New England Luthiers  

The New England Luthiers is an association of professionals and amateurs brought together by a common love of making stringed instruments.  Our goal is to share our knowledge and techniques with anyone interested in expanding their understanding of instrument making.  We provide open exchange of information and ideas geared toward the furthering of the craft, and a chance to spend time with others who have the same passion.  Meetings are casual and there are no dues.

If you have been fortunate enough to attend an Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans (A.S.I.A) or Guild of American Luthiers meeting, you know how rewarding and energizing the experience is. The New England Luthiers aim to keep that spirit alive between these national events.  Past meetings have included visiting members’ workshops, demonstrations of building techniques by professional and amateur luthiers, ukulele building and playing competition (our own Uke-a-palooza), and a listening session with Grammy award winner Ed Gerhard.

Join us in whenever you can.  Our doors are always open to new members.

• NEL November Meeting
  Sunday Nov 13, 2011
  12:00PM - 5:00PM
  Yukon Stubblebine
  44 Princeton Street
  East Boston, MA 02128
  
  

  This will be the kick-off meeting for the Collaborative Build Project. Due to space limitations, attendance is limited to participants in the project.

  Direction to Yukon's' Shop

• Announcing the 2012 OM/000 Collaborative Build Project

• Update

  Thanks to everyone who has joined in for our group build. The response has been excellent, in some ways more than we expected as we were planning it out. We are very excited to get started and begin meeting and working on our guitars!

  We are going to close submissions on Monday, October 10, so if you are on the fence, or missed the first email, please get back to us this weekend.

  Based on the response we got we are going to have to re-think a few scheduling details but I expect we will have a few dates and ideas for the group in the next week. Discussion of these things will take place in the forum. If you have not signed up yet for the forum please do that soon, that will be the place where the group will correspond with each other, not through the NEL yahoo group.

• NEL 2011-2012 Meetings
  

  
  

  We are in the process of organizing out 2011-2012 monthly meetings. We will be alternating each month with our sister organization The Guild of New Hampshire Woodworkers Luthiers subgroup.

  If you are interested in hosting a meeting or presenting at a meeting, contact Steve Spodaryk.

• Colonial Finish - Guitar Finishing

  John Kostigen, a local furniture finisher, now finishes guitars for Sylvan Wells' Bay State Guitars. With finishing many guitars under his belt, John is expanding and providing his services to all luthiers. John can be a great resource for people looking to outsource some of their finishing to a local painter.

  Check out John at his website.

• Build a Guitar with Scott Dixon
  Woodcraft in Woburn
  Nov 7, 14, 21, 28 & Dec 5
  www.usguitarkits.com
  info@usguitarkits.com
  

  
  

  Class Description:

  Learn how to build your own guitar with Scott Dixon. This class of 6 students is designed to take a beginner/ intermediate woodworker through the steps to make a steel string guitar from a unique kit. You will learn terminology and the techniques for many of the specialized processes to complete your own personalized instrument. The process is broken down into small steps to familiarize the student with the construction of the neck including truss rod installation, fingerboard & fretting, and construction of the body including brace trimming/fitting, top installation, bridge gluing/alignment, purfling and final setup. Each guitar will be completed leaving the final top coat finish up to the student.

  Class Dates:

  Monday, November 7, 14, 21, 28 & Dec 5, 2011 from 5pm-9pm

  Guitar Kit Description:

  Sapele Guitar Kit with Solid Spruce Top: Solid AAA spruce top, laminated sapele back & sides, rosewood bridge & fingerboard, shaped nato neck, deluxe sealed tuners, micarta nut & saddle, nickel silver frets, ABS binding, plastic endpins, adjustable truss rod, inlay material. Kerfing, endblocks and bracing attached. Sides are bent. Includes Hard-shell Case. Instruction manual included. Requires assembly and finish (not included).

Our goal is to share our knowledge and techniques with anyone interested in expanding their understanding of instrument making