Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

Thanks folks! It's a 24 inch scale. I wanted it short so it would be easy to play for a child, but long enough to stay in tune. I got the case from FineCases.com (http://www.finecases.com/canadian-case-fcplr-parlor-guitar-case.html). It ran me US $110 plus shipping. They were prompt and had the case...

Hi All, Finished #3, a parlor for my six year old grandson. This one sounds better than the first two, and is the first one where I am even remotely pleased with the finish. The Specs: Top: Sitka B/S: IRW Neck: Spanish Cedar with an oak center lam Fretboard: Madagascar Rosewood Frets: EVO Headstock ...

Hi all, I'm finishing up #3 today (a parlor for my grandson -- pics in a few days) and I'm planning the next. It'll be another parlor, this one for my granddaughter. On the last couple of builds, I've laminated the neck ('spanish' cedar with an 3/4" oak center lam). Not due to any strength issues, b...

Thanks guys! Kim -- absolutely beautiful work. I should have asked this question at the outset. Because I used zpoxy. Way too late to avoid the amine blush. Live and learn. What I think I'll do is mix Rob and Waddy's advice. Put a wash coat on, sand it out with micromesh, then put a beezwax coat on....

Hi Folks, I am making a parlor guitar for my grandson, and it is getting down to the final few steps. I decided to try using tru-oil to finish this one, and so far it is working out much better than my previous two efforts. Both of them were unsuccessful french polish jobs. I have 25 coats on the gu...

Hi guys -- K&K for me as well. I like that there are no batteries to run down, and no holes in the ribs for a control panel. It is possible to screw it up (don't ask me how I know). Especially if the bridge plate is small and close to where the x-brace meets. You can inadvertently glue one of the pi...

Hey John, Sanding... there's a new concept :lol: The braces are 8mm -- I couldn't think of a way to thin them laterally without gouging the top, so 8mm they will stay. I'm making another Parlor after this one, for my granddaughter. It will have 6mm braces, at the right height, *before* I glue them i...

Hey John, I'm ahead of you in one (and only one) respect: I got the 'new design' issue out of my system on my first build. Ugliest guitar in the solar system. Ripping the top off your guitar, regardless of how much you've improved since you built it has gotta hurt. I am curious about how you plan to...

Hi Guys: Here is a picture with the braces rough carved: Bracing_Small.jpg The Frets.com pictures make it very clear that I am substantially over braced. I am going to pull about 1/3 the height off of the x-braces, and thin the top down some. Currently it is around 2.9 - 3.2 mm, depending on where I...

Hi folks, I'm working on a parlor guitar for my Grandson, and it is nearing the point where I'll close the box. Pretty exciting, I know :). But something is bugging me about the bracing. I used the bracing measurements from Cumpiano's book, which has worked well for me in the past. But that was on a...

Hey Lillian! Thanks for the heads up about Grizzly. I'll have a look. Also -- my theory on girls is the same as my theory on guitars. Close your eyes and listen: ears are a much better gauge of beauty than eyes are... :) Of course, I am a pre-MTV guy: they don't come prettier than Momma Cass and Ann...

Thanks guys! For the copious help I get from your other posts, and the encouragement on this one. If it weren't for that, this project would have ended up as a pile of kindling.



--Paul

Hi all, About four years ago, I was in Guitar center, wishing I'd win the lottery so I could affort the Martin I was playing, I had a thought (not a frequent occurrance with me). I could either give up the idea of playing a good sounding guitar, or I could learn to make them. Since I had no woodwork...

I love the label: Australia's best instrument makers.

I think the quality of Australian guitars has come up a tad in the past 70 years.

--Paul

Hi Mark, Kim -- I see now I should have posted this as a continuation of the first post. Live and learn :). The sides are sitka, with a very nice bearclaw, but they are a bit uneven: between 2.3 and 1.9mm, depending on how hard I was leaning on the plane at the time. It is too thin for my taste, so ...

Thanks especially to Lillian, who came up with a really nice spruce board when I needed one (thanks again!). As you can see, I added the sound hole patch you all suggested. Added the magic 'tone enhander' brace in behind the bridge patch, and trimmed off the finger braces to avoid the stress riser p...

Spruce it is, then. I'm in Seattle -- there is bound to be some wood around here somewhere...

--Paul

I like the soundhole patch. And the magic sound improvement brace is a great idea if I find the top deforms too much. THe patch looks like the same wood as the top, from the picture. Could I substitute a thinner piece of, say, cherry? I don't have any extra spruce: LMII sold me just enough for the s...

Hi Bob (and thanks guys!) The thin spot is at the waist on edge of the treble side. I let the finger braces go all the way to the side (C & N's book tapers them to nothing before the lining), hoping that would strengthen the area. I thought of putting a small brace parallel to the edge, about the he...

Hi folks, I've finished the soundboard for my second guitar, and thought I'd share some pictures for general criticism. Not that it can help this one -- but the next will benefit! It is Sikta, with some mild bearclaw. The thickness, due to my inexpert planing technique, varies from 2.3mm to 1.98mm (...

Hi guys -- I meant to post photos of the finished guitar, then the site went down :cry: . It has a sitka spruce top, IRW back and sides, a maple neck (flat sawn from the lumeryard -- I don't recommend this, too heavy). Rosewood fingerboard and bridge. curly maple binding. The odd shape is my attempt...

Thanks Martin! I didn't know, but now I do. There is a lot about woodworking in general, and guitar making in particular, that I don't know yet. I got into this very late in life. A year and a half ago, to be exact. :) Before this my experience with carpentry topped out at knocking a deck together o...

Nutz... Kim may be right. I noticed that I'd gouged the top in a couple of places with the plane. Hardly noticeable, but one was right under a brace, which would have been a problem when I glued things in. So I got out the planes (mistake #1), and Gouged it again. :x Pulled the blade in a bit and (m...

Thanks Craig, I appreciate you pointing out the appropriate text. The only trouble I have with Cumpiano's book is that sometimes important information is buried in fairly dense text -- where I missed it, obviously. I think I'm set now. Another week or so of French Polishing, and then I can fit, set,...

Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2010 12:27 pm Post subject: Thanks! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I really appreciate all of the help you've posted. I think I know how to proceed from here: work the neck angle some more, to get that 9 to 9.5mm height at the bri...