Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

There is heaps of it in NZ plantations so could well be one of the budget guitar woods of the future. Im not aware of any large silver beech plantations in New Zealand. As far as I know most of it comes from native forest mainly in the South Island. Alot of the stuff used to get milled on the west ...

I got to work on a right handed Ibanez that a left handed friend gave to me for modifications. The intonation was so bad I dont know how my friend got the thing in tune. I filled in the original saddle slot and rerouted for a wider 5mm wide saddle using the Stewmac Intonator to locate same. Compensa...

Allan, I made my waist caul out of pinus. Cut it out on the bandsaw using the waist of the mold as a pattern and then finished it off with a pattern rasp. I have a different waist caul for each different mold I use. On the Jim Williams plan I used the springs on the tower attach to each side of a st...

PM Graham Wardrop, hes a kiwi luthier and might now something about silver beech.

I do know they did a good job of milling alot of it out for pulp up until the 80's.

That storm was actually bigger than Texas.....didnt think there was such a thing

Hi Grant, Im a hand finish man....all instruments to date have been French polished. The first classical was pore filled using pumice as per the Milburn tutorial and turned out ok. Pumice filling is a laborious method of pore filling and is a pain when you get too much pumice building up. One thing ...

Interesting article Nick......but I wasnt filled with confidence when I viewed the title of the article "A well Compansated Guitar". I was also puzzled by the author's use of the word "lutherists".

Cheers Martin

zac_in_ak wrote: She has taken on big oil (increased there taxes)

You forgot to mention the payoff....if Palin gets in then she'll push for big oil to be allowed to drill in areas currently out of bounds to oil/gas exploration.

I received my Stewmac Intonator today along with a pile of wood from Tim Spittle. Anyway I put the intonator to work on an Ibanez hack guitar my friend wanted me to change from right to left hander. The gadget is brilliant....took about 45 minutes to get it fitted and the new saddle slot pencilled o...

Im thrilled as well mate......good to see one of OUR luthiers getting well deserved publicity.

Well things could be worse. A person who obviously thinks Im a guitar repair guru sent me this beauty. Check out the neck joint...held together by glue and a couple of wooden dowels. I plan to actually build a faithful copy and send that back to the owner telling him it was a really tough repair job...

A man who just died is delivered to a local mortuary wearing an expensive, expertly tailored black suit. The female blonde mortician asks the deceased's wife how she would like the body dressed. She points out that the man does look good in the black suit he is already wearing. The widow, however, s...

The guitar is probably worth less than 50 pounds. Quote the owner for a new top and then let him/her decide how much he/she loves the instrument.

A sunburst bridge failure to go with a sunburst finish.

Just got this from Allied. Ive ordered 20 which worked out at $US13.75 calculated price...not including shipping Cheers Martin For one week, ending Sept. 17, we're discounting our fabulous Blanchard trussrods. Take the next tier price, for example: the price per unit gets the price of the 6 - 11 qua...

Lillian did the Lions share of the work on this one. I just stuck 'em into an Aussie Post bubble bag and shoved 'em in the nearest post box.

Cheers Martin

Old Farts from the other side of the block?

Jeez Robbie.....for a while I thought you were going to fold that side in half!! I love the way youve got the guys in the background spending what seems like a lot of time mucking around getting set up on their bending form while in the foreground the Maestro quickly whacks out a fully bent side on ...

I generally rout my saddle slot to at least 5-6mm. My general rule is to have slightly more of the saddle in the slot than sitting above same.

The boy band "New Kids On The Block" have reformed.......somehow the band name doesnt make alot of sense.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4687916a1860.html

Maybe "The Older Kids on the Block"?

Welcome to the forum Joe,

I dont teach and Im a total amateur but if you're ever over Adelaide way then drop in to my workshop and I may be able to share a few tips with you. Im away at work alot of the time so make sure you give me plenty of warning if youre heading over.

Cheers Martin

Looking good there Dom, nothing more satisfying then watching a workshop take shape. What brand and model is the table saw?

Cheers Martin

My bridges usually work out at 9-10mm. Getting over 10mm is a bit on the thick side on my steel strings.

Actual bridge height should be calculated by laying a straight edge along fingerboard (unfretted) and calculating bridge thickness with allowance for fret height and action.

Really a classic look to that Martin. That top looks lovely. Is this guitar for you, or do you have someone that it's destined for? I guess you get to have a lot of dry time in your finishing schedule when you have to be away for so long. Allen, None of my guitars stay in my shop..as soon as theyre...

A few more hours in the shop today and I bit the bullet and whacked the frets in on the 12 string. http://www.anzlf.com/phpBB2/userpix/19_fretup_001_1.jpg http://www.anzlf.com/phpBB2/userpix/19_fretup_002_1.jpg http://www.anzlf.com/phpBB2/userpix/19_fretup_003_1.jpg http://www.anzlf.com/phpBB2/userp...