Perfectly mitered purflings…French Polish…book-matched sets….scalloped bracing – are you excited? Maybe not yet, but today I want to share a little bit about one of my great loves – guitars (and for this post, I’ll focus primarily on acoustic guitars). Not the music of guitars (which I also love and could write an entire post solely on that); not the playing of guitars (I do play my guitars, but I’m a mediocre player at best); but the instruments themselves. I apologize in advance – this is a long post, and in the future, I may consider splitting up posts like these into several installments. I hope you find it enjoyable and informative, especially for those that admire guitars but don’t know that much about how they are crafted.
People who make guitars are called luthiers, and if you asked a gathering of luthiers (yes, there are such things!) whether they consider themselves artists, I think the clear majority would say “no”, that they are craftsman. But I would suggest that surely there is artistry in their craft – hence the title of this blog post. I’m not sure this applies to all luthiers, or all guitars – but certainly I find myself admiring some guitars as I would a work of art. Some of my friends would argue that that only highlights my lack of understanding of what art is – and I’d probably agree with that. 
But the great Brahms once said “Without craftsmanship, inspiration is a mere reed shaken in the wind.” And there are aesthetic choices that go way beyond the production of sound or tone when making a guitar. For me, the way that these choices integrate into the instrument can produce beauty that is completely independent of how the guitar sounds. Those who are fans of Robert Pirsig’s great book “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” will understand what I mean. Of course, there are guitar players out there that cringe at folks like me – they see guitars as purely instruments used to convey their own art – their music – and don’t really care, necessarily, how the guitar looks. But I do play my guitars (only for myself, and not very well) – its just that I have a further interest and love in 
their aesthetic aspects. I like their shape (clearly inspired by women); I like the way they combine materials (wood; steel; bone; shell); I like the way they smell (certain types of wood have distinctive fragrances even on a finished guitar); I like the way they feel and respond when you play them (whoa, as I wrote this it started to seem a little…erotic – I’m not going there, but others have written about this as well). And once I learned a little more about the crafting of guitars, I came to appreciate them even more – the extreme attention to detail in constructing a well-made guitar is amazing.
The various parts of a guitar make up the form that contributes to the function – producing sound through plucking strings. The top of the guitar is the 
soundboard that vibrates sympathetically from the energy of the strings and increases the projection of sound. The back and sides form the body of the guitar, along with the soundboard. The soundhole provides another avenue for sound waves to project from the guitar. The neck provides a structural component that, along with the bridge and headstock, contain the tremendous pressures imposed by the strings. The fretboard allows for changing the pitch of individual strings. The nut guides the strings to their end points on the tuners, which are mechanical devices to allow for tuning. When building a guitar, all these components must be constructed in just the right way to produce the desired sound or tone – and each luthier, while generally building from a similar “template” if they are producing a 6-string acoustic guitar, will construct their guitars in a unique or proprietary manner. Beyond the form, there are numerous aesthetic choices, and some that are 
combinations of aesthetic and function. The choice of material for tuner buttons, for example, is purely an aesthetic choice. Or the various woods and other materials that make up the rosette (the decorative ring around the sound hole). But wood choices for the soundboard, and the back and sides, are a combination of function (different woods, typically called “tonewoods”, produce different tones) and aesthetics. So, the specification for a custom-built guitar follows a pattern which considers both elements – function and aesthetics.
Tone
Let me digress for a moment to talk about one of my favourite online forums for acoustic guitars – the Acoustic Guitar Forum or AGF. 
