crash6882

My next problem is.............. I'm trying to decide whether to joint the pieces straight or to cut the pieces at angles. I have laid out the boards at the angle and it doesn't seem to look all that much different. If I screw up one board my project comes to a hault, and i only have one more month to finish it. I'm trying to weigh the risk with the difference in looks. If anybody has pictures of a 3 or 4 piece back with boards cut at angles. or any suggestions on which you would do.

I started using the technique of holding the top with both hands and wobbling it like a sheet of metal. I was told that once the sound gets louder and more defined than the top is the right thickness. I just did this on a sitka spruce top and it seems a little thinner than i would have liked. I know that growth rings play a part in why different tops of the same species require more or less wood to vibrate the same.

I am working on a guitar which i am using curly maple for the back and sides. the planks which I am using are narrower than i wished but i'm trying to make due. I had pieces cut and glued together as a 3 piece back. once the sides got done the back is too small. I have since then seperated the back pieces to start over. I was wondering what everybody thought of doing a 4 piece back. structurally how would it affect my bracing???

Just wondering how thick everybody makes their tops for a steel string guitar?????

i need advise on how to remove a top from a guitar which has a crack. I was thinking that i would take a heat gun to it and try to loosen the glue. will this work??

has anyone ever made and used a pin router to cut inlays. I found pictures of a great design on www.luthiersforum.com by Keith MacKenzie? how easy will it be to use this to cut both the shell and the wood??

I have never built a 12 string before but i will tell you that the braces look good, I would get rid of the brace above A and just go with A. the block should have enough strength. don't forget the small piece of wood inside for the bridge plate.

thanks Rich for your help. i was looking at this set on ebay, the guy wanted $5 for it. I don't want to get it if it is going to be ****, I will just order some spruce from LMII. the last guitar i built i used bearclaw and it came out awsome, but was trying to find a cheaper top.

also do i want the growth rings closer or further apart for a good quality sound??

I am looking at a stika spruce top, it says that there is some compression, a thin pitch streak and grain runout. Each piece measures 7/16 x 8-3/4 x 22". Growth rings per inch are 13 at the widest and 17 at the tightest. will the runout and pitch streak make a difference in sound, and integrity of the board???

I was looking at getting a CNC router to do inlays with. The high price is the only discouraging thing about them. I was wondering if anybody uses one and if so can you cut the shell with it as well????

awsome work!!!! I love the cross inlay, how did you scribe it into the fingerboard so perfectly???

it is Black Acacia, Rich you must have remembered from before. I ended up doing a French polish, due to the lack of time. I was up all night finishing it and then drove it down to NJ from Mass. and delivered it. I was nervous due to the fact that i didn't have time to check it and see how it sounded and make any adjustments. The guy loved it and was totally surprised (it was a wedding present for the groom). It sounded Amazing!!! He played a couple of songs and only found one fret buzzing, so i fixed it, then he packed it away. The next night at the wedding there was one of his buddies who was playing a song which he wrote, I asked before we left just to make sure it wasn't the one i just built, due to the fact it had only been played for about 10 minutes. well sure enough that night the guitar was played in front of almost 200 people, my heart was in my mouth praying that nothing broke. all went well and i got about 5 orders. this winter will be a busy one.

well i finally have time to post some pics of a project which I was working on this past winter. Many guys here helped me when i ran into problems, (which seemed to be every day). well anyways here is the final product, i don't know how to upload pictures so here is a link to my photobucket album. guitar 08

awsome inlay, I'll post pics of my completed one shortley