Richard Heeres - NL

Yesterday I found this Luthier on Youtube, Richard Heeres.
Richard is from Holland, and speaks an excellent English, his explanations and instruction are simple, and precise, he gives measures in mm and in Inches. very useful.
I was amazed to see that he has posted an online guitar making course for classical guitar (17 lessons till today), using the most basic hand tools, no power tools at all, other than a dremel for the soundhole, and that only for demonstration purposes, he uses a manual circle cutter for the rosette inlay channels and for the soundhole.
the videos are well done, not fancy, and that is good, his workshop seems very nice, not too big and not too small. he makes all sorts of guitars, and seems to have a good reputation.
Though the videos do not cover every single aspect or moment of the procedure, they cover the big majority and I hope he will do some more to get the final steps of the work.
even if in one video he lost the audio ,it was still very instructional.
I do recommend his videos for those who cannot afford to go to a full immersion guitar making course.

the videos in order are here:
Lesson 1
Lesson 1.1 annex
Lesson 2
Lesson 3
Lesson 4
Lesson 5
Lesson 6
Lesson 7
Lesson 8
Lesson 9
Lesson 10
Lesson 11
Lesson 12
Lesson 13
Lesson 14
Lesson 15
Lesson 16
Lesson 17

Richard Heeres Web site:
www.heeresguitars.nl

Kris Barnett- USA

Here is a Video about Kris Barnet's life as a luthier, a very talented Luthier, enjoy!


 

Jose Romero - Luthier Madrid Spain

This is Jose Romero Luthier from Madrid, The shop is amazingly in order, every single space is used
Thanks To John Ray for helping me with finding the name of this Luthier.

http://www.shere.org/Travel/Spain/Spain-Pages/Image11.html

Kipp Krusa - USA

Hello, great to back, here is a new video of a luthier Kipp Krusa, the video shows the birth of a guitar from beginning to end as if it all happens in one day, well done, very nice space for the workshop, well organized tools, wall racks and wall tool panels, I like this workshop,

http://www.krusaguitars.com/



Kipp's site has a great fetcher, it lists and explains the various materials and woods that can be used to build your guitar, with some stunning pictures of the woods, this is really helpful for those are not sure of what they want in their guitar.

from Kruse's web site Musings section:

Guitar building is meticulous work and a clean workbench is essential. Every step of the process  however,  creates its own mess -  either shavings, chips or dust.  As a result of this my shop goes back and forth between meticulous and chaotic several times a day.  
I work for a period of time, and I examine the shavings as they are cast off of the tools. Then I brush them off the workbench, sweep them up from the floor and move on to the next step in the process.  Although they are a nuisance,  it is  important to study these little artifacts and to maintain awareness of the lessons that can be learned from having done so. 
A wood shaving will tell me about the state of the tool that produced it,  but also about the manner in which I have used the tool.
Assuming that the material being planed is flat to begin with, a well sharpened and true hand plane will produce a shaving that is the length of the stroke that produced it.  Such a shaving should be an even thickness throughout its length. I occasionally measure a shaving's  thickness with a digital caliper. My goal in doing this is to check for constancy. These shavings are often only .001 of an inch.  It is more common for me to slide a shaving through my fingers and view its transparency in front of a light. If I 'm not satisfied with what I have either measured or seen I immediately blame the tool, usually with language that spirals downward.
   After addressing  the tool's edge, I am often forced to turn my attention to another component in the equation - myself. Although this is harder, it can be more rewarding than the experience of sharpening a beloved tool. True craftsmanship demands self awareness and self discipline from moment to moment. The building of a fine instrument requires a sustained attention to all of the tangible variables inherent in the process. Realizing that I am one of those variables has been one of my most resonant lessons. In the shop I have to let go of whatever may hinder my ability to do my best work. Each pass of the tool is a little personal test, one that requires me to accept and to resolve even the smallest of issues as they arise. It is a little like therapy when "What did that shaving look like?" translates into "How are you doing, right now? Are you focused on what you are doing?"
​Townes Van Zandt said,  "I don't think you can ever do your best.  Doing your best is a process of trying to do your best."  Thank you Townes, if for nothing else, for trying!
     The shavings that affect me the most are produced by a chisel as I taper the ends of braces. These shavings exhibit an evenly spaced series of fractures that create a lovely spiraling curl.  I pay attention to each of these as they are produced. They let me know whether or not the angle of my chisel is consistent with it's previous pass. They also remind me that life's most beautiful gifts often come in the form of small things. These spiraling shavings illustrate to me that my work is, in some mystical way, guided by the structural and physical laws of the universe. The spiral is one of the natural fundamental determinants of the form and structure of living organisms. Botanically, spirals are often defined as whorls. I just love this word, "whorls" - almost worlds; and such a beautiful sounding word for the shavings that are created on my workbench. Whorls... 

Dominic Howman - AU

I r\bumped into a video class about "Guitar fisics" by luthier Dominic Howman, and he intrigured me to look into his web site gallery to see if there were any pictures of his workshop, and here is what I found.