This is a great resource for all lovers of acoustic guitars – for players, from beginners to professionals; and for luthiers as well – I highly encourage you to visit the site. But – they can be a hard-core bunch and will argue over the most minute detail – and tone is one of the most popular and divisive topics. I daresay there is a post somewhere on the forum that argues that the choice of material for tuner buttons contributes to the tone of the guitar. While there may be some validity to the argument that all parts of a guitar somehow contribute to its tone, I would argue that the human ear cannot perceive the difference. Well – certainly not my ear. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve found that I’ve regressed with respect to discerning visual and aural quality differences. Years ago I was a true A/V nut – I had to have the latest technology; I would argue vigorously about the tonal superiority of one speaker vs another; I would fiddle with various adjustments on my equipment to produce, in my opinion, the most superior audio or visual experience, and convince myself that I could tell the 
difference. You know the type – or maybe you don’t. The interesting thing is, as technology became cheaper and cheaper, it became more accessible. It also became more ubiquitous. And as I got older, I found that I cared less and less about fine distinctions of quality. Even cheap TV’s these days produce stunning picture. The same is generally true for audio – and I think we care less about quality than we do about convenience these days. Anyway, I’ve gone off on a tangent – but the point is, as I’ve gotten older, I find I care less about super fine distinctions of tonal quality. At the end of the day, there are so many other variables that are going to contribute to that sound reaching our ears, and then our brains, that I think this obsessive focus on creating a particular tone is a fool’s errand.
The Luthier’s Process
I can hear Steve Kinnaird’s tongue in cheek response to this section title – “Process?….I didn’t know we had a process!”. Steve is being tongue in cheek – he is one of the finest luthiers in the US, and currently building a guitar for me. As for process, from my experience it really varies from luthier to luthier. There are some that build guitars in a serial fashion, focusing on one at time, and not starting a new one until the current one is finished. There are some that work in small batches – essentially doing several guitars at once, and then moving on to another batch. And there are even some that do their annual production in a completely batch fashion. Jim Olson , arguably one of the most 
well-known and respected custom luthiers in the world, currently builds around 30-40 guitars a year – by himself. He moves through this process by completing all the component parts, and assembly, and finishing, in batches. For example, one week he’ll only work on necks – he will complete all the necks for his entire year’s commissions over the course of several weeks. He’ll then move on to all the other components in batch fashion – cutting, 
sanding, and bracing the soundboards; forming the back and sides; etc. This allows him to focus on one task at a time. I find the whole process fascinating. A luthier’s workshop will have a large variety of tools – some powered, some not – large, small – and typically very well organized. The attention to detail is spectacular – tiny mitered joints, for example, on 
purflings (an ornamental border) and bindings (the edges where the top and bottom of the guitars are joined to the sides). I once had a friend who swore that these couldn’t be inlayed wood, they had to be painted on because the lines and tolerances were so tight! No – unless you have an inexpensive 
factory produced guitar, those purfling lines are inlayed and mitered by hand. Prior to the build process, there is another whole process between the luthier and the buyer – the specification process. Depending upon the luthier, this can either be very custom, with many, many choices and back/forth; or it can be minimal, where you pick a standard model with standard features (the guitar is still handmade, but to a standard specification). When I had my Olson guitar built, other than picking the wood, and fret marker, I pretty much went with a standard Olson SJ model. However, with my current build, I am very focused and involved in having Steve and Ryan (Ryan Middlebrook, another luthier who works with Steve) build a very personal, custom guitar.
Wood
It all starts with wood. Acoustic guitars are, at their core, wooden instruments – and I think a large part of my love of the artistry of guitars is my love of wood. I love that it’s an organic material that was once alive. It’s unique – no two pieces of wood are identical. There are an almost endless variety of woods, with lots of different characteristics – color; grain; density; porosity; 
strength; etc. Wood is also one of the things I love about Maine – we are a state with vast timber reserves; we are covered with it! If I think about Maine, I think about forest; coast; stone – those are its basic elements. Maine also is home to another one of the US’s best luthiers – Dana Bourgeois. With his workshop in Lewiston, Dana and his team have been building world class instruments for over 40 years. Dana has written extensively about wood in guitar building, I once owned one of Dana’s guitars – #1 in a series of 15 guitars he built for his 40th anniversary building guitars. A mahogany guitar with a torrefied (more on that later) Adirondack spruce top, the guitar was stunning. Unfortunately, I never really bonded with the guitar – for my playing style and sound preference, it never really fit for me. But the wood – look at the figuring in the mahogany; the grain in the 
soundboard; the exotic look of the fretboard and bridge, using a wood known as snakewood. More than anything in a guitar, I love the way that contrasting woods can come together to produce sound and beauty in one package. Years ago, acoustic guitars were primarily made from rosewood (East Indian or Brazilian) for back and sides; and spruce (typically Sitka spruce) for the soundboard. Yes, there were certainly other woods used – mahogany; cedar; etc. but these wood choices made up the large majority of guitars. Over time, unfortunately, many of the once common woods used for guitars have become endangered and protected. Brazilian rosewood was the first to get widespread protection, but others have followed. To be clear, the over harvesting and poor management of these trees was not driven primarily by the guitar industry (which represents a tiny portion of the use of these woods) – but nevertheless, it is becoming more difficult to source these once 
common woods. I am fortunate enough to have a Brazilian rosewood guitar built by Jim Olson – it looks and sounds beautiful – that was built using wood harvested prior to the restrictions. However, it’s an instrument that I won’t travel with outside of the US (it will probably never see Argentina), because I won’t risk it getting seized by customs (even though it was legally harvested, I won’t risk an overzealous customs agent putting me through months of grief). But the wood choices have really expanded as luthiers have become increasingly creative and adventurous in their choice of woods – woods like Bubinga; Pernambuco; Sycamore; Koa; Cocobolo; Kauri; Myrtlewood. For a good luthier, his/her wood locker is core to their craft.
