Guitar disasters forum? Build tragedies maybe?

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Wayde Christie

Guitar disasters forum? Build tragedies maybe?

Post by Wayde Christie » Tue Feb 18, 2014 9:41 am

Hi all,

I don't know about you, but I occasionally eff things up.

I would like a place to share such guitar building tragedies with a group of supportive people who truly understand.

I have an almost completed neck that I ruined with a router last night, and I'd like to post a picture, but there doesn't seem to be a place here to do so...

Can I rely on you all in my time of need?

Sincerely,

Wayde. :dru

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Re: Guitar disasters forum? Build tragedies maybe?

Post by Kamusur » Tue Feb 18, 2014 10:11 am

I'd need permission from the moderators for such a lengthy post if i were to advertise all my stuff ups Wayde. Maybe we need something like "Beyond Guitars" -BG. :( Seriously though post the pics you'll get plenty of help here for sure.
Rout through blues- turn it into a laminated neck, inlays cover things as well. Remember every problem has a solution.

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Re: Guitar disasters forum? Build tragedies maybe?

Post by kiwigeo » Tue Feb 18, 2014 10:46 am

I make a few stuff ups but in the end the root cause comes down to inadequate planning. A good example....a few days ago I did a glue up job without first doing a trial clamp up. Predictably the glue went on and then when it came to clamp up guess who was running around the shop trying to find enough clamps to adequately do the job????
Martin

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Kim
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Re: Guitar disasters forum? Build tragedies maybe?

Post by Kim » Tue Feb 18, 2014 3:22 pm

kiwigeo wrote: in the end the root cause comes down to inadequate planning.
Bullshit Marty...at the end of the day it's 'always' the bloody dogs fault!

That's the only reason you feed'em and tak'em to the vet when their crook, so they'll stick around for a kick in the arse when they stupidly allow you to make a blunder... yet still wag their tail in celebration with you when you get something right...Yep, no two ways about it, everyone needs a bench dog and my kelpie, she's one of the most important resources in the shed.....and she knows it to...don't ya Peppa....wag,wag,wag :D

Cheers

Kim

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Re: Guitar disasters forum? Build tragedies maybe?

Post by demonx » Tue Feb 18, 2014 4:56 pm

Everyone has their moments. Here's my first one for this year

Sometimes once you carve you find things you don't expect, for example in this Sassafras top there was a small hollow cavity under the surface.

I carved through the hollow as it wasn't very deep, but then I wasn't happy with the resulting shape of the carve. QC steps in, cuts it up and I've got some new timber on the way that is even better than what I cut off.

Image

Wayde Christie

Re: Guitar disasters forum? Build tragedies maybe?

Post by Wayde Christie » Wed Feb 19, 2014 11:47 am

Here's my effort :(
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Re: Guitar disasters forum? Build tragedies maybe?

Post by Wayde Christie » Wed Feb 19, 2014 11:47 am

Ask me why the dowel is in there too :)

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Re: Guitar disasters forum? Build tragedies maybe?

Post by kiwigeo » Wed Feb 19, 2014 11:50 am

Wayde Christie wrote:Ask me why the dowel is in there too :)
Been there done that.

My gaff was not actually putting the tuners against the side of headstock to check fit. With the holes drilled I "discovered" that the tuner plate would end up sticking 10mm past the end of the headstock.

The router cutter "nick" is easily fixed. Plane off the IRW rear veneer and re-do it. If you're anal like me...re-do the upper veneers as well. The nick in the side of headstock....it's going to end up covered by tuner plate so I wouldn't worry about it.

Not as big a disaster as it first appears.

Were you routing holding the router or was it done on a router table? It looks like you tilted the router a bit and ended up with the nick.
Martin

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Re: Guitar disasters forum? Build tragedies maybe?

Post by nnickusa » Wed Feb 19, 2014 5:45 pm

Not enough room to list mine. I'm sure one will turn up before this thread disappears down the list, but....
I wish I was half the man my dog thinks I am....

Cheers,
Nick

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Re: Guitar disasters forum? Build tragedies maybe?

Post by 56nortondomy » Wed Feb 19, 2014 7:43 pm

This is a what happened last year because i was a bit lazy. Wayne
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Re: Guitar disasters forum? Build tragedies maybe?

Post by christian » Thu Feb 20, 2014 11:03 am

I definitely make my share of mistakes thankfully I seemed to have eliminated the big ones with jigs designed to avoid them. But when I do make a mistake it's usually router related.
I don't know about anyone else, but try to forget the past by making the mistake into a pile of kindling, I believe these small sacrifices keep the Guitar Building God happy :lol:

Christian.
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Re: Guitar disasters forum? Build tragedies maybe?

Post by charangohabsburg » Thu Feb 20, 2014 11:26 am

christian wrote: I don't know about anyone else, but try to forget the past by making the mistake into a pile of kindling, I believe these small sacrifices keep the Guitar Building God happy :lol:
Oh no, not me! I try to remember all my mistakes in order to make next time different ones! :wink:
Markus

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It's only the others who suffer.

