Xaromir

Then you should charge more next time. Money should makes it easier. But i can understand that, beautiful looking guitar. For how much did it go if i may ask?

That will look unusually elegant for a lappy, i like it. I'm still not sure if i wouldn't like a gold tailpiece better if it would be for me, but it's starting to come together now, and it will look wicked with a walnut tailpiece.

well ok. "Multi Winner GOTM" I guess you have a fair bit of experience with that. Can't wait to see that thing finished! Very interesting wood-choice for the lappy btw. The tail-piece is going to be a interesting detail, i bet that would look wicked in gold-plated on that dark walnut. <3 /me wants more details Yeah, i just wait like all the others, but that doesn't mean i can't be exited about it.

I also like the headstock. But will it fit a tele? Teles always got a certain classic workhorse-appeal, the headstock almost seems to be slightly to modern and elegant. Just a thought though, but i guess that you have planed it out enough to make it fit and if not you can always change it in the process anyway. Looking forward to seeing more of that.

Sadly yes. I don't have a fretboard on it so far, and i can't put to much tension on there, or everything just goes flying, because the bridge isn't fixed to the guitar at the moment. But the more i try those old parlors, the more i'm surprised. They got a very "unusual" sound indeed, many sound quite nice, loads of nice shimmering mids on most i've tried, sometimes even a bit like lutes. Most sounded quite nice, and i really wonder where that is coming from. Nobody would build guitars that crude anymore, the bracing on some of those is quite edgy, barely scalloped. You can get a good one for 300 - 500€, but some of them beat most mass-produced stuff twice as expansive in stores these days. I guess the wood is just very well aged. Maybe it's just the 90% more love. <3

Awesome piece of advice! Thanks a lot for that. I'm badly informed. Originally it had square brass frets. But since i'm changing it anyway silver nickle it will be. Can't say much about the sound of the guitar so far, i can't tune higher than to a low e or the bridge is learning to walk. But if you are interested, here is the first tone out of this guitar after a very long time: http://www.divshare.com/download/11243918-008 The bridge was held in place by one lonely pin, no saddle, nut was only loosely popped in, so it's not great, but i think there is potential. Can't wait till i'm done with it!

I come to you once again with a pretty general question, and i wish there would be a forum for electric AND acoustic guitars, since i think that's interesting for both, but how ever, here we go: What frets shall i use? I've heard that brass damages the strings more. Is that true? What strings nylon/gut or only steel strings? But i think someone said they last quite a bit longer than steel frets, which would have me sold on them to be honest. I know nothing about those nickel-silver frets, i came across those just recently, can someone tell me something about those?

Loads of nice ideas in that project actually, but what i would have loved to see: Gold or silver hardware. I'm not sure if that was mentioned before, but i somehow got a feeling that gold or silver/chrome would look rad on that thing, maybe brass, instead of the black you had on there before.

Thanks mate! Now i just have to make sure they cut it the right way. Not going to argue, but 700mm? The scale length on my 24 fret electric isn't that long! I guess you are thinking about basses there eh? Good point actually, and i already have a idea how to utilize such a monster board on a guitar actually, i don't say more now - just a quick idea, but keep your eyes open for something unusual in the next years. Any opinions on the new bridge btw?

LOL. I've NEVER seen one of those. Still love the painjob though.

I actually do not know if i like the design or if i don't, that's always a good sign. Cool creative new turn on the old v-shape. I like the paintjob a lot actually, not to much like "in your face" but still very exciting.

I'm not going to cut that. xD That japanese saw i have is the only one i have, and i would ruin it indeed, i just cut a little sample off the whole thing, that's why i said. The guy pointed me to someone that apparently can do this, but i'm not willing actually, to give him any of the wood as a payment, i don't know how many boards i will get out of it, since there are some cracks visible on the top and who knows how the color will be inside etc, i would also love to choose the very best of it for the guitar, so i will have to pay him. This way i will be able to keep the best, sell some other good ones, and keep the rest for other projects. But i wonder how much it will cost to actually get that done. I hope not as much as the wood. Anny ideas how thick i should let him make it? I think i will have no radius on that, so like a classical fretboard, so 6mm will be enough, but i maybe will also sell to people to will need/want a radius, how thick should i let him cut it?

Had to replace my router so i had the time to get some wood for the fretboard / bridge, i make it short so that you don't get over-excited about my wood... Sorry bad joke. xD Well, i forgot to pick up the mahogany, but i got some ebony. I only wanted one small flawless piece, the one i got isn't flawless, but also almost as big as the guitar and weights around 15kilos / 30 pounds and cost me 150€ The guy didn't wanted to cut it i guess so i had to take the whole thing, he said he can't, wonder where the problem is - cuts perfectly with my cheap japanese saw. I doubt that it's the real deal - that really good stuff, but for 150€ for 15 kilos i can't complaint i guess, and i maybe can sell something if it's good enough, but i guess i will make a chess set from the rest since doubt that it's great. Picture... the other thing is the old fretboard. I also got a new little bridge drawing: This actually should fit the guitar, is lighter than #1 a bit more elegant than #2, i've seen no way to make #3 fit, without having to make that boot quite big, i hope this is a good alternative, opinions etc are most welcome as always.

