With over 25 years of experience and over 500 instruments under his belt, Robert Lee will guide

you through the steps of building your own electric guitar or bass. From the block of wood

to the finished axe, you will get to “know” your instrument. A two week comprehensive course at

the Big Tree Learning Center with a full set up shop and a guy that knows how to build an axe,

you’ll be asking for more after you build your first one.

Please call for the Next Guitar Building Class

Two week course basic course...................................... $2985.00

Material cost is additional and varies by instrument....... $300.00 up

Under the direction of Master Luthier Robert Lee, you will go from the block of wood to a finished guitar or bass in two weeks.  two week  BASIC course, five days per week plus free working day.

  Advanced courses also available.

        WOOD WORKING EXPERIENCE REQUIRED!

The Rock n’ Roll Guitar Building School is where we build solid body electric guitars and basses. We don’t build lutes or banjos or harps. The student learns to build their own guitar under direct guidance and supervision of luthier Robert Lee.  Rob has built instruments for folks all the way from the Kingston Trio to Emmylou Harris to David Crosby to Pete Townshend to the Peter Gabriel Band. He is no stranger to special requests or deadlines. He expects students to roll up their sleeves and WORK. It isn’t a tea time or playground. He has 8 years experience as a college professor and is an Eagle Scout. Rob takes very few excuses for not performing. Being in a wheelchair only means he doesn’t stand up to work. ALL of his instrument have been built since his accident of falling out of a tree 30 years ago.

For first time students, we offer a two-week course consisting of building a solid body, bolt-on neck, electric guitar or bass. Part of the course consists of building the guitar body. All aspects of the construction of a high quality solid body will be covered. The student will have, at the time of completion of this part of the course, a finished body (of domestic and/or exotic wood). The rest of the course involves construction of the neck, from start to finish. Then… we put it all together! We will have a guest speaker for each session.

We are also offering advanced courses which will run higher cost-wise. The Courses are in neck through guitar construction, offered for those with prior guitar building or woodworking experience. Contact us about that.

The application is in PDF format, you will need Adobe Reader to download.

Luthiery Course Outline

Building a Solid body Guitar

In addition to learning about the tools and concepts…

You will also learn the following:

Construction of the body

·         selecting all the right wood

·         how to do a proper glue-joint (if applicable)

·         how to bring the body to proper dimensions

·         locating neck pocket and neck attachment holes

·         final sanding, scraping and contouring of the body

·         finishing options

Additional costs:

·         wood ( $30~$100 average range)

·         finish ( $15 and up )

·         hardware ( $75~$150 )

·         pickups ( $75~$150 )

·         electronics ( $20 average )

·         tools ($ depending on what woodworking tools the student may already have)

Construction of the neck

·         selecting the right wood

·         woodworking the neck to dimensions using both hand and power tools

·         cutting the truss rod cavity, fingerboard construction and installation

·         fretting the fingerboard and inlay of position markers

·         final sanding, scraping and detail work of the neck

·         finishing options

·         installation of the neck to the previously built body

·         stringing up of the instrument and final set up including cutting the nut, wiring and final tuning of the instrument

·         leveling the frets

 Additional costs:

·         wood ($50~$100)

·         fretwire ($10)

·         hardware ($50~$75)

·         truss rod ($20)

·         inlay material ($5~$15)

·         finish ($5 and up)

·         tools ($ varies)

Tools List:

• 2 HP or higher plunge router ( such as Porter Cable 892 )
• a set of ¼" or ½" shank carbide-tipped router bits (these will be discussed with the luthier)
• hand drill such as DeWalt DW100
• drill bits and forstner bits ( sizes to be discussed with luthier )
• various clamps including bar clamps as well as woodworking clamps
• various grits of sandpaper
• various drum sanders ( used with hand drill )

Other tools may include: drill press, band saw and oscillating spindle sander, planer, pin router, arbor press. The tools list above is not a requirement but rather to show the main tools of operation. Having some of the tools listed will allow the student to get comfortable with using them and sometimes not waiting turns for something.

Safety glasses, dust mask and hearing protection can be supplied by us or the student can bring their own. We suggest having your own personal set.

Custom Guitar Building classes are filling up fast. Reservations are made on a first come basis. to reserve your place in the next class Contact The Rock and Roll Guitar Building School.

The application is in PDF format, you will need Adobe Reader to download.