Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #245044 in Books
• Published on: 2007-01-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 320 pages

Customer Reviews

A well written, beautifully illustrated, and almost perfect book
This is one of three books I bought to help me build my first guitar, the other two (Guitar making, Cumpiano and Natelson, and Step by Step Guitar making, Wills) are very competent and worth buying also, but lack the same clarity of explanation and high quality colour photos describing the step-by step process. I am halfway through the guitar making process now, but my experience thus far of this excellent book leaves me in no doubt I will successfully complete the project.
Any gripes? Yes! In 1999, NASA's Mars Climate Orbiter spacecraft crashed into Mars because the manufacturers had unknowingly confused Imperial and metric units during construction. To quote from Bogdanovich's book; "Now glue the Indian rosewood veneer (2 mm thick and approximately 3 inches x 7 1/2 inches)...". Throughout the book, measurements in inches expressed as both fractions and decimals (0.775 inches) are freely mixed with mm metric measurements. For heaven's sake, Mr. Bogdanovich, and your publishers, Sterling, get this fixed in the second edition, either sticking with imperial, or preferably, metric, avoiding fractional measurements!
....but the book is still very, very worth buying, and I don't think first time guitar makers will be disappointed!

Great Book
This is the first great guitar building book since a long time. Obviously there is the generally overpriced Making Master Guitars by Roy Courtnall which is a good book as well, and one shouldn't forget the ancestor of all guitar books Cumpiano and Natleson, but these books are both a bit older now and the lay-out is at times challenging. Bogdanovich on the other hand provides a beautiful book with colour pictures and a clear explanation. It's true that he chooses a modern approach to a classic design, and therefore anybody wanting to build a classic guitar the old-fashioned way, would better buy Cumpiano and Natelson in combination with Courtnall. For those who want to build a classic guitar regardless of sticking to the traditional way or merely want to dream of building one, this is the definite book.