Students building guitars in wood shop

Sisters High School wood shop students are learning one of the most difficult and prestigious skills in the world of woodworking: building a premium guitar.

Teacher Tony Cosby has partnered with Breedlove Guitar Company of Tumalo, one of the top guitar makers in the world, to introduce this art to his students.

Cosby’s first-year students begin by making chairs to hone their woodworking skills. For second-year students, Cosby wanted a project that would capture their interest. This project has done just that.

“You don’t get a chance to make a guitar every day,” said 11th grader Chris Sawiel, who also plays the guitar.

The students are learning the fine points of guitar making from an 11-year veteran of Breedlove. In 12 weeks, Jayson Bauerman will guide the students through bending the side wood, the finer points of sanding, fingerboard assembly and ending by inlaying their own “logo” on the neck.

“Their enthusiasm is fantastic and it makes up for any kind of deficiency in skill they may have,” said Bauerman, who works as production manager and new product development manager at Breedlove.

“I’m actually really impressed,” added Bauerman.

Bauerman said three things make a guitarexceptional: starting with quality materials, good design, and workmanship.

It wasn’t easy for Cosby, who plays a little guitar, to get this project going. First he “had to beg to get a smaller class size.” Then he needed tooling specific to guitar making. A $1,000 gift from the Oregon Community Foundation along with a $500 private gift got his shop ready for guitar making. Each of the 12 students has paid $200 for their materials.

Cosby and Bauerman are thinking beyond this first class. They hope this effort will integrate with the Sisters Folk Festival-sponsored Americana Project, perhaps by making an instrument to auction. For many years, that project has offered Sisters students an opportunity to learn song writing, learn the guitar and perform.

Next year Cosby, who has been videotaping Bauerman’s weekly lesson, can take over the bulk of teaching guitar making.

This week, students are halfway through their 12-week class and Cosby is a bit worried about completing all the steps in time. After all, it takes Breedlove several weeks to complete one guitar working full-time with a team of experienced craftsmen. But he’s glad he got the new project off the ground and can offer students a learning experience by making an instrument that is “cool.”

Breedlove Guitar Company, which also makes mandolins, is known internationally for its exceptionally crafted instruments. From Grand Ole Opry stars to Grammy Award winners, musicians have performed jazz, classical and county music on Breedlove guitars.