The Bailey BYOG opening offer closes TODAY

TTony · May 2015

As some people will recall, I'm a big (as in *BIG*) fan of the Build-Your-Own-Guitar (BYOG) courses run by Mark Bailey.

There are just 2 drawbacks to the courses. Firstly, they're held in Scotland. Ayr. It's not the easiest of places to get to. And secondly, you'll need to budget around £2k for all but the basic course. (That's actually good VFM when you consider what you get, but it's still £2k).

Actually, there are 3 drawbacks - they don't run that often.

And I know those drawbacks have stopped a lot of people - who'd love to do the course - from doing them.

When I did my first course, Mark was talking about doing a book version of the course. Sort of an update to the classic @melvynhiscock book that many of us have read at least lots of times. I like books, but the YouTube generation find them a bit static. And a lot of guitar building techniques make a lot more sense a lot more quickly when you can actually watch what's being done in real time. And be talked through what's being done and why.

So, rather than one of those 20th century "books", Mark's done his BYOG course as a series of videos.

That's each of the 3 drawbacks sorted. Watch them wherever you want. Costs a fraction of the course cost. And watch them whenever you want.

There's actually 2 courses - a design-your-own-guitar course, followed by the build-your-own-guitar course, but if you sign-up for the second one, you'll get the first one for free. Both are on "Udemy".

The BYOG course is a series of 65 (65!!) videos that talk you through the process of building a guitar, step by step, nothing missed out (not even the H&S briefing), with details of all the tools, the jigs, the templates and the techniques that you'll need.

All narrated by Mr B in his best used-to-be Brummie accent with some excellent camera work too.

Interested?

Form an orderly queue ... I'm just guinea-pigging the final drafts of the BYOG course for Mark before he releases it very very soon.

Bookmark this thread and I'll let you know when it all goes live and where to sign up.

ArchtopDave · May 2015

These days Tony, the third drawback doesn't normally apply, and there's often a fair bit of flexibility whatever the Course Title might be..

I'm very nearly at the end of my Acoustic Build, and I'll post a thread sometime. You might remember that I started a thread on an Acoustic Build back in 2013. That build died a horrible death - one of the other builders caused an unfortunate accident to occur (never happened before, but the build was a write off). Funny thing was that I never quite got into it with that build, so maybe the Fates were telling me something.

Adam_MD · May 2015

This sounds very very cool.

digitalscream · May 2015

See, the bit that always terrified me about building a guitar (which I'd love to do) is the simple fact that the tools themselves would cost more than paying somebody to make the guitar I always wanted. That's a major drawback for me, especially since it'd likely take me a year or so to make one and I'd probably be so sick of the whole process by the end of it that I'd never want to make another one.

What I really need is a make-a-guitar-with-a-saw-and-a-chisel-and-no-talent course. I suspect they may be in short supply.

Alternatively, if this video series is going to be of any interest to me, I'll need to see a bill of materials first

WezV · May 2015

That is partly related to my views on it too.

I have the tools raring to go, but will they be the same ones as in the vid?

For me part of the skill of being a craftsman comes from figuring out how to do things with the tools you have. This is why I normally learn a few different ways to get the same result.

I still think it will be a brilliant resource and I trust mark has considered the tool issue carefully

TTony · May 2015

Of course, you'll need *some* tools to be able to do the course, but it's not a long list.

The most expensive and least likely to already be in your toolbox is a bandsaw, but you could replace that with a jigsaw and a handsaw or two and manual effort.

That apart, it's a router with a few different bits, cordless drill (ditto), and some fretting tools (hammer, nippers, files, etc) and clamps. Then you're pretty much into the basics of sandpapers, masking tape, rulers, glue, etc.

breakstuff · May 2015

The tools is my main concern too.Anyone know the tools Brian May and his Dad used to build Red Special.From what I gather it was knocked up using quite simple tools (obviously with a shed load of talent thrown in).

TTony · May 2015

There *is* a tools list, and I'll happily post it here if Mark is OK with that.

I'll also comment on the tools that are used on the course when I've finished working through it.

But there really aren't a lot of expensive, specialist tools. It's more about understanding how to use standard tools in ways appropriate to guitar building, which router bits you need, stuff like that, rather than a StewMac shopping list.

WezV · May 2015

breakstuff;635901" said:
The tools is my main concern too.Anyone know the tools Brian May and his Dad used to build Red Special.From what I gather it was knocked up using quite simple tools (obviously with a shed load of talent thrown in).

There is a whole book on that guitar now.

From the book its clear they did a hell of a lot of planning

digitalscream · May 2015

TTony said:

There *is* a tools list, and I'll happily post it here if Mark is OK with that.

