Build Your Own Acoustic Guitar: Complete Instructions and Full-Size Plans

Briston, England-based Jonathan Kinkead has been building guitars for nearly 30 years. Every step of construction is fully covered, from choice, selection, and preparation of woods, to consideration of size, bracing, and tonal qualities. Each step of the building sequence is clearly photographed in color, with variations to the standard design shown to enable you to personalize your instrument as you make it. The alternative building your own fine guitar is not as difficult as you might imagine, given some skill, patience, and the expert guidance of a master luthier. His craft is born out of experience and intuition rather than a strict following of technical detail. Every guitarist dreams of owning a handmade instrument, but for most, the cost is likely to be prohibitive. The resulting beauty of form and distinctive tone have earned him his reputation as one of the world's most respected independent luthiers.. (Book)

A very well written guide for the beginner This was my introductory text to the world of guitar making. It's hard for me to find fault with ityes it's short on detail in some placesbut those gaps I believe are intentional because learning how to fill them and master the techniques gave me the skills necessary to create great sounding musical instruments. The full scale drawing is invaluable for the beginner. I turned to guitar making after 15 years as a reproduction furniture maker. I was bored with making static and large, albeit beautiful "boxes". I wanted a woodworking niche where I could disp. Bassman said Build your own acoustic guitar by Kinkead. Very informative book and the full sizes plans are a big plus. Being a cabinet maker and finish carpenter helps to understand the parts that he touches lightly on such as making various jigs. I found the book to be well laid out and he states that while this is how he does it you might prefer to do it differently like making the neck before the body. As with any craft there is more than one way to "skin the cat" so to say. I feel that even the novice woodworker can build their own guitar with this book. The voicing section could be a bit more insightful . "Very good guide with many, many photos" according to Jan Blazicek. Great resource for aspiring guitar builder. Although the author doesn't go as deep as I would like into some parts (Pretty much minor stuff that can be easily looked up on the internet), the book is well written and it reads great. Enclosed are plans for a guitar (I think it was drednaught model). The book is full of photos of many guitars and one of them is documented while built (Maybe it was more than one guitar, but nevertheless he didn't skip any part. The book includes many tips for (e.g. how to substitute certain tools that you may have not access