” I can’t thank you enough for your wonderful French polishing course!! This will be my third time attempting any French polishing on my instruments and I can very confidently say that your videos have explained it all in the clearest, most detailed, and most practical way!!! I just love how you have broken down your process into all the little steps, and how you keep stressing the fact that it’s more an intuitive process than a systematic, set-in-stone process; that makes a lot of sense to me, and is making it a very enjoyable process.”

” Thanks for a great course! I think it’s really methodically good too. You don’t just show off a lot of tricks, but you actually do a whole instrument with all potential things that can come up. Which is very good!! I’ve been watching every second of it!! ? ”

” The Art of Lutherie’s, The Art of French Polishing, is a comprehensive course of instruction that covers all aspects of this traditional finishing method, from materials and supplies to methods of application, as well as how to deal with the problems that beginners may encounter. The audio and video are superb, with close up shots of the finish being applied and all the steps required to master this process and develop your own technique that will work for each individual. No steps or secrets are left out. In fact, it has been distilled to a very easy and understandable step by step process that yields master grade results. The method is divided into logical steps, each with numerous concise and entertaining videos that can be watched multiple times. By the time I completed watching all the videos I was ready to head to the shop and correct all the mistakes I previously made doing French polish. Tom Bills is obviously a luthier who puts his heart and soul into every part of his work, and it shows in the quality of his instruments, as well as this course. ”

” Master’s of any art form make it look easy. Tom’s no exception here. But what Tom does in this course is make French Polishing a guitar something approachable. To get the immaculate finish Tom is able to get it’s a time-consuming process, but he walks you through every little piece with the patience and wisdom from years of perfecting his craft. ”

” As a luthier, my ongoing quest is to create the best quality instruments I can for my clients. The build process is a huge achievement in itself, but finishing a guitar is a whole different ball game! I am really not a fan of Nitro or other lacquer finishes – don’t like the look and definitely don’t enjoy the process of getting it on the guitar. Tom’s course on French Polishing is truly heaven sent in that regard. His quiet, soft spoken personality matches the mental make up required to get into French Polishing. He manages to enter a state of Zen while working, and that calm and patience carries into the quality of work he does. The course is very well explained, with tons of bits of information that you won’t find anywhere else. Tom encourages the viewer to dive into the process without fear, and breaks down the technique into simple steps. Personally, I am really liking the finish I’m getting with his help, and with a bit of practice things should be great! I don’t think there’s ever a chance that I’ll go back to nitro or oil finishes. French Polish is here to stay!! ”

” I have had the privilege of knowing Tom since he started the Art of Lutherie website (only virtually unfortunately). We collaborated – along with others – about the site and the possibility of on-line lessons and tutorials. Tom’s dedication to the art is beyond compare. I have followed his work as an artisan luthier as well as an on-line teacher and advisor ever since. His thoughtfulness towards building that first course was amazing and his attention to detail is admirable. So too is his willingness to share his hard-earned knowledge and that is no small gift. Now with his new offering of teaching his method of French Polishing guitars, he has taken the work to a new level. The quality of the video is excellent and the detail to the subject is phenomenal. I have watched all the lessons now once and I will view them again so that when I start my finishing my three newly built white instruments, I will have the ability to recall as well as follow along with Tom as I work through the process. The way in which these lessons were filmed is as if you were in the workshop with Tom. His style is conversational, yet thorough in every aspect of the process …even down to clever tips that he uses to problem solve. The links to product and suppliers is more than helpful and makes the whole daunting issue of French Polish a bit more attainable …at least with a generous amount of practice and effort, but then nothing worthwhile comes easy, as we are all aware. Thanks Tom for your dedication to Lutherie and your willingness to share with us all ”