Search found 112 matches

by Richardl
Wed Aug 23, 2023 7:30 pm
Forum: Instrument Builders Forum
Topic: Concert Ukulele plan recommendations
Replies: 0
Views: 27019

Concert Ukulele plan recommendations

Hi there It's been a while since I have been here, or been in the shed for that matter :(. I've been wondering about making a Uke for my son, as he strums a cheap one now and again, and having not made anything musical for a couple of years, I have a yearning to make something, and this seems like a...
by Richardl
Fri Apr 24, 2020 5:03 pm
Forum: Tutorials
Topic: Cutting side profile
Replies: 6
Views: 17593

Re: Cutting side profile

Thanks Allen, that's helpful. I might have a go with egg white on some scrap. I'm sure epoxy is great but as I've never tried it I don't know what I don't know. At this stage, low risk is the best option. My joints are in reasonable shape so that's not my main concern right now :). Cheers Richard
by Richardl
Thu Apr 23, 2020 4:12 pm
Forum: Tutorials
Topic: Cutting side profile
Replies: 6
Views: 17593

Re: Cutting side profile

Thanks Allen. This is guitar 3 for me so I'm just at the starting point. Being fairly inexperienced at bending sides it has been suggested that if you cant get the waist in exactly the right place, it pays to bend straight, un-profiled sides. I guess with experience, profiling the sides before bendi...
by Richardl
Thu Apr 23, 2020 1:48 pm
Forum: Tutorials
Topic: Cutting side profile
Replies: 6
Views: 17593

Re: Cutting side profile

Thanks Allen. So, just to confirm the sequence, 1 I'll plane the taper on the back of the sides from the waist (120 mm) to the headblock position (100 mm). 2 Then glue in the head and tail blocks. 3 I can then put the the sides in the mold on top of the radiussed dish and transfer the profile from t...
by Richardl
Wed Apr 22, 2020 7:27 pm
Forum: Tutorials
Topic: Cutting side profile
Replies: 6
Views: 17593

Cutting side profile

Hi - I'm in the middle of making my third guitar but as it has been a couple of years since the last one, I'm struggling to remember how I did a few steps. I'm having a mental block when it comes to making the side profile. So, I have bent parallel 120 mm wide sides in the mold and am about to make ...
by Richardl
Sat Apr 18, 2020 8:55 am
Forum: Contemporary Acoustic Guitar Design and Build - Trevor Gore
Topic: Starting out on J45
Replies: 46
Views: 180169

Re: Starting out on J45

Hi Trevor I downloaded Visual analyser - it seems far better for this application. I also found your instructions for it's use that you had posted earlier to someone else, so managed to set it up. I generated this response from my J45 using a small external omnidirectional microphone used for calibr...
by Richardl
Fri Apr 17, 2020 4:03 pm
Forum: Contemporary Acoustic Guitar Design and Build - Trevor Gore
Topic: Starting out on J45
Replies: 46
Views: 180169

Re: Starting out on J45

Hi again. I've downloaded Audacity and SpectraPlus (realtime ed). I managed to get a spectra of sorts using SpectraPlus, after tapping the bridge, but it doesn't have the controls discussed in Appendix 1 - can't even adjust from a log scale of frequency to linear. Can't make head nor tail of Audacit...
by Richardl
Fri Apr 17, 2020 1:14 pm
Forum: Contemporary Acoustic Guitar Design and Build - Trevor Gore
Topic: Starting out on J45
Replies: 46
Views: 180169

Re: Starting out on J45

Hi Trevor thanks for your reply. Having just had a quick look at 4.4.9 (must admit I haven't picked up the first book in a while) it appears the answer to my question about radial brace dimensions is: it's 10 mm thick and 20 mm high - the "standard solution that has worked well on many guitars". I ...
by Richardl
Fri Apr 17, 2020 6:36 am
Forum: Contemporary Acoustic Guitar Design and Build - Trevor Gore
Topic: Starting out on J45
Replies: 46
Views: 180169

Re: Starting out on J45

Hi Trevor thanks for your reply. Having just had a quick look at 4.4.9 (must admit I haven't picked up the first book in a while) it appears the answer to my question about radial brace dimensions is: it's 10 mm thick and 20 mm high - the "standard solution that has worked well on many guitars". I u...
by Richardl
Thu Apr 16, 2020 10:36 am
Forum: Contemporary Acoustic Guitar Design and Build - Trevor Gore
Topic: Starting out on J45
Replies: 46
Views: 180169

Re: Starting out on J45

Thanks Trevor. I must have read that bit last time and gone with the traditional 4 transverse braces of 6.3 wide on 2.8 mm thick mahogany - which, I hadn't understood, gives a 'live' back after all - a contribution to the sound from back vibration - which I take it is better and richer in complexity...
by Richardl
Wed Apr 15, 2020 3:28 pm
Forum: Contemporary Acoustic Guitar Design and Build - Trevor Gore
Topic: Starting out on J45
Replies: 46
Views: 180169

Second J45

It's very easy to over-build a J45. The originals were made with less-than-best wood and retailed for $45 (i.e. cheap) compared to say the J200 which was originally $200. So if you choose good materials it's easy to end up with everything too stiff. Having just re-read Section 7.1, I can see that i...
by Richardl
Wed Apr 08, 2020 5:11 pm
Forum: Contemporary Acoustic Guitar Design and Build - Trevor Gore
Topic: Abalone rosette measurements
Replies: 2
Views: 5368

