Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

Agree.

I personally would not apply any finish before fretting

The cheapie is no louder than my rattle gun or die grinder (whilst they're not under load!)

I'm pretty anal about wearing ear protection for most things but I've never felt the need to wear it with this.

The buffer I use is just a cheaper version of what Allen posted above. Yes, I use automotive 2k clear over west systems epoxy sealer. Automotive spraying is where my paint education started years ago spraying cars and it carried over to me adapting those methods to timber and using auto 2k on my gui...

The mini buff I used is called a pistol buff in the automotive trade. I have the Snap-On brand one that will set you back a bit more than the cheap outlet store one, but I use it every single day, sometimes for hours at a time in the day job, and it just goes and goes and goes. The pads are the har...

I should also add that it is variable speed (important that it is)

Before you go blowing heaps of money in a bench mounted setup, try a 3" handheld buffer with a 3m waffle pad. I tried on about a year ago on the advice of a pro painter, skeptical at first I bout a $60 eBay cheapie thinking its cheaper than a $400 paint shop one and if it dies it doesnt matter and i...

Re: Star Guns I'm mainly an Iwata man. Iwata Vs Sata is Holden Vs Ford. Its personal choice. A few years ago one of my main guns dissapeared and I had to replace it quickly so I could spray a car. I went in to buy a Sata ($800ish) and I just didnt like the feel of the handle after using other makes ...

Some very nice details going on thre, absolutely love the sound hole and the eye inlay. Excellent work

Back and sides are absolutely delicious!

Great work.

Phil Mailloux wrote: I think you'll find that this wasn't caused by the lacquer but by the different density woods all absorbing moisture at different rates

Yes, that part is obvious, but I was suggesting the op will want a finish that will not reveal this and keep the finish perfectly smooth.

If you pause this clip at the 1:15 mark it'll show what I was trying to explain:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDuSebNSiD4

Cheers, Allan.

I have copper shielding tape but don't use it What I have found makes my guitar silent is a copper plate, cut to fill the elec cavity. All pots and switches are mounted hard against it (pre drilled holes) and this earths them out, then simply wire the bridge earth wire to it, the output jack earth a...

As far as how I arrange the timber, I usually buy planks that are flat sawn. Ill cut the flat plank into three, turn the middle piece end to end and then tilt them from horizontal to vertical to firm the 3 piece blank. If I'm making it more decorative than 3 piece, I still use the above as the base ...

A couple years ago on a multi laminate neck I used tassy Blackwood, ebony, Indian rosewood and qld maple all together. It looked great and I grain filled and sealed it with 2k clear as I was doing at the time. Over time the clear has sunk into the grain and when playing the neck you can now feel joi...

All the hardware minus the p/ups was supplied by the customer. The side dots also. I'm pretty sure it all came from eBay.

The pickups I had made in the UK and they as suggested have lots of grunt!

Cheers

Allan

There are a lot of things on this build I would usually have said no to, but this build was an exception to my rules. It was for a friend I've known a couple decades, who lets just say has different tastes to the mainstream. I tried talking him out of the blue, he insisted the blue was the theme of ...

I used to use a router sled for truss rods, now I use a router table.

Like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgB4tjw_ryA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgB4tjw_ryA The above link is a video of me routing two truss rod slots for a truss rod that looks very much the same as what you have pictured. The video shows the marking, setup and the fit. It also shows both a neckthru and a bolt on slot. In the video the neck is ...

File not as sharp as........... Iv'e had mine for over a year I think and still sharp as when new, only 5 - 6 necks tho. and it's not the only rasp I use. Its possibly too sharp I think, so that's why I go down to a finer rasp. Maybe you've done more necks than mine. It's probably done about eight ...

File card or wire brush and then suspend the rasp in cheap white vinegar will re-sharpen it. If 'very' dull, or old and rusty, the process can take a day or so, but for a general sharpen it can be ready to go in as little as a few hours. It just depends on how bad things were when you started. The ...

I've not long ago bought the same file! Great, aren't they. Although I feel mine is not quite as sharp as it was a few months ago when new. The neck carving idea is basically the same as how I do it, however I dont feel I need the head support and it's never been an issue. https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a....

That's cool, I love P/vans. HR was my first ever car, was a ute actually. I was looking for ages for a decent hq van and gave up buying a hq ute instead. It was decent but a month or two ago I had to make some hard decisions and let go of the 57 chev and my hq ute (had a 350 chev) and at the moment ...

Good video. Unless someone has felt it, they simply dont know how brutally powerful kickback is. I use push blocks or pressure pads depending on which machine. When I look at my pressure pad and see chunks missing, I know I'm using them for a reason. One machine that cought me by surprise with kickb...

I like the timber in that tele!

Tod: the elec cavities look black in the pics, however it's actually clear Perspex with a black tint, so you can see the wiring and the 5kg caps etc!

On the 8 string it's a tas Blackwood cover but the burst covers most of it.