Shape/Size
Did you always assume that guitars were more or less standard with respect to shape and size? I once did, but over time I’ve found that there are a wide variety of choices. The basic choices include width and length of the 
fretboard; number of frets; size and shape of the neck; depth of the body; and shape of the body (if the body is slightly hourglass shape, the upper bout is the top part of the hourglass, the lower bout is the bottom part), including width of the upper bout, lower bout, and waist. There isn’t a standard nomenclature for shape and body size – you’ll see designations like OO, OOO, OM, Dreadnought, Parlor; SJ; Jumbo; etc. – and while it gives people a sense of the shape/size, each luthier will have his own models and specifications. The dreadnought shape/size was (and probably still is in terms of numbers) the most popular in the US. All my earlier guitars were dreadnoughts, but as I have aged (and have 
shoulder issues), and my guitar playing style has evolved, I now prefer smaller guitars. I think this is a typical pattern, and I suspect most luthiers will tell you that they rarely do dreadnoughts for custom commissions. Take a look at Ed Sheeran – a fantastic guitarist by the way. He uses a ¾ size guitar 
made by Martin, called an LX1. In addition, luthiers these days are finding additional ways to accommodate comfort, particularly for us old guys! Some will incorporate a bevel on the transition from side to top, instead of a 90-degree angle, to provide additional comfort.
Soundboard
The soundboard is the thin top wood of the guitar. This is the component of the guitar that contributes the most to the overall tone of a guitar. The 
characteristics a luthier is looking for is light but stiff, with enough elasticity to produce harmonics and overtones. Historically, Spruce was the “go to” material for most guitar soundboards, and in particular, Sitka Spruce. There are, however, many other materials that are commonly used, each providing different tonal characteristics – including Cedar, Maple Redwood, Mahogany, and Koa. Luthiers also select soundboard materials for aesthetics, some of which contribute to the tonal characteristics (such as uniformity of grain). Dana Bourgeois, the Maine luthier I mentioned before, is a strong proponent of “tonal tapping” for selecting the best soundboards. In this process, he acoustically taps the soundboards in different locations, listening for certain harmonics and resonance, and then selecting those that meet his acoustic criteria. Others don’t believe in tonal tapping at all – and focus instead on the 
bracing used for the soundboard – each luthier uses a proprietary design for their bracing, attempting to produce a consistent tone in their instruments. The braces are typically custom shaped for each soundboard – with the intent on minimizing weight and maximizing strength and stiffness in certain directions. I’m not sure about tap tones, but I do believe that 70% or more of the tonal characteristics of an acoustic guitar come from the soundboard – so this is where I focus on the type of tonal characteristics I’m looking for – whether it’s the sweeter, broader range of a Sitka Spruce or the warmer, lusher tones of a cedar, the soundboard wood choice is going to define the general tone of your guitar. There has also 
been a trend to offer soundboard tops that have been torrefied – essentially cooked in a low oxygen environment. The idea is to replicate the effects of aging by cooking off some of the volatile compounds in the soundboard. It also produces a wonderful dark shade to a lighter Spruce top. I’m not sure that I necessarily believe in the ageing effects of torrefaction – but I do like the visual aspects. My Bourgeois had a torrefied Adirondack Spruce top – you can see how the torrefication process darkened the wood.
