Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

Some Busato shots from the internet.

I have always wanted to examine and play a Busato...apparently they vary considerably. I have also read that some had back bracing, and that the neck to body join had no dovetail, mortice or dowels...only held by casein glue, and I have never heard of a Busato neck to body join glue failure! I am in...

The digital soundholes are copyright under the Berne convention. They come in only one shape...APPLE...and are supposed to be user friendly, but are not,only run on the latest o/s and are called iHoles...made by guess who? ........A******s

Are all theses soundhole suggestions for air guitars?I have a whole container load of air guitar tuners that I can't move-mainly because air guitar players never tune their instruments before playing them! Even with all the hot air, they don't need humidity control either...makes the soundboards sim...

Thanks Craig, much obliged...Roscoe

And perhaps some deflection, resonances and specific mobility?

Any chance of posting some pictures of the bracing inside?

Have you tried looking at it through a microscope? Good information on end grain in the book "Understanding Wood"- Bruce Hoadley.
Also:http://www.wood-database.com/wood-artic ... ion-guide/

Plumbers 2, luthiers 10...

Exporing the mysteries of carving an OM soundboard this occured to me:
"What is the difference between a plumber and a luthier"
"A plumber has more success with tap tones!"
Disagree at your peril!!!

I have been looking at a vintage archtop on behalf of a friend. It has been modified post manufacture with the installation of a neck pickup. The pickup kas been mounted by cutting a hole in the soundboard just below the end of the fingerboard. To my mind it seems a bad idea! I assume that the archt...

Does anyone spray the burst or stain prior to binding then apply the top coats when the instrument is finished?

I'll try working on the insulation, at least for the underbench cupboard...Mean daytime temp 12-14degrees, overnight -2!!!Humidity 85-90% this time of year. The shed is bessa block but a bit draughty....-Cheers! Roscoe

I just checked the Delonghi humidifier spec...it has a 50%,60% and70% setting. Perhaps the thing won't go below 50%? Does any one have any experience with this machine? Can anybody recommend a better system?

I have a humidity question. I live in the mountains, the winter RH is 85%++. I have my low RH storage area under a workbench in a cupboard that keeps getting smaller as I try to get below 50%RH. I have a Delonghi cf8 dehumidifier in there as well as a 100 watt lamp or two, but don't seem to be able ...

Thanks Martin. I have the two books. I am interested in comments re HHG, epoxies, and other soundboard processes. I know a CF luthier who implied that he scallops the sides of CF capped braces to fine tune and adjust stiffness post assembly. Has anyone used epoxy to glue CF into a grooved brace then...

I have a question. I understand the use of carbon fibre on the top and bottom of a brace to form an I-beam. I have heard that, along with the weight and stiffness advantages of CF, that its use can prevent "cold creep". However, I have never heard a definition of the term and can only make assumptio...

Lovely work! I have a method for using HHG. I had an overhead bathroom fan with heat lamps that the kids were leaving on allyhe time, which sent my power bill into orbit! So I replaced the lamps with incandescants and te deployed the heat lamps to the shed, mounting them in porcelain bases on a brac...

I am also wondering if laser engraving might work on mother of pearl or even for cutting MOP shapes.

Here are some links I found. Check out the tutorials on this site also. The shell cutters might work, if you can work out how to ream the hole after cutting, or use a milling machine or cnc somehow...I'm no expert. I think if I wanted to try what you are suggesting that I would grind one of the afor...

Does anybody have any tips for doing chladni tests on archtops and selmacs? Due to the arching, the tea leaves, poppie seeds or whatever tend to roll off the guitar when the top is vibrating!

The other quality I think flatwounds on an archtop have is that they are more percussive with a low end "thump" a la Freddie Green style...archtops with roundwounds are very different, although just as valid for the styles they suit. I have recorded with the same guitar or type of guitar with roundw...

It's quite an effort to trawl through all the topics on this forum, but very worthwhile I have found. So I am posting this video from Stewmac with the following comments. Moderator, please move this post, subject to the right part of the forum, eg tutorials. or wherever most appropriate! I have ,as ...

A comment I want to make regarding the difference between flat wounds and round wounds on archtop guitars. Using my own qualitative terms: roundwound strings, to my ear, have more sustain in the high frequency range and more of a "reverb" with less "weight" in the bass. Also they have more "give" to...

I saw some cutting drills or bits for a dremel that cut and drill MOP somewhere. Perhaps they were Kyocera. If I remember where I will post, but suggest some google searching...I have found that the guitar and banjo inlay experts' websites, posts and suppliers in the USA are the places to look for t...