hey all, im new
hey all, im new
about 6 months ago i woke up one morning and started thinking about building a guitar. it made sense as i love music, play guitar and enjoy woodworking but i blew it off, as guitar making isnt going to get the bills payed on time. so anyway 2 months later im building my first steel string accoustic with the help of campiano's book and kinkaids book. now with that one finished and sounding good, im constantly thinking about building the next one and am realising that im thinking about it all the time. it like i have luthiers disease or something! anyways its great to see im not the only one stuck with this passion for guitar building! im already learning heaps just from looking round this forum... so cheers to you all !
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sebastiaan56
- Blackwood
- Posts: 1283
- Joined: Sun Oct 28, 2007 5:23 am
- Location: Blue Mountains
Hi Billy,
beats puberty huh! Welcome to the club, there is no known cure but lots of others with the same affliction. Post some picks of your work, we are also perves....im constantly thinking about building the next one and am realising that im thinking about it all the time
make mine fifths........
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Nick
- Blackwood
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- Location: Christchurch, New Zealand
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Probably shouldn't say welcome because that makes it sound like I've been here for years instead of being a relative newbie meself. But Hi anyways and glad to hear you've been bitten by the bug.
The symptoms sound very familiar, just seek treatment before you get to the 'wanting to wade through your wood shavings barefoot' stage and sniffing cedar tops for long periods of time
Actually it's amazing how many people (not even luthiers but players also) upon seeing a newly finished guitar immediately stick their noses upto the sound hole and inhale deeply, only to end up with a satisfied look on their face.
The symptoms sound very familiar, just seek treatment before you get to the 'wanting to wade through your wood shavings barefoot' stage and sniffing cedar tops for long periods of time
Actually it's amazing how many people (not even luthiers but players also) upon seeing a newly finished guitar immediately stick their noses upto the sound hole and inhale deeply, only to end up with a satisfied look on their face.
"Jesus Loves You."
Nice to hear in church but not in a Mexican prison.
Nice to hear in church but not in a Mexican prison.
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DarwinStrings
- Blackwood
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- Location: Darwin
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Taffy Evans
- Blackwood
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ozziebluesman
- Blackwood
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- Joined: Wed Oct 10, 2007 9:12 am
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pics of my first build
Cheers for the warm welcome 
its great to see i am not alone hear!
hear are some pics of my first accoustic build. i got the wood from australian luthier supply website . my references were kinkaids book, campiano's book and a guy named steve dickie on youtube. he has heaps of short videos of him making a guitar and i found it very useful. ive never actually met anyone whos ever built an instrument before.
so its got sitka spruce top, qld maple back, sides and neck, bunya pine, bracing, indian rosewood fingerboard and mulga headplate. My use of tools had to be creative as i didnt have many at all. I think i had borrowed every clamp in a 20km radius from where i live! Side bending was done with a piece of old pipe clamped in a vice with my portable gas stove sitting underneith it on a stool.... the rosette trench and sound hole was cut with a scalple knife. ( im investing in a dremel soon!
) anyway we got there in the end and i loved every second of it. 2 weeks turned into 2 months as i was hesitant to finish it,as i would have to go back to my normal job and i spent so much time just looking at it and thinking about building more.
i have been playing guitar casualy for about 12 years and can honestly say it does play well and ssound good for a first attempt, but then again im probably biast!
the finish is tung oil which was a desision based apon confidence and the working space i had. i had come so far and didnt want to ruin the guitar with an average laquer job. i think the tung oil came up well and it keeps the wood from feeling too plastic.
anyway i could talk for hours about this but gotta run
cheers once again everyone
oh yeah, isthe australian luthiers website to get wood from? id like to start a bit of a stock pile
its great to see i am not alone hear!
hear are some pics of my first accoustic build. i got the wood from australian luthier supply website . my references were kinkaids book, campiano's book and a guy named steve dickie on youtube. he has heaps of short videos of him making a guitar and i found it very useful. ive never actually met anyone whos ever built an instrument before.
so its got sitka spruce top, qld maple back, sides and neck, bunya pine, bracing, indian rosewood fingerboard and mulga headplate. My use of tools had to be creative as i didnt have many at all. I think i had borrowed every clamp in a 20km radius from where i live! Side bending was done with a piece of old pipe clamped in a vice with my portable gas stove sitting underneith it on a stool.... the rosette trench and sound hole was cut with a scalple knife. ( im investing in a dremel soon!
