Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

Hi All,

My good mate Mick was going through a rough patch in life, and mentioned he wanted to buy a Mini Maton , I suggeted that He would enjoy the experiance of making his own a lot more

So he had a pick through my stash , and wisely selected the heart Rimu I got from Christian , I had a Peice of Ancient Kauri he realy liked so we used that for the neck and rosette , some walnut for the Bindings and Bridge , a peice of Mulga for the fretboard and engleman for the top.

I wated to Keep it simple for him as He's neither a Luthier nor an avid Woodworker , so we decided to try sparse lattice bracing , which is a Little easier to execute for the first timer and a standard ladder braced back.

Mick wanted something small and seeeing as I already had a mould for the Blues Guitar I made Tony a few months back we modified that for Micks needs and made it a little thinner , cause as he kept reminding me throughout the build he was just going to sit and pluck away on the lounge with it nothing more.

So we had a lot of fun making this together we spent most monday nights building it , Mick was happy for me to do all the fiddly bits and I was happy for him to do all the shitty bits like clean up the glue and all the sanding , I hate sanding , But he had a go at everything and did a pretty good job of the bit's he did, he has no real plans to make another so there was nothing to be gained from letting a disater happen for the purposes of learning from it .

I spayed it and did the final setup, and it sounds pretty bloody good , with more volume than it has any real right to, it's nice and light and with the smaller dimensions sits nicely under your arm , just perfect for picking away on the lounge with .

anyway have a look.

Cheers,

BTW I called It the ANZUS guitar cause it's a Combo of Australian , Kiwi and US woods.

I think I might have mentioned "I bloody love little guitars"!

An no one can believe how loud and great sounding they are. Not to mention how comfortable to hold and strum away at. Nice effort guys.

Allen wrote:I think I might have mentioned "I bloody love little guitars"!

An no one can believe how loud and great sounding they are. Not to mention how comfortable to hold and strum away at. Nice effort guys.

I'm Starting to lean the same way Allen , Infact I think OM is as Big as I want to go, I'm dreading someone asking me to Build a Dreadnaught I hate the Look of those things , They look like ther namesake.

Cheers,

If someone asked me to build a 000 I'd have to think long and hard now. A dread....no bloody way. I tossed out my bending form and mould a year ago.

Allen wrote:If someone asked me to build a 000 I'd have to think long and hard now. A dread....no bloody way. I tossed out my bending form and mould a year ago.

That's pretty definative Allen , I don't have one so I'll keep it that way .

Thanks for the Finishing and Buffing Tutes as well as the Guidance with Spray guns, The results are starting to show.

Cheers,

Well done Paul with Christians Rimu and the finish really is excellent. Can feel a bit of a patch coming on as well Paul,just wondering if you could help me b.......neve r mind.

Steve

WOW Paul what a way to showcase all of these woods!!!
a really beautiful guitar, I bet you mate is over the moon!!
Glad to see the Rimu worked out so well, you certainly finished it expertly.

Cheers,

Christian.

love the guitar and the Rimu really looks nice along with the Kauri....

I dream of the day I can get a sprayed finish like yours.

I also need to find new friends

Hi Paul
Great work from both of you Mike must be very happy with a great little guitar
The Rimu look fantastic
Regards Steve

Wow!! what a nice guitar, if only I had a friend like you nearby I might get something done on my first build, buildind a fox bender (useing light bulbs for heat) is giving me some challenges but I will persist and get it working.

I had an opportunity to hear this guitar last night at Strato's shed, not only does it look stunning, really well finished, but it sounds great as well, nice job Paul, your mate should be stoked with the end result.
Nice to meet you Paul, and put a face to the name.

cheers
Geoff