International Guitar making course

Paddy Dane - UK - Classical guitar

I came across Stephen's course whilst browsing through various websites, and as there are not many intensive guitar making courses around, i was instantly intrigued. I had recently completed a course on Vancouver Island, Canada. Whilst i felt the Canadian course had given me a push in the right direction in terms of my luthiery experience, i definitely knew there was a lot i still had to learn!
From the outset Stephen was professional, knowledgeable, approachable, and most importantly... very patient. We got stuck in straight away planing the neck blank, and progressively we built on our usage of hand tools, until we actually started to feel comfortable in their use. All the time Stephen was there to offer advice and correct technique in each step of the building process. And so as the weeks progressed, amazingly a guitar started to emerge from the piles of wood curls and squeeze-out, and pretty soon we had started the final process of french polishing. Like expectant mothers, soon our thoughts were consumed with thinking about how our "babies" would sound. Then came that final day, and with a flurry of tuning machine fitting, and string tie-ing, it was done.
All there is left to say is that i felt this was a most enjoyable, and worthwhile month. Considering the amount of information exchanged, and hands on practical experience given, i would have absolutely no problem whatsoever in recommending Stephen's course, and personally feel that it is extremely good value for money.
Thanks again Stephen for a great time, and i wish you all the best for the future