Event Organizer: Specimen Products
Organizer Email: info@specimenproducts.com
Event Phone: 773.489.4830
Event Status: Upcoming
Categories: Guitar Building
Dates and Times:- October 7 & 8
October 7, 2017 - October 8, 2017
10:00 am - 5:00 pm
Event Venue: CHICAGO SCHOOL OF GUITAR MAKING
Description: [B]uild an ultra-portable and tonally superior acoustic ukulele. This hands-on course offers the student the opportunity to begin the journey of building their very own a tenor ukulele from an excellent kit. The volume and tone possible with the ukuleles made from this kit is extraordinary. Ukuleles are enjoying a renewed popularity and these kits can produce instruments of supreme quality.
Learn advanced and specialized woodworking techniques – as well as shop safety – while building a beautiful instrument during an uninterrupted schedule. After completing this workshop, students should be knowledgeable enough to continue studies in the art of guitar making on their own using all the experience they gained from this workshop.
This seminar covers all the basics of guitar making, just on a smaller scale instrument. It includes lectures, demonstrations and personal assistance from the instructor. The school has created special fixtures and a streamlined process to help facilitate the build.
Students will be introduced to the unique process of luthiery while effectively establishing a skillful approach to woodworking. This class is formatted with lectures, detailed demonstrations and hands on work. In depth demonstration of each step will precede students working on their instruments. Working from a kit of roughly formed components his course is designed both for students with little to no experience and also those with intermediate experience.
The building procedure starts with a sequence of specific steps, alternating between neck and body work. Once these begin to take shape, students tend to work at different paces, but we all start at the beginning and move forward together. This class will get most students off to a good start on their build and some through a good portion of the build by the end of the the weekend.
While not mandatory, we also recommend that students take our Fretting workshop and our Bone Nut and Saddle Workshop to obtain complete precision in these steps of the building process.
Please note that there is no way to complete the build in one weekend. In order to finish making the ukulele, more time will need to be spent either during Open Workshops at the school, or on their own.
Materials and Finish Each student is provided with the ukulele kit of choice which is delivered to the school. These kits use top quality woods and produce instruments which can rival even the greatest luthier builds. We will not cover finishing techniques in the course. Students may elect to apply a finish outside of class, at Open Workshops at the school or to have their ukulele finished for them by a Specimen/CSGM professional. Schedule One weekend Saturdays and Sundays, 10 am - 5pm. Fee Tuition $695, plus your kit cost which includes tax and shipping. Tuition includes instruction, hands-on workshop with dedicated guitar bench, use of specialized tools and the shop supplies necessary for the completion of this project. A catered lunch and refreshments each day of class is included. Instructor Ian Schneller is the founder and chief instructor of the Chicago School of Guitar Making. With over 800 handmade instruments bearing his Specimen name, he brings a wellspring of knowledge to the classroom with the mission of perpetuating the tradition of handcraft and design innovation. He has shown his work in a variety of museums around the country and is a faculty member of the Sculpture Department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago How to Register You can register for any of our classes on-line, by phone, or in person. Online Select your class dates in Available Dates on the upper right on this page. Click ENROLL NOW. Enter your information, then proceed to pay by clicking the Paypal button. It is NOT necessary to have a Paypal account. Choose a payment method. Your purchase receipt will appear and a confirmation via email will be sent to you. By Phone 773.489.4830 Call us to register with your credit card. We will send you a confirmation via email, or by snail mail if you prefer. In Person Come by the shop during business hours and enroll using cash, credit card, or a personal check. Business Hours Monday – Friday: 12 – 7, Saturday: 12 – 5 Map our location Accommodations Click Here for a list of nearby places to stay during seminars, along with transportation information.