Back/Sides
The back and side woods on an acoustic guitar are also tonewoods – their selection will drive, in part, the tonal characteristics of the guitar, although not nearly to the same extent as the soundboard. If the soundboard contributes 70% of the tone of the guitar, I think the back and sides contribute about 25% 
of the tone. Others would vehemently disagree with this observation – these distinctions on what contributes to tone are endlessly argued. But for me, that’s about the right contribution. So, while the back and sides are also selected with some regard to the tonal characteristics they will contribute, the aesthetic qualities are probably a much bigger driver here. The selection of woods for the back and sides is much broader than for the top – and these days, there is quite a 
large range indeed. I’ve already mentioned some of these, but the list, as I’ve found, is seemingly endless. In addition to the general type of wood, there are also many grain distinctions – from general straight grain woods to those that are highly figured – quilting; spalting; burled; curly; etc. Interestingly enough, while some of these are a result of the way the wood is milled, many are the result of injury or disease (like burled walnut) or fungi (like 
spalted maple). Another visually striking characteristic of certain woods is chatoyance, or the cats eye effect. This is similar to the light refraction you might see in certain gemstones, like tiger’s eye. The effect in wood can be stunning, and is enhanced by polishing and finishing techniques. Again, like with the soundboard, selection of the back and side wood is partially driven by tone you are looking for. Density plays a large part here – I tend to like the sounds produced by more dense woods, like Rosewoods. For me, they produce more overtones and harmonics than less dense woods like Mahogany and Maple (although I have a wonderful 12-string maple guitar that has a beautiful crisp, sound). In addition, there is a tonal interaction between the top 
wood, and the back and sides, that must be considered when selecting woods for your guitar. Finally, one thing I like to point out to people – when you are playing a guitar, the back of that guitar is towards your body – nobody sees it. Yet many of us spend a lot of time trying to pick the perfect back from a visual perspective. I think this demonstrates how many of us love the craftsmanship and artistry of the instrument – even for elements that we only see when we aren’t playing the guitar.
Fretboard/Bridge/Saddle/Nut
Some of the other components of a guitar also contribute to functional and tonal qualities, but not to the same extent as for the top, back, and sides. For 
fretboards, the wood of choice has historically been ebony – and for me, this is still my favourite material for the fretboard. For the fretboard, you need something that can take a beating (so you want hard and dense) and is smooth (so tight pores and oily). Rosewood is also a fretboard material choice, but I prefer Ebony. There are increasingly some exotic choices as well, that can provide some visual contrast – Snakewood is one of these, although it’s a material some luthiers find difficult to work. The bridge is the component that transfers (along with the saddle) the vibrations of the strings to the 
soundboard, so you want something that doesn’t absorb vibrations – you want hard and dense like the fretboard. And again, Rosewood and Ebony are the woods of choice for the fretboard. However recently, I chose a very unusual bridge for my latest guitar – it’s made from African Blackwood and has a section of sapwood (lighter colored) running along it. 
The African Blackwood has similar characteristics as Ebony. There are many different shapes to bridges – these are generally aesthetic choices. Here are a few interesting ones. 
The saddle is the thinner vertical material wedged into the bridge which keeps the strings a certain distance from the fretboard (this distance, known as the action, is very important in playing – too high and it’s difficult to fret the strings, too low and the strings will hit the frets when vibrating, causing a buzz. For the saddle, the materials are typically a synthetic (usually one called Tusq); bone; or ivory (sometimes fossil ivory). While I’m not too selective on this component, I typically prefer bone or ivory, 
as I believe that synthetic materials tend to absorb too much of the energy in the strings. The nut is the strip of material at the top of the fretboard that the strings angle over prior to terminating on the tuners, and sets the spacing of the strings (which is very important to comfort and playing style). Materials are similar as those for saddles.