) anyway we got there in the end and i loved every second of it. 2 weeks turned into 2 months as i was hesitant to finish it,as i would have to go back to my normal job and i spent so much time just looking at it and thinking about building more. i have been playing guitar casualy for about 12 years and can honestly say it does play well and ssound good for a first attempt, but then again im probably biast!
the finish is tung oil which was a desision based apon confidence and the working space i had. i had come so far and didnt want to ruin the guitar with an average laquer job. i think the tung oil came up well and it keeps the wood from feeling too plastic.
anyway i could talk for hours about this but gotta run
cheers once again everyone
oh yeah, isthe australian luthiers website to get wood from? id like to start a bit of a stock pile
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sebastiaan56
- Blackwood
- Posts: 1283
- Joined: Sun Oct 28, 2007 5:23 am
- Location: Blue Mountains
Billy,
go to www.australiantonewoods.com ask for Tim Spittle, tell him "da boys fron da forum sent me" in a husky voice. Tim is a forum sponsor, top bloke.
Looks like a nice job on the guitar, the rosette is pretty! BTW, you are not biased, your own instruments always sound better
go to www.australiantonewoods.com ask for Tim Spittle, tell him "da boys fron da forum sent me" in a husky voice. Tim is a forum sponsor, top bloke.
Looks like a nice job on the guitar, the rosette is pretty! BTW, you are not biased, your own instruments always sound better
make mine fifths........
Thanks for putting up the pics Billy...nice work for a first build.
A few comments/questions:
1. A stupid question probably but I dont see any indications theres a truss rod in the neck (eg no hole in UTB for allen key to go through and access TR adjuster.
2. What sort of neck/body joint did you use? M and T or bolt on?
3. Re stock piling wood....there are a number of local people supplying wood to the Australian market. My favourite is Tim Spittle at Australian Tonewoods...youll notice hes a preferred supplier to this forum. Tim looks after forum members and Ive nothing but great service from him. Ive bought wood from the other preferred suppliers on this forum and their service is good also. If youre buying from overseas watch the exchange rate and shipping costs. I was lucky and bought alot of wood when the US dollar was alot cheaper. Sometimes it'll work out cheaper buying from Tim by the time you add in all the extra costs.
4. re your plan to buy a Dremel. I bought a Dremel when I got started but after using it once on a rosette job I never used it again. The Dremel is not really powerful enough for anything but light duty work (eg inlay work). I invested in a laminate trimmer (Porter Cable 310) which has more guts and quality of build (esp bearings) is miles better. I think youll find most people in here also use lam trimmers for rosette and binding work.
5. Any pics of the rosette going in?
Cheers Martin
A few comments/questions:
1. A stupid question probably but I dont see any indications theres a truss rod in the neck (eg no hole in UTB for allen key to go through and access TR adjuster.
2. What sort of neck/body joint did you use? M and T or bolt on?
3. Re stock piling wood....there are a number of local people supplying wood to the Australian market. My favourite is Tim Spittle at Australian Tonewoods...youll notice hes a preferred supplier to this forum. Tim looks after forum members and Ive nothing but great service from him. Ive bought wood from the other preferred suppliers on this forum and their service is good also. If youre buying from overseas watch the exchange rate and shipping costs. I was lucky and bought alot of wood when the US dollar was alot cheaper. Sometimes it'll work out cheaper buying from Tim by the time you add in all the extra costs.
4. re your plan to buy a Dremel. I bought a Dremel when I got started but after using it once on a rosette job I never used it again. The Dremel is not really powerful enough for anything but light duty work (eg inlay work). I invested in a laminate trimmer (Porter Cable 310) which has more guts and quality of build (esp bearings) is miles better. I think youll find most people in here also use lam trimmers for rosette and binding work.
5. Any pics of the rosette going in?
Cheers Martin
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DarwinStrings
- Blackwood
- Posts: 1877
- Joined: Thu Nov 13, 2008 10:27 pm
- Location: Darwin
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ozziebluesman
- Blackwood
- Posts: 1550
- Joined: Wed Oct 10, 2007 9:12 am
- Location: Townsville
- Contact:
Looks real good Billy. Congratulations. I have watched Steve Dickie's youtube vids and learnt heaps too. I was lucky enough to be a forum member here when I first started building my first acoustic guitar. All the guys here are very helpful.
As already stated Tim at Australian Tonewoods offers beautiful wood for our purposes. He is very helpful also. I bought a concert uke kit from him last year and had a disaster with bending the figured blackwood sides. He spent the time to ring me and a we discuss where I went wrong and replaced the sides for me even though it was my silly mistake.
I have bought wood from overseas in our group buys from our recommended wood venders on the forum. Keep an eye out as we have these special buys come up occasionally.
Hope to see pics from your next build soon.
Cheers
Alan
As already stated Tim at Australian Tonewoods offers beautiful wood for our purposes. He is very helpful also. I bought a concert uke kit from him last year and had a disaster with bending the figured blackwood sides. He spent the time to ring me and a we discuss where I went wrong and replaced the sides for me even though it was my silly mistake.
I have bought wood from overseas in our group buys from our recommended wood venders on the forum. Keep an eye out as we have these special buys come up occasionally.
Hope to see pics from your next build soon.
Cheers
Alan
Hey Billy, welcome to the ANZLF.
