[jhawk]

Hi all,

Brand new to the forum, greetings from northern Utah! My name is Josh.

I currently do 3D architectural renderings for a small company, primarily working in 3DS Max.

I’ve been playing guitar for nearly two decades, and more recently started building guitars. It’s one of my big passions in life.

I’m currently shopping for a CNC router, 2’x4’ work bed, I hope to eventually quit my day job and be a luthier full time. I realize this is at least a few to several years out.

Wish me luck! Excited to be a part of the forum.

Josh

 

[difalkner]

Welcome to the forum, Josh! You can add your first name to your signature line and it will show in each post (otherwise we'll forget...).

I've built one acoustic guitar and have enough wood for about 20-25 more and would love to be building full time. I keep taking on other high-end custom work, though, and guitar building gets pushed back.

Btw, do you know what it takes to make a million dollars as a Luthier? Start with two million... It's hard to make money as a boutique builder unless you have a really good following AND a unique 'hook' to draw people in. I know probably 5-6 Luthiers personally who are building anywhere from 7 to 20 instruments each year and none are rolling in dough, most have other means of income, as well.

But go for it because there's always those one or two guys who are the exception and you might be one of those guys.

Yesterday I saw a large board of 8/4 Curly Mozambique, about 30 bf and probably 22" wide for about $1,200. That's pretty high but I could see where you'd get 5, maybe 6 solid body electric guitars or bass guitars out of it for some really beautiful instruments. I don't build electrics but want to do a few just because they look like fun so I thought about buying it just to have an excuse to go ahead and start building some.

Show us some photos of the instruments you've built so far when you get a chance.

David

 

[jhawk]

Hey thanks David for the welcome!

And although I have heard that lutherie isn’t the most lucrative vocation out there, I still want to give it a go!!

Wow, never heard of Mozambique before—very stunning.

Here are a few pictures of my latest build, a short scale, non-reverse Thunderbird bass (built without CNC):

0814F495-C28E-4CE0-91FE-F50C1E49C537.jpeg

• jhawk
• 12 mo ago

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• jhawk
• 12 mo ago

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• jhawk
• 12 mo ago

58D8E96A-C5CF-4DA2-937E-9C2E926A9ABA.jpeg

• jhawk
• 12 mo ago

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• jhawk
• 12 mo ago

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• jhawk
• 12 mo ago

 

[difalkner]

Nicely done, Josh - very clean work! How do you like it - sound, playability, balance, tone, etc.?

David

 

[jhawk]

Overall I was very happy with how it turned out! It sounds and plays great. The shorter scale makes playing a bit more fun for me, who’s really more of a guitarist than a bassist.

Being a prototype of sorts (it wasn’t a straight-up copy of any existing design), there were a couple things I would have done differently, namely a longer upper horn and a slightly larger body...maybe +7%. This would have made it balance just a tad better. While manageable, it is on the verge of neck-dive.

 

[old55]

Welcome to the forum Josh.

 

[jhawk]

Welcome to the forum Josh.

Thanks Ross!

 

[roxanne562001]

Welcome to the forum Josh very nice work!!

 

[jhawk]

Welcome to the forum Josh very nice work!!

Thank you!

 

[Semipro]

Hello and welcome to the router forum Josh
great work

 

[jhawk]

Hello and welcome to the router forum Josh
great work

Thanks!!

 

[jw2170]

Hi all,

Brand new to the forum, greetings from northern Utah! My name is Josh.

I currently do 3D architectural renderings for a small company, primarily working in 3DS Max.

I’ve been playing guitar for nearly two decades, and more recently started building guitars. It’s one of my big passions in life.

I’m currently shopping for a CNC router, 2’x4’ work bed, I hope to eventually quit my day job and be a luthier full time. I realize this is at least a few to several years out.

Wish me luck! Excited to be a part of the forum.

Josh

Welcome to the forum, Josh.

 

[jhawk]

Welcome to the forum, Josh.

Thank you, James!

 

[papasombre]

very nice execution, Josh.
Welcome to the forum.
I like the contrast of wood with black material, whatever it is.

 

[jhawk]

very nice execution, Josh.
Welcome to the forum.
I like the contrast of wood with black material, whatever it is.

Thank you! The black material at the headstock is ebony. The black material that I used for the pickguard is a vinyl lp of the Beatles “Let It Be” (I found it at a thrift shop in poor condition, so I didn’t feel too bad about sacrificing it!).