Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

If you are a diver (or interested in it) then the barrier reef is fantastic. My wife and I spent some time on Heron island which is (was - it was a while ago) a nice low key place right on the reef so day trips were doable rather than liveaboards. The marine life was gorgeous. The Daintree forest wa...

Did someone mention hoarding a while back?

Yes Taff it is! You wouldn't catch me with boxes of miscellaneous parts Hmm well...

Great stuff Chris. I know it takes a bit of effort to take and post photos to the forum. I have however taken lots of photos, particularly of my early guitar builds to help keep records, along with my log book with wood types and thicknesses etc. I can't imagine tackling that carving exercise on the...

Nice to see you back in the game John. And a great looking guitar. Dave

Old topic but... There are some great ideas here but a couple of things I might add. I like an upstand at the back of the bench to push things against but there are times when you want the top surface to be clear so I have made mine movable. Instead of relying on the frame joints to give stiffness I...

John thanks for the reminder. Orfeo has such superb production values it is almost worth looking at for the great photography. And finding out about guitar makers round Europe is good. We don't tend to hear much about them normally. I was interested to see how much Joshia De Jonge can charge for her...

Don't buy one of those collections of bits. You won't use half of them! Really the best way is to buy bits as and when you can see what you need for a particular job. You will almost certainly need some straight cutters but you will probably need bearing guided types, however top or bottom bearing a...

Wayne thanks for the detailed description. I tend to use the GG technique but for a mandolin I have half finished I may well use barrel bolts as you describe.

And thanks to you all for keeping the forum going. It remains a great source of information and inspiration.

Greg I like the sound of that. Mounting a small mirror securely sounds easier than lengths of wood. I have just looked up laser pointers and they are pretty cheap and available at least in the UK.

Yes thanks for that work Trevor. I have just acquired version 2019 and it works exactly as you describe. Slightly surprising the mouse wheel and the page up and down work in the reverse way to what one would expect setting frequency but that's fine. (Actually you may have said that earlier). I'm imp...

I love that little amp! I think I have posted this before but thought it worth repeating. A simple wooden box works fine as an enclosure. As for speakers a pair of car speakers which can handle huge amounts of power can be had pretty cheaply - at least in the UK. I am still driving them with an anci...

Jorge I was wondering if you resolved the bridge rotation issue.?

Using this technique like creating the bottom radius it is all bit of a faff but once set up it is very quick. A good reason to do a whole lot of braces in one go. After all we know there are going to be other guitars don't we!

Not really answering the question but I couldn't get on with the angle device such as yours. I went back to using a stick stuck to the bridge as per the book. I do use a stick twice as long - 600 mm and this gives pretty consistent answers. Someone, I think Al Caruth, suggested the use of a light po...

Nicely done Taff. Don't think I would have the patience.

Like this:

You mention over thinning the heel cap - I make mine so they sit just below the surface of the back so they don't have to be an exact thickness.

This really was full on! It is going to be a great looking guitar - and hopefully great sounding.

Good stuff. It is always nice to follow a build. It is rare that there isn't a little something that can't be learnt - particularly with someone as professional as Steve Toscano guiding.

Good pictures too. Enjoy.

You would think that if this a common problem it would be talked about by both makers and performers. Is it perhaps about the type and placement of the pickups?

It may be worth adding that a planed surface will glue much better than a sanded one. Also that you want to do the glue up pretty soon after you have planed the edges so have your glueing jig ready to go after you have produced your edges. It may seem a bit daunting at first but a bit of practice sh...

Looks good. I would worry somewhat about taking too much off. I guess you would use a fairly fine grit...?

I shaped blocks on the lathe for my various radii and stuck abrasive to them. Works well but does take some time. I do get a good fit this way.

Not in any way contradicting Martin I love my silicone heating blanket with spring steel straps. I do quite sharp cutaways and bending the bindings along with the sides gives me great results. I don't use anything too fancy, just a Keenovo heater with temperature controller. I also don't make too ma...