FAQs

The Electric guitar building courses are available on the first weekend of each month. Sometimes they may be moved if need be.  They run from 10am till about 4pm to 5pm (depending on how quickly you work) Saturday and Sunday.  Our Cigar Box Guitar Making Courses run a little less often (once every two months), they are a one day course and go from 10am to 5pm on a Saturday. Our calendar shows what dates are still available (Click on any instrument on the Courses page to see the calendar). The dates in green can be booked.

We have a maximum of 4 students per course.  

No. There is only one student per instrument build. We do not have room in the workshop for extra people.

The courses are available to anyone 16 years and older (under 18s require consent from a guardian – Consent Form). No prior woodworking, guitar playing or electronics skills are required as you will be guided through each step of your build.  Being of sound mind and body to a point where you are able to function in a workshop environment adequately is necessary. Please see our Terms and Conditions for participating in a course.

– Select an instrument you would like to build from the range of instruments on our Courses page.
– Find a date that you would like to do the course.
– Check our calendar to see if the dates are available.  (Green = available, Red = fully booked)
– Read the Terms and Conditions of Participating in a Course.
– Fill in the online booking form and pay for the course.

Only on completion of your payment is your booking confirmed.

Unfortunately not.  Only with full payment can course places be confirmed.
We now have Paypal’s Pay in 4, which means you can split up your payment into 4 repayments. See Paypal for details

You can only hold a place with a paid booking.  Please contact us if you are thinking of doing a course at very short notice (and there is places available).

If you purchase a course and pay by bank deposit, your booking will be “on hold” until the funds have cleared in our bank account.  This may take several business working days.  This option is not advisable if you are booking at short notice.  If your payment has not been received within seven (7) days your booking will be cancelled.

Yes you can.  You can purchase a gift voucher for any amount, and the recipient can make up the difference when booking the course online.  You will be sent a gift certificate by email that you can print out (or have it emailed directly to the recipient). Electric Guitar Making Courses start at $649 if you wish to gift the whole of a basic course.
Please note that gift vouchers are non refundable. However, you can use them to purchase any items on our website, including the handcrafted instruments or artworks. More details here

As we are located in a natural bushland setting, we are aware of bushfire risk. On Code Red days we will postpone any courses and close the gallery, for the safety of our guests. This will be at short notice as the fire danger announcements are usually made the day before. Nick is a member of the CFA and is well informed of any potential fire threats in the area.

At the moment, if any COVID issues arise that stop you from attending a booked course, we are happy to reschedule your booking, if you get in touch with us prior to the course starting.
Cancellation up to 14 days prior to the course date you will receive 100% refund or you can reschedule the date.*
Cancellation  8 to 14 days prior to the course date will attract a 50% cancelation fee.*
Cancellation 7 days or less, prior to the course date will attract a 100% cancelation fee.
Changes up to 14 days prior can be done online (log in to your account) otherwise please contact us directly.
* Minus any Bank/Paypal fees that have been applied. 

All the information on each course can be found on either the Electric Guitar Making Course page or the Cigar Box Guitar Making Course Page

Yes you do.  We also have cases available for purchase, for you to cart your new axe away in!
Take it home and show it off to all your friends.  You get to make music on the guitar you made! How cool is that!

Yes we do.  We have a left handed LP model and an Ash ST model.  You can find them on the courses page.

Yes they are. Everything you need to put together your instrument of choice is provided for you.  All the individual parts are supplied as a complete kit.

The course is only 2 days long.  It is impossible to do a spray job and have the guitar completed in this time.  We offer an oil finish which is quick, easy to apply and gives a nice satin patina.  You can also stain your guitar, from our wide range of coloured stains, giving it a personal touch, whilst highlighting the grain in the timber.

You can design your own headstock shape.  You can choose the colour. You can set it up to your specs.  However, other modifications are not in the scope of this course.  We have a lot of work to do to get your guitar up and running within the two days, so if you wish to do modifications it is best you do these outside of the course.
As these are kit guitars they come with set hardware.  We do have some upgrades that you can choose from, including pickups, machine heads, personalised decals, etc (see each guitars booking page for details) but apart from these we cannot change anything else.  Again, if you wish to make changes you can do so in your own time after the course.
Please note – Some students have brought along their own hardware, and if it “drops in” thats fine, ie. it is straight forward to swap out the existing hardware for the new hardware, without needing to do any alterations to the cavities, pickguard, etc. Please note that there is limited time and we cannot mess around for too long on these installations. And believe me, messing around for hours and hours on guitar mods is very easy to do!

