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Mistakes...

Posted: Sun May 14, 2017 9:14 pm
by Eric Knapp
Has anyone ever made a first guitar without at least a hundred little mistakes to plague you forever?

-Eric

Re: Mistakes...

Posted: Sun May 14, 2017 11:17 pm
by Bill Raymond
Probably not.

Re: Mistakes...

Posted: Sun May 14, 2017 11:39 pm
by Eric Knapp
Bill Raymond wrote:Probably not.
Figured. Does it get better? I'm hoping fewer mistakes over time, but I may be delusional. :shock: :roll:

-Eric

Re: Mistakes...

Posted: Mon May 15, 2017 4:34 am
by Beate Ritzert
You must learn to live with them and You must learn to compensate them. Ideally unnoticeably.

BTW: it does not get better for me... just last night i made a few severe mistakes when i made a bridge. Luckily not the final one - i could have used nearly any piece of wood, but i would have liked to see a better result.

Re: Mistakes...

Posted: Mon May 15, 2017 12:03 pm
by Pat Foster
At least 100, but they don't plague me now, because I learned from them. Make them now, and there won't be as many on #10 or 20, or . . .

Pat

Re: Mistakes...

Posted: Mon May 15, 2017 12:15 pm
by Eric Knapp
Beate Ritzert wrote:You must learn to live with them and You must learn to compensate them. Ideally unnoticeably.
Good point, I've done enough woodworking that I know a big part of the craft is fixing mistakes. With guitars I'm learning a whole new set of them!
Beate Ritzert wrote:BTW: it does not get better for me... just last night i made a few severe mistakes when i made a bridge. Luckily not the final one - i could have used nearly any piece of wood, but i would have liked to see a better result.
The rosette I'm working on caught on a piece of veneer and was flung across the room and landed on the floor. It broke into 3 pieces, but all on glue lines. I re-glued it and I'm still going to use it. The repairs should look better over time, I hope.

Thanks,

-Eric

Re: Mistakes...

Posted: Mon May 15, 2017 12:16 pm
by Eric Knapp
Pat Foster wrote:At least 100, but they don't plague me now, because I learned from them. Make them now, and there won't be as many on #10 or 20, or . . .

Pat
Thanks, I am learning and I'm looking forward to making more guitars. There's always a first.

-Eric

Re: Mistakes...

Posted: Mon May 15, 2017 1:01 pm
by Bryan Bear
It is crazy the types of mistakes I have made (I'm sure I'm not the only one). Most of the time you fix and move past them (or start over) and 90% of the people will never notice. For some strange reason, we will point them out to people anyway.

Re: Mistakes...

Posted: Sat May 20, 2017 3:24 pm
by Jason Rodgers
If there is a patron saint of lutherie mistakes and follies, my shop is a shrine to her.

Re: Mistakes...

Posted: Sun May 21, 2017 7:50 am
by James Meloan
Eric Knapp wrote:Has anyone ever made a first guitar without at least a hundred little mistakes to plague you forever?

-Eric
Yep. It's enough to make you sick at first but just keep at it and you'll get better. Also, a lot of people will tell you to hold on to your first instrument. For me, it was healthier to let it go. So many stupid mistakes I couldn't bear to have it around. I tried keeping it in a closet for a while but it still haunted me. Eventually I gave that first guitar to my son when he was two so that he would smash it to bits. It worked and now I don't have to look at it. And my first mandolin ended up in the woodstove 10 years ago.

Re: Mistakes...

Posted: Sun May 21, 2017 9:49 am
by Clay Schaeffer
Sometimes you make a mistake and don't see any way around it. I set those aside rather than trashing or burning them and make a new part. Later I will think about ways to fix the mistake or repurpose the piece. Even if the fix doesn't work I learn something from the attempt.
As an amateur you can try many things and discover why they don't work. :lol:

Re: Mistakes...

Posted: Sun May 21, 2017 1:14 pm
by Jason Rodgers
Clay Schaeffer wrote:Sometimes you make a mistake and don't see any way around it. I set those aside rather than trashing or burning them and make a new part. Later I will think about ways to fix the mistake or repurpose the piece. Even if the fix doesn't work I learn something from the attempt.
As an amateur you can try many things and discover why they don't work. :lol:
This is good advice. Don't be too quick to smash and/or burn a mistake. Sometimes letting it sit and moving on (moving on to another part, component, or step in the process; or to a completely different project) will allow the feelings of failure to subside and new solutions to awaken.

Re: Mistakes...

Posted: Mon May 22, 2017 10:17 am
by Bryan Bear
Yep, I have always found that mistakes are a lot less severe after you walk away for a while. So much so that I wonder if they are healing themselves and if I left them alone long enough they might disappear altogether.

Re: Mistakes...

Posted: Tue May 23, 2017 11:42 am
by Randolph Rhett
I no longer make rookie mistakes, I've moved on to new and more creative mistakes! :D

Re: Mistakes...

Posted: Tue May 23, 2017 12:53 pm
by Eric Knapp
Randolph Rhett wrote:I no longer make rookie mistakes, I've moved on to new and more creative mistakes! :D
Ha! I know that feeling with my day job.

-Eric

Re: Mistakes...

Posted: Wed May 24, 2017 10:19 pm
by Steve Sawyer
I too am working on my first build, Eric. One of the philosophies I used to peddle when in the software business was that it is never any easier to fix than right now.

Not wanting to use a third piece of fretwire, I made the mistake of trying to use the piece at the end of the length that the fret-bender can't reach. I put a drop of CA glue on it while it was being pressed in by the caul and hoped that the end wouldn't someday go *sproing* and pop up. However, that bothered me, so I bit the bullet and pulled the fret out, repaired a couple of chips that came out with it, then formed a new one and replaced it before proceeding to the leveling.

I'm trying real hard not to rush, and if something doesn't seem right, I keep at it until it IS right, even if that means backing up a step. All of the mistakes that remain in the build up to this point won't be visible when finished (I have a really weirdly shaped cavity for the neck pickup!! :mrgreen: ), but I haven't started to finish it yet, so there are plenty of opportunities yet to turn the entire project into kindling.

Re: Mistakes...

Posted: Thu May 25, 2017 11:36 am
by Karl Wicklund
I find embracing the inevitability of mistakes is very difficult. Not for any philosophical reason - I'm just embarrassed that I screwed up. Whenever a project sits on my bench too long, I generally discover that my procrastination comes from being hesitant to commit an error. After the first clumsy move I've got to cover up, things generally move on more quickly, more enjoyably, more productively.

Re: Mistakes...

Posted: Fri May 26, 2017 12:50 am
by Pat Foster
Guitar building haiku:

Start of every build
Mistakes hover overhead
Waiting to descend.

Re: Mistakes...

Posted: Fri May 26, 2017 3:58 am
by Beate Ritzert
Would make up a nice song text, wouldn'it it?

Lets' continue?

Start of every build
Mistakes
hover overhead
Waiting to descend.

Never will come.

Re: Mistakes...

Posted: Fri May 26, 2017 11:59 am
by Daryl Kosinski
The mark of a good craftsman is how well he/she hides their mistakes.