Classical Guitar Making: A Modern Approach to Traditional Design

by John S. Bogdanovich

What a thrill for any musician: playing a fine-sounding instrument that he or she has lovingly crafted from scratch. With this richly illustrated manual, well-known luthier and guitarist John Bogdanovich shows exactly how to build that first, beautiful guitar, using traditional, time-tested methods. All that's required are basic woodworking techniques and a minimally equipped shop. Bogdanovich discusses the anatomy of the guitar, sound, choosing an...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1402720602
• ISBN13: 9781402720604
• Release Date: February 2007
• Publisher: Union Square & Co.
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 3.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 8.7" x 11.0"

Customer Reviews

The best one I read

This book is an example of passion with the guitar. It's well written, beautifully photographed covering all steps of classical guitar construction that follows a high grade standard. Even if you don't want to build a guitar, buy it just for the beauty of its pages. I have bought a lot of books about lutherie, but this is one is far the best. It makes evident in every detail how Mr Bogdanovich loves what he do. Seems to me he had a very good time written it. Go deep!

Excellent...

Very well written and presented, although I agree that there's nothing truly 'modern' here; a formal presentation of lattice bracing or composite tops (10 year old technology) would be needed to earn the 'modern' moniker. But for traditional style building (with interesting personalized wrinkles) it's an excellent text. Highly recommended, and the first true competition for the Cumpaino.

Excellent book

The author starts the budding luthier with the construction of molds and jigs. The order in which this is presented is excellent: by the time you get to the construction of the solera, you should be quite proficient at cutting the outline of the guitar in MDF (medium density fiberboard) with a 14" band saw. My solera turned out very well. A note on materials: John notes that the material for the molds will require two 4' x 8' sheets of 3/4" MDF and 1/2 of a 4' x 8' sheet of 1/2" MDF. 4' x 8' sheets of MDF are VERY HEAVY and impossible to work with in a small shop. I purchased 2' x 4' sheets instead and the results were great. Also, a 2' x 4' sheet 5/8" thick should be substituted for one of the 3/4" sheets, for the lining bender jig. This will save a bit of planing. One should note the typo on page 51: under "Cutting the Pieces," "10 inches wide and 20 inches long" should be "10 inches wide and 24 inches long." On page 58 where John specifies "six pieces 24 1/2 inches x 10 1/2 inches," pieces only 24" x 10 1/2" will do very well. The plan for the caul on page 123 is missing. The author says it was accidentally cut out of the book, and he wrote, "The laminations are masonite thinned down to about .090 to make them easier to bend. I use about four of them. The outer one has sixteen pieces of 3/4 MDF glued from top to bottom along the length as shown on page 123. The pieces that go over rounded areas must be shaped to fit flat on their entire surface." The author will offer printed plans for the guitar at some point in the future. Overall a very nice book. I've just finished bending the sides according to John's instructions and I look forward to the next steps in this very interesting project.

An excellent book for classical guitar makers

This book is sure to please the most discriminating maker of guitars. The photos of all the different phases of guitarmaking are clearly explained with a multitude of colored photos. The language is clear and concise. The illustrations and color photos speak for themselves, of the many varied operations involved in guitar making. My only problem was figuring out how to make a 15ft and 25 ft radius jigs.Of all the 12 books I own on guitarmaking. This book, in my opinion, is the most comprehensive in detailing , every aspect of this demanding and rewarding craft. My hats off to Mr. bogdanovich for an excellent job.

Talk the Talk, Walk the Walk

Jack Bogdanovich's book is a must for anybody who might be considering making his or her own classical guitar, and very interesting for those who like the instrument, but have no plans to build one. If you have a chance to lay hands on one of his guitars, you'll see that he can walk the walk; read this book, and you will know that he can talk the talk, too. I have trouble figuring out which end of a screwdriver to use, but with Jack's book in hand, I think even I might be able to follow his detailed and well-illustrated instructions without hurting myself too bad. It's a steal at this price.