Guitar Building Class 6 November 16, 2017
Class Overview
Challenges of teaching a guitar building class
Final Joining of the Neck to the Body
Truss Rod Layout and Installation
Installing the Fretboard, Bridge and Tuners
Set up
The Box and the Stick... Joined
FINAL THOUGHTS ON TEACHING
Woody believes that the teacher learns the most from preparing and sharing information and knowledge. This is true. I enjoyed the teaching (6 classes; 90 minutes each), had fun and also made a few friends. Each week, I prepared a slide show of 30 minutes or so to start off class. Then a luthiery demonstration of some sort for the last 60 minutes.
I kept thinking that 'luthiery is not a performance art'. Still, all enjoyed... and we learned much.
The classroom projector was more than adequate for my needs. The classroom, however, was on the east side of the building with 8-foot windows to the ceiling... morning class. High-contrast schematic diagrams were the best slides to introduce the novice to the machines, tools and techniques of guitar making. The students asked great questions.
The in-class demonstrations were a bit of a challenge because each week I had to carry and set up the tools, fixtures and wood to be used in that week's demonstration. This requirement began to get tedious after a few weeks and so it was decided to hold the last two classes at the wJs workshop. (d.g.)
The next time I do this (spring 2018), I will have ALL of the demonstration classes at Woody's shop. It's only a couple of miles from the school and should not be an inconvenience to the students. Having demo classes at Woody Strings would also allow for more comprehensive demonstration as all tools and equipment are within easy reach. Questions too, are easier and quicker to answer. It was clear that the students preferred to meet at wJs. The wJs shop, however, is not large and has space enough for only a limited number of visitors. We'll see how that works out next semester.
After the final meeting, the students were very gracious and thanked me for putting together the class which all found unique and informative. This was very gratifying to hear and my main objective was achieved; i.e. there were the same number of students (three) in the class on the first day as there were on the last. Smiles all around.
Below are posted some photos and comments from the last class in which a new guitar was born.
Woody
This concludes Woody's journal entries for October and November (the LLI Guitar Building class). Have a wonderful holiday and remember_ when going home after a dinner party, rarely does one complain of having eaten too little.
Stay healthy and Woody will be back after the first of the year with the December journal.
Woody
Overview: The final class of this semester's Guitar Building course was held at the Woody Strings shop. Final comments on the challenges of teaching a guitar building class of this type are noted below.