It takes time and money<\/strong><\/p>\nStewart said he made his first guitar at 13 for a school project and later pursued it as a hobby to fill time, and the local luthiers said making a string instrument from scratch will definitely do that.<\/p>\n
Gardinier said he puts at least 40 hours into actually making a new instrument and finishing the wood adds seven more time to the total.<\/p>\n
Days said he’s so far put 12 hours into the electric guitar he’s actively making and expects many more to follow.<\/p>\n
“There’s a lot of cuts that I’m dealing with that are within fractions of an inch,” Days said. “All of those cuts and stuff you have to measure, measure, measure, then cut. There’s a lot to it.”<\/p>\n
The attention to detail and work required to make an acoustic instrument far surpassed what it takes to make an electric guitar, Stewart and Gardinier said.<\/p>\n
“I’d like to get into building acoustic, it’s a whole other ball game,” Stewart said. “Acoustic instrument building, it’s all about getting the wood to resonate. You don’t want to use too much glue, and you have to brace it. With electric you’re pretty much slapping a neck onto a piece of wood and getting it to look pretty.”<\/p>\n
Gardinier said the intensive process actually makes it easier to linger over details, such as the hand drawn labels he includes on his guitars and ukuleles.<\/p>\n
“You put 40 or 60 hours into an instrument, what’s the difference in taking an hour to draw a label?” Gardinier said.<\/p>\n
Money is also part of the equation.<\/p>\n
Days said the wood for the body of his guitar cost at least a couple hundred dollars, and transporting hunks of wood has been a frequent part of Gardinier’s plans while traveling.<\/p>\n
He and his wife recall wrapping wood in plastic wrap, and forming plastic handles to make choice cuts of wood into luggage that can be checked.<\/p>\n
“You could easily spend $1,000 in electronics or hardware, too” Days said.<\/p>\n
Gardinier said the components used on an electric guitar he made make the instrument worth at least $2,000.<\/p>\n
Even with time and money invested, the guitar makers may come out ahead given the cost of a high end, totally customized instrument.<\/p>\n
“My most expensive guitar cost over $3,000,” Days said. “That guitar isn’t even top of the line.”<\/p>\n
Satisfying conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\nStewart, Gardinier and Days said seeing lumber become a guitar is satisfying.<\/p>\n
“I think my favorite part is the point when you start finishing it,” Days said. “I mean the dying and staining of the wood. That’s when a guitar starts to actually look like a guitar.”<\/p>\n
Gardinier said he loves the moment he sets down an unfinished instrument and it makes a guitar-like noise.<\/p>\n
“Each step you take toward making a block of wood into a musical instrument, it becomes more alive,” Gardinier said.<\/p>\n
Plus, Days said constructing guitars has made him more thoughtful about how he treats and plays his instruments.<\/p>\n
Knowing how guitars are made, he said, makes it easier to understand how they’re played.<\/p>\n
“It can make you a better guitar player and owner,” Days said. “You really start appreciating instruments even on the cheaper side, because there’s a lot to it. Even a cheap instrument takes so much.”<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Contact arts and culture reporter Ben Hohenstatt at (907)523-2243 or bhohenstatt@juneauempire.com.<\/em><\/b><\/p>\n
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