Please log in to add items to your cart.
(Click on this box to dismiss)

O’Brien Online Acoustic Guitar Building Course

Welcome to the Robert O’Brien Online Acoustic Guitar Building Course. In this course Robert shows how to build a steel string guitar. With over 25 hours of high quality video and audio instruction divided into 15 chapters, this course provides detailed information about every step in the guitar building and finishing process. The finishing chapter very thoroughly covers how to apply a traditional high gloss lacquer finish. In the course he builds an OM model guitar but the information can also be used to build other guitar models.

If you purchase the entire course you get a special bonus. First, you get a free copy of the professionally drawn plans for the neck angle jig Robert uses in the course, a $20 value. You also get a buy one get one free coupon for a CD from Steve Devries, a $15 value. Steve’s music is used throughout the course and after hearing it you most certainly will want to own his music. www.stevedevries.net

You also become eligible to join Robert’s invitation only chat group. Here he offers advice and support as you build. There is a wealth of information available to you for free!

If you have ever wanted to learn how to build your own high end steel string acoustic guitar then Robert’s Online Acoustic Guitar Building Course is a must!

Please read the FAQ page before beginning. To begin, just register/login and purchase the video lessons.

It has never been easier to learn the art of guitar building.

Happy Building!

Individual Chapters Price:
Complete Course Price:

Course Content


 Construction Notes for Steel String Guitar is an in-depth, step by step, handbook designed as a companion to my “Online Acoustic Guitar Building Course”. It has over 180 pages of detailed instructions and each chapter contains hyperlinks to all of the lessons in my online course as well as links to my free YouTube “Luthier Tips du Jour” instructional videos.

Expand All | Collapse All

Chapter 1 - The Sides - 3:39:36

  1. Cutting Sides to Width - 10:02
  2. Thicknessing - 20:11
  3. Scraping - 6:31
  4. Sanding - 4:37
  5. Molds - 2:38
  6. Intro to Bending - 7:28
  7. Tapering the Sides - 7:55
  8. Bending - 23:15
  9. Bending Part II - 8:31
  10. Heel and End Blocks - 23:12
  11. Cutting Sides to Length - 6:53
  12. Gluing Sides to Blocks - 11:21
  13. Radiusing - 21:24
  14. Kerfing - 17:50
  15. More Radiusing and Kerfing - 8:37
  16. Crack repair - 10:40
  17. Side Struts - 12:41
  18. End Wedge - 15:59

$25

Chapter 2 - The Soundport - 26:33

  1. Soundport Overview - 5:41
  2. Making Veneers - 5:24
  3. Attaching Veneers - 8:32
  4. Routing the Soundport - 6:57

$10

Chapter 3 - The Back - 2:19:57

  1. Joining the Back - 12:39
  2. Making Back Braces - 21:43
  3. Thicknessing the Back - 8:52
  4. Reinforcement Strip - 11:48
  5. Gluing Back Braces - 18:24
  6. Voicing the Back - 27:29
  7. Radiusing Back Kerfing - 3:50
  8. Fitting the Back - 21:58
  9. Attaching the Back - 13:26

$15

Chapter 4 - The Top - 4:43:48

  1. Joining the Top - 11:40
  2. Prepping for the Rosette Part I - 4:23
  3. Hand Planer Setup - 3:21
  4. Prepping for the Rosette Part II - 11:42
  5. Installing the Rosette - 23:57
  6. Installing the Rosette Purflings - 13:00
  7. Thicknessing the Top - 20:09
  8. Binding the Soundhole - 20:05
  9. Top bracing Overview - 4:22
  10. Making Braces - 18:44
  11. The X Brace - 17:30
  12. Tone Bars and Finger Braces - 16:07
  13. Upper Braces - 12:26
  14. Soundhole Bracing - 2:02
  15. The Bridge Patch - 17:09
  16. Braces Discussed - 10:42
  17. Voicing Part I - 18:25
  18. Voicing Part II - 19:51
  19. Voicing Part III - 14:14
  20. Closing the Box - 24:12

$30

Chapter 5 - Bindings - 1:47:24

  1. Bending - 10:18
  2. Setting Up the Binding Cutter Jig - 13:44
  3. Cutting Binding Channels - 17:07
  4. Install Prep - 7:48
  5. Installing the Bindings - 21:24
  6. Installing the Back Bindings - 17:41
  7. Scraping the Bindings - 19:34

