Product Description

An essential item for the instrument builder, The Luthier's Handbook explores the secrets and science behind making good-sounding acoustic stringed instruments. Renowned author Roger H. Siminoff brings to the table more than four decades of luthiery experience and shares the time-tested philosophies, tips and technology of the craft. As the ideal complement to other books on building instruments, this text describes the structural and acoustical attributes of air chambers; what to listen for when tap-tuning; selecting a good piece of wood; placement of the braces and tone bars and how to tune them; how to select the right strings; what to consider in bridge design concepts; and much more. Includes a free String Gauge Calculator for determining the right set of strings.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #109196 in Books
• Published on: 2007-02-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 96 pages

Customer Reviews

The Most informative book you will ever buy!
This book does not teach you about how to make a string instrument BUT, this book is a goldmine of information on how to make your instrument sound better. This book filled in the information that is not present in any other book. The author style of writing is excellent and very clear. This is the book that will help you make a better instrument. In my opinion, this is the best contribution made by any author to the art of making good musical instrument. Very big Thanks to the author. A truly wonderful book!!!

It makes you think
As the book tells you, this is NOT a book teaching people how to build guitars. It's more about the logic behind the options you get, like should the archtop guitar bridge be adjustable or fixed, and what kind of neck arc one should choose. It doesn't do all the thinking for you - the message seems to be 'think for yourself'.

Why am I doing this?
I'd recommend this book to anyone planning or in the process of building their own guitar, particularly first-timers like me. Roger describes many aspects of acoustic instrument engineering, discussing the science behind traditional building techniques.

He shows the reader some experiments he has performed to validate his assessment of the technical approach taken by luthiers through generations.

His background let me understand why I was doing many of the things that I was told to do by others, and because of that, I made a better job of building that first guitar.