Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

This was posted on another guitar forum and I felt it my honour bound duty to pass it on


Collings Guitar Custoner

Well aqualib, this will probably confuse you some more :mrgreen: The cedar refered to for necks is probably different from the cedar refered to for tops and b/s and even more confusingly very few of them are actually true cedar in the botanical sense :D The neck wood is usually cedrella (Spanish ced...

Michael,

Thanks. String gauges are 0.052", 0.042", 0.032", 0.024", 0.017", 0.013" D'Addario's.

You are viewing a re-constructed thread by the ANZLF recovery team. For more information click here . " Originally Posted on: Sat Aug 07, 2010 7:20 am Some of you may be interested in this. Six years ago I made a "dream guitar" for my 50th birthday present - a European Spruce/African Blackwood 13 f...

Kim - D'oh!! Jim - thanks. Bill - I try and operate a luthiers version of Parkinson's Law :roll: Now for the sides - the treble side is a single piece including the hollow arm side and is bent in the “fox-bender” leaving the hollow arm side protruding: http://www.defaoiteguitars.com/userimages/fang6...

Acoustic baritone guitars are mysterious beasts indeed – so far I’ve made three. They are usually designed to be tuned five semitones down from a “normal” guitar and five of their six strings share the same range – E to B or the bottom five strings of an EADGBE instrument. The baritone low string is...

Allen wrote: Yep, typo and meant the 40 a year. Although I didn't see anywhere that he mentions voicing tops or back, after looking at all the pictures and comments to go with them, I suspect that the back braces are cut and shaped to standard dimensions that he's found works for his style, and I'm...

matthew wrote: on a DB, string tension is usually around 50-70 lbs. this translates to about 40-50lbs downwards force onto the soundboard. Matthew - thanks for more useful info. I assume that that is per string rather than the total for all four strings? That gives 200-280lb and 160-200lb downwards ...

Matthew,

Thanks for those thoughts - very useful.

Still giving this dead dog a few last kicks so - what sort of string tension would a 40" scale length bass have - this I suspect gives a lot more torque as the bridge is much higher than a guitar.

Bill, Thanks for the links - I'll look at your website later and no doubt be back with lots of questions 8) Matthew, Becky is not a bassist but has always wanted one and wants to make one with me (otherwise I'd consider buying one of Bills). Playability and portability are definitely factors plus sh...

You are viewing a re-constructed thread by the ANZLF recovery team. For more information click here . " Originally Posted on:Tue Sep 14, 2010 9:16 pm " Daughter number one wants to make an upright electric bass with me similar to the one used by Trevor Hutchinson of Lunasa, She's researching for th...

Sometimes I think that guitar makers "invent" new bracing patterns and constructions as much to stop themselves becoming bored as to find the Holy Grail of tone. I know I'm guilty and did this on my first uke build when I discovered that the trick is to not actually brace it at all. My solution was ...

Gwenn, That's some gorgeous wood and you are making good use of it - I like the rosette and flow of the fretboard end. I can see why you called it Firefly. These instruments are addictive - I'll follow this build with interest. Like Pete I make mine with guitar bracing from the soundhole down and us...

jeffhigh wrote: Dave next time you have a rimset made up and lined and with any CF bracing in place, take it out an stand it on the tailblock end and sit on it. Does it break or bend even just a little? It is missing the most important structural elements, the top and back. You cannot dissapate str...

Kim wrote: Dave White wrote: I'm in Hog Heaven at the moment as I understand that the Laws of Physics as we know them are currently broken, as the equations break down when you get to what's happening at the centre of Black Holes - they divide by zero and become infinity which isn't allowed apparen...

Sorry - double post. You see I was two places at the same time Cool
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Dave White
De Faoite Stringed Instruments

Kim, I apologise - I should have read further and more closely but when I get to "neutral axis" I start to get pictures of Switzerland in my head for some reason Shocked I'm in Hog Heaven at the moment as I understand that the Laws of Physics as we know them are currently broken, as the equations br...

Kim wrote: I don't believe there is any 'benefit' in having any amount of movement what so ever in the UTB and in fact will happily go on record as stating that any movement at the upper transfer brace (UTB) will only sink string energy into the upper bout and neck block thus reducing the effective...

My eldest daughter Becky asked me to make a uke for her to give to her best friend as a Birthday present. So I looked through the scraps pile in the shed and three weeks later ended up with this Concert uke. He's called Merry to go with Pippin - the first Concert uke I made earlier this year. Top ba...

Allen,

Lovely uke - very innovative and a nice use of the wood. Based on the first picture I think you should call it "Hot Lips" Very Happy The Banksia looks a lot like the different sorts of Lacewoods.
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Dave White
De Faoite Stringed Instruments

Sad news about the hacking and great work Bob and all getting the ANZLF Forum resurrected. I think I posted this here back in August 2010 so I'll give it its second resurrection :D The Caucasian spruce top has blossomed beautifully over the last few months and it's a little monster :roll: "Six years...

Martin, That's looking really good. Is limewood in Australia like here in Blighty - Tillia sp. (or basswood as the other Colonials call it)? Looks nice stuff anyway. On mine when the glue had dried I drilled two holes through the neckblock into the neck and glued dowels in (I was following Obi Wan's...

Here is my teaspoon for bridge pin removal. A quick nick on the bench grinder gives you an end that gets better contact with the round pin. If you pinch an old one out of the kitchen she will probably never notice. http://www.anzlf.com/phpBB2/userpix/90_bridge_pin_spoon_1.jpg Cool, Now all you need...

That's the way to do it (copyright Mr Punch) - it's basically a capstan. My pet hate is people who tie knots in the strings (especially the unwound strings) with a good probablity of you leaving a DNA sample (and not the pleasurable stuff) on the guitar when you try and take them off :shock: One thi...

Martin,

David Dyke here in the UK has plum wood (he has it for fingerboards and lute staves) and for the bridge sizes you are looking for the postage probably wouldn't be that expensive. Check him out. If he won't do the posting to Oz I could buy it from him and post it to you.