I have played acoustic guitar for years. I set up and repair my own instruments. But building one from scratch, with hand tools, with wood I select myself, with a plan drawn on paper, felt like crossing a threshold.

Up to this point, I’m not even 100% sure why I decided to build my own guitar. I hope I will discover that along the way. All I know is that, despite all the challenges involved, I’m genuinely excited and committed to making it happen.

I’ve been playing acoustic guitar since I was a kid. It was the first instrument I ever bought for myself: a classical-style guitar from a cheap brand whose name I don't remember. That was where my journey started. At the time, I wanted to learn rock and pop songs, so maybe it wasn’t the most appropriate instrument, but it was the one I could afford.

Decades passed, and I had the chance to experiment with different types of guitars, from acoustic to electric. I like them all, regardless of their form. Lately, though, I’ve been playing more jazz and acoustic pieces. I’ve really fallen in love with the beauty of the classical guitar sound.

The desire to build my own guitar was triggered by a will to "make" something. My daily work involves computers most of the time, and while I am making things, those are not tangible objects, something concrete, that you can touch and feel. I believe this need to create something real was what drawn me to this project. Then, magically, guitar-building videos started appearing in my feed. I watched one, then another, and before I knew it, I was completely drawn in. My curiosity kept growing, and I found myself researching the craft more seriously.

Through those videos, I was introduced to makers like Torres, Hauser, and more contemporary builders like José Romanillos. They also led me to the idea of taking a luthier course. I started looking into options, but most were in-person workshops, often in other countries. That pushed me to look for an alternative: an online course from a reputable builder who could guide me through building my first classical Spanish guitar.

After some searching, I chose Pablo Requena’s online course. It felt comprehensive and thoughtfully structured, and it’s taught by someone with deep knowledge of the craft.

That was the starting point. When I bought the course and watched the first lesson, I knew, no matter how crazy it might sound, that I really wanted to build my own guitar and that this could be something possible to achieve.

Now, with the motivation and the right instructions in hand, the next challenge was figuring out how to make it fit into my reality. And that’s been one of the hardest parts of the project. I’m building my first guitar at home. I decided not to rent a workshop. Instead, I’m adapting the space I have, which means being especially careful about noise, dust, and storage, and getting creative with the setup.

But that’s probably a story for another post.

I hope you’ll enjoy following this journey. If you have questions or are curious about any step, feel free to reach out. I’ll be happy to share what I’m learning along the way.