Made me laugh. Most people i asked like 1 best, problem is: It does not fit 100% over the old one, but i now know in which direction i will go. I will do something else like that in the next days, and post it here. I'm not sure if i can keep the shoe-shape though. Thanks a lot for the input - it's most appreciated.

I just fiddled around with the bridge and the inlays, and i have 3 basic designs, since i want to make the bridge fit the inlays better, to give the guitar a better overall look. If anyone here got any ideas for improvements, or a opinion on which is best, let me know. #1 Minimalistic #2 Clean curves #3 Floral curves Original bridge: http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp26/Xaromir/5.jpg Inlays: http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp26/Xa...et_mop_full.jpg

BAH! Darn, sorry. I got the "weymann #1", they where on sale, and looked good. I will take better pictures tomorrow, to use some features in my bridge, but i don't know if i will post them, so here they are: http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp26/Xa...et_mop_full.jpg They look a lot better in real life actually, if you look from the right angel they lightly shimmer in blue green pink and yellow, i love those. BTW: I put one string on it today, just to see how it sounds - and it actually sounds reasonably nice actually - not much volume though, even though i mostly destroyed the nut and it wasn't even glued in anymore, and the bridge was without saddle and was only held in place by string-tension and one single bridge pin. xD That thing must sound really nice if i do a good job. Is it normal that bridge pins sits pretty loose in the hole without a string that's under tension? "I-turn-it-around-and-it-will-fall-out" loose that is. Are there different pin-sizes? It's my first acoustic aswell. >.<

I've been all over the place asking questions, i hope i didn't get on someones nerves. By now most should know the story, but i post it again just for the record. If you got questions recommendations or feedback etc. feel free to post, i'm always excited to hear what other people think. Story: I've decided i wanted to build a guitar, i gone pretty mad and people recommended i start with a kit, but then i acquired this little parlor guitar - approximately 90 years old, first i thought "i fix a crack - learn and practice a bit and just play it then" turned out it is quite a big project, people at my local guitar store giggled at me when i showed it to them, but i decided to rescue it. My goal isn't anymore to keep it as original as possible and do as less as possible, i decided to use it for what i bought it - learning and practicing - and eventually making the guitar a nice instrument again. What i done, what i will do and why: I have it since late 2009 but just getting started. -I've pulled off the fretboard, using a tutorial* (links and pictures on the bottom) from this homepage, but i used a high e-string (9er) instead off a blade, which worked surprisingly well. The neck bend into a helix-shape, the fretboard sort of "sagged" or was shrinking. -I've pulled off the bridge, which will make refinishing easier, it also was made from a strange wood, i guess spruce or something like that and was painted black. It doesn't have enough space to take a proper saddle, originally it had a fretwire for a saddle, i consider replacing it a major improvement. -I started sanding away the original finish, so i will not have a problem with the new one i will put on. I have so far: To do: -Dreaming up and making a new bridge (ebony?) - making a bone (?) saddle and nut, the old nut was made from rosewood. -Making a new fretboard (ebony?) from scratch incl, fitting inlays, fretting etc, there is no way i could have rescued the old one. -Refinishing it. I will use super blond shellac, still need the right oil for the purpose, but i will use 99,98% isopropyl to mix the shellac - i hope it works! -Fixing about 5 cracks - i will do that as soon as i got the finish off. Quite a list - and quite a lot of work i guess - gives me a good taste of how hard it will be to actually build one from scratch, but it's fun. Links: The fretboard removal tutorial Inlays - white MOP (gold was sold out in the sale) (Thanks again for recommending this supplier) Pictures: The person that sold it to me gave me those: More - 1 / 2 / 3 Details: 1 / 2 / 3 WIP: More Status quo (almost) I also did a version in which i tried to make it look as bad as possible, i will not link it because i fear i would get lynched, but feel free to look it up at my dA page, if you would like a good shock. http://nachtarbeiter.deviantart.com/ If you are on dA drop me a note on my channel and i will +watch. Let's see where this project is going, i hope you will enjoy it as much as i do.

Great piece of information actually - i received that information before, but actually never thought about it again. Good thing i'm such a lazy [insert profanity here] or i would have done quite some damage! >.< I actually got it off by now, and started sanding yesterday, i continued today, and i consider the top mostly done now, and started at the back. Picture from Yesterday: http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp26/Xa...r/parlor-2s.jpg That shape is so beautiful feminine and elegant. <3 I love it. Question: There are spots of finish that i did not get off so far, since it apparently gone a bit into the wood, can i leave that or will that leave very bad discoloration? I don't know if i picked the same color as the person before but it looks close when the shellac is in it's bag. (I picked super blond btw)

Maybe a little bit of polish will take care of that non then less, polish basically should be abrasive, a alternative maybe would be toothpaste, it is abrasive actually, we used to polish our silver with it, toothpaste for smokers or especially for off-color teeth is quite aggressive, so be a bit careful at first, it may even become a bit duller, but this maybe can be polished with normal polish, if it works the way i think it does. You could try those micromeshs you've mentioned, i think stewmac got something like that. But i have to say - i'm also just starting out and i'm not a expert, but it may be a think you like to try.

