The Art & Industry of Instrument Building

Where Wood Becomes Music

Guides, materials, tools, and community for luthiers at every stage — from first-time builders to seasoned craftspeople. Break the mold. Build something singular.

11
Build Guides
1
Community Members
27
Wood Species
Guitar Builds Bass Builds Tonewoods Finishing Hand Tools Power Tools Jigs & Fixtures ★ New in Shop Forum Gallery

Build Your First Guitar.
Then Your Best.

Step-by-step guides covering every phase of instrument building — from selecting your tonewoods and routing body cavities to fret installation, nut shaping, and final setup. Written by builders, for builders.

★ Featured Guide
How to Set Up a Steel-String Electric Guitar (Beginner Luthiery Guide)

A proper electric setup makes everything easier: bends feel cleaner, chords fret easier, tuning is more stable, and intonation stops fighting you above the 5th…

Start Guide →
Fretting & Fingerboard Tools
Why Notes Go Sharp When Fretting (And How to Fix It)

If your chords sound “off” even when your tuner says the open strings are perfect, you’re probably dealing with fretting sharp. This is one of…

Fretting & Fingerboard Tools
How to Fret Clean Barre Chords Without Hand Pain

Barre chords shouldn’t feel like a hand-crushing endurance event. If they hurt fast, buzz constantly, or sound choked, the issue is usually technique efficiency—not “weak…

Guitar
Does Tonewood Matter on Electric Guitar? A Practical, No-Hype Answer

Few guitar debates are as loud (or as circular) as tonewood on electric guitars. So let’s cut through the mythology: Yes, wood can matter on…

Guitar
How to Blind Test Tonewood Claims on Electric Guitar (Without Fooling Yourself)

If you want to test tonewood claims honestly, you need a protocol that removes expectation bias. Most “wood comparisons” online aren’t controlled. Different pickups, pickup…

Fretting & Fingerboard Tools
How to Clean and Condition a Guitar Fretboard (Without Damaging It)

A dirty fretboard feels rough, looks dull, and can make a guitar feel older than it is. The good news: proper fretboard cleaning is simple,…



View All Guides →
Materials

Know Your Woods

32 7
33 4
34 5
35 4
36 2
Back & Sides 4
Acoustic back and sides
Body 5
Body blanks and wings
Fretboard 6
Fingerboard slabs
Neck 4
Neck blanks
Top 3
Carved or flat tops

Every build begins with a choice of materials. Our reference database covers tonal properties, workability, sustainability ratings, and typical applications for each species.

Basswood
Tilia americana
32
Ebony
Diospyros crassiflora
35
Koa
Acacia koa
34 36
Korina
Terminalia superba
32 33
Poplar
Populus tremuloides
32
Sitka Spruce
Picea sitchensis
34

Browse All Species →
Tools & Equipment

The Right Tool Changes Everything

Measuring and Layout
Calipers, rulers, straightedges, thickness gauges, compasses, dividers and all layout tools for precision building.
Cutting Tools
Hand saws, fret saws, knives, chisels, gouges and all cutting implements used in lutherie.
Shaping and Carving
Rasps, files, planes, spokeshaves, scrapers and carving tools for shaping bodies, necks and braces.
Joinery and Assembly
Clamps, glue brushes, spreaders, jigs, fixtures and all tools for joining and assembling components.
Fretting and Fingerboard
Fret saws, slotting tools, fret hammers, presses, leveling files, crowning files and fingerboard tools.
Specialized Tools
Binding jigs, bending irons, radius dishes, nut files, bridge pin reamers and specialist luthiery equipment.
View Full Tool Reference →
★ Free shipping on orders over $75 — Use code LUTHIERY at checkout New arrivals weekly
The Shop

Tools, Parts & Accessories

All

View All Products →
Journal

Build Diaries, Technique Deep Dives & Industry Notes

Discussion Group

Community Forum

1
Members
0
Posts
0
Active Threads
Forum threads will appear here once bbPress is installed and active.
Install bbPress from WP Admin → Plugins → Add New
Browse All Threads →

Get the Luthier's Weekly Dispatch

New guides, shop releases, community builds, and material deep dives — once a week, no filler. Sent every Friday morning.