Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

Well I wasn't aware of it but your design must have been lurking in my mind when I came to build one as a little project between guitars as it were. This is made from laminated ash and some padauk that turned out too splitty for a guitar body. Needs a coat of varnish and a bit of padding in the appr...

Woodsy thanks. I ended up on the shoulder about 16 mm from the heel edge and with a supporting block inside to screw into, as per Dan Erlewine. Martin I don't normally but the player this is going to plays standing up. Bolting into the brass would certainly be strong. I am a bit concerned that the s...

Given the brass bar running through the middle of the heel in the GG design where do people put the strap button?

I quite like the look of Dan Erlewine's suggestion of having it on the guitar shoulder not on the heel at all.

I recently finished this cutaway classical. Since I don't have to sell them I don't need to worry too much about tradition! It is Falcate braced and has a 20 inch radius on the fretboard. I have thought for a long time that cutaways were sensible for classicals, just as for SS. I in particular wante...

As usual John we appreciate the trouble you take to document the build. I wonder what height you have taken the falcate braces to? Trevor I think suggests7 mm for his particular design for a SS...? Also I may have missed it but what thickness have you taken the back to given that you want it to be a...

Caul me pedantic but I reckon they are sliding cauls!

Best of luck with a different sort of building Martin.

Alan as you might gather there really are many ways to achieve a sharp edge, some requiring a bit more work, and some needing more skill. For instance I always use a honing guide unless the blade is such that it won't go in, since I don't have decades of experience holding a tool at the right angle....

I'm sure I am missing something here but why are we talking about photo hosting sites? If you have photos that you have taken surely you have them on your device, be it a PC or whatever. If so you can simply upload to the forum. Why does one need to involve a web based storage site? Puzzled of the o...

If I may add something about the speaker enclosure... I boxed in a car speaker - they seem to be a useful source of 4 inch speakers - then found that the box was a bit awkward to hold. And you really don't want to drop the little darling on a guitar so added handles. I intended to support it with a ...

Well that answered the question! Thanks for the links Bruce - I should have checked. I hadn't realised the timber was regarded as quite so lowly. Floorboard guitar sounds terrible! I thought the aesthetic was really quite appropriate for a Flamenco. The cypress used by the Spanish builders also look...

As above that is a great looking guitar.

I suspect 25 Kilos of Olive timber is slightly more than enough for one guitar...?!

I am wondering what is meant exactly by 'native olive'? Is it an Olea or is that just a local vernacular name for something completely different?

Thanks Allen. I am with you on the pore filing, I like to use maple for my back and sides.

I guess I was also wondering about the obvious question of whether it would make a good flamenco...?

Cupressus macrocarpa or apparently now: Hesperocyparis macrocarpa

A neighbour has just had a big, messy one of these felled, which prompted me to look it up. I see that it is grown a lot in NZ as a 'utility timber'.

Wondered if anyone uses it for instruments?

Man I really think I will stay with VA put through an old domestic amplifier!

Trevor thanks for the description of your updated design. Your jigs always look so neat compared to ones own rather scruffy efforts. It does still bother me that you would rely on a single measurement of the deflection of the top with an applied mass. A number of measurements with a series of increa...

Yes I have always ended up using 4 layers for the tight bend on the secondary falcates.

John that is seriously clever work. I find it hard to believe that the fit was so good as to just drop in.

I have to admire your patience. I think I'd be inclined to just start again ad write the old one off!

Hi Martin I ended up with this shape. (a falcate braced classical) As much due to poor bending as a design choice. It will probably play OK. The cutaway will be good enough to allow the player to get at the upper frets, but it really wasn't what I was aiming for aesthetically. I really like TG's cut...

Martin I notice that it is again a cutaway. Do you think you've now cracked the technique (as it were)? Though I think that like my last and current build you are using a slightly less extreme curve for the 'nose'...? I have persuaded my version of a side bender to reasonably reliably produce a cuta...

Pete I see you have the boards stacked vertically. Is that the way you dry them rather than in the more traditional stickered stack?

Coming to the UK any time soon Trevor?

Just for interest this is what I ended up with, using bits of technique from all over. It is in mahogany and sycamore - woods with similar hardness, but the white rings are in holly because I happen to know that this sycamore does not want to bend.

John thanks for that it is really useful.

Thanks people. Yes Miguel I was looking for the right term. The point being that we have grain going in two directions with possible shrinkage/expansion problems. But I guess the pieces of wood in the rosette are relatively small so the contrary movement is not large. And as people have said the ros...