Mistakes...

[Eric Knapp]

Has anyone ever made a first guitar without at least a hundred little mistakes to plague you forever?

-Eric

[Bill Raymond]

Probably not.

[Eric Knapp]

Probably not.

Figured. Does it get better? I'm hoping fewer mistakes over time, but I may be delusional.

-Eric

[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.

[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

[Eric Knapp]

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!

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

[Eric Knapp]

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

[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.

[Jason Rodgers]

If there is a patron saint of lutherie mistakes and follies, my shop is a shrine to her.

[James Meloan]

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.

[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.

[Jason Rodgers]

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.

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.

[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.

[Randolph Rhett]

I no longer make rookie mistakes, I've moved on to new and more creative mistakes!

[Eric Knapp]

I no longer make rookie mistakes, I've moved on to new and more creative mistakes!

Ha! I know that feeling with my day job.

-Eric

[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!! ), but I haven't started to finish it yet, so there are plenty of opportunities yet to turn the entire project into kindling.

[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.

[Pat Foster]

Guitar building haiku:

Start of every build
Mistakes hover overhead
Waiting to descend.

[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.

[Daryl Kosinski]

The mark of a good craftsman is how well he/she hides their mistakes.