FAQs

The possibilities truly are endless. Many students go on to open their own repair shops while others build their own guitars full-time. Some students approach guitar building as a hobby while maintaining their professions and others work in music stores, as music equipment wholesalers, take on guitar ‘tech’ jobs, tour with bands, work with larger guitar manufacturers and so forth.

As we are a working shop, much of our calendar year is reserved for custom guitar commissions. With only a portion of the year being allocated to teaching, course vary throughout the year. As such, we operate on a first-come-first-serve basis and recommend that interested students register early. Requested course dates will be taken into consideration (although not guaranteed) and registrants can formally submit their course deposit to secure their spot. All courses require a $600 deposit which includes a $100 non-refundable administration fee. Please see our ‘Registration and Payment Policies‘ before applying. If you'd like to request a specific start date, you can contact our admin department.

Unfortunately, we do not currently offer accommodations. However, most of our students stay at local AirBnBs. The Okanagan valley is a tourist mecca boasting endless wine-tasting, stunning scenery and tons of outdoor activities. You’ll definitely love the quaint town of Summerland and the surrounding area.

Yes. Students requesting a specific start date or those wanting to pre-register are encouraged to register as far in advance as possible. We operate on a first-come-first-serve basis. Your course deposit reserves your place in our calendar. If you have questions about coming course availability, feel free to contact our admin department to discuss.

As you’ll be in a working shop, hearing protection, safety glasses, a dust-mask, and appropriate footwear is required. For a specific list of items, please contact our admin department: admin@guitarmakingshcool.ca Notebooks, binders and pens / pencils are recommended as well. Some students like to work with their own lutherie tools. If you have a small kit you’d like to bring, that is encouraged, although not necessary. For a recommended basic tool list, please contact our admin department.

Of course. For all other inquiries, feel free to send an inquiry via our contact form.

If you are interested in studying at our school, the first step is to apply to attend a given course. Successful applicants will be contacted via email and then be given a link to formally register and submit their course deposit. NOTE: The remainder of the course fee is due on the first day of class for our 3-week and 5-week courses. A payment schedule for our longer 3-month, 6-month and 1-year courses will be arranged via our admin department. Please see our ‘Registration and Payment Policies‘ for more information or contact our admin department directly to discuss additional payment plan options.

For courses less than three months in duration, all program fees (less the initial deposit) must be paid in full on or before the first day of class. Payment plans may be considered for courses exceeding three months in duration. To apply for a payment plan schedule, please contact our administration department. Educational loans that are available through banks and RESP’s can be used for training.

Yes. All courses require a $600 deposit, which includes a $100, non-refundable registration fee to secure your spot. For all three-month-or-less courses the balance of the course fees are due upon the first day of class. For our longer courses, a payment schedule may be considered, or you are welcome to pay your course fees in full before, or on the first day of class. Students interested in applying for a payment schedule are encouraged to make a request with our admin department. For more information, please review our ‘Registration and Payment Policies‘. Successful applicants will be contacted by our admin staff to finalize their registration and submit their course deposit.

Please review our ‘Registration and Payment Policies’, here.

Our pricing covers all wood, hardware and basic electronics. We use quality parts from well-known manufacturers but are open to discuss hardware colours (tuning machines, pickguards and so forth). While there is creative freedom around elements such as rosettes, headstock design and inlays, we recommend that students learn the basics during their course and then move on to experiment and expand upon those skill-sets once in their own shops.

Yes. Depending on the length of your course, students will be able to apply a hand-rubbed oil finish, a water-based lacquer finish, and / or a French polish finish.

We do not use kits. For our shorter courses, students will often use our jigs and templates to make their instruments. For the longer courses (3+ months), students will make their own jigs from scratch. However, all courses involve milling rough stock and building guitars from the ground, up.