Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

Really nice work there Wayne. And 6 months would be a quick job in my workshop! I love the look of cocobolo, and your piece really has it all going on. Unfortunately I have developed a bad sensitivity to it, but I am jealous of those who can use it for nice looking instruments like this one. That is...

I'm always impressed by your work Jeff, and I bet your customers are too! Malaysian blackwood is stunning!
Happy New Year
Mark

And Kim - thanks for that great pictorial lesson. I hadn't really cottoned on to that before but now it is crystal clear. Brilliant
mm

Hi Dekka There was a good thread on humidity issues a few months ago and you might want to have a look through it here. http://www.anzlf.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=3749&hilit=+humidity Towards the bottom of it I relate an identical experience that I had recently, and that was with flatsawn timber (the ...

I agree that unslotted pins are the go. I used to think that it was important to have slots in the pins to seat the string in, and I even posted a tutorial here a while ago on a method to cut slots in unslotted bridge pins. But now I am a convert to the idea that Allen mentioned of having the ball o...

Bruce It should not make any difference. The zero fret sets the height of the strings and the nut simply acts to set the spacing between the strings. The distance is not critical. If you imagine a guitar with a capo - the capo can be at any distance from the nut and it still works by setting the 3rd...

Compliments of the season to you Dave. Thanks for that - I enjoyed your playing. The crisp bell-like tone of that guitar in DADGAD is just great.
cheers
Mark

Well it does look really pretty! Among the more normal soundboard species I would have guessed Bunya Pine because of the pink colouring and the prominent grain. You are giving us a pretty strong clue that this is not a rarefied, instrument-uses-only type of timber. Something as common as mud but tur...

Interesting concepts. I am starting to realize the importance of the appropriate transfer of the forces delivered to the box through the neck block. It is not just a compressive force - also rotational as the entire neck wants to pitch forward and fold the instrument in half. There is an obvious adv...

That certainly is a very elegant looking soundboard. Great colour and urique grain.
I can see why it is hard to get a decent sized board out of them - they seem to grow as a thousand trunks, even in the one tree. Nice uke!
cheers
Mark

I have got to admit that I don't understand the purpose of the flying buttress. Is it just to stiffen the sides, or does that have some effect on the geometry and physics of the soundboard too?

Well, the Ken Parker design has been filed under "maybe one day". But (to hijack my own thread for a moment) his website did lead me to this Youtube video of amazing playing by Julian Lage (on a Parker archtop) and Frank Vignola. Check it out if you want to experience a blissful 5:29 http://www.yout...

Thanks Craig (and Graham, by proxy) - that is right on the money. I think I can hear the cogs starting to turn in my head. I will also email Graham to buy a copy of his bouzouki book. Love your teardrop instrument BTW.
cheers
m

Jim, that certainly is an option that I could manage, and I could lighted it up a fair bit. You are right Allen - a standard X would be fine for the lower body. I wondered what to do in place of the traditional upper transverse brace since the holes definitely sit in that zone. But more on that in a...

A while ago I was in Mandolin Brothers on Staten Island, New York - one of the world's great guitar shops. I admit that I was actually there to buy a banjo :oops:, but anyway - on with the story. It was 5 minutes from closing time and I was waiting for a cab to take me (and my very patient wife) bac...

That is the coolest thing I have seen in ages. And the music you make is might fine also. Inspirational stuff Luke
Mark

You have got it Frank. Cover the whole lot to be clamped with the red rubbery mask and then suck it all down. Fourteen lbs per sq. inch of clamping pressure. I am jealous of the whole device.

Nice work Christian. You put that fancy kit to really good use.
cheers
Mark

And for the scarf joint? Check out William Cumpiano's video here (you need to go through the series for the whole set of tricks):
http://luthiertube.com/video/H4XMUHUGO2 ... -scarf-cut

m

Last weekend I bought three Qld Maple neck and heel blanks from Gerard Gilet. He has a lot of them in stock right now - some plain and some quite figured. Nicely seasoned and quartersawn. http://www.giletguitars.com.au/ Which tuners is a very open question. It depends very much on the style of the g...

Thanks Bob. It is a Gibson L-00 size and the plans only have one finger brace. But, as you can see, I copied your lattice bracing so I have departed from the plan already. Maybe another finger brace would be appropriate. It is interesting that with an increase in RH to around 60% today the plates ar...

Have a top or back turn inside out just once and you never take short cuts again. [...] Yes, this is certainly the most solid learning method - maybe the only one that really works. :roll: I am the latest member of the learn-this-the-hard-way-club. I work in a poorly sealed, unlined external shed w...

Hi Steve It would be great to have a local producer of replacement pickguards. I don't know what rules apply but some overseas makers offer designs to replicate lots of brands, including out of production ones (eg this mob - http://www.terrapinguitars.com). I am sure they are not paying for use of t...

You have got to wonder what sort of nasty hardware is being hidden under those three MOP dots? This thing has really had its face punched in at some stage.

I get mine from here: http://www.stringsandbeyond.com Their site also says that they won't ship Elixirs outside the US - but if you order them they send them. Their shipping rates are good. At the moment they have some packs of 3 sets of Elixirs (limited gagues) for $22 (electrics) to $32 (acoustic)...

That is another stunner Allen. The zircote, under that finish, is amazing.
I also love the spalted maple pickguard. Who is your supplier for that stuff?
Congratulations!

Mark