Well, its been over 7 months since I've been laid off, and 6 months now since I started building cigar box instruments. It has been more fun than I could have imagined. Looking back over the pictures and videos, you can see how far they've come...well, maybe not the videos since I dont practice, haha.
My designs continue to evolve. I have great ideas for the future, but no money to get tools:) I am proud of my accomplishments so far and am pursuing ways to expand. It is somewhat slow as finances are crunched, but I am seeing new opportunities afforded to me which are cause for great excitement.
I have been offered an opportunity at the local steel mill and WoodCraft store to teach a building class. Both of these opportunities have the potential to become regularly scheduled, so I am hoping they go well. I am also working on relationships with local music shops to sell my instruments for me and increase local exposure. I'll just continue to take one thing at a time and see where it leads.
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Check out my fret saw made from a broken band saw and scrap wood over on low budget land. It was a very early post.
Wade
spencer said:
I'm not so much worried about presentation as I am the flow of the classroom...most worried about everyone slotting the fretboard since I dont have enough of what i made to go around. I could use a miter box, but then you worry about depth and consistency of cut. Unless you can set a miter box to an accurate height using a fret saw. This is where being a woodshop hack has its cons.
workshop fair is friday...i thought it was next week. I got quite a few instruments for display, but not all that I wanted. I also printed off some flyers with some cool pics and some hype on cbg's. I'm gonna go through my stuff, take some empty boxes, some finished boxes with no neck, some basic tools and some pictures if i can scrounge any up.
tinyguitars said:
"Trust in the Lord with ALL thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In ALL thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths." =) That's my recipe for success.
Try to balance your building with your playing.... When I was first starting, I asked Shane what kind of CBG sold the best... He said "The kind you play the best"..... I've built a lot, given a lot away, sold more than enough to stock a shop with decent quality tools. Anyway, as common a performer as I am, I've made more money in appearance fees as I have in selling. People get into the CBG when they hear it. Then they can imagine themselves building and/or playing.
If you have a 3 or 4 string slide CBG, just sit down with youtube and punch up some songs you like and play along.... You be building and playing at your workshops in no time....
Good luck with the classes! That could be really fun. Diane's idea about a dry run with some kids does sound like a good one. You might want to think about that.
What's the saying, 'when the universe closes a door, it opens a window'! Luck to you.
Great opportunities! Dunno how much "teaching" time you've had, but you might try a dry run with an interested neighborhood 12yo or two. If you can explain/demonstrate to them, you can to anyone. And you can observe which parts of the process give them more difficulties than others.
I'm not so much worried about presentation as I am the flow of the classroom...most worried about everyone slotting the fretboard since I dont have enough of what i made to go around. I could use a miter box, but then you worry about depth and consistency of cut. Unless you can set a miter box to an accurate height using a fret saw. This is where being a woodshop hack has its cons.
Replies
Wade
spencer said:
tinyguitars said:
If you have a 3 or 4 string slide CBG, just sit down with youtube and punch up some songs you like and play along.... You be building and playing at your workshops in no time....
the best,
Wichita Sam
What's the saying, 'when the universe closes a door, it opens a window'! Luck to you.
How many people in each class?