Official Luthiers Forum!

I just received the steel-string DVD in the mail the other day and wanted to give a quick plug. I now have both DVD's and I gotta say, they are a great. I would include them as mandatory references along with the Cumpiano book, and a few others. I haven't had time to view the entire DVD yet, but I did go straight to the section describing the neck joint of a steel-string since that is foreign to me. I don't think I'll have any trouble after watching the dvd. If you haven't seen any of the videos, they're definitely worth checking out.

Cheers!

John

It is so good to hear this John since most of the pictures and the music was done by me! I'm glad you like it. Are there any others out there who have received it and can give an honest review. I can take constructive criticism, because we may be able to improve on this product.
Tracy

[QUOTE=tl507362] It is so good to hear this John since most of the pictures and the music was done by me! I'm glad you like it. Are there any others out there who have received it and can give an honest review. I can take constructive criticism, because we may be able to improve on this product.
Tracy[/QUOTE]

Constructive critisism? Hmmm... where to start!    Actually, I have enjoyed it very much. I have read Cumpiano's book and it is great getting a different perspective as Mr. C's book tends toward the more complex. Robbie de-mystifies things. Pictures say so much.

In truth, if I were doing a DVD (and I might on another subject!), I would include a complete transcript along with thumbnail photos in PDF format. This way, I could print off a few pages at a time and could stop taking notes as I go along. I don't know if this is practical but I have purchased a few books lately that came with a PDF version on CD. Why not the same thing for DVD's?

As for the presentation, I have difficulty finding fault. I am a very quick learner on this sort of thing so to complain that it goes too slow is unfair. It is thorough. There have been a couple of things I have noticed such as confusing dimensions but they were nothing that can't be corrected or added to the plans area on the DVD. In short, there is nothing that glares out at me that I can point at and B**ch.

Congrats to both of you, The DVD has greatly increased my comfort level and I am approaching luthery with greater confidence as a result. What more can I say!

Regards, Steve Brown

PS. There is one thing... get a better joke writer!

SFB

[QUOTE=sfbrown]
In truth, if I were doing a DVD (and I might on another subject!), I would include a complete transcript along with thumbnail photos in PDF format. This way, I could print off a few pages at a time and could stop taking notes as I go along.

PS. There is one thing... get a better joke writer!
SFB[/QUOTE]
Thanks for the kind words Steve! Actually, this project started out as a book, with a DVD as an insert to the book. But LMI convinced us that it was overkill, and we agreed with them. It is easier to bring a DVD to market than a book. However, we had already started laying out the book format on the Classical DVD, and we did consider including it as a PDF file on the DVD, but we thought people wouldn't want to waste their own paper to print the whole book, which would probably be over 200 pages. But we will definitely consider doing this on the revised edition of the DVD if there is enough demand.

Oh, and about the jokes, I wasn't the writer, and I warned Robbie!
Tracy

[QUOTE=tl507362] [QUOTE=sfbrown]
In truth, if I were doing a DVD (and I might on another subject!), I would include a complete transcript along with thumbnail photos in PDF format. This way, I could print off a few pages at a time and could stop taking notes as I go along.

PS. There is one thing... get a better joke writer!
SFB[/QUOTE]
Thanks for the kind words Steve! Actually, this project started out as a book, with a DVD as an insert to the book. But LMI convinced us that it was overkill, and we agreed with them. It is easier to bring a DVD to market than a book. However, we had already started laying out the book format on the Classical DVD, and we did consider including it as a PDF file on the DVD, but we thought people wouldn't want to waste their own paper to print the whole book, which would probably be over 200 pages. But we will definitely consider doing this on the revised edition of the DVD if there is enough demand.

Oh, and about the jokes, I wasn't the writer, and I warned Robbie!
Tracy[/QUOTE]

The point about printing out the book is that you do it a few pages at a time. To further conserve paper, I print things 2 pages to the sheet of paper. It winds up being the same size as a small format book.

