by Lukas Brunner | Mar 3, 2015
The first training time is over and we had a very intense but great time together! Luke spent 3 1/2 weeks training the the crew in the new workshop. Scott, a good canadian friend who’s been working with Luke in Switzerland before was also part of the training and a good support!
(first picture from left to right: Luke, Nishchith, Moses, David, Scott, Philip, Santosh)
Once all the machines were set up properly we finally started building guitars!!
Luke brought a lot of templates and jigs from Switzerland and we also had to build many more. Jigs help tremendously to get the jobs done very accurately and efficient.
Even though we do as many jobs by machine as we can, there is lots of hand work left which demand very high skills. Luckily the guys are learning quickly :)!
Also on this trip we got to do some shopping for tools and supplies in the crazy streets Bangalore…
We got as far as assembling the body and having the neck preshaped. Luke will be back in April for training part 2 of the whole finishing process. Stay with us!
By the way; Philip (the long term ACTS carpenter) already built a few guitars around 25 years ago! He never would have thought he will ever get back into this business on a different level 🙂
by Lukas Brunner | Nov 10, 2014
Wir freuen uns über das gute Vorankommen der Renovationsarbeiten der ehemaligen medizinischen Klinik, welche nun bald zur Gitarren Werkstatt wird! Gerade rechtzeitig auf den Besuch von Lukas in Indien im Oktober erhielten wir auf wundersame Weise einen sehr hohen Geldbetrag geschenkt, mit welchem wir den Hauptteil der benötigten Maschinen und Werkzeuge kaufen konnten! Wir hatten eine tolle Zeit uns als Team besser kennen zu lernen beim Planen der Einrichtung, sowie beim “Tool shopping” (was vor allem für Lukas ein echtes Abenteuer war, da in Indien alles etwas anders abläuft als in der Schweiz… :))
Die Werkstatt sieht sehr gut aus und ist bezugsbereit! Es steckt sehr viel Arbeit drin, great job guys!
Auf Werkzeug-Jagd in den Strassen Bangalore’s…
Leider sind gute gebrauchte Maschinen in Indien immer noch sehr teuer, daher haben wir uns für neue Maschinen entschieden und konnten gute Deals abschliessen!
Wir haben auch gute Tonholzhändler gefunden in Kochi (Kerela) für Indischen Palisander (Rosewood) und Indischen Mahagoni.
Noch ein paar weitere Impressionen… Indien ist anders!
Alle waren begeisterst vom ersten Astha Guitar Prototypen!
Eli Kretzmann, ein guter Freund von Lukas aus den USA war auch Teil des Tool-hunting Trips und war eine super Hilfe mit all seiner Indien Erfahrung. Er bietet sonst “Custom Tours” an in Nepal. Schau mal rein www.overtheedgetravel.com
by Lukas Brunner | Nov 10, 2014
We are very excited about the progress of the renovations on the old medical clinic building which will very soon become our guitar workshop! Just in time with Luke being in India in October we received miraculously a massive donation to buy most of the major machinery for the workshop! We had a great time connecting as a team by doing lots of planning and shopping for tools and machinery (which was a fun adventure especially for Luke as things function a bit differently in India than in Switzerland :)).
Lukas will be back in Bangalore in January/February to run the first training with the crew. We are all very excited to finally start building guitars in India!
Promo video coming soon…!
The workshop looks great and is waiting for the work benches and machines to be moved in! A lot of effort has been put into this building! Thanks a lot guys!
Tool hunting in the craziness of Bangalore’s business streets…
Unfortunately good used machines were still very expensive, so we ended up buying all new machines and made some good deals!
We also found a great tone wood supplier in Cochin (Kerela) for Indian Rosewood and Indian Mahogany!
Some more indian impressions… such a different place!
Everybody was thrilled about the first prototype Astha Guitar!
Eli Kretzmann, a good friend of Luke from the US was also part of the tool and wood hunting trip. He is very India experienced and he’s been a great help! Most winters he spends in Nepal now, check out what he is doing there! www.overtheedgetravel.com