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Re: Guitar disasters forum? Build tragedies maybe?

Post by needsmorecowbel » Thu Feb 20, 2014 10:52 pm

haha markus!

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Re: Guitar disasters forum? Build tragedies maybe?

Post by christian » Fri Feb 21, 2014 5:39 am

haha so many mistakes so few guitars in which to make them.....
Why does the eye see a thing more clearly in dreams than the imagination when awake?
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Re: Guitar disasters forum? Build tragedies maybe?

Post by woodrat » Fri Feb 21, 2014 7:28 am

Wayde, I don't usually let anyone know how it happened....I just accept that it did!.....still not very nice when it happens....here is one of mine and the story of the "save"...

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4181&hilit=accidents+happen&start=0

Cheers

John
"It's never too late to be what you might have been " - George Eliot

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Re: Guitar disasters forum? Build tragedies maybe?

Post by Bob Connor » Sat Feb 22, 2014 6:09 pm

This happened last week.

A screw was protruding through the saddle slotting jig and punctured the top.

Routed the top off and built a new one which was sprayed yesterday.

Bugger.
20140221_092756.jpg
20140221_092803.jpg
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Re: Guitar disasters forum? Build tragedies maybe?

Post by charangohabsburg » Sat Feb 22, 2014 10:05 pm

Now that's a bummer. But you still can sell that top on eBay: "Very rare, by master luthier discarded guitar top, only one minor flaw. Build your own master quality guitar for the price of next to nothing." Starting bid only $876 or so. With a bit of luck you'll end up selling it for 4k.
Markus

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It's only the others who suffer.

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Re: Guitar disasters forum? Build tragedies maybe?

Post by Mark McLean » Sun Feb 23, 2014 6:07 pm

15 minutes ago. Dead sober. No hurry.
I was drilling some holes in the edge of the fingerboard for side dot position markers. I have already made most of the mistakes that you can with this task (or so I thought). 1. Don't use a power drill, a small hand drill is safer for this. 2. Be careful of alignment - I have made a small jig to align each of the holes the same distance from the edge of fingerboard. 3. Be careful of the drill bit wandering off the spot - so I thought I would make a small indentation with a nail punch first. This has worked out OK for me before but with this ebony bound fingerboard it turned out to be a bad idea. A light blow on the punch sent a chip flying off the corner of the binding. So - lesson learned. Don't ever deliver brute force to the edge of a piece of brittle wood like ebony. I found the chip and glued it back on with CA and it will probably come out invisibly. But it kind of ruined the fun of a nice sunday afternoon.

scuffle
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Re: Guitar disasters forum? Build tragedies maybe?

Post by scuffle » Mon Mar 03, 2014 11:26 pm

i think this thread is healthy for us :) show our vulnerable sides!

i have been putting together my own design of a single cut guitar (yup its electric) and i am VERY excited to get it done. I was carving the neck and I got a bit greedy with the thickness. I love thin necks (the thinner the better) and I should of stopped at 19mm but...i wanted 18mm...so file, file, file away until...bam!
IMAG0970.jpg
super happy with the shape
IMAG1023.jpg
back carve is awesome
IMAG1025.jpg
beutiful flame maple neck...and a truss rod :(
yup...thats the truss rod channel...from the BACK of the neck! :cl
what a dolt
totally thought i had the measurments exact. 6mm fretboard + 10mm truss rod channel = 16mm right? thought i had room for an 18mm neck :?

anyway...ripping it off an making a new one. thank buggery its for me and not a customer!
---
Cheers,
Andrew Hobson

Wayde Christie

Re: Guitar disasters forum? Build tragedies maybe?

Post by Wayde Christie » Sun Mar 09, 2014 2:54 pm

OK. So just now I've ruined my gorgeous laminated Indian rosewood sides by cutting one of the contours into the bottom, instead of the top.

So far, I have ruined *every* component of this guitar.

It doesn't want to be made :(

Wayde Christie

Re: Guitar disasters forum? Build tragedies maybe?

Post by Wayde Christie » Thu Mar 13, 2014 9:41 pm

When a bearing on a router bit dislodges.
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Re: Guitar disasters forum? Build tragedies maybe?

Post by Wayde Christie » Thu Mar 13, 2014 9:45 pm

I think this thread has become a self-fulfilling prophecy :)

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Re: Guitar disasters forum? Build tragedies maybe?

Post by kiwigeo » Thu Mar 13, 2014 9:50 pm

Wayde Christie wrote:When a bearing on a router bit dislodges.
Oh shit!! :shock:
Martin

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Re: Guitar disasters forum? Build tragedies maybe?

Post by 56nortondomy » Fri Mar 14, 2014 12:18 am

I don't think you should have started this thread Wayde, i think you've jinxed yourself. Wayne

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Re: Guitar disasters forum? Build tragedies maybe?

Post by Nick » Fri Mar 14, 2014 6:31 am

Geez, I feel for you Wayde. Hows the forehead where you been banging it on the workbench? Some guitars just don't want an easy birth.
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