Re: Abalone rosette measurements

OK thanks. Its appears a bit big to me, which is why I asked. Perhaps I'll cut down the gaps from 4 mm to 3 mm to get the rosette a bit tighter, although that'll make little difference in the scheme of things. Cheers
Richard
by Richardl
Sun Apr 05, 2020 3:27 pm
Forum: Contemporary Acoustic Guitar Design and Build - Trevor Gore
Topic: Abalone rosette measurements
Replies: 2
Views: 5368

Abalone rosette measurements

Hi Trevor - several pages are dedicated to abalone rosettes so thought I'd try that on the latest build. The rosette former seems a cunning way to assemble the rosette so I was just about to make one but don't really follow the measurements in the book (6.4.1.1). On a steel string with a 102 mm soun...
by Richardl
Fri Aug 23, 2019 6:37 pm
Forum: Instrument Builders Forum
Topic: Selection of timber - e.g Sapele
Replies: 11
Views: 13253

Re: Selection of timber - e.g Sapele

Hey Richard thanks for that. I've bought wood from Timspec before for clocks and a couple of harps but just got what they sent, which was fine for the job. Looks like I'm going to have to spend a day or two in 'wonderful' Auckland hunting through wood piles. I'm in Palmy and there is nothing local -...
by Richardl
Thu Aug 22, 2019 5:54 pm
Forum: Instrument Builders Forum
Topic: Selection of timber - e.g Sapele
Replies: 11
Views: 13253

Re: Selection of timber - e.g Sapele

Rarefind timber has some very nice wood - I have contacted them before. However, I think $400 for a set is beyond my budget. In the end its probably still most economical to import. I'll keep looking.

Cheers
Richard
by Richardl
Mon Aug 19, 2019 5:52 am
Forum: Instrument Builders Forum
Topic: Selection of timber - e.g Sapele
Replies: 11
Views: 13253

Re: Selection of timber - e.g Sapele

I'm only an amatuer at this myself - and a rough one at that. The closer to the 1/4 the better BUT I work on the theory that until I can produce a well hand crafted guitar I'm not going to waste a good quality piece of wood. Having done that once already with a lovely piece of indian rosewood! If y...
by Richardl
Sun Aug 18, 2019 7:57 pm
Forum: Instrument Builders Forum
Topic: Selection of timber - e.g Sapele
Replies: 11
Views: 13253

Re: Selection of timber - e.g Sapele

Well this is the back of my second guitar - mahogany. I was pleased enough with the grain and it seems very stable but I'm not sure how it was sawn. Sounds good.https://www.flickr.com/photos/143232438 ... ed-public/

Cheers
Richard
by Richardl
Sun Aug 18, 2019 1:50 pm
Forum: Instrument Builders Forum
Topic: Selection of timber - e.g Sapele
Replies: 11
Views: 13253

Re: Selection of timber - e.g Sapele

Thanks Ando. I'll drop Graham a line and see what he has. I found a bit of mahogany (or sapele?) I had forgotten about from a table made many years ago. It has a nice grain but appears to be flat sawn (as the growth rings seem to be on diagonals...is that right). I understand that soundboards are qu...
by Richardl
Sat Aug 17, 2019 7:09 pm
Forum: Instrument Builders Forum
Topic: Selection of timber - e.g Sapele
Replies: 11
Views: 13253

Selection of timber - e.g Sapele

Hi Folks Not sure if this topic has been done to death and I just haven't searched correctly. Anyway, I have always found sourcing and selecting wood in NZ (for anything) a bit of a process. Even more-so for guitars. I have resorted to importing the woods for the 2 guitars I've made from Australia a...
by Richardl
Mon Feb 04, 2019 11:02 am
Forum: Instrument Builders Forum
Topic: Fret seating problem
Replies: 27
Views: 50717

Re: Fret seating problem

Thanks all, slots made deeper and a bit wider and re-fretted. Guitar finished and sounds good. :D

cheers
Richard
by Richardl
Sun Feb 03, 2019 10:44 am
Forum: Contemporary Acoustic Guitar Design and Build - Trevor Gore
Topic: Bolt on bolt off neck - order of operations
Replies: 41
Views: 65625

Re: Bolt on bolt off neck - order of operations

Nice work Richard. These Gore builds can be a challenge at times (my last one took 2 years) but when they're done its well worth the extra effort and you learn a whole lot in the process. Thanks, yes learned a lot and have a much better idea for the next one...might make something simpler in the me...
by Richardl
Sat Feb 02, 2019 5:14 pm
Forum: Contemporary Acoustic Guitar Design and Build - Trevor Gore
Topic: Bolt on bolt off neck - order of operations
Replies: 41
Views: 65625

Re: Bolt on bolt off neck - order of operations

Finally finished. Far from perfect but it's only number 2 so I'm pretty happy. Sounds good. That's the main thing. Thanks for all the help.
Cheers
Richard
Guitar 2.JPG
by Richardl
Mon Jan 14, 2019 5:40 am
Forum: Contemporary Acoustic Guitar Design and Build - Trevor Gore
Topic: Bolt on bolt off neck - order of operations
Replies: 41
Views: 65625

Re: Bolt on bolt off neck - order of operations

OK, thanks, so better to have the pins in a straight line if no nut compensation, I thought there was mention of a slanted saddle. Sorry, somehow missed the 6.5 mm deep slot. Yes, saddle not bridge. I'll make a new one.
Cheers
Richard
by Richardl
Sat Jan 12, 2019 10:11 am
Forum: Instrument Builders Forum
Topic: Fret seating problem
Replies: 27
Views: 50717

Re: Fret seating problem

Hi all Just pulled out the frets using the approach recommended with a soldering iron and walking the iron and my old jewellery pliers (that are similar to fret pulling pliers) along the fret so the bit being pulled was hot. Worked perfectly with no major chip-out - the heat makes a big difference! ...