Roberto-Venn Luthiery School Builds!

[TylerRay]

Alright! So I am very excited to say that I have the opportunity to hone in some skills here at the Roberto-Venn | School of Luthiery | Guitar Making & Repair

It's been quite an adjustment going from the Alaskan wilderness to the arid Arizona desert. Despite the heat, my experience here so far has been great! The third week of school has just wrapped up.

The school itself has been top notch. The information given and workflow has been set up to give you a thorough understanding of guitar construction and wood choice. Even though I have learned a great deal through online research into Luthiery, Roberto-Venn is proving to shed a great deal of light into a lot of technical aspects of guitar making and repair.

The aim of this thread is to document the builds and hopefully give everyone a good idea of what they could expect out of luthiers school. Onto the pics

Tool seminar "Tele" body build

Design ideas..

Acoustic fret board, neck and tail block

El Norteno's carne asada cheese crisp

Sitka spruce top acoustic

Hardware options... I'm going with a Kahler Trem.

Dat Top

 

[ElysianGuitars]

Hope you find it worth your while. Say hi to Kris for me You're smart to go during the fall, spring got super hot by the end.

When you're done you should highly consider trying to get a job at Collings, it's a great place to work and you'll really hone your skills and learn a lot. They actually care that they're putting out top quality instruments.

 

[DredFul]

My body is ready

 

[russmuller]

Nice!!! As a local, I'm tempted to attend. Definitely subscribing.

 

[TylerRay]

Hope you find it worth your while. Say hi to Kris for me You're smart to go during the fall, spring got super hot by the end.

When you're done you should highly consider trying to get a job at Collings, it's a great place to work and you'll really hone your skills and learn a lot. They actually care that they're putting out top quality instruments.

Thanks, Adam. Kris is cool as shit, I'll let him know you said hi. He keeps it real fa sho.

 

[TylerRay]

Nice!!! As a local, I'm tempted to attend. Definitely subscribing.

You would probably dig it. If you haven't already, you should drop in and check the place out. The instructors would probably be able to show you around. The only real drawback is that there are 40 other students using the same equipment as you, and some of them are coming straight from high school ...

 

[gigawhat]

Damn, I've been trying to go to RV since 2007, just never worked out that I can, I have tuition covered, it's mainly day to day living costs that have kept me from going, but even still I plan on making it out there sometime in the next few years. Where are you staying and are you planing on finding a weekend job?

 

[TheHumanMeat]

Haha great to see you posting. This is Trey. Im in the same class as you. Here is my sycamore top for my tele style build. http://i.imgur.com/FSG6pwq.jpg

 

[TylerRay]

Damn, I've been trying to go to RV since 2007, just never worked out that I can, I have tuition covered, it's mainly day to day living costs that have kept me from going, but even still I plan on making it out there sometime in the next few years. Where are you staying and are you planing on finding a weekend job?

I'm staying at the Oasis on Grande apartments just down the road from the school. They are a low income housing that works with the school to get people places to stay. I was able to get some grants to cover my housing cost luckily, so all I really have to worry about is food lol. Rent is just above $400 a month for a studio. Total monthly living cost for me with housing breaks out to around $7-800 a month.

 

[TylerRay]

Haha great to see you posting. This is Trey. Im in the same class as you. Here is my sycamore top for my tele style build. http://i.imgur.com/FSG6pwq.jpg

Shit man, I'm really bad with putting names to faces.. Sick top though lol.

 

[gigawhat]

I'm staying at the Oasis on Grande apartments just down the road from the school. They are a low income housing that works with the school to get people places to stay. I was able to get some grants to cover my housing cost luckily, so all I really have to worry about is food lol. Rent is just above $400 a month for a studio. Total monthly living cost for me with housing breaks out to around $7-800 a month.

Right on, at the time I was fresh out of high school and living with my parents so grants and financial aid were a little harder for me to qualify for. Now I'm about to be 27 and I have a kid, so maybe it's time I looked into it again. Thanks for your response, got me thinking now!

 

[ledbthand]

The only real drawback is that there are 40 other students using the same equipment as you

That was a downside for sure.

Make sure to ask as many question as possible if your not sure about something. Trust me, doing something over from 5 steps ago is a real PITA.

Take a lot of notes and all the pictures you can of all the jigs.

Also, try to keep a written running tab on all the parts, wood, ect. you've gotten so you're not sticker shocked at the end when Bart is like "Btw you ran over your materials budget by $700. Cash or check?" haha

 

[TylerRay]

Things have been moving along. I unfortunately came down with appendicitis and had to have emergency surgery which set me back a little, but I'm just about caught up. Both the acoustic and electrics are starting to take shape nicely. At this point my specs are pretty locked in:
Electric
-Mahogany Body w/ Maple Top
-Maple Bolt-on Neck w/ Ebony Board
-Kahler Trem
-EMG JH Set
-Trans Grey Stain w/ Thin Black Burst
-Hipshot Keystone Tuners
-Black hardware

Acoustic
-OM Body Style
-Sitka Spruce Top
-Chachimbo Back and Sides
-Koa Binding
-Ebony Board

Progress shots:

 

[TylerRay]

Moving right along. It's been really interesting learning about acoustic guitar construction. Also got to get started on my favorite aspect of building, inlay!!

 

[crowbar1115]

LOVE the inlays!! Glad the surgery didn't hold you back.

 

[TylerRay]

^Thanks!

 

[ElysianGuitars]

The RV Facebook page just posted this:

Both of Tyler's guitars, looking good.

Actually, did you make a 3rd? That one in the middle looks like your style sort of.

I can't believe they let someone do a fanned fret build. They've really changed their style there!

 

[electriceye]

Whoa, holy ambitious inlays, Batman!

Also, what are those blue clamps called? The ones you used to glue the body blanks together.

 

[ElysianGuitars]

Whoa, holy ambitious inlays, Batman!

Also, what are those blue clamps called? The ones you used to glue the body blanks together.

36 in. Aluminum Bar Clamp

 

[House74]

DAT FANNED 8