Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

Makes me cross my legs just reading about it
Puts a new spin on the horse bite kids used to give each other.

And so it being Monday an all, is it a full body cast or just a sore bum?

If no reply = Full Body Cast

They also stink like nothing you've ever smelt before when they are fresh and go through the sawmill. There's an image! Freshly cut Toredo :lol: and Robert does a much more admirable job using it than the pulp and paper companies. Indeed he does, but don't suggest that to him! He'll make Paper Mach...

I don't know if anybody is familiar with their guitars but I was cruisin' the net when I came across these guys. http://www.batsonguitars.com/ The guitars have a few interesting tweaks least of all the bracing method, just wondered what peoples thoughts were about their method, it all sounds good bu...

I've done both also. When I was making electric necks I used to install the frets last by hammering them in. Since going into the acoustic side of the force, I have started to press the frets in with the already radiused fingerboard off the neck. I only started doing that because my first guitar was...

Just add my voice to the rest & say great build for a first one, it all looks good.

Nice shop Martin (look of extreme jelousy on face), well laid out. I couldn't have a shop like that tho, all that timber begging to be bent and glued....I'd forget to leave the shop. Although I could put a sleeping bag in one corner and who needs to eat when you have all that Wood

Admittedly I cant do it in 90 minutes (much like the ab king, it's supposed to only take 5 minutes a day 3 times a week to give me washboard abs) but I didn't need to spend money to find out how to do it. The original Selmers had rounded fret ends so I just nutted out the best way to do it with what...

Probably shouldn't say welcome because that makes it sound like I've been here for years instead of being a relative newbie meself. But Hi anyways and glad to hear you've been bitten by the bug. The symptoms sound very familiar, just seek treatment before you get to the 'wanting to wade through your...

Allen- Thanks for that, it maybe that our macrocarpa isn't of the same type or even the same genus, just called macrocarpa because it looks like one. I shall have to do some checking! I too have a head full of idea's and wish lists but with a house full of guitars already, to avoid the "What do you ...

This is not new. When I was a kid on a school outing to the zoo, the gorillas had no stones available, so they stockpiled their shit. Luckily, I was too small to press through the crowd and get to the front of the enclosure, where the good, and very prim and proper (totally old school) Mrs Sommers ...

Thanks for the welcome Allen. There are some great guitars being made by forum members. Might I add, I have seen your work & it is truly wonderful. :cl :cl I particularly like the Cypress Auditorium, looks GAAAWWWWGEOUS! Not sure if it can be the same (a Cypress Macrocarpa)? But we have Macrocarpa h...

Nick - we used standard sized reverse kerf linings on this one. The King Billy Pine is not stiff at all across the grain but it would have to be taken into consideration when using any other to woods. I think I'll take the next set of sides a little thinner than this. Thanks Bob :) Will be interest...

If they want to turn captivity into a scientific study, give the chimp a slingshot & a pile of pebbles I say. See how long it takes the chimp to work out how to perfect his new toy

Pure guitar porn :D :D really good looking guitar Bob. Love the blackwood fingerboard, beautifully figured & really sets the instrument off. I like the idea of the sides, the theory certainly makes sense to me. Did you keep the linings the same width as usual or did you reduce them to allow for the ...

Ive done a barter type deal with the girl..her brother is the winemaker up at Mountford Estate near Waipara so payment is goiing to be a few bottles of his lovely Pinot Noir.... :dru Excellent Currency! The Waipara wines are really coming on good now so a worthwhile deal I'd say. The Mudhouse is ma...

kiwigeo wrote:

Nick O wrote:
Oh by the way, almost forgot, the guitar's coming along nicely. Hope it's going to a worthy home.

The guitar is going to another expat Kiwi living in Sydney....shes a Christchurch girl.

A very worthy home then!

All stunning guitars Bob, you should be extremely proud of the work you produce. Think my favourite is the Redspruce/Blackwood OOO, something about a OOO shape, maybe it's the narrow waist
Nice touch binding the fingerboard with the same wood, is that a standard feature on your guitars?

How about I just photograph my entire stash and post it up??? :? Can you just do it in a series of pics over a period of time? not sure I could retain my normal Zen-like state if it was all in one picture :lol: Oh by the way, almost forgot, the guitar's coming along nicely. Hope it's going to a wor...

Thanks for the extra pics Martin, it's looking really good, nice clean job. I'm a completly unprogrammed hard drive when it comes to classicals :roll:. Are the fan braces thinned to a known 'traditional' height & shape or is there a certain amount of 'tuning' to the top plate once they're glued in p...

Cheers Gratay, Mr Lagrene is a master indeed along with Stochelo Rosenberg. Still love Angelo Debarre for coolness factor and just has a beautiful feel & touch. For anybody still wanting an idea of the top 'arching' here's a couple of pics of build #2 where the top can be seen easier because it hasn...

Looking good so far (from what I can see)Martin, can't wait to see the finished product. Do you make all types or are classicals "your thing"?
By the way,
That's a decent stack of kindling you have in the background too

Thanks for that Mike :serg I'm learning more about these guitars everyday & that is another piece of info to add to my knowledge base. I'm not sure where I got the bakelite thing from but I seem to remember reading it on the internet somewhere, obviously an erroneous source :roll: as Francios Charle...

Thanks for your words of encouragement Kim. My mentor I guess is Bob Benedetto (incase you can't tell :) ) & although he's one of the worlds best luthiers, he is so open to sharing his methods and theorys. So I guess I have adopted the same principle, I can't go along with people that pretend it's s...

kiwigeo wrote:Does the guitar come with the grubs that made the holes.....yum!!

Mmmmm barbied Hu Hu's