I have been building guitars since 1969, and teaching guitar making since 1985. Before opening Luthiers School International (formerly Luthiers School Pan-Galactic, but that seemed too grandiose), I was director of the American School of Lutherie, in its second Healdsburg, California incarnation. Before that I ran the Luthiers School of the Rockies. I have had the good fortune to work with students from such diverse places as Australia, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Dominican Republic, Spain, Japan, and Texas. You guess the hardest to communicate with! My goal in teaching lutherie is not to create the best luthiers in the world; I will be happier if I can nurture some luthiers toward the guitars they truly wish to build. Building guitars is not difficult. A well-trained monkey could probably do it; just ask my new associate. However, making really good guitars, really interesting guitars, guitars that are true to the vision of the luthiers who build them, is very difficult. When you leave LSI hopefully you will be equipped to continue the journey of discovery that I believe lutherie to be. Some students never build another guitar. One was their goal. Others have gone on to be professional luthiers. I create my own competition, if you will. It keeps me on my toes. Not all students who come to LSI have experience as woodworkers. I do not teach lutherie as an excercise in woodworking, although on some level it is one of the highest forms of woodworking. I teach guitarmaking as a series of steps to be considered, understood, executed, and reconsidered. I love it when a husband and wife take the class together, or a father and son or daughter, of brothers. I have had all of these combinations and they all have left alive and well, sharing a new understanding of guitars, if not each other! Lutherie is one of the few areas where no matter how good you become, there is always more to learn. As Robert Lundberg said, and I paraphrase: The study of lutherie is not about the perfection of the guitar; it is about the improvement of the guitarmaker. Come to LSI, have a great time, get really tired, leave with a guitar that you made from scratch.
2008 schedule, February through August
LUTHIERS SCHOOL INTERNATIONAL 2008 Schedule, February through August HANDS-ON GUITAR MAKING with Harry Fleishman Our most popular class. Six student limit ensures lots of personal attention, and lots of fun. Build your own guitar, learn traditional and innovative techniques, gain an understanding of the guitar. February 10--23 May 18--31 Course Fee: $2500, plus materials fee
NECKS, TOPS, AND TONE with Harry Fleishman Better understand the crucial role of the neck and top in controlling tone. July 27--August 2 Course fee: $1500, plus a minimal materials fee.
This class is open only to students who have built at least three guitars from scratch. We will critique and voice one top that you bring, and build a second top to best realize your design and voicing ideas. I will also go into greater depth about neck theory and design, and you will build a neck for optimal tone. Bring a top, with rosette installed, thicknessed to .150" (3.8mm), ready for bracing and voicing, as well as a complete top ready to put on a guitar. Six student limit.
Genuine student comments: "I came to LSI with no experience and left exhausted, elated, and with a guitar of my own making."
"The cost of the class will be more than offset by the mistakes I won't make!"
"The best two weeks of my life." (His wife is still mad; she thought that was their honeymoon.)
LSI, 1533 Welter Ct. Sebastopol, CA 95472 guitars@sbcglobal.net 707-823-3537
HANDS-ON ACOUSTIC GUITAR-BUILDING with HARRY FLEISHMAN
Hands-On Acoustic Guitar-Building is our most popular class. Students have come from as far away as China, Australia, Spain, and Dominican Republic to study guitar-making and build their own first instruments under the tutelage of luthier Harry Fleishman.
This Hands-On Class is ideal for beginners as well as intermediate builders who would like to gain more control over the tone of their guitars. In this class you will build your own guitar, as you learn to make your own informed choices leading to more pleasing aesthetics, more efficient work, finer craftsmanship, and more controllable tone. This class is intense and fun!
I teach this class as a series of manageable procedures. I try to explain the "why" of each process, not just the "how." This way, once you get to your own shop to build on your own, you can choose to use any or all of the things I have taught, but also to understand enough to devise your own methods, which may just prove to be better for you. I have no interest in creating little clones of myself as a luthier. I do wish to help create the next generation of luthiers, as well as to simply teach people an interesting, fun, unending learning process, which can lead to wonderful guitars. Whether you build one guitar in the class, or become a full-time luthier, you will definitely have a good time. You could certainly do worse than to spend a couple of weeks here making a guitar.
Class size is limited to 6 students
Course Fee: $2500, plus materials fee: $375, which covers all materials and tool use and wear and tear, other than tuning machines and case, because there are so many choices available. Tuners and cases will be ordered once we start work.
NECKS, TOPS, AND TONE with Harry Fleishman In this 2-day hands-on workshop we will explore the role of the top in establishing tone. We will discuss materials, dimensions, bracing, and voicing; Bring a prepared top, unbraced, but with a rosetter installed. We will begin with a top of .150" (3.8mm) and listen and feel as we work toward an optimal thickness and graduation. Then we will design and brace the top for control of the "voice." We will discuss and examine the effects of neck design and materials on tone. By the end of the two days you will have a better understanding the crucial role of the neck and top in controlling tone, as well as some experience in affecting them. August 20, 21 (right after the H'burg festival)
Course fee: $350, plus a minimal tool and materials fee
Limit 6 students
Luthiers School International 1533 Welter Court Sebastopol, CA 95472 707-823-3537 guitars@sbcglobal.net
Fleishman Instruments 1533 Welter Ct. Sebastopol, CA 95472 USA guitars@sbcglobal.net 707-823-3537
