Three ways to learn lutherie at the Utah School of Lutherie — pick based on how deep you want to go, not just how much time you have. Every program is one-on-one, hands-on, and taught by a working master luthier in a real shop in Logan, Utah. No kits, no classrooms, no cutting corners. The difference is depth: whether you want to build an instrument, build it using the same acoustic science pro luthiers use, or learn the whole craft, including the business, well enough to do it for a living.
Build Your Own
$2,500
- Flexible pace, under 150 hrs
- Raw tonewood, one-on-one
- Core building skills
Utah School of Lutherie
$4,000
- 4-DOF modeling, Chladni testing
- Certificate + Lutherie Log™ access
- CNC add-on available
Apprenticeship
$12,500
- 3 months, one apprentice at a time
- Real client work
- Business of lutherie curriculum
| Build Your Own | Utah School of Lutherie | Lutherie Apprenticeship | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $2,500 | $4,000 | $12,500 |
| Format | Flexible, self-paced (under 150 hrs) | Flexible, self-paced (~200 hrs) | 3 months, Mon–Fri, one apprentice at a time |
| Instruction | One-on-one | One-on-one | One-on-one, immersive |
| What you build | Your own acoustic, electric, or ukulele from raw tonewood | Same, plus scientific voicing and acoustic engineering | Real instruments, including client commissions |
| Curriculum depth | Core building skills: milling, joinery, assembly, finishing | Adds Scientific Lutherie: 4-DOF modeling, Chladni pattern testing, monopole mobility, hands-on voicing methodology | Everything in the School, plus running a lutherie business |
| You leave with | A finished instrument | A finished instrument, certificate, and full Lutherie Log™ data for your build | 1–2 finished instruments and real client-facing experience |
| Best for | First-timers who want to build one great instrument | Builders who want to understand why an instrument sounds the way it does | Anyone serious about lutherie as a livelihood |
The Science Behind Scientific Lutherie
Every instrument built here is measured, not guessed at. I’ve spent years developing a data-driven approach to voicing — one I’m still refining with every build. You’ll learn to track soundboard density and stiffness, radiation ratio, plate stiffness before and after voicing, and a 4-degree-of-freedom resonance map of the assembled box.
Chladni patterns — the nodal lines that appear when a plate is driven at resonance — get sketched and logged at each voicing stage, so you can see exactly how a change in bracing or thickness moves the sound. My approach is always evolving — I stay current with the latest techniques and equipment, and this shop reflects it: a state-of-the-art space where you learn modern methods, not outdated ones.
Powered by Lutherie Log™
All of that data lives in Lutherie Log™, the acoustic analysis tool built in-house for this program. It’s where you log material grading and component mass as parts are cut, track stiffness and resonance measurements as the build progresses, sketch Chladni patterns section by section, and compare voicing before and after each carving pass.
Your radiation ratio gets benchmarked against reference ranges for common soundboard species, so you know how your plate compares before you commit to a final voicing. It turns “does this sound right?” into something you can actually measure, repeat, and improve on your next build.