Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

Here's a new one! This guitar has a spruce soundboard that has been naturally sculpted by the teredo mollusc (shipworm). The Spruce log was floating around the islands of Alaska for many years, then retrieved by Brent from Alaska Specialty Woods. I decided to see if I could make a guitar from what w...

lamanoditrento wrote: ↑

Sat May 27, 2017 7:40 am

you have really a great visual balance of the bridge which I often think look cockeyed on multiscales

+1 on that!

Lovely looking build. I bet she sounds as good.

Great article Pete. Your passion for the environment coupled with your enthusiasm for what it has to offer us as artisans is a perfect blend. We, your customers, are the beneficiaries. See you soon!

OK, so I was challenged with building a violin. How hard can it be?? Turns out, a bit harder than imagined but I am happy with the outcome. Now, I know I may upset the traditionalists but I love timber and the thought of staining it was just not possible. Engelmann Spruce top, Euro Maple back and si...

Jim wrote:Beautiful Martin! What's the stunning wood on the front of the tele?

Thanks Jim. It's QLD Maple from a slab I picked up in a paddock in Northern NSW.

oops, pic got rotated? try this one

Been busy with the guitar making school. Almost 60 guitars built at the Central Coast school alone! I still love building my own though. Here's a group of recent builds. Archtop, Acoustic Bass, "Tele" and a Parlour. Oh, and a violin in its infancy. Hopefully will get into a cello this year. IMG_9685...

love it!

Hi Greg, Is that Ebony bridge? Yes it is Ebony. This is really old African ebony that I was given by a retired Luthier. It is really nice to work. Is that Gidgee tailpiece? Yes the tailpiece is also Gidgee. This was sourced from Pete at Curly Timbers How did you handle the "wraparound" tailpiece ext...

So, this is my first archtop build. Soundboard: Englemann Spruce Back and sides: QLD Maple Neck: Australian Red Cedar Fretboard: Australian Gidgee Pickguard and headstock veneer: Gidgee Bindings: Curly Maple Pickup: Benedetto S6 I'm really pleased with the outcome, it is loud acoustically and sounds...

beautiful looking instrument!

seeaxe wrote:And a cold smoke generator for the son in law who is a butcher and wants to smoke his own bacon!

Now, you know that is an invitation for samples to be distributed for quality assessment

Been busy, but good busy! These 3 are getting close. We've had 33 guitars come out of the school at Erina in about 18 months with the range from Tenor Ukes to Acoustic Basses and everything in between. Hard to find time for my own builds but this is why I got into this game in the first place. These...

Wow, brilliant of course, but those position markers, hmm... might have to rethink some things now. wow they're nice

kiwigeo wrote:Nice work Martin. The side purfs....did you fit those separately to the bindings?

Yes, I did. They were very fragile. These were some of the strips I got with the BRW. They were hand made during WWII.

This is the second BRW build of the timber that I was gifted. Back and sides: BRW Soundboard: Engelmann Spruce Bracing: 1864 Torres fan with floating lower transverse Body Shape: Torres Bridge: BRW Fretboard: African Ebony Neck: QLD Maple A little more "traditional" I suppose, but she does sound gre...

Looks great Wayne! What was the hardest part (apart from the neck!)

Wow, be a bit busy for the forum for a few days and come back to this! Thanks for all the comments, yes, even kpcart's comments. I am a believer that everyone is entitled to their opinion. As a few have already addressed some of kpcarts comments I don't feel the need to address all of them but as me...

Flying down tonight to check it all out tomorrow. Can't wait!

Thanks Wayne and Mark, Mark - the Jarrah was ok to bend. Went up to 195C before it wanted to move but then was ok. I also find that bending almost dry is often better with wood this figured. The weight is fine too as I kept it on the thin side. It plays so smooth and the tone is nice and even across...

This is another L-00 style guitar. Commission build, sad to see it go but at least I get to play it for a little while. I am loving these smaller sized guitars Back and Sides: Curly Jarrah Soundboard: Engelmann Spruce Bindings: Blackwood & BWB Neck: Australian Red Cedar Fretboard and bridge: Gidgee ...

And for those wishing to hear this little guitar, here's a couple of short samples on SoundCloud https://soundcloud.com/martintaylor/sets/l-00-samples

Wow, Trevor, it looks amazing. Am I right in assuming the mass of the back and sides negates the need for any extra side mass? And, what was the gidgee like to bend?

So, you may have seen this guitar over in the Anything Goes topic but I thought I'd share a couple of pics. Soundboard - Engelmann Spruce Back and Sides - Brazilian Rosewood Neck - Brazilian Mahogany Bracing - radial, spruce and carbon fibre Bridge - Brazilian Rosewood Finish - Nitro https://fbcdn-s...

What a beautiful instrument! Keen to build an archtop. I bet it sounds as good as it looks.