Great work on the first and there is no reason why it shouldn't sound really good. After all, you have invested a lot more time and dedication to the outcome than a factory can afford and it looks like it has payed off for you.
As for tonewood I second Sebastiaan's recommendation to contact Tim Spittle of Australian Tonewoods. Tim is a great bloke with an amazing stash of beautiful wood at very good prices. Unlike some in the tonewood game who have never even played a guitar let alone build one and consider anything wide enough to be resawn into guitar backs suitable, Tim is a builder himself and has a clear understanding of what is desirable in those material we use in this craft. Aesthetics aside, the value to his customers presented in the fact that he resaws with this knowledge foremost in his mind cannot be over stated, it offers great value.
Cheers
Kim
Great work on the first and there is no reason why it shouldn't sound really good. After all, you have invested a lot more time and dedication to the outcome than a factory can afford and it looks like it has payed off for you.
As for tonewood I second Sebastiaan's recommendation to contact Tim Spittle of Australian Tonewoods. Tim is a great bloke with an amazing stash of beautiful wood at very good prices. Unlike some in the tonewood game who have never even played a guitar let alone build one and consider anything wide enough to be resawn into guitar backs suitable, Tim is a builder himself and has a clear understanding of what is desirable in those material we use in this craft. Aesthetics aside, the value to his customers presented in the fact that he resaws with this knowledge foremost in his mind cannot be over stated, it offers great value.
Cheers
Kim
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Bob Connor
- Admin
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- Joined: Mon Jul 09, 2007 9:43 pm
- Location: Geelong, Australia
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Welcome to the forum Billy. Your guitar looks fantastic for a first effort.
I'd like to echo Kim's comments about Tim Spittle. You will go far to find better wood and prices.
Also have a look at some of the websites of our other preferred suppliers. The reason that we list them is that members here have bought from them over an extended period of time and found them to be extremely honest and reliable, offering high quality tonewood.
I'd like to echo Kim's comments about Tim Spittle. You will go far to find better wood and prices.
Also have a look at some of the websites of our other preferred suppliers. The reason that we list them is that members here have bought from them over an extended period of time and found them to be extremely honest and reliable, offering high quality tonewood.
hey guys thanks heaps for all the positive feedback and comments.
in answering your questions martin it does have a truss rod
It has a bolt and tennon join for the neck, was really keen to try a dovetail but wasnt confident enough this time round. i went and had a look at a couple of laminate trimmers and they do look a bit more heavy duty than a dremel... so thanks for the advise martin i will be considering getting one very soon.
jim.. the frett markers ended up being the same mulga i used for the headplate and the tailpiece inlay. not sure why but just wanted to try something different. i inlaid the pieces by cutting about 1.5 mm deep into the rosewood fingerboard (bloody hard stuff to cut and chiesel out with a scalpel knife) and glueing the pieces of mulga into it. improvisation and imagination as usual when it came to tools! anyway i just sold my kombi van so i hope to be contacting tim spittle in the near future thanks to everyones recomendations. cheers for that. i was looking on his web side and some of his wood looks just amazing, i had no idea wood could look that good!
however i am relocating up to cairns in a couple of weeks so ill have to hold off on buying stuff until i get settled a bit up there. does anyone know of anyone up that way building guitars? is it possible to do so or does the humidity play with the wood to much? any info would be much apreciated as id really like to make a few more guitars when i get up there.
im spending way too much time on this site sifting through all this great info so i better go
cheers everybody and thanks for all the info.
in answering your questions martin it does have a truss rod
It has a bolt and tennon join for the neck, was really keen to try a dovetail but wasnt confident enough this time round. i went and had a look at a couple of laminate trimmers and they do look a bit more heavy duty than a dremel... so thanks for the advise martin i will be considering getting one very soon.
jim.. the frett markers ended up being the same mulga i used for the headplate and the tailpiece inlay. not sure why but just wanted to try something different. i inlaid the pieces by cutting about 1.5 mm deep into the rosewood fingerboard (bloody hard stuff to cut and chiesel out with a scalpel knife) and glueing the pieces of mulga into it. improvisation and imagination as usual when it came to tools! anyway i just sold my kombi van so i hope to be contacting tim spittle in the near future thanks to everyones recomendations. cheers for that. i was looking on his web side and some of his wood looks just amazing, i had no idea wood could look that good!
however i am relocating up to cairns in a couple of weeks so ill have to hold off on buying stuff until i get settled a bit up there. does anyone know of anyone up that way building guitars? is it possible to do so or does the humidity play with the wood to much? any info would be much apreciated as id really like to make a few more guitars when i get up there.
im spending way too much time on this site sifting through all this great info so i better go
cheers everybody and thanks for all the info.
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ozziebluesman
- Blackwood
- Posts: 1550
- Joined: Wed Oct 10, 2007 9:12 am
- Location: Townsville
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