Finally got around to taking new detailed pictures. Here are the tuners - i should replace that gears some day. http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp26/Xaromir/d2.jpg I've totally forgotten about a picture i took in january, gives a good idea of the rosette and the bindings. http://www.flickr.com/photos/45756818@N03/...170660/sizes/o/ The inlays are actually black/white or black/yellow. You people know the bridge already i guess. Sorry for the push, i wasn't able to edit anymore.

Alcohol actually dissolves it, less than 1 minute on the guitar i pulled off the little piece of cloth, it gone all sticks and after it dried some seconds later i noticed that some layers of that stuff must have gone. It actually tastes odd, but maybe it's just some stuff the guy added as you've said, or the age, how ever, i prefer not to breath it, by now i got a proper respirator - i love that thing. I will get that finish off as soon as i got that damned bridge off. Still no idea how to do that, but i guess i just make a print of it with silicone and chisel it off, don't want to ruin my top.

I thought i re-use this topic, since i have 2 or 3 already, and i don't want to spam. Thing is: I would like to take my bridge off, so i can make a new one / duplicate from ebony. Does anyone know how to do that? I was able to pull the fretboard like this with little modifications: http://projectguitar.com/tut/removal.htm I've also tried that with the bridge, which worked very fine on the wings, but the thicker part of the bridge just doesn't get hot enough, to make the glue soft at all How would you suggest i go about that without destroying the bridge or the guitar? I would like to keep the bridge for reverence even though i'm making a new one. I thought about removing it with a flush cut saw, or even just a thin saw-blade, but i sort of fear that i would damage the top. Razorblades sadly will not do, i always cut myself with the double-sided ones, and the other ones are just to thick. at the back without a edge. Any ideas?

Also really depends on the luthier. Not really necessary since it's about acoustics, but i would like to make some jaws drop right now for those that didn't came across him so far: Ervin Somogiy is at the moment not going to work for less than 26.000$ (USD), tax and shipping not included as far as i know, you do the math. But a stroll through the options list can raise the price quite considerably, Tapered body - 1000$ Fanned frets - 1200$ French polish - 400$ per side Now imagine how many hours you could spend and what amazing wood you could use for 26.000$ and still have a little bit left to live from. I would be more than pleased if i ever would arrive at a point on which i could charge 2000$ for a instrument.

I'm always happy when someone shows interest. I maybe will take some new pictures after i got some sleep, but it looks even worst now since i've tried to get the finish off by sanding and i failed badly, so it is really horrible to look at for a guitar lover. I will not put gold mop in, gold was sold out in the sale and i don't have the money for the regular ones, so white mop it is, and i don't have to worry about sanding it down to much. To do list: -Remove bridge and making a new one (that's new to the projet) -Everything involved in making a new fretboard -Refinishing incl, getting off the old finish -Making a nut and a saddle -Taking care of various cracks, should be around 5, this is the part that's really giving me a headache right now, since at least 2 are REALLY bad. -Some more smaller things. It became more of a rebuild project, and it's a bit depressing, since i'm more or less building a shop, and buying tools as i go, so progress is really slow, sometimes i buy something that doesn't fit the job, but i also don't want to annoy you with tons of small tool question topics. Loads of pain is in this project, but i want to do it justice. It will look pretty shiny, and from the front you maybe will not be able to see that it's old, but it will be good improvements, the bridge currently is a black painted mystery-wood, it will be ebony, the fretboard will also most likely be ebony, the saddle was a piece of brass fretwire, it will be tusq or bone, the nut was what i think is mahogany, this will also be tusq or bone. It may look a whole lot newer, but i'm not trying to make a new guitar, it will never loose it's history, but it will be a massive improvement, and i hope the maker and first owner would like it. Some old pictures (sorry - bit gloomy): The worst crack, (back) it's quite big and one side of the crack dropped into the body, i try to make it bend back a bit with magnets so i can repair it, but i guess this one will stay... http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp26/Xaromir/1.jpg http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp26/Xaromir/cu1.jpg I impaled my hand on this crack, should be a easy fix though, and more of a cosmetic thing. http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp26/Xaromir/3.jpg Bridge with the original fret-wire saddle: http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp26/Xaromir/5.jpg Rosette and binding: http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp26/Xaromir/cu2.jpg I hope you found this interesting, sorry if it was a bit much. Maybe i should make one topic for it to ask all the questions. xD Tell me if i get annoying.

I have not tried a scarper, since i don't have one. Maybe razorblades would also be ok? Well... i have to wait till next month anyway if i have to buy something new for it. There is just one thing i'm worried about: Will i notice if i hit the wood? If it get's dusty, then i would not be able to see it, that stuff sticks to everything, and it's hard to get rid of the dust, even by blowing. Yes, shellac is a disgusting thing to swallow. What is it made of again? Excrement of what? Well, what ever. I would get a respirator, but my hardware store only got those closed ones that make you breath in what you just breathed out. Can't wait to get really started, every time i look at it i plan something new, i will maybe also rebuild the bride now, i think i can call it a rebuild now, rather than a restoration. >.<