Vision — tyson hand-did

Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others. (Jonathan Swift)

I think one of the coolest parts of building your own guitar is being able to dream up whatever you want. What would my dream guitar be? At this point, I am not going to be able to do everything that I am thinking but I can still dream.

For the past several days I have worked my way through two books on guitar making (luthiery/luthierie) to get the big picture of the process. I have also spent some time just looking at other guitar designs. Seeing what other luthiers have done is such a great catalyst for creative thinking.

Here are some of my favorites ideas and designs:

Unique body and sound hole design:

Very simple body with black/ebony binding:

That old slot head reworked:

Top sound ports:

Side bevels and sound ports:

As with any craft or art, you want to honor the tradition but push it forward as well. In the beginning I am going to make a standard guitar just to learn some of the basics of the craft. At the same time, I am already thinking one day...