do my part to remedy this through writing a series of posts and giving you some great links on the subject.
@ the 2014 Anaheim NAMM show
Not unlike my musical education, I am more of a hands on learner than a book learner. Sure, books are great, but to me they are more for subsidiary education, especially when the subject is fairly new to you. So, when I decided I wanted to get into guitar and mandolin building, I knew that I wanted to work or apprentice under an experienced builder. Having a background in woodworking, along with playing guitar, I was able to more easily get a manufacturing position. Tip #1: Get accustomed with hand and power tools! I was lucky enough to find a job with Cordoba guitars, the type of small, custom shop I was looking for. Though it may seem cool to work for big companies like Fender or Taylor you will most likely find yourself one of a hundred in an assembly line, doing the same thing every day. That may seem okay to you at first cause, heck!, you're building guitars! Right?! ;) But you will most likely burn out and be left with a very limited resume.
Cordoba Master series (Torres, Hauser, Rodriguez, Reyes)
You also may know how hard it is to find online job listings for "acoustic guitar builder" and the like so I have a tip for that too: Tip #2: Find some companies or builders/luthiers that you like and check out there website or contact them about jobs and apprenticeships. Like with musicians in similar genres it's a small world, so once you get your foot in the door and meet some people, you'll realize how everybody knows everybody. So, if you are looking to work or apprentice in a guitar shop, do some research! A great resource for finding these builders is The Fretboard Journal. They have great interviews with guitar, mandolin, and other instrument builders in their magazine, but I especially like their podcasts you can listen to here or on iTunes here and here.
And as always, enjoy the video!! -E :) P.S. It's pretty awesome! ;)
It's great to be back online after the long break!
Now, I know I told you all the news I was moving back to California but I didn't tell you the "whys" and "hows".
I got a job as a guitar builder, aka guitar luthier!
What most of you may not know about me is that I have worked construction my whole life with my father. (I even made my first guitar when I was 10 out of scrap wood. Let me tell you, it was beautiful! ;) haha!)
I know instruments and I know woodworking. So when I came across a job opening at Cordoba Guitars in Oxnard, right next to my home town of Ventura, I jumped at it!
I have now been working here for about 4 months and it has been wonderful! Our shop here in the U.S. is no big ol' production line. No, we have a shop of 5 people (including me) who build the Master series guitars and cool prototypes.
All the guys at the shop-yes, not surprisingly I'm the only lady on site ;)-are super skilled at what they do and are just great people to work with and learn from.
We have a big guitar show coming up which we're getting ready for and we are in the proses of building two beautiful limited edition Torres and Hausers.
Hauser (left) and Torres (right) w/ granadillo back and sides.
Cordoba just recently came out with some cool videos with behind the scenes of our shop. You can even spot me here and there in both videos. (I'm the one with the short blonde hair and denim shop apron.) ;)
In the shop I take the guitar once it has been assembled and will do everything from binding, neck carving, truss rods, fret boards and frets, to bridges, nuts, saddles, tuners, and setup.
I'm super proud to be a part of Cordoba; we put out some killer guitars!
And with that I will leave you with a sampling:
Enjoy!