I think this pictures illustrates the essential guitar bench setup, for a professional guitar builder, you can see tools are all hanged, only one bench plane and one block plane, the table is not a woodworkers bench but a conventional table with metal frame, and a vice on the front left corner.

here is the video he did about guitar Fisics:

Fabio Zontin - ITALY

Here is another Italian Luthier, the video illustrates his calmfull life, and this is very nice, the images are not focused on the workshop, but on the production iter, there are some parts that I wouldn't have accepted to this video, but its his choice.
enjoy


a misura d'uomo from Luigi Coppola - visuals on Vimeo.

Lara Siedel - Belgium

these pics are from flickr by grepe

Hancock Guitars - AU

I am happy to see more and more luthiers from all over the world invest time and resources to do fine footages of their work, mainly this is a sign of time, but in relation to this blog these videos are a real treat, here you can see two brothers working in thier workshop, crafting some fantastic looking guitars.

http://www.hancockguitars.com/

Gideon Weigert - Israel

I met Gideon in 2008 during a visit to the Galilea, he showed some of his guitars, i was very impressed.
His workshop was very spacy, not too many tools around, i believe they moved to the house not so much time before, so the place was still relatively empty, lately i heard Gideon and his son Noah did a very nice video using the tools of the trade as animated objects, here it is

here is Gideon website:

http://gwguitars.com/

Sylvan Wells - US

http://www.wellsguitars.com

Some original jigs and benches from this shop

Here is an interesting workstation that Sylvan Wells invented:

http://www.wellsguitars.com/Articles/Guitar_Workstation/Guitar_Workstation.php

Here is another "Guitar Station"

http://www.wellsguitars.com/Articles/Guitar_Station/Guitar_Station.php

Greg Pacetti - US

Enjoy this one

and this one

http://www.pacettiinstruments.com/

James Goodall - US

I found these pictures in his blog, very interesting workshop and jigs here, take a look, also the guitars seem to be very fine instruments.

notice the mirror behind the table helping James control his work

wife and son

with visitor

http://www.goodallguitars.com

Michihiro Matsuda - US/Japan

i have waited allot till i finally posted this luthiers work, i wanted to have more pictures of his workspace, this is an amazing luthier, the video has somme very nice shots of him working and yoiu can feel the place is breathing music.

http://www.matsudaguitars.com/

OLivier Pozzo - France

nice video of the Luthier in his workshop

http://www.olivierpozzo.com/

David Antony Ried

Here is a Luthier that i find very interesting, his web site is very commerce-oriented, but his instruments from what one can see through the pictures are fantastic, he has put some videos on youtube explaining his methods of construction and bracing, unfrtunatly the workshop is not shown due to the vertical camera position, (what a mistake), never the less this Luthier deserves his space in my blog due to his innovations, if you look at the pictures of construction phase, you will find extremely beautiful images of bracing and kurflings that resemble, to my eye, architecture and landscape, take a look here:
this is architecture.

and this is harmony:

here is video of David explaining his bracing method:

enjoy!!!
http://www.darluthier.com/

Peter Tsiorba - US

" I set-up my first tiny shop in Keene, New Hampshire. I built my first half a dozen guitars there. The entire shop space was a mere 4ft. x 8ft. footprint, and situated in a residential building.  Any power tools were out of question. In hind-sight, I am grateful for the space constraints, as I was forced to learn and finesse hand-tool technique. There are quiet, understated beauty, freedom and exquisite precision to well-tuned, expertly used hand tools. The unbridled freedom they present to the woodworker is incomparable to just about any machine I can think of. I’m thinking “finesse”, not “brute force”." Peter Tsiorba

http://www.tsiorba.com/

Tomas Delgado - US/Mexico

here is a fine video with plenty of marvelous visuals of the workshop of Tomas Delgado of Candelas Guitars in LA.

http://www.candelas.com/

William "Grit" Laskin - Canada

Here is one of the top Luthiers from Canda, he is special for his inlay artistry, and his faboulus guitars, Grit is also a great guitar player and a novel writer, i will post a video of his workshop that David Wren did some time ago, and i hope you enjoy!

here is a very nice video made in the 80's of William working, and the guitar that he is making is the one played during the video.

http://williamlaskin.com/

Boaz Elkayam - Israel

Here is my first post regarding Israeli Luthier, Boaz Elkayam, i met Boaz last summer during my visit to the Golan Heights, his workshop is very warm,
recently i saw on facebook that he posted some pics of a small luthiers workshop model:

please visit his site here:

http://www.boazguitars.com/

J.S. Bogdanovich - US

Here is Johns Workshop, John is my guide for the construction of my classical guitar, and i must say he has always been there for any question and advice, i wrote john for some pics of his shop, and in the meanwhile i will post some cool pics from his blog
http://www.jsbguitars.com/guitar-making-tools/the-shop

"Most guitar makers work in very tiny shops. As a guitar maker a good portion of the day is spent in the shop so it is important to feel good while being in there. Your work environment has an impact on your guitar making. Making your work space a more comfortable place to be in will bring an immeasurable benefit to your enjoyment of your craft." John S. Bogdanovich.

http://www.jsbguitars.com/