What qualifications do you need to design/build guitars?

Question

Do you need any kind of college courses or a degree or something? If not what do you need to do?

Answer 1

You don't need a qualification per se but you will need to demonstrate some experience in the area (some graphic design and a familiarity with the impact that a guitar's design has on it's sound). Think of the number of musicians who have designed their own signature guitars yet never finished school!

You could perhaps speak to somebody at your local music store and see what they think. Get familiar with products on the market and the design of those products, get to know what makes each unique and what style each brand favours - this will help you if you want to get work with one of those companies at some stage.

Maybe even have a go at making your own designs and building them at home (safely!)... even if they are a disaster at least you'll learn more about the design and the construction!

Finally - contact the designers and the companies directly. Tell them that you are really interested in pursuing a career in that area and let them know how keen you are and how familiar you are with guitar design etc... they may give you a few pointers, suggest useful courses and might even have an apprentice role for you!