Neck
Guitar necks are made from a wide range of materials and come in a wide range of shapes/sizes. Since this component contributes significantly to comfort of the fretting hand, its important to get the shape right. It’s hard to comment in detail on this – you really have to try different guitars to understand. With respect to materials, though, I generally leave this to the 
luthier. The neck is extremely important to long term playability and stability of the guitar – it holds a lot of stress, and this component really is extremely important. As a result, I generally prefer luthiers to use a laminated neck – one that is made of 3-5 ply’s, often with a rosewood center and maple or mahogany ply’s. You need the neck to not warp from the significant stress they hold over a long period of time, and a neck carved from a single block of wood is usually too weak in some direction to provide stability over time. One thing that many non-guitar folks don’t realize is that there is a steel rod down the center of the neck, called the truss rod. The truss rod, which is typically adjustable, provides additional strength and can be adjusted for tension.
Headstock/Tuners
The headstock (also called peghead) is the piece of wood at the top of the 
neck, which holds the guitar tuners (also called tuning machines, machine heads, tuning pegs, or tuning gears). Headstocks are typically a separate piece of wood, glued to the neck with a joint, and usually have a veneer wood on the front and back. They can either be 
solid or slotted – I don’t really like the slotted style, but many guitar players prefer the look. Again, for materials, I usually let the luthier choose the core material, and I select the veneer material. The headstock shape is typically unique to the luthier, and the headstock is also where the luthier usually puts his/her logo (typically an inlay). 
As for the tuners, you will find lots of arguments and discussions on this component as well. There are many good manufacturers of tuners, in many different styles. I like Gotoh tuners, but there are other good tuners (Waverly and Grovers are good as well). It’s important to get high quality tuning machines – you want the guitar to tune easily and stay in tune.
Purflings; Bindings; Rosettes; backstrip; end graft; heel; pickguard; bridge pins
There are lots of other little details associated with an acoustic guitar. Bindings and purflings provide protective and decorative elements to the 
edges of the various guitar surfaces. The rosette, around the soundhole, is purely decorative. The soundhole itself does provide some sound transmittal, although not as much as many people think. However, there are different sizes you can choose. Increasingly popular are 
sound ports – these are additional holes in the sides of the guitars, which allow the guitar player to hear more of what his/her audience hears. I don’t have any guitars with sound ports, however my current build with Mr. Kinnaird will have one. End grafts and heels provide 
additional surfaces for decorative/protective elements. Pickguards can also provide protection and decoration – but I generally don’t like pickguards, so leave them off (and I’m not an aggressive strummer). 
Bridge pins are the little pins on the bridge that stabilize the strings in the bridge. I tend to view them as decorative elements, but some people get very passionate about bridge pin material’s contribution to sound.
Inlays (Bling!)
And finally, we have the purely decorative elements of inlays – generally referred to as bling. This is where personal tastes dominate – some people 
like a lot of bling, others do not. I tend to be somewhat conservative. Even on inlays for fret position markers, I prefer to be very understated. I do like some inlay, and it’s a great way to personalize a guitar. Inlay materials can vary as much
as the creativity of the luthier or inlay artist – including abalone, copper, steel, silver, wood, enamel. I find that some luthiers like to do there own inlays and are inlay artists in their own right. Others prefer to work with a specialized inlay artist for anything other than simple inlays. Larry Robinson is one of the world’s foremost inlay artist – he has literally written the book on inlays (The Art of Inlay). Martin guitars commissioned him to inlay Martin’s 1,000,000th guitar (the picture that leads this section)– while the inlay work is amazing, that one is not my style. Here is another Larry Robinson inlay on a 
rosette – this one was a clever M.C. Escher-ish fish and bird pattern. My preference is to utilize some inlays for accents – I like the look of Blue Paua (a type of abalone) purfling inlays around the body of the guitar, an even outlining the fretboard and the headstock. In the evening, these 
purflings look spectacular – they subtly glow. In addition, I like to have a small inlay done on the truss rod cover. The truss rod cover is a small, typically triangular shaped, piece of wood on the headstock which covers 
the access hole for the truss rod. It is generally made of ebony, and is a great place to do a small, personalized inlay. For my all Koa guitar, I commissioned a wood inlay from Bill Nichols, a well-known inlay artist to play off the Hawaiian wood – very beautiful, understated, and personal/unique to my guitar. 
