Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

stevemc32 wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 10, 2020 7:10 pm

So it's all done and sounding great.

Now time to finish reading the books and get the shed cleaned up for the next project. Cheers!

Happy times!

Hi Seth, and welcome to the forum. Your pair of teles look great, and I bet your Dad was thrilled with that gift. It is really mice that you had locally sourced timber, and then photograph them in the same vicinity. What sort of finish did you put on those? It has highlighted the colours in the camp...

Sitar buzzing sound typically comes from the saddle or the nut having a flat spot, rather than a peak. If it goes away when the string is fretted then I think you probably have correctly located it to the nut. If you play the string open (so it is buzzing) and then press your finger on the string di...

Wow, that is a beautiful guitar! The bearclaw figure in the spruce is almost as lively as the curl in the maple, so they complement each other perfectly. As others have said, the inlays are very nicely done. I particularly like the headstock shape. Just a top notch job overall.

kiwigeo wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 03, 2020 2:19 pm

Nice work mate. I fixed up that photo that was on it's side....makes it easier to see that nice stash of wood behind the guitar

Yes, there are clearly going to be some more nice instruments coming out of that workshop......

The whole thing looks really great! The sheoak is beautiful under finish, and the whole design really came together well. I hope you are thrilled with the outcome. The saddle looks managable, especially if you can take it down a bit from where it is in that photo. Things like mitred purflings are de...

Since your bridge is already glued on, I suggest you now only need to concentrate on where the saddle needs to go. The calculations that you make will indicate the position of the front (soundhole side) of the saddle slot. This calculation is as mentioned before. The books give a method of calculati...

Looks like you have arrived at a solution. Well done,

Ahh - OK, use of the truss rod to compensate for the forward neck relief was the bit that I was not mentally factoring in. You make a good point that if string tension raises the action it should be doing so by increasing forward bow of the neck - and you have a truss rod there to correct that. In m...

With regards to the bridge height, I normally aim for the straight edge to be just be kissing the top of the bridge. I can't quite tell what sized gap it is but anything more than say a mm is too much. Even a 1mm mil is pushing it. Trent, do you expect to see the straightedge lining up with the top...

The book arrived already. Thanks Mike. Thanks also Ross for the additional advice. I had gathered that solid linings are significant part of this style of build. I will need to pay careful attention to the neck and soundboard geometry. What are your thought on solid wood versus laminted back and sid...

When string tension goes on it will pull the neck forward a bit, and the top will be pulled up a bit, so the position of that straightedge will drop some. Trent is right in saying that the ideal situation is when the straightedge just kisses the top of the bridge. Then the neck angle is correct and ...

Thanks for the quick photography tutorial Frank. That is really useful. You might see me copying it in future. I will also need to work on how to “smudge out” the defects in my instruments as well as artefacts from the photography.
Cheers
m

Hi Nikolav. The blue resin and brown/black timber look great together. You could be getting into a signature style there. You might like hand applied oil finishes. Danish Oil looks good but is not the most durable option, and the lots of different brands all calling themselves Danish Oil are a mixed...

Wow - what a collection of works in progress. Very impressive - especially the inlay/marquetry work. Your photography is also excellent, can you tell us some time how you frame and shoot the pictures?

That sounds like a neat solution. Everyone will think that your unique pin layout is deliberate and stylish. I have found that an important part of this game is the ability to recover from an error or unanticipated outcome. I am sure that the recipient of the gift will love it! What are you planning...

Really well executed. I love the shell shaped inlays - but I assume they are timber. Do you make a log of those? What is the secret of their perfect regularity? Or is this some kind of CNC magic?

Nice thought Lilian - but it seems I have been lucky that Mike has one.
Mike, that is perfect. Thanks. PM sent.
Mark

I have a mate who would like me to build him a Maccaferri-style guitar. I actually have the two sets of plans produced by Francois Charle (and I am armed with some advice from Ross that those plans have a problem concerning neck angle). I have seen a number of recommendations for the book "Building ...

Hmmm, that does look a bit close for comfort. That curved arrangement of the pin holes is a nice look, but it does make it a bit tight at the bass end. I think you have a few options: 1. Move the bass end of the saddle slot forward 2-3mm. This would make it essentially perpendicular to the centre li...

First thing I would suggest is go up to the local hardware store and invest $20 in a metre long steel ruler. You really need to be able to measure this stuff accurately. You are on the right track with the measurements. If nut to 12th is 322.6mm your overall scale length is double that at 645.2. Tha...

Get back to us with the measurements, and maybe a photo of the bridge. If you need to remove the bridge we can help you to get that done. Don’t ask me why - but I have removed the bridge on a few of my builds before. The falcate bracing, because of its close relationship to the position of the bridg...

Can we check how you are calculating the right place for the saddle? Presumably you have measured the distance from the front of the nut to the crown of the 12th fret, and then you doubled this, and then you added a bit for compensation - and that lands you on the spot that would be the front edge o...

Yes, the new frets will probably cover up nearly all the chips. For any bigger ones the sawdust and CA remedy will fix it. That figured timber will hide blemishes really well, just as long as you fill any divots. The whole instrument is looking great.

Dave You can use any form of bracing you like, and X-bracing is certainly tried and tested. Falcate is just another way to do it, and it is becoming popular- but the bracing pattern is not really what we started talking about in this conversation. It is about getting some objective data about the st...