No.  These are imported kits and are made from the international standard in tone woods.

Hopefully you won’t if you follow the instructions.  However, if you do you can purchase replacement parts.

If you have a gift voucher, you can type the code in at checkout and apply it to your cart. If you have any problems with it please do get in touch.

If there are store wide coupons available for you to use you will find them in either your Cart or at Checkout.  You will need to click on the relevant one to apply it to your purchase.  Some coupons will only appear when you are logged in to your account.  Some coupons will only appear when you meet the required criteria.  Coupons can only be used at time of purchase, so please make sure you have activated it and it is represented in your Total.  Only one coupon can be used at a time – no other discounts apply.

We offer a special where if you book a whole course, that is 4 places/students together on the same date, we can negotiate a date that suits you and you get a discount of 10% for the whole booking. It is best to get in touch to discuss what dates I am available. Once your team is happy with the dates and has decided on which guitar models they want to build, I can send an invoice that includes your discount. Once payment is made then we can lock in the dates.

Alternatively, you can book in a private course with only 3 students, but no discount will apply.

If you have a gift voucher, you will need the code that was emailed to you or the purchaser.  Proceed to book in a course, i.e.. choose the guitar you wish to build, select the course date, and then in the Cart page there will be an area for you to put in your code, then click apply. The value of the voucher should then appear in the sub total and minus off the total of the booking.  If you have any troubles please feel free to contact us and we will run through it with you.

Daylesford, which is only 8 minutes  away, has a multitude of accommodation available. Check out Daylesford Country Retreats, Dayget or even AirB&B. Or you can camp for free inside Mount Franklin!  It is an extinct volcano and has camp grounds inside the crater. No need to book a site, just rock up and pitch a tent! It’s only a few minutes away too.

We don’t provide any food, apart from tea and coffee and some biscuits, but you will have an hour or so to be able to go into town and grab something to eat if you wish. Or bring a packed lunch! A fridge is available for you to use.

For safety reasons, you cannot participate in the course if you are under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Wildwood has changed focus and is now concentrating on providing instrument making courses.  However, you can see what creations Nick Carpenter has for sale on the Instruments page.  Or you can check out all of the instruments Nick has previously made here – Previous Instruments
Nick is also making artworks based on musical instruments and on the theme of music. Check them out here

The art gallery is open by appointment. Just get in touch any day of the week and if I am available I can give you a private tour of the gallery. The gallery will also be open on days I am running a guitar making workshop for you to drop in, but it may have to be a brief chat on those weekends as I will be  busy running the course.

Call or text Nick on 0416188950

The art gallery contains mostly musical themed artworks that have been created by me, in my adjoining workshop. I create 3D and sculptural pieces often involving musical instruments or instrument parts. There is also works that incorporate steam bent timbers (the same process used to bend guitar sides). I have transferred my guitar making skills to create unique artworks that are on display here. If you are interested in art and music, then this gallery is for you.

The guitars that you can build in the course or custom order are on display. You are welcome to check them out prior to booking your course/placing an order if you like.

There is also glass doors to the workshop so you can have a look into where it all happens. You may even be lucky enough to catch a guitar making workshop in progress!

The art gallery has a ramp leading up to the extra wide main door. There is wheelchair access to the galley but please be aware, the ramp is a little steep and the door manually opens outward. I can assist where possible. Unfortunately the workshop and the toilet are not wheelchair accessible.

There is a dunny/outhouse toilet that is available for course students and visitors to use. It is unfortunately not wheelchair accessible.

There is a whole field set aside as a parking area just outside of the gallery and workshop. There is enough room for about 20 cars. The bays are not marked so that there is ample room for disability parking anywhere within the parking lot.
Unfortunately, there is little in the way of public transport to Mount Franklin. There is a train line from Melbourne to Castlemaine, then a bus to Daylesford and then a taxi to Mount Franklin. The courses start at 10am which gives you a bit of time to get here in the morning.