Now, where's that can of whoopasss...

Regards, Steve Brown

I built my first from Cumpiano's book. I just bought the Classical DVD.

The first thing that came to mind is that I wish there was a some transcript, so I agree Steve Brown. While building my first, Cumpiano's book was never too far away. The approach that I am going to have to take with this DVD is to make notes before I go to my shop.

Aside from that, everything looks great. It is definitely an asset to me. Robbie is also always very helpful, as was Cumpiano.

P.S. - If you wrote a book on the same subject, I'd buy that too.

_________________
Guitars...One's too many...Twenty is not enough.

Hmmm, guess I'm gonna have to get a copy of that Steel String DVD for myself. Sounds like a good one.

_________________
Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

Anyone have a website for Robbie? I thought he had an ad here but couldn't find it. Tried googling him and didn't come up with anything either.

_________________
Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

O'brien Guitars

Apprentice Publishing (where to get the video)Brock Poling38478.3801851852

_________________
Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

[QUOTE=John Elshaw] I just received the steel-string DVD in the mail the other day and wanted to give a quick plug. I now have both DVD's and I gotta say, they are a great. I would include them as mandatory references along with the Cumpiano book, and a few others. I haven't had time to view the entire DVD yet, but I did go straight to the section describing the neck joint of a steel-string since that is foreign to me. I don't think I'll have any trouble after watching the dvd. If you haven't seen any of the videos, they're definitely worth checking out.
Cheers!

John[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the plug John. I am really glad you like the dvd's and most importantly that you feel I have been able to transmit the knowledge and information necessary for you to be able to build your own guitar from my dvd. This gives me immense satisfaction professionally. If you have any questions about the methods or techniques I use in the dvd's feel free to contact me.

Happy building!

Constructive critisism? Hmmm... where to start!    Actually, I have enjoyed it very much. I have read Cumpiano's book and it is great getting a different perspective as Mr. C's book tends toward the more complex. Robbie de-mystifies things. Pictures say so much.

In truth, if I were doing a DVD (and I might on another subject!), I would include a complete transcript along with thumbnail photos in PDF format. This way, I could print off a few pages at a time and could stop taking notes as I go along. I don't know if this is practical but I have purchased a few books lately that came with a PDF version on CD. Why not the same thing for DVD's?

As for the presentation, I have difficulty finding fault. I am a very quick learner on this sort of thing so to complain that it goes too slow is unfair. It is thorough. There have been a couple of things I have noticed such as confusing dimensions but they were nothing that can't be corrected or added to the plans area on the DVD. In short, there is nothing that glares out at me that I can point at and B**ch.

Congrats to both of you, The DVD has greatly increased my comfort level and I am approaching luthery with greater confidence as a result. What more can I say!

Regards, Steve Brown

PS. There is one thing... get a better joke writer!

SFB[/QUOTE]


Steve,

so you don't like my jokes in the DVD? I am glad my guitars turn out better than my jokes. Anyway, like most people starting to build guitars, I bought Cumpiano's book and a few others as well as some tools and thought let's go! Well, the more I read the more I thought, I am in trouble. Way back then I thought if I only had a video or something that could explain it in less detail and show me pictures to "de-mystify" this whole thing I could do it. When I finally did run into someone that was willing to show me how to build a guitar he looked at the books I had and said there were some ways that were easier to get the same results. This is what I show in the dvd.
Once I started teaching guitar building I realized that there was really a need for my students to see how the steps were done before actually doing them. From the feedback I have received so far, I believe I have succeeded in my mission.       

Steve,

you can get a WHOOP A$$ sticker from my publisher's website
www.apprenticepublishing.com

[QUOTE=dubell] I built my first from Cumpiano's book. I just bought the Classical DVD.

The first thing that came to mind is that I wish there was a some transcript, so I agree Steve Brown. While building my first, Cumpiano's book was never too far away. The approach that I am going to have to take with this DVD is to make notes before I go to my shop.

Aside from that, everything looks great. It is definitely an asset to me. Robbie is also always very helpful, as was Cumpiano.

P.S. - If you wrote a book on the same subject, I'd buy that too.[/QUOTE]

Doug,

as Tracy mentioned, I originally started this project as a book that would include a DVD. This way you could watch the dvd and then have the book in the shop with you on the workbench. In my dealings with LMI and with their suggestions I decided to just do the DVD and keep the price down at the $39.95 retail price. If I were to do the book as well it would have bumped my product into the 60 to 80 dollar range. The expense for me to get the product to market would have been quite high as well. Along the way I had to make changes to the original idea.
The pdf idea is a great one. In order to facilitate things a bit when it comes to dimensions I have pdf plans available from my website and my publisher's site so that you don't have to write them down or try to remember them as you watch the dvd. Also, the LMI kits include a set of full size plans which also inlcude dimensions.

Thanks Robbie. I hope you didn't take my post as a cut. It is not. I guess I added fuel to the fire. Things don't always come across well over the internet.

I am very excited about your DVD......probably more than you . I am glad to have it in my library. After I do this classical thing for a while, I plan on purchase your steel string DVD. In fact, I'll probably purchase it before I even start just for the pleasure of it.

Thanks for the tip on the plans. I'll go and check that out.

_________________
Guitars...One's too many...Twenty is not enough.

Thanks for the link Brock!

_________________
Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

I haven't bought Robbie's DVD, though I have been mulling it over. I've built, I don't know, 11 or so classicals so far, so I don't really need it as a reference, but it's nice to get other's take on it.

I started by using David Schramm's online apprentice course, which he now sells on CD. To me it was very useful because for each and every step he had a picture illustrating it. The flow was very easy to follow, because every picture was posted to the right of the step explaining it. Compare this to Cumpiano, where you have to read, figure out if the step applies to you (classical or steel string) by flipping back and forth, then flip around and try to see if a picture is available for that step, and, if it is, try to puzzle it out in the small b&w picture. Whereas with Schramm I just click on the thumbnail beside the step and I have a large, full color picture on my monitor. I printed it all out and put it in a loose leaf binder, and made notes for specific measurements, steps, etc., that I used. I don't refer to the print outs for the step by step anymore, but I still do for things like the size I make my rosettes, different measurements for the bridges that I make, etc. It's very handy.

To me, a DVD is very informative, but in a different way. When I watched Benedetto's video, I realized how slowly I was working with a scrapper, for example, and radically improved my speed. But I can't imagine slapping one of them in (even as a DVD) a player, firing it up, searching through it looking to find out how to execute a particular step, listening to the narration, tatking notes, hitting pause, rewind, play to try to see individual things, then walking into the shop to try to execute it, going back out to watch again when I realized I didn't understand something completely, etc.

So I too vote for a complete transcript, very much like the format that Schramm uses. Everything else I have read, viewed, etc., has been very helpful, but it's the Schramm CD I go back to again and again. Because it's the most convienent format. Print out for quick reference in the shop, and large format photos viewable on my PC if I need a closer look at something.

[QUOTE=Robbie O'Brien]
Steve,

so you don't like my jokes in the DVD? I am glad my guitars turn out better than my jokes. Anyway, like most people starting to build guitars, I bought Cumpiano's book and a few others as well as some tools and thought let's go! Well, the more I read the more I thought, I am in trouble. Way back then I thought if I only had a video or something that could explain it in less detail and show me pictures to "de-mystify" this whole thing I could do it. When I finally did run into someone that was willing to show me how to build a guitar he looked at the books I had and said there were some ways that were easier to get the same results. This is what I show in the dvd.
Once I started teaching guitar building I realized that there was really a need for my students to see how the steps were done before actually doing them. From the feedback I have received so far, I believe I have succeeded in my mission.        [/QUOTE]

Robbie, It was a joke!    

Steve Brown

I took it as a joke, don't worry