Am I A Luthier?

[Julie Moriarty]

Last night there was a band that played at the park adjacent to out house. Their name is ARRA. I got to thinking it would be interesting to see what they thought about one of the guitars I built. So after they were done playing, I walked up to the band with the red/black strat and asked who the lead guitarist was. A guy packing the equipment pointed to a big guy with black hair, "His name is Kevin."

He sees me approaching and we meet. I tell him about the guitar and asked him what he thought. A few minutes later their lead singer came up and asked to try it out. "I'm Ronnie." He picked up the guitar and said, "I like my guitar a bit heavier..." and I thought about the sapele guitar. Then he asks me, "Are you a luthier?"

I didn't know what to say. Am I a luthier?

[Shawn Pixley]

Yes, you are a luthier. Building mutiple guitars that others want to play, makes it so.

[george wilson]

You are more of a luthier than I am at the moment!! I'm too old and tired out to keep building like I used to.

I used to tell the public,when I was running the Musical Instrument Maker's Shop: "I used to be a Methodist,but now I'm a Luthier". Later on,I became a fool for a cool tool.

But,I encourage you to develop your own style of guitars rather than copying Fenders. And,start building acoustics too.

But,by the time you succeed in building those 2 new things,I predict you will have made so many jigs,you will have NO room left to work!!

[Julie Moriarty]

The question stopped me in my tracks because I don't want to make false claims. The guy who asked me will be the new lead singer for Kansas and I figured anyone who has been in the music business long enough to make it to that level deserves as honest an answer as I can give. I only said I make guitars and you're holding one. Maybe to call myself a luthier I needed real luthiers to accept me as such. Thank you.

BTW the way, when I handed the guitar to Ronnie Platt (the guy replacing Steve Walsh in Kansas) he immediately said, "This has nice weight but I like my guitars a bit heavier." That surprised me but I wanted to go back to the house and get the sapele guitar and see what he thought about that. Dan Conner, the lead guitarist, said the action was a bit too high for him but I left it high on purpose. You can always go lower but if someone wants higher action, you have to replace or shim the nut. Overall, both were more complimentary than I expected. Dan told me to email him through their website. I did that yesterday but I'm really not expecting that to go anywhere. Just getting their opinion was good enough for me.

[Brian Blackburn]

You should do a detailed build on tdpri.com. You will have a chance to get feedback from people who know a lot more about being a luthier than I.

[Matt Lau]

You're probably a luthier...an amateur luthier, but a true luthier.

Welcome to the club!

Try some acoustics next.