Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

I have that jig from John and like all of his stuff it is very well made. What I like about it is that I can clamp the cradle down and operate the router in my hand, less stuff moving around and a real feel of control.

Thanks It will be a couple of more day until I level sand and buff out guitar and I will take pictures then. I did not have trouble with the CF during the use of my drum sander with 80 grit and my hand sanding to 220 grit of the wings. I used a chisel to do a lot of the rest of the post router shapi...

I finished this guitar with Royal Lac shellac from Shellac Finishes. I am really happy with how it is going on. Here is a description I found on line Royal-Lac is a proprietary formulation formed by cross-linking shellac with carefully selected synthetic resins to form new polyester chains that comb...

I can answer some of the questions as I have made a solera for a classical .. Hey all. 1) Should I dome all the way to the edges (where sides will meet top) or dome to 10-20mm short? Advantages/disadvantages of both? I left the dome short a bit, but I do not have a good reason why 2) I'm aiming for ...

Looking good John. From the photos the bolt holes in the mortise look a lot bigger than 6mm...what diameter bolts are you using? Thanks, They are for 1/4 inch so a bit bigger. I use the brass inserts so I drill a 5/16 hole. Ok thanks John..I assumed you were following the books and using the brass ...

kiwigeo wrote:Looking good John.

From the photos the bolt holes in the mortise look a lot bigger than 6mm...what diameter bolts are you using?

Thanks, They are for 1/4 inch so a bit bigger. I use the brass inserts so I drill a 5/16 hole.

For the neck I followed the lay out in the book for the bolt on bolt off classical. Everything has to work together to get it to come out and it needs to be set before you start. The thickness of the wedge is dependent on angle of the upper bout. The wedge just needs to be tall enough so that the pl...

I made a bunch of progress on this guitar. I did radius the top rims, but flattened out the upper bout a bit. The top as a 32' radius, the back has a 10' radius. Although the guitar looks more contemporary all of the final set up will be within the classical guitar range. I put a 20" radius on the f...

The gain on my mic was cranked too high. there is a new spectrum in the post.

I just closed up my first falcate classical guitar. The body is a Hauser 37 shape and depth. Of course modified to be a cut away. I know things change as the guitar is finished with a bridge but I tapped it to see what the top without a bridge is like. It looks sort of wild to me. I see a clear peak...

Is this an acoustic or an electric guitar? Since a lot of guitars are 25.5 scale you can just string one up with bass strings and see what happens. I built an acoustic bass, but it made my dreadnought look tiny, It had a 34" scale that was better suited for those bass notes. The E an octave lower th...

Trevor, Thank you for your detailed response. I have left enough height in the rims so the I can put a radius on the top, followed by re flatting the upper bout. I took a straight edge on one of my classical guitars and looked the best I could with the bridge on and I can see what you are describing...

I know I am deviating from the The Book which if I read correctly even for a classical a radius dish is used on the top and then the upper bout is flattened. I guess it is not completely adding up for me, to the point that I trust my understanding. On a classical I ultimately want the top of the fre...

I am very close to finishing the top, back and rims for my falcate classical guitar. My current plan is to press non radiused falcate braces in either a 8m or 10m dish, Glue the transverse brace down flat. Also the top rims are profiled dead flat. My past three classical guitars have been built Span...

I have been reading the Technology of the Guitar and all and all find it packed with useful information. This book covers a lot of diverse topics (mostly guitar related) so it is a bit hit or miss to the depth of information and fairly shallow at the practical use of much of the theory listed at lea...

Well that is really cool.

I have two of his bending machines guitar and uke and a bunch of molds. All of john's stuff is well made.

Normally the body is complete and finished before you bolt on the neck with a mortise and tenon. With a tight enough mortise and tenon you could just glue the neck on as well. Not much need to ever reset a Uke neck.

I have made my ukuleles with glued on butt joints and a single bolt (The bolt is really used as a gluing clamp). I have made classical guitars with a Spanish heel joint. You do need to hand cut for the bindings near the neck in the back. I use a scalpel and a template as a guide to make the cuts for...

Thanks Trevor, This will be my 4th classical but the first with a bolt on bolt off neck. I will use your wedge method to set the angle. I really like the method as I can get it right before I put it on the guitar. I have a nice ringing set of EIR for the back that is quite stiff for its density. I w...

I am just starting a project to build a Classical guitar with falcate bracing. This guitar is not being built for anyone so I do not have a time constraint nor fear of failure. I have always been a relatively lazy design engineer relying mostly on my understanding of relationships from a known point...

As a follow on here is a post that shows a tapered uke and a non tapered uke both with a 15' back radius. viewtopic.php?f=25&t=6547

- Is it standard for ukes to have the heel-to-neck taper? - Basically, is a side taper worth the bother? Ta Andrew If you make a Martin style tenor a taper is standard if you make a hana lima tenor the taper is not standard ... Both had a radius around 15'. I recently finished 2 one to a Martin sty...

The arch is not that big, probably 15 foot radius in their plan. Most of the difference you see top to bottom is a taper. No issue at all bending the wood to a 15 foot or five meter radius. Their instructions sounds OK for getting the radius without a radius dish.

After much travel through NZ I have to say it is absolutely gorgeous. I had thought the pacific northwest of the united states was the most beautiful diverse landscape in the world. Now I am not so sure New Zealand is spectacular.