$15

Chapter 6 - The Neck - 2:27:06

  1. Cutting the Scarf Joint - 10:56
  2. Laminating the Neck - 10:31
  3. Gluing the Scarf Joint - 7:54
  4. Thicknessing the Peghead - 8:14
  5. Truss Rod Slot - 10:15
  6. Peghead Veneers - 10:46
  7. Trimming Peghead Veneer - 3:18
  8. Veneering Back of Peghead - 10:31
  9. Shaping and Drilling the Peghead - 9:27
  10. Heel Block - 3:23
  11. Calculating Neck Angle - 10:40
  12. Tapering the Neck - 6:22
  13. Neck Joint Jig - 3:26
  14. Cutting the Mortise - 7:38
  15. Cutting the Tenon - 20:37
  16. Attaching the Neck - 9:21
  17. Truss Rod Slot Extension - 3:49

$20

Chapter 7 - The Fretboard - 49:56

  1. Slotting the Fretboard - 9:55
  2. Tapering the Fretboard - 6:44
  3. Binding the Fretboard - 8:54
  4. Fretboard Length - 5:43
  5. Positioning the Fretboard - 11:33
  6. Attaching the Fretboard - 7:07

$10

Chapter 8 - Neck Carving - 1:15:08

  1. Making the heel cap - 7:14
  2. Carving the heel - 16:29
  3. Neck Width - 10:49
  4. Neck Thickness - 4:38
  5. Shaping the Neck - 15:30
  6. More Shaping - 13:08
  7. Sanding and Scraping - 7:20

$20

Chapter 9 - The Fretboard II - 1:12:31

  1. Radiusing the Fretboard - 8:57
  2. Leveling the Fretboard - 5:45
  3. Fret Markers - 13:24
  4. Side Fret Markers - 6:56
  5. Fret Installation Overview - 3:20
  6. Fret Installation - 12:17
  7. More Fret Installation - 16:40
  8. Beveling Fret Ends - 5:12

$15

Chapter 10 - The Bridge - 44:11

  1. Bridge design - 3:19
  2. Bridge Thickness and Shape - 6:55
  3. Bridge Pin Holes - 3:17
  4. Bridge Bottom Radius - 3:03
  5. Tapering the Wings - 4:11
  6. Bridge Top Radius - 3:47
  7. More Shaping - 4:15
  8. Saddle Slot - 8:25
  9. Sanding - 6:15
  10. Bridge Weight - 1:44

$15

Chapter 11 - The Finish - 3:14:24

  1. Finish Overview - 2:56
  2. Rounding the Bindings - 4:11
  3. Gap Filling - 1:20
  4. Sanding the Neck - 8:37
  5. Sanding the Body - 8:35
  6. Masking for Bridge - 7:40
  7. Pore Filling Prep - 9:38
  8. Pore Filling - 19:06
  9. Masking the Fretboard - 5:36
  10. Spray Equipment - 5:55
  11. Spraying Sealer - 10:05
  12. Spraying Explanation - 5:15
  13. Sanding the Sealer - 19:36
  14. Spraying Lacquer - 12:14
  15. Sanding the Lacquer - 18:58
  16. Final Spraying - 7:38
  17. Leveling the Finish - 24:45
  18. Buffing the Finish - 22:05

$40

Chapter 12 - Attaching the Bridge - 25:43

  1. Positioning the Bridge - 8:29
  2. Preparing for Gluing - 7:07
  3. Gluing the Bridge - 10:07

$10

Chapter 13 - Fretwork - 17:41

  1. Removing Masking Tape - 5:44
  2. Leveling Frets - 4:34
  3. Crowning Frets - 5:53
  4. Final Fretwork - 12:30

$10

Chapter 14 - Nut and Saddle - 27:37

  1. Fitting the Nut - 5:42
  2. Shaping the Nut - 5:24
  3. Slotting the Nut - 9:02
  4. The Saddle - 7:29

$10

Chapter 15 - Setup - 1:04:02

  1. Bridge Pin Holes - 7:10
  2. Installing Tuners - 6:32
  3. Installing Strings - 11:49
  4. Neck Relief - 3:26
  5. Nut Action - 9:13
  6. 12th Fret Action - 4:12
  7. Intonation - 11:42
  8. Initial Playing - 6:05
  9. Final Thoughts - 3:53

$25

Chapter 16 - Extras - Unknown

  1. Intro - 2:42
  2. Sample Lessons - 6:51
  3. The LMI Kit - 5:49
  4. Relative Humidity - 3:11

$0