Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

To check this you would have go back to the previous test conditions.

Is it some time between the measurements? Could the guitar be settling in? It is the top that is changing, could the string tension be changing the top resonance?

Martin thanks for putting this stuff up. I don't think any of us find it easy so info on how other people do it is always useful. Just for information, to excite Chladni patterns I use an old domestic stereo amplifier (doesn't everyone have one in a cupboard somewhere?) a cheap car speaker which I b...

Thanks for putting the photos up. That Walnut is really nice - well matched. I have used American Walnut which is OK but much plainer. A great looking guitar, and a nicely shaped heel. I was new to CF and epoxy but once into it it was fine, though pretty messy in the first go rounds!, It is quite fu...

Martin without wanting to sound too critical - in the G&G book it is clear that although tap spectra .at the intermediate build stages are interesting, it is only once the build is complete with the strings up to tension that you can evaluate the instrument. It is at this point that you can decide i...

I was a bit surprised that a disk sander works well for cleaning up and reshaping cork sanding blocks. I am probably the last person with a workshop to become aware of this but never mind!

Dave

I use aqua Cote and I too don't like it. However I don't like the alternative much either! I end up doing quite a few coats - it really is quite hard to get into the pores. I think last time I was using a credit card.

The end result is however good clear and it doesn't sink back. Dave

Richard fascinating stuff please keep it coming. Having pretty much failed with falcates on classicals I have reverted to Torres style fan. You clearly have more stamina than me! A small point: I have been using a 600 mm lightweight pointer for the bridge rotation measure - easier to measure the lar...

A bit trivial but I finally got round to suspending my speaker with a bungee cord. Makes it much easier and less likely to drop the little darling.

Thanks people. And Trent you are quite right. It turns out I had made the saddle too low in the middle section. A replacement has solved the issue.

Cheers Dave

While revisiting a steel string I made a while back I found strings 3 and 4 have a sitar sound when struck hard. It is the saddle not the nut. I may have perhaps eased the front edge a bit too much. But I looked very carefully at the back slope and realised that I don't actually know what shape the ...

Mark they are seriously smart. I particularly like the laminated neck. I still can't quite get my head round (as it were) the headless design. Doesn't your left hand tend to fall off! There again I suppose electric players don't spend too much time down that end of the fretboard. And of course those...

Wayne that looks pretty complicated - not surprised it took a while to build, but really useful. Is play a problem? I imagine you have to work in one direction to avoid backlash issues...?

Dave

Thanks Eric. Do you have adjustment on your jig or have you gone for fixed size blocks. I guess if you know how much to take off this would be much easier to construct.

Electrics are not my thing but those two look really smart. The neck woods in particular look great.

I have the same problem finding some real players to criticise my acoustic and classical builds, being a bit out in the sticks. Ah well when the lockdown ends...

Cheers Dave

Thanks Trevor.

Martin I have sort of done it the wrong way round - haven't done the calculations yet. But am thinking I might just try the average figures Trevor quotes in the book and see what it sounds like.

Cheers Dave

Some great stuff there Ozzie. I notice you are using a very traditional shape for the CL. It doesn't look it but the lower bout on mine is very close to the FE 114, and I use the bracing pattern from that one. As in: Cheers Dave

I realise we have had some discussion on this before but I thought people might be interested in my attempt. I didn't have any brass angle strip and the lockdown makes it a bit hard to get such things so I thought I might be able to bodge something as compared to Trevor's nicely engineered jig. Nut ...

...what have we all been up to? I should have finished this straight up G&G SS by the end of last year. box 1 small.jpg but I kept sanding through the nitro finish. I was trying hard to keep the finish thin on the top but my little brain seems to have done the same on the other parts. Also I was sed...

For your last question you simply need a table of note frequencies - many available on the web.

F3 is around 174 Hz, G3# is around 207. I don't think we need to be too exact about this gap.

Have you checked your bridge rotation? This would show if you have overbuilt. Very common with early builds - certainly with me.

Section 4.4.2 in the black book.

Dave

Well that was a fun project. And getting a decent sounding, playable instrument out of the remains is very impressive.

Cheers Dave

Also the glued on bits themselves tend to show. No matter how careful I am to use pieces from the same neck blank and check orientation they tend to be obvious. Dave

So how come everybody gets to have a new workshop!

Not to do with layout and you probably already know this Trent, but everything that can go on wheels should be. I have a relatively small space for the heavier machines and being able to roll them out of the way is invaluable.

Have fun Dave

Useful quick overview Trevor.

VA never ceases to amaze me- I had never seen that setting. Presumably it is picking out the highest volume peak...?

Cheers Dave