TECH TIPS > ACOUSTIC SOUNDBOARD
GUITAR MAKING: THE ULTIMATE HOBBY IN RETIREMENT? BY ERVIN SOMOGYI
In this country, the culture of the modern guitar really
started to come into its own
with the folk music movement
of the ’60s. In fact, that’s when
I began my own love affair
with the guitar. Many of us
who grew up with Peter, Paul,
and Mary, the Kingston Trio,
the Beatles, and so many other
exciting musicians of those
days, went out and bought guitars in an effort to emulate our
musical heroes. This was also
about the time when American
lutherie—the making of guitars
by individual craftsmen rather
than in factories—got its start.
It was a time of great musical
ferment, optimism, and for
many, the beginning of a love
affair with this particular musical instrument.
Then, for most of us, life got
in the way of that love affair.
We were overtaken by jobs,
marriages, children, mortgages,
careers, and all the rest. Though
older people to draw from.
While I do have some younger
students these days, most of my
students continue to come from
my age and socio-demographic
group. Furthermore, unlike the
younger students I’ve had, they
are at the retiring points of their
various occupations. With that,
these folks are very open and
eager about finally having the
time and energy to return their
attention to that first love—
playing and making the guitar.
If you’re not in a great hurry to
make a living, you can do some
wonderfully creative work.
Lutherie provides the opportu-
nity to meet and get to know
a whole bunch of interesting
people who are sometimes
quirky, but never stupid.
that early love affair with the
guitar may have been placed on
the back burner, for a lot of us,
it never died.
I know this because I’ve
taught guitar making for many
years now. I’ve not only seen
the cycle—I’ve been a part of
it since the guitar crowd has
kept up with me insofar as age.
More specifically, my students
have been more or less my own
“youngish” age for many years.
Because I’m part of the first
generation of Americans to
embrace this work, there really
wasn’t a pool of like-minded
available way back when. Also,
because they’ve had “real” lives,
they’re adept problem-solvers in
a number of ways that younger
people are not. They have a
huge variety of work and life
experiences to draw on towards
engaging a chosen pursuit
that challenges them—rather
than one that has been thrust
upon them. In a word, they’re
motivated.
ERVIN SOMOGYI
A professional luthier since
the early 1970s, Ervin
Somogyi is one of the
world’s most respected
acoustic-guitar builders and
rosette designers. To learn
more about Somogyi, his instruments, or his
rosette and inlay artwork, visit esomogyi.com.
48 PREMIER GUITAR FEBRUARY 2012
premierguitar.com
