Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Rick Walker on June 21, 2015 at 2:12am

I build cigar box and cigar box style instruments using traditional guitar building methods.  I hand carve the necks, use proper internal bracing, and pay close attention to the tone and intonation of the finished product.  I suppose, for all intents and purposes, I am a luthier, however, at the end of the day it's all about the joy of the build for it's own sake.  I don't refer to myself as a luthier and don't much care how others choose to label what I do.   

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Permalink Reply by Blues Frog on June 21, 2015 at 2:27pm

In the end, it doesn't matter what I'm called, just what I've created. Like this one, my latest creation.

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Permalink Reply by gary sheldon on June 21, 2015 at 2:31pm

very nice creation.

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Permalink Reply by Blues Frog on June 21, 2015 at 2:32pm

Thank You

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Permalink Reply by Michael Fred Johnson on June 21, 2015 at 11:54pm

That's a great looking build.Did you add the binding around the edge?

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Permalink Reply by BP - RabidSalad - on June 21, 2015 at 3:14am

 A mixing of both worlds, crafting a functional product using artisan methods - Artuthiers 

Can I make labels now???  :)

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Permalink Reply by Monterey on June 21, 2015 at 3:01pm

As my Grandpa used to say, "you can call me anything you want, just don't call me late to dinner"

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Permalink Reply by Wade on June 22, 2015 at 2:14am

I had a self proclaimed luthier take a look at my work last year and he said " I've been copying great guitars for the past 20 years, I think I've been going in the wrong direction!" I think I made a convert! There are some builders out there who are missing out on the fun of building without any rules.

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Permalink Reply by Clarky on June 22, 2015 at 3:15am

I've never had to name what I do so wouldn't know what to call it.  I just sometimes say I build cigar box guitars, but I can't be bothered giving myself a title over it.  Wade's comment about the luthier is interesting to me.  I've learned the basics of how to make a decent cigar box guitar but I'm not interested in making the perfect instrument to suit people's ideas of what they should look like or how they are put together.  I do it for me and for fun.  Shaping a neck from an old post with a tool that cost me £4 is where the fun is at for me.

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Permalink Reply by Bama Hound on June 23, 2015 at 11:56pm

The answer to this question can be answered with another question, What do you call the person with the poorest grades that comes out of medical school? The answer is of coarse Doctor. What do you call the class Valedictorian? The answer is the same, Doctor. Some Doctors are general practitioners and some are specialist. I say to apply the word luthiers to what we do requires the same thought process. Some of us are capable of working the Emergency Room on a Saturday night in Chicago and some of us should stick to working Monday, when all the patient needs is a pat on the head and an excuse not to be at work. We all fall somewhere between these two levels of expertise.

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Permalink Reply by Thomas "Duck" Petry on June 28, 2015 at 5:15pm

WOW!! What a stirred up pile of poop. I went to wood shop in junior high school and auto shop and machine shop for four years in high school. Went to work in machine shops right out of high school and after near 20 years became an aircraft tool & die/experimental machinist with all my skills learned on the job, not in trade schools or college. I still feel that among my job skills I can rightfully call myself a professional aircraft tool and die maker. After close to 30 years in the machinist trade I got bored and dropped out. Had a vintage aircraft that needed restoring and with the guidance of a friend who was a licensed aircraft mechanic did a 4 year plus renovation from the bare tubing up, new wood spars in the wings and full recover of all of the fabric. I did all the work, my friend just observed and signed off the necessary paperwork. When I got done he told me that he would sign me off for the tests to get my airframe and power plant licenses. I bought the necessary books, studied on my own and took the tests and passed al three tests with scores over 95% and got my FAA Aircraft mechanics license. After four years as a self employed A&P Mechanic working in vintage aircraft restoration, specializing in wood and steel tube fabric covered aircraft I again studied on my own and took the test to get my inspector authorization. Again I can proudly refer to my skill set as a "FAA Licensed A&P Mechanic".

Through all those years as a hobby I have spent many happy hours as a hot rodder/drag racer and have never been payed for those activities and in 2012, just because it sounded like fun, I built my first CBG. I'm retired now from the Aviation part of my life and any machining or welding that I do is on parts for the race car or street toy and all of my wooden structures while assembled to aircraft standards are built for fun and sound pretty when played by "real musicians".

If someone asked me for a job title of what I do it would probably be "Hot Rodder". When asked about my CBGs I would just say I make them for fun so I guess "Maker" is about as good a title as I could come up with, but "Box and Stick Stringed Instrument Builder" works too.

The bottom line is I think "Luthier" is fine if you like it and probably will impress some people, but at the end of the day I doubt that any title really matters. Is anyone of us going to be remembered 200 years from now as "The Stradivarius of Cigar Box Guitar Builders"? Just my two cents worth, as I sign my e-mails...

Life is good on the lunatic fringe, Tom

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Permalink Reply by TN Twang on June 29, 2015 at 3:42am

Scary part is that many of us (certainly including me) have devoted more time and effort to deciding what to call ourselves than we have to mastering the various formulas for fret spacing or deciding how best to compensate a bridge. Speaks to our priorities. Now I'm starting to worry...

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