Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

At 6.30 pm at Beyond Q Bookshop/Coffee Lounge in Curtin, Fiona Boyes, blues singer/guitarist, will launch the book " Guitar - The Australian Journey " by Chris Johnson. Chris is a political journalist in his day job and his alter-ego collects vintage guitars and plays a mean blues/slide guitar. The ...

Good afternoon Dominic My mature and constructive contribution to the debate you have initiated is so what? The X brace design has been with us for some time and it seems to be favoured by the majority of luthiers on steel string guitars. As well as the patch on top of the X joint why not add a coup...

Hey Christian, another lovely piece of work.

How long do you leave the pieces in the vacuum press
and how do you clean up any squeeze out?

Re the bridge creep, I was wondering what resistance if any the bridge pins would
present to stop forward creep? If the bridge has moved forward by 1mm what has
this done to the pin holes in the soundboard and bridge plate?

Thanks John looks like you and I are alone on this one

Thanks for your help Dom, I have got as far as downloading VA, now all I have to do is follow the instructions above.

Following on from the recent post on humidity I would be interested in the
thoughts of members on guitar humidifiers: ie.
sound hole v in guitar case
homemade v bought

If you haven't already placed your orders you might like to check out
http://www.guitarwoods.com.au .They are in Botany in Sydney so you
could pick up all you need locally, plus get advice from the helpful staff.

Headplate: Indian rosewood (how necessary is this?)

Archaic

Yes a headplate is necessary, refer to Cumpiano and Natelson page 63 for a good
explanation as to the purpose of the headplate.
Good luck with your project.

Hi Craig

That is one lovely guitar and your detail work is immaculate.
A couple of questions if you don't mind.
1. How did you do the end graft so the grain pattern matches with the sides?
2. Is the mahogany sound hole edging integral with the sound hole reinforcement or inlaid separately?

".......... you can also bruise the mitre by lightly rollling a screwdriver shaft over it.........."

Tut tut Christian a true craftsman would never dream of doing such a thing. That is like using
a ball pene hammer to spread the pins in a dovetail joint to close any gaps!!!!!!

Hi Christian
Congratulations on a beautifully crafted guitar. Could you please give us
an idea of body size/scale length and how you made the rosette?

Yes Dom I am an old Luddite and not ashamed to admit it and
I am uneasy with all of this technical stuff because I don't understand it!
Thank you for your kind offer, which I most graciously will accept.

Hope this helps all you budding scientists.
Cheers
Dom

Yeah but what about the budding luthiers????????

Hi Stu If your soundboard ends up being a few mm's too narrow after jointing, just add two small pieces (from the offcuts) on either side of the lower bout area. With any luck most if not all of the "added wings" will be cut away when you come to cutting the purfling and binding channels. Part of th...

Stu

You should be ok mate, I think the Bonds singlet will save you
but I can't follow your logic on the wastage, are you trying to wind
us up?

I made a soundboard for an OM style steel string from a very old draftsmans drawing board that I found laying around my shed. I believe it is Californian Redwood, very close grained and the section I used was quater sawn. Couldn't bookmatch the sound board plates because there were saw kerfs about e...

Hi Jonathan My last guitar (fourth) was a nylon string OM style. I used the LMI/Scott Antes plan for dimension/shape but built it as a classical with fan bracing and the neck incorporated into the body in the Spanish way. The top was Englemann spruce and back and sides East Indian rosewood. Used a M...

Hi Alfred

Yes I did enjoy the video. Thank you for posting it on the forum.

Hi Allen Thanks for your reponse. I think I can imagine why you say what you say. Is it common practice to fit bushings to tuner posts on slotted peghead steel string guitars? I am currently working on an OM style and am planning to use Golden Age Restoration tuners with a slotted peghead Queensland...

Hi Allen

Nice looking guitar. Do you insert bushes into the peghead to support the
tuners posts ?

This post just reinforces the adage "let the buyer beware " and why this forum has preferred vendors. Like Paul (Ozwood) I do not buy in bulk and I have also bought on Ebay from a vendor in Melbourne. The one I used trades under the name of "Rosewood and Bits of Everything". I have bought two sets o...

Hey Sean

Nice looking guitar mate, pity about the background photo,
next time at least put the seat down

Hi Daniel I have just finished bending mahogany sides in a "Fox" type bender. As a heat source I use 3 halogen bar lamps (2 x 200W + 1 x 150W) and use two stainless steel slats approx 0.6 mm. I prepared my sides as described by Graham McD above and the sides bent easily with out any issues. Hope it ...

Hey John
Your go bars must exert a fair bit of pressure to hold that guitar vertically!