In this class, you will build an acoustic steel-string guitar (either Dreadnought or 000-12 fret) with two professional luthiers to guide you through every step of creating a high-quality instrument.

Every week for eight weeks, we will meet on Thursday evenings to discuss and demonstrate the whys and hows of guitar construction. On Saturday the shop will be open from noon to six for you to work on your instrument, with instructors available at all times. You will have your own workbench and access to the tools needed for professional results; you only have to provide a few common hand tools. Altogether, you will have 16 to 20 hours of classroom discussion and demonstration and 48 hours of supervised shop time. Class size is restricted to no more than seven students.

We will work with kits from our sponsor, Stewart-MacDonald Guitar Supply. These use the same quality solid woods and components as fine custom and production instruments and will allow us to concentrate on the intricacies of tone production, playability, and appearance.

At the end of the class, you will have a guitar completed except for finishing and final assembly — and we'll discuss and demonstrate both of these at length. Shop time will be available for final assembly.