A while back, my girlfriend and I were walking in that new bookstore in Galleria… the one that’s “owned” by National Bookstore, but not named as such. Anyways, it’s a pretty cool place, very “maaliwalas” as we Filipinos would call it (don’t even know how to articulate that word in english) - I myself, not being a “book-person,” didn’t mind spending time in that place.
There was a book there however, that caught my attention, and which my girlfriend surprised me with a couple of days later:
I didn’t fancy this book because I planned on being a luthier - as much as I can see myself enjoying lutherie (if the funds, resources, and time permitted), it simply isn’t a practical hobby or profession when it comes to me. I did however appreciate the details that are usually put into these types of books. The way books like these go; in order to build stuff, you have to explain stuff; explain every little detail involved in the process of building that which you intend to build. In the book’s case, it was an electric guitar.
When I was in high-school, I dreamed of having a custom-made guitar. I would nurture this dream to the point where I had parts shipped from the US; these were to be used with that guitar - should it ever be made. Among the stuff I got were:
- Black Sperzel in-line locking tuners - so that I didn’t need to use a locking-nut, and keep the guitar better in tune
- Jim Dunlop straplocks - so the guitar would never fall off during a gig
- Floyd Rose type bridge - for some whammy bar goodness
- Hipshot Trem-setter - a spring system that made sure the bridge returns to the 0 position
- Extra-jumbo fretwire - to make hammers, taps and pull-offs more pronounced
- Graphite nut - to prevent strings from getting “stuck” like with normal nuts (e.g. bone)
- A specialized Carvin humbucking pickup It had 22 poles (11 on each coil instead of the usual 6) to ensure signal strength even if the strings were bent beyond the usual area of a “pole”
To this day, those items are still safe and sound in an air-tight container - ready to be used should I continue that dream of mine… or I can just sell them.
Anyways, mentioning all of this was to point out the fact that a lot of research was done for me to decide on those components (at the time). Similarly, a lot of research was done for me to even decide what Taylor T5 model I would ultimately purchase. And the course of my research usually gave me knowledge about the inner-workings of the instrument that even more accomplished players didn’t know about. You’d be surprised to know that there are bunch of really good players out there that don’t even know what a “truss-rod” is, what it’s for, and how to properly adjust it.
While the internet had plenty of information for anyone who looked hard enough, having a book like this then, would’ve probably saved me a lot of time and energy. The book tells you why and how every aspect of the building process is important in relation to the overall goal. Naturally, this entailed that you would learn about those little details as well whether you liked it or not - which was exactly how I wanted it.
Most of the concepts in the book I already know because of all the research I’ve done during high-school (and the internet in latter years). But there is surely is more to learn - and that’s the appeal this book had on me. At the very least, if I’m not using it to build a guitar, it can give me knowledge on how to maintain, or even fix, my guitars - should I have problems with them.
post updated on July 31, 2008 @ 12:00PM
