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News Release

Last modified: Tuesday, May 24, 2011

First-ever Hoosier Guitar Building Workshop is June 6-10 on Bloomington campus

Deadline to register is June 1

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 24, 2011

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Always wanted to build your very own electric guitar? If so, a collaboration this summer between Indiana University Bloomington's School of Informatics and Computing and the Henry Radford Hope School of Fine Arts can make the dream come true.

Informatics and computing professor Andrew Lumsdaine will host the first Hoosier Guitar Building Workshop June 6-10 at the School of Fine Arts' McCalla Studio on the IU Bloomington campus. Music aficionados will learn how to craft, engineer and customize their own solid-body electric guitar in a class taught by Mark French, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Purdue University.

French teaches a class during the academic year on instrument manufacturing and testing in which students build and test an acoustic guitar. He will be joined by Brad Harriger, professor of manufacturing engineering at Purdue, who will offer insights on advanced manufacturing processes.

The class will meet daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the McCalla Studio. The $995 fee includes all materials and supplies to complete one guitar, along with a padded carrying bag, workshop t-shirt and daily lunches. Workshop participants will learn the practical and technical aspects of making guitars. The class is not for credit, and no previous experience with guitar making is necessary.

"This really is a guitar-lover's fantasy camp," Lumsdaine said. "For the past five years they've done a similar workshop at Purdue and had great success. We're excited to be bringing Mark French to Bloomington to start the tradition here at IU."

Attendees will receive a complete kit of materials, including a guitar body and neck with most of the machining already completed. Participants will then be able to tailor the final shape of the body and neck, as well as add other custom touches, such as paint.

To register, click here and complete by June 1. The workshop is limited to 18 participants and registration is on a first-come, first-served basis.

For more information or questions, e-mail iuguitar@indiana.edu. For media inquiries or to speak with Lumsdaine or French, please contact Steve Chaplin, University Communications, at 812-856-1896 or stjchap@indiana.edu, or Lisa Herrmann, IU School of Informatics manager of communications, at 812-855-4125 or ljherrma@indiana.edu.

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