Ptt-Guitars

hahahah I'm sorry but this is possibly the most rediculous post ever....this is why I don't check PGF much anymore.

And you are.... who exactly? I don't recall you ever contributing rediculous(sic) amounts of wisdom to the forum... or any amounts of wisdom at all.

Ok thats fair enough I guess...I just think Luthiery can get lost in mysticism and the magic of processes, maybe its best to sand the neck of your guitar whilst facing east at midnight on the second moon of a blue moon month. Or you could just get on with it, either way its got to get done. But hey this is called "Project" Guitar Forum so whatev's...

I have a Guild acoustic that is 15 years old. I don't play it much so it stays in its case.

The guitar still has a wonderful strong woody smell.

I have a Gibson 335 that is 10 years old. It stays in the case, too. Though I do play it a good bit.

It still has a woody smell, but only if you press your nose to the f-hole.

I am looking into having a custom hollow tele built and I want it to have and keep a real strong woody smell.

It may be a dumb question, but is there any way to encourage or preserve the smell of the guitar?

Thanks.

hahahah I'm sorry but this is possibly the most rediculous post ever....this is why I don't check PGF much anymore.

Hi I'm trying to track down the scale dimensions of Jakes Kamaka Uke that he plays. Standard scale length for Kamaka Tenors is 17" but Jakes custom looks to be long scale. I know that Kamaka released a limited run of Jake customs which were signed and checked by Jake...but I can't seem to track down any info on them.

The reason I ask is because I'm planning on building a Tenor Uke and like the look of the longer necked tenor.

So what qualifications do you need? i.e will you train people from 0 to any skill level, or do you actualy have to have some luthiery skills?

Well in the process of the interview, the managers will get people to do a practical test such as rout a rebate for binding and maybe some fretting or sanding, it all depends on where they feel the person would be suitable and where their interested in working. If you get a job there's full training in the process. Many of the people who work for us are musicians who may never have touched a tool in their lives..but they get trained and pick it up brilliantly.

So, what does the average worker earn at Maton?

Were on your typical trade wage, after training and probation it goes up a little bit. In the end though its still guitar making and as many of the full time luthiers on here know, your never going to make millions in it. I know it sounds a bit wanky, but for me its about getting up every morning and doing a job which I love.

if you can hire someone from Venezuela i'd move to Aussie in a heartbeat to work with Maton guitars

Well we've actually just hired a fella who moved here from Uruguay who's really enthusiastic and a good worker...he doesn't speak much English though and his accent is really heavy so training him is very interesting

oh my gosh!!! The dream job, but I'm still too young to move to Australia! If i was 5 years older i would move down tomorrow. You probably get this a lot Paris, but do you ever get to meet Tommy Emmanuel? Also, do you need any special degrees or anything to work there?

Too young?..you might have explain this to me. Yeah I think Tommy does come through occasionally, he hasn't been through since I've been there though. We had Brian Mcfadden come through the other day and the boys from Ween...plus other artists often take the tour. Were actually working on a guitar at the moment for Tommy Emmanuel, I routed the dovetail earlier this week...its pretty cool when you get a guitar through and the custom sheet has the name of the artist on it and your thinking "I'm probably going to see them playing this guitar in the future" Its real cool...

I would move to melbourne, just to work there.

What do you do there? Duties? Training?

Well Maton Predominantly makes acoustic guitars and we have staff of about 50, with perhaps 90% of these people working in the Acoustic production areas.

These areas include Body Building (taking bent sides and gluing on kerfing and attaching the face and back) Body Prep (Binding and sanding the guitar) Assembly (Fitting the Neck and fingerboard and fretting the guitar) Then paint shop and setup. These are the main areas but there's also smaller operations, such as Machine shop, Side bending, CNC and Multicam. CNC and Multicam are the areas I work in, I started in CNC roughing necks, fingerboards, bridges, Electric guitar bodies etc.. Currently I'm on Multicam which cuts the rosette and soundholes, face and back profiles, routs the dovetails amongst other things...

I actually moved here from Adelaide about 8 months ago to work for Maton...I looked in apprenticeships and other ways of getting into it professionally but in the end Maton seemed the best move to make....its really been fantastic, its quite a small operation and there's heaps of training available and very passionate staff. For me I feel its really been a worthwhile move...

I've got a mate who moved there from Brissie a few months ago to work with you guys (Rob) I had a chat with one of your managers a few years ago at the Brisbane guitar show. Would have loved to go work with you guys but the wifie didn't want to move to cold cold Melbourne

Yeah I actually work with Rob, I trained him on multicam 1, currently he's doing body building on Multicam 2... hes a good bloke, i think management are pretty stoked to have him...Hmm it was probably Patrick Evans you spoke with, bloody smart guy, full of all sorts of info.

Hello my name is Paris. I'm a pretty long-term member of project guitars and have just recently returned to it after a break.

I work at Maton Guitars in Box Hill Melbourne and thought I would quickly let people know that management are always on the look for dedicated and talented people to work for them. If anyone is at all interested feel free to ask me any questions and have a browse of the Maton website. HERE There are also tours run of the factory and all interest in working for the company is taken very seriously.

It really is a fantastic job doing something for a living that you can feel proud of...and next time your watching your favourite artist and their playing a guitar that you helped make, its a great feeling.

Anyway that's all I have to say...feel free to ask any questions and I'll try my best to answer them, cheers...

Does anyone know a supplier here in Australia, preferably Melbourne, that stocks the silicone heat blankets? What's the dimensions of your blanket Daniel? Cheers..

Well I was rushing on my current guitar project, because I only have one month to finish it in. Well in my rush I was trying to do many things at once. I was gluing the blocks in the sides, and while that was drying I cut the back out (left about 1/4" -1/2" extra) I used my original template . I got the braces on and everything, the sides were all ready and I went to place it on the back just to see how it fit. Well as you can tell by now, My sides somehow turned out about 1" bigger than the original template. Now due to lack of time to get more wood, and lack of funds, I don't know what to do. any suggestions other than starting over on the back???

Are the sides bigger or the back smaller? If you haven't got the soundboard on yet what I would do is use a hot spatula and pull off the head block and tail block and trim the sides smaller, moving them in. Glue