Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

Ever since I started building a few years ago I've been egging myself onto building a big, fretless 6 string bass. I've got a headless bridge (yes you read that right), some pickups and a huge sitka spruce top. I've got some Vic ash already glued up for a back. Basically what I'm aiming to do is to ...

Did anyone end up finding a good supplier? I was just about to put an order with LMI for two sheets ... $80 shipping FFS!! A few years back I got in touch with these guys (from memory). They've got a whole different selection of veneers... http://www.briggs.com.au/ I never ended up buying any at th...

johnparchem wrote:You need to move from powered routers to luthier targeted tool like the one released just today at veritas: http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.a ... 3000,51208

I build "electric" instrument so I have to use "electric" tools... or they won't sound right.

Someone said somewhere the other day, "all guitars are handmade". Ie. CNC can shape certain things, but you still need a pair of hands to put the guitar together and set it up. That made sense to me. Maybe "boutique", "fine" or hand "crafted" are better terms? Like beer or clothing if you will. Fact...

Well done. That's a really great job. :cl If you're into building more basses, you'd probably like to check these 2 forums also... http://ozbassforum.com/viewforum.php?f=14 http://www.talkbass.com/forums/luthiers-corner.57/ There's lots of guys doing interesting things in home bass design/building. :)

That was really cool. Now I want to build some!

That looks FANTASTIC! Well done.

So sad to see people throw money at poorly built garbage. If it's the brand I think it is, I'm not surprised.

It's pretty hard to convince people about production line guitars. Seems like the more $$$$ you throw at them, the less quality you get these days.

Oil finishes require more cleaning than a regular finish. They will end up feeling 'tacky' if you don't. But then cleaning them is not hard work. Some baby wipes do the trick pretty easily. If you're happy to do that you can oil finish til the cows come home. Me personally I've been using Tru-oil an...

It is a half inch spindle so is quite a chunky bit with bearings top and bottom, but given the smooth operation it doesn't feel too frightening. Man, I know what you mean about frightening. I HATE my 1 1/2" long trim bit. Sure, it cuts well enough, but it also tears out pretty fast. Scares the heck...

When you say Australian Ash, do you mean Vic Ash? Or is there another species?

Mark McLean wrote:Pete - that multiscale does make the zero fret look pretty radical!

A couple of american guys genuinely thought I'd screwed up the nut...

I'm no expert, but I've used them on the last few basses and I've really liked them. The big thing is, it's just easier to get the action down lower and consistently so across the neck. You also get rid of that "nut sound" from open strings. I usually install the zero fret after I've leveled and dre...

A few people will want to rain cow poo on me... but I've had plenty of success with cheap, supermarket superglue on fretmarkers (and a host of other things too). http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk127/stpeterscia/bass%20build%203/fanned05.jpg I've used tru-oil, wipe on poly or just boiled linseed ...

Some reading to put that ridiculous "timber = electric tone" debacle to rest.

http://www.talkbass.com/threads/tonewoo ... t.1145369/

P.s. the bass is looking good. Should sound like a Musicman.

That's a great looking case. Good call on the white paint too.

What is it with every slicker round here that they want to drive a black car in Australia?

I've made a stack of instruments now with Kauri pine cores for bodies. The only issue with any sort of pine is the softness. For that reason, a top (and maybe back) made of something a little harder is preferable. Anything that's stable and looks pretty is gonna be fine for the top. Laminating the t...

So I pulled the original frets, filled the slots and contacted the swedish company on recommendations on how to cut the new slots in, they came back you are not allowed to do that as you dont have a licence (copyright), if you want to cut peoples boards and fit our frets you need a licensing fee, m...

You're a better man than me Gungadin...

What a huge mess you've had to clean up there. Well done.

I love what he's doing there. I've been trying to build electric guitars/basses for the last few years using as much salvaged/native timbers as possible. It's not easy, but I don't see why we need to use imported stuff when Aussie stuff is pretty amazing.

Hi All, I've been asked to install a pickup (+/- preamp) in an acoustic bass guitar. The owner has no particular preference re brands, but would like the bass to sound as "natural" as possible. I have no experience in installing pickups in acoustic basses, but have been particularly impressed with ...

Look into K&K pure mini and the matching pre amp. A top shelf pickup designed to do exactly as you are wanting After agonizing for months over piezos VS mic VS mag PUs I finally bought one of these. It is as Mr Searl says. I'm using an LRBaggs para-acoustic DI, but the effect is all the same. I've ...

Just came back from a month in the UK. The state of AU$ meant it was pretty expensive, but it gave me a new perspective of how lucky we are in many ways. The bad news is, the dollar supposed to stay this way for a while and even dip lower. I've been thinking though, could the bad AU$ give us opportu...

Cheers

Did I hear tell that someone on here was selling these at a pretty competitive price? My local just quoted me over $220 without fitting.