For my Olson guitar, I was fortunate that Jim Olson works with Larry Robinson and was able to refer me to Larry. I told Larry I wanted to come up with something that reminded me of Maine, so I had sent him some pictures, 
including a few of Hawthorne trees with berries in winter. He came back with a sketch, and then completed this beautiful inlay with African Pink Ivory, Koa, and white mother of pearl.
The Build
The build process for the luthier includes hundreds of distinct steps, from selecting and cutting woods, to finishing. This includes routing, sanding, 
gluing, scraping, cutting, binding…a dizzying array of steps! These instruments are handcrafted, and the work that goes into them is stunning. Rather than describe every step, I’m just going to show you several pictures (some from my builds) 
which give you a sense of the craftsmanship involved. The work is physically demanding – for example, scraping down purflings to make them flush with the surface is done by hand. Mark Hatcher, a luthier in New 
Hampshire, builds some of the most outstanding guitars I have ever seen. He is not only a great craftsman, he is an artist. I was particularly taken by a recent guitar Mark built, called the “Lullaby Guitar”, for a player who wanted a small guitar he could use to play
for his children at night. Take a look at the rosette Mark designed and inlayed, along with his very unique, and exquisite headstock design. He is truly an artist. One of 
the last steps is finishing. Like with inlays, some luthiers prefer to send their guitars off to a specialist for finishing. This is a much more important step than many people realize. 
Not purely decorative, finishing must be done carefully to preserve the sound qualities of the tonewoods used in construction. There are many different finishing materials preferred by luthiers, including resins, lacquers, and shellacs. 
Most standard finishes are sprayed on, but some Luthiers prefer using a technique known as French Polish, which involves multiple coats of shellac that are rubbed into the wood – it is a demanding process full of technique. The finish can make or break a guitar – apply too much and you will dampen the sound; apply too little and the wood will not be protected. Apply incorrectly and you will see little blemishes, sometimes called “checking”, appear over time. The luthier is looking for the thinnest, strongest finish that balances protection, beauty, longevity, and tonal characteristics.
As detailed (and excruciatingly long!) as this post has been, there is actually even more to building a guitar than I’ve mentioned here. I’m passionate about guitars – this obviously stems first from my love of guitar music (rooted, I am 
sure, from my upbringing in the 60’s and 70’s), and has, over time, extended to the artistry and craftsmanship inherent in building these amazing instruments. Every time I pick up one of my instruments, I admire the work that went into their construction – many, many hours of 
care and attention to detail. Based on what I suspect are the ages of most of the participants on the AGF, I fear that there is a younger generation that does not have the same connection to these instruments as I think my generation has. I hope that’s not true, and I hope there are some of you that will get
just a little more intrigued about guitars, and maybe one of you will commission a build of your own one day. While this post has been focused on the craft of guitar building, I hope some of you are inspired to at least learn to play. You don’t have to start with a luthier-built guitar – in fact, you’d be crazy to do that! There are a few guitars I recommend for beginners – good guitars under $500 that you’ll be happy to own for a lifetime, and not afraid of the occasional dings and scratches – just contact me and I’ll provide some recommendations. Some of you have probably said “Someday I’d love to learn how to play guitar” – well get started! Make someday, today!
Credits
We are fortunate to be living in a time where we have such extraordinary luthiers out there, and I encourage you to google around and learn more about their amazing work. As I previously mentioned, the Acoustic Guitar Forum is a great place to start, particularly their Custom Shop section. Some of the luthiers I particularly admire are Jim Olson, Steve Kinnaird, Maine’s own Dana Bourgeios, and Mark Hatcher. Many of the amazing pictures in this post are from Mark Hatcher – I don’t know if Mark takes his own photos, but if so, he can add photography to his list of many talents! Larry Robinson is one of the most respected inlay artists in the US, and I’m proud to have a Larry Robinson inlay! Bill Nichols also does wonderful inlay work. There are many other luthiers out there doing stunning work – people like John Kinnaird (Steve’s Brother), Bruce Sexauer, Tim McKnight, David Wren, John Osthoff, Stephen Strahm, Bruce Petros, Ryosuke Kobayashi, and many, many others – do yourself a favor and check out their work.
