Newbie

[Jes Woodland]

Hi all. I'm Jes, I'm a 49 year old Woodworker in Nottingham. I've been a joiner since finishing my apprenticeship as a bench joiner in 1987,picking up wood machining on the way. Due to some health problems I'm unable to work now but still dabble in a teaching capacity as a volunteer.I built a couple of electric guitars in the 90's but have recently renewed the interest with a Mandolin(unfinished) and a tenor guitar/octave mandolin most recently, which is the first acoustic instrument that I've made that I'm actually quite pleased with.
Other loves are Prog rock and Sheffield Wednesday FC (amongst other things).
Thanks for adding me! Look forward to getting acquainted and gleaning some much needed inspiration.

[Eric Knapp]

Welcome from another fairly new newbie. I'm a long-time woodworker wanting to make instruments too. This is a great place to learn and make connections. This group has been very welcoming and helpful to us newbies.

-Eric

[Jim McConkey]

Welcome on board, Jes! Glad you found us. One of my first "real" instruments was also an octave mandolin, and I was very pleased at how it turned out, despite my relative inexperience.

Eric, I resembled a lot of your recent remarks about trepidation on your first big build. Jump in, take your time, do your best, and whatever your attempt is going to turn out better than you ever thought it could. Confucius say, "Every great journey begin with one step."

[Peter Wilcox]

Welcome Jes.
My advice to newbies (which I am really still one) is JUST START BUILDING. You can't think an instrument into existence. You're going to make mistakes, and at least 90% of building (for me, anyway) is learning how to correct/hide them, and avoid them if possible in the future. Of course that never really works out.

Here's an illustrative thread: http://www.mimf.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=161

[Eric Knapp]

Welcome on board, Jes! Glad you found us. One of my first "real" instruments was also an octave mandolin, and I was very pleased at how it turned out, despite my relative inexperience.

Eric, I resembled a lot of your recent remarks about trepidation on your first big build. Jump in, take your time, do your best, and whatever your attempt is going to turn out better than you ever thought it could. Confucius say, "Every great journey begin with one step."

This is how it works here, Jes. You get encouragement like this when you are wanting to get going but are a little intimidated by the whole idea. I'm as ready as I'll ever be and these guys have all be there.

Thanks, Jim.

-Eric

[Eric Knapp]

Welcome Jes.
My advice to newbies (which I am really still one) is JUST START BUILDING. You can't think an instrument into existence. You're going to make mistakes, and at least 90% of building (for me, anyway) is learning how to correct/hide them, and avoid them if possible in the future. Of course that never really works out.

Here's an illustrative thread: http://www.mimf.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=161

I'm in. I started and I have a build log. Build logs are pretty cool, Jes. I'm going to post my progress for all to see so I can get praise, corrections, advice, and encouragement. This is good.

-Eric

[Jes Woodland]

Thanks for the warm welcome all! I've really got the bug for building at the moment, new skills to learn, manageable sized pieces to work on ( I have a spinal injury) and, hopefully, an instrument to play with at the end.What's not to love!

You're going to make mistakes, and at least 90% of building (for me, anyway) is learning how to correct/hide them, and avoid them if possible in the future. Of course that never really works out.

Here's an illustrative thread: http://www.mimf.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=161

That's actually one of the things that is driving me on to the next project, building the same thing again without the mistakes!

[Peter Wilcox]

That's actually one of the things that is driving me on to the next project, building the same thing again without the mistakes!

Well, hopefully you won't make the same mistakes, but it's very likely you'll make new ones.

[Jes Woodland]

One thing I'm confident of is making new mistakes but not making the stupid one's again would be some kind of progress.

[Bryan Bear]

Welcome Jes!

[Mark Swanson]

Welcome, Jes! I have to say that I am a huge fan of british prog rock myself.

[Gordon Bellerose]

Yes. A lot of good advice here Jes. Trust me, you will make new mistakes. We all do and as Peter says, you may repeat some too!!
They do seem to get smaller as you learn though.