I'll also comment on the tools that are used on the course when I've finished working through it.

But there really aren't a lot of expensive, specialist tools. It's more about understanding how to use standard tools in ways appropriate to guitar building, which router bits you need, stuff like that, rather than a StewMac shopping list.

That would be most appreciated

TTony · May 2015

Part of the tool list will also depend on where you want to start in the guitar-building process.

If you've got pre-prepared neck & body blanks, and a fretted, radiused fretboard, you both save a load of work, and avoid needing some heavyweight machinery. If you're starting with a couple of rough sawn planks, you'll need more kit!

TTony · May 2015

I've spent a few hours today working through the lessons. Not all of them yet, and some I've skipped over rather than studying each word, but a couple of things have become apparent.

Mark can make guitars incredibly quickly.
I've forgotten a fair amount of what I did in the BYOG courses - and that explains why some things I've tried to do in my workshop haven't turned out quite as I hoped.
It's a really interesting watch in its own right - never mind wanting to learn how to build guitars, I'm really enjoying watching how they're built in the Bailey workshop!

Adam_MD · May 2015

TTony;636642" said:
I've spent a few hours today working through the lessons. Not all of them yet, and some I've skipped over rather than studying each word, but a couple of things have become apparent.

Mark can make guitars incredibly quickly.

I've forgotten a fair amount of what I did in the BYOG courses - and that explains why some things I've tried to do in my workshop haven't turned out quite as I hoped.

It's a really interesting watch in its own right - never mind wanting to learn how to build guitars, I'm really enjoying watching how they're built in the Bailey workshop!

I'm so far away from being able to build a guitar it's not even funny but I love watching videos of people building/repairing guitars and I'm pretty sure even someone of my limited knowledge will pick up loads from these videos.

TTony · June 2015

I've just swapped a couple of emails with Mark & Carol.

He's added some more content to the course, so it now covers lessons on making some of the jigs/patterns that can be useful for guitar-making as well.

He'd like to offer members of theFB an intro discount on the standard course price (which will be £180), but that'll probably be limited to an introductory time period, or a certain number of theFB members who sign up quickest! I thought £180 was a bargain (because I've seen the content!), but the discounted price is an absolute steal.

So, be ready. The course - and offer - will be going live very soon.

TTony · June 2015

For anyone wondering / worrying about the tools required for the course ...

NB - those are the essentials if you're going to do all the work yourself. There are plenty of other tools that can be useful in making the various tasks quicker or easier, but they're not essential.

Tha bandsaw is probably the only tool that wouldn't be found in most reasonably complete toolboxes, but a local woodworking shop might be able to help out with those tasks?

GuitarMonkey · June 2015

An electric jigsaw will do the work of a band saw for most applications. Just a bit more slowly.

digitalscream · June 2015

When it says "Fingers" and "Thumb", I'm guessing it means "A ready supply of both"...?

I'm guessing there's probably about £800 or so in tools required there (for decent quality stuff). Is that about right?

RedRabbit · June 2015

I've already got a lot of the smaller tools. The bandsaw and router would be most problematic in terms of both cost and space. I could set up a work area at my parents farm though.

Not sure I can justify the outlay at the moment but I'm certainly interested in doing this at some point even if it means missing out on the discount.

TTony · June 2015

digitalscream said:

I'm guessing there's probably about £800 or so in tools required there (for decent quality stuff). Is that about right?

That feels a bit heavy - although it'll depend on whether you'd be buying top quality tools, thinking that you'll use them many times over, or cheaper variants.

FWIW, my most-used router is a no-name B&Q special that's probably about £25 in today's MIC world. But it's the easiest to use and is always to hand. My £300 Bosch machine comes out for special events only!

digitalscream · June 2015

TTony said:
That feels a bit heavy - although it'll depend on whether you'd be buying top quality tools, thinking that you'll use them many times over, or cheaper variants.

FWIW, my most-used router is a no-name B&Q special that's probably about £25 in today's MIC world. But it's the easiest to use and is always to hand. My £300 Bosch machine comes out for special events only!

Hmmmm. So...more like £300-£500? I might be tempted to have a go next year, then (when the demands on my finances have calmed down a bit). I can probably hide that kind of expenditure...of course, it may turn out to be a bit more difficult to hide the fact that I've taken over the shed for making guitars, but that's just another problem to be solved.

IvisonGuitars · June 2015

@TTony I'm sure you will but please do let us know when this is a go...especially the fB offer, I'm signing up pronto! :-)

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories

In this Discussion

Become a Subscriber!

The Bailey BYOG opening offer closes TODAY

Comments