Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

OK, true enough. A "natural" oil finish can only look as good as the timber underneath. If you want a solid colour on a solid body guitar you are probably going to need to spray something. Unless you go for the "swirl" effect where the only equipment you need is a bucket of water.
Mark

When you say your Dad wants "something classy", does it need to be thick and shiny and glass-like, as in most factory built guitars? An alternative which is much easier & cheaper & healthier & fool-proof for the home luthier is a hand applied oil finish. Something like Tru-Oil, Hard Wax Oil, or even...

Greg I always kick myself for not taking more photographs as I go along through a build. I can't find any of the inside of this guitar. But if you have a look at this old thread our genial host, Bob Connor, shows his butt, which I found to be inspirational. I seem to remember that I basically copied...

Are you going to make us guess?

Nice bench, by the way..........

My latest project is not currently on the bench, but is hanging above it waiting for the finish to firm up. My first attempt at a falcate braced nylon - I guess a type of "neo-classical" if we are to adopt the Gore/Gilet nomenclature. nylon falcate 1.jpg I tried a new method for the bolt-on, bolt-do...

I normally put the back first as then I can clean up any glue squeeze out that could be seen through the sound hole Yep, that is my thinking too. However, I often don't need to clean up much with the reverse kerfing that I currently use - so it doesn't end up making a difference. So, I am open to a...

I have only done one so far. I used Sitka, on the quarter, in 3 plys and had no trouble getting it to bend to the required shapes. I might be lucky with the batch I have, but good grain orientation undoubtedly makes a difference.

That looks brilliant. Do you know the brand name for the ones that you used? I will check it out on my next trip to Bunny's

Brilliant stuff Mr McFarlen.

But seriously, couldn't you post some picture of your stuff-ups occasionally so that the rest of us duffers feel a bit better?

Nice one Robbie. Good , clear advice.
Cheers
Mark

You really did add some features with a high level of difficulty for a first build - cutaway (and a florentine at that), compensated nut, falcate bracing and a fancy rosette. The backstrap on the headstock looks very swish! All very impressive, and well executed. A big part of the skill of luthery i...

Nice stuff Mr Maxwell

Someone is posting on OLF ( http://luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=46987 ) and MIMF ( http://www.mimf.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=4239 ) looking for interest in a group buy of 1000 truss rods. He is talking about a unit cost of 50 cents! But he has in mind a specific type of single...

Hi Allan I am down to the last couple from the last group buy that we did from Allied a few years ago. I don't use many, so I would only by in for maybe 10. I don't know if that few is worth your while? Regarding size - I make steel string acoustics and the ones I got last time were 2 different leng...

That looks like a beauty Alan. The mahogany-on-mahogany is really classy. When you have wood that looks that good you don't need to add another to contrast. Isn't it great how a guitar can sit there for 4 years and just wait for you to get back to finish it, and then turn out a stunner.
Mark

Definitely Mandolin Brothers. One of my favourite shops in the whole world. I didn't know they were possibly closing until I saw Bob's post. So Stan Jay (proprietor) died - very sad. He was a lovely, and funny guy. It looks like they are trying to sell the whole business. Martin, how cashed up is yo...

So - a piece of masking tape up the middle of the top so you can draw a line to get the neck aligned with. That is very simple and smart. Am I the only one who hasn't ever thought to do that?

And just how many neck blanks do you have stashed away there?

True. You still need something there to act as a string spacer. Most people install a standard looking nut behind the zero fret, but cut the slots deeper and maybe a bit wider. If you are really worried about how much time it takes to install that extra fret, you will get that time back and more wit...

I would agree with that Martin. If you want to introduce compensation at the top of the neck you are probably going to do it with a bone nut. I haven't got around to introducing that refinement into my builds yet. For anyone who usually builds with a standard nut, I think the zero fret is a viable o...

Yes, why didn't we think of that before?
Seems like a good idea. I have a binding job to do this week so I am definitely going to put that idea into practice. Thanks Dave.

The last 3 guitars that I have built have had zero frets. The first time that I did it was kind of an accident. I wanted to try a shorter scale length fingerboard, and I had a standard length neck blank, so there was a bit of extra room at the end of the fingerboard and a zero fret was a good way to...

OK. I think I will get myself one of those. I recently made up something similar by adding a bottom bearing to one that only had a top bearing. But this looks better. And you can never have too many router bits!

Beautiful Allen. I am interested to see how you are going to carry that theme in other parts of the design. Will there be an empire-style rosette or headstock?

Where did you get it Dave?

If the box is already bound and looking great, and you don't want to pull it apart again, another option is making a different neck/fingerboard with the appropriate scale length for the box that you have made. Let's think through what that might mean...... When you say the bridge needs to move "back...