Can an online guitar making course really work?

James signed up in February and has just completed his first ever guitar build – physical proof that indeed it can!

Here is what James said after finishing the course:

Having never before used either a bandsaw or router and never having dreamed of carving anything from wood I have just produced a guitar that not only looks and feels like a quality instrument – it sounds amazing too!
I have dabbled with a kit guitar before which I stripped and used for firewood soon after finishing it such was my success but have always wanted to build a guitar from scratch. I’ve bought several books and scoured the internet over the years but never been confident enough to give it a go. I found Mark’s online course and am so glad I did.
This is definitely not just a collection of cheaply filmed YouTube videos but more than 70 professionally filmed and edited lessons teaching the process from start to finish in bite sized chunks. Mark shows how he makes a guitar in real time and talks you through the steps in his calm likeable manner. Some modules are quick and easy to digest but others like the neck carving lesson are much longer and more detailed. The ability to watch them several times over before cutting the wood gave me the confidence in my ability although I did practice on scrap wood for some of the more difficult techniques – and was glad I did.
The amount of information in this course is huge – as well as instructions on how to make a guitar it contains lessons on making some tools and jigs that are needed as well as tips and tricks that Mark has learned over the years that make building and setting up the guitar so effective.
Armed with this course all you need are a few tools (which I picked up cheaply second hand) a couple of bits of wood 😉 the course goes into great details about the types of woods available, and some hardware available all over the internet. After that it’s all down to you and your ability to follow instructions and take your time – I chose to follow Mark’s instructions almost to the letter as this was my first guitar. In fact the only errors I made were when I went slightly off-piste from his advice!
I can’t rate this course highly enough and you get so much value for money. Mark’s willingness to answer questions from students which he does very quickly and concisely allows for a really interactive experience and got me out of trouble on a couple of occasions.
I’m so pleased with the result that I’m already planning the next one – to my design this time – and waiting with baited breath for Mark’s build your own acoustic guitar course.

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