The Art of Lutherie

I totally understand TASTE is the most subjective parameter in the world, however, when you read a review of a book that really starts at page 8 and ends on 48, and, each chapter (10 in total) has a waste more than half blank page at its end, and the writer of the review still saying the information into the book is "fantastic" and cover the necessary ... I start to be concern if these people want to help the author or the next buyer.Editors use to put a low price in some 300+ pages books because they have no content.They are more for fun. Sometimes fun for the author try to write something good.Some books, even with low number of pages, bring so much knowledge (or insites) that you think could cost even more and you still paying for.This book has all the bad sides above.It's incredible expensive to only present the high quality of the author's work. IF he really is that good, I never heard about him until my purchase. But ... who am I, right?Brings ZERO information about THE ART OF LUTHERIE ... some insites here or there for people who, if stops on this read, will only pretend to understand about the theme. Like foodies writing on food blogs about "the lack of acidity in the lamb's sauce ...".And to complete my dislike about this purchase, I watched on Youtube Channel all the videos from the author/luthier (all free) and decided to get more literature about his work ... the videos are SO short! I thought he probably is promoting a book. The book gives you a link to videos ... THE SAME ONES I already watched! Meaning ... content SO SWALLOW that could be used to measure the top of his ARCHTOP Guitar.Don't waste your time.

There are a lot of practical guitar building guides out there - this book is NOT one of them. The author explicitly assumes that the reader possesses enough practical knowledge on process, tools, wood, materials, etc. It doesn't even explain how exactly builders came to specific choices in guitar construction.It explains how components on a guitar work, and how you can make them work in the way you want. Some of the explanations are quite non-trivial and give you unusual and deep insights into things that usually accepted as given, and teach you to ask question why and how, though they are not necessarily answered in the book itself.From a practical point of view, it can still be seen as a guide - a guide into becoming a fine luthier (not even specifically guitar builder) and a guide into creating a player's custom instruments, not only built according to user's specs, but sounding according to the player's style and expectations. Very high-level, but very bold guide.Tom Bills is in a unique position of a person who first learned to listen and understand the instrument, and then learned how to build it. His approach is a winning mix of pure intuition and perception with physical modelling - sometimes precise, sometimes just metaphoric. Understanding him is pretty much understanding how Cremona masters perfected the violin.Must read, even if you are not exactly into fine lutherie business, but just a player or a low-end/amateur builder.

Good information right to the point, just wish it was a bit more in depth on every topic. Highly recommend it for New builders

Tom Bills is one of the preeminent guitar builders working today. He is meticulous in his approach and this book details his thoughts and focus on building some of the finest guitars available.

The book is really wonderful, and coupled with the online training, is a do not miss.

For the price and title of the book, you would think it would be a little more informative. If you've never heard of Lutherie and want a basic understanding, then I guess the book is Okay, but for hobbyists, enthusiasts, learning luthiers or luthier knowledge enrichment, not so much, for that it is a waste of money.

I'm very satisfied, amazing book.

This book is a must have it's value is greatly out of proportion to its cost

This is a slender book with soft card covers, like an album of sheet music, at a fairly high price. What you're paying for is the benefit of the author's years of experience regarding the factors that affect the tone of a guitar. He discusses topics like bracing struts, the metal that fret wires are made of, and how to select suitable timbers. It's more like a quiet conversation with a master rather than an instruction manual. There is no physical DVD enclosed, instead you get a link to watch the videos on YouTube or download better quality MP4 files (167 MB zip). Plenty of invaluable tips here, but there could have been a bit more content for the price. Would like to have given it 4 1/2 stars.

My comment applies only to the Kindle version. Tom Bills is an excellent luthier and communiicator, and I will now go ahead and buy the print version of this book. HOWEVER, the Kindle version I bought and immediately returned is not adequately implemented. It seems to be simply apdf style version of the print book, which means that if you want to alter the print size (a must, since the default is tiny) you can only get a small section of a page on screen. Tried on my PC implementation of Kindle and the print size wouldn't even increase. Now it may be that I am doing something wrong here, but frankly after all these years I expect Kindle versions to be completely intuitive. In my view, Kindle has not served Tom Bills well.

Technically in depth, but taking into account images and text size, this book is very small. It's little more than a magazine, if u get it at a good price its worth having on the shelf, but don't think this is going to change in any dramatic way how you view guitars

Well documented from start to finish.Gives one a grounding on what to the focus should on and what goes on behind the scene to produce the desired sound from the instrument.Nice and enlightening read for anyone who wants to delve a little deeper into the theory of stringed instruments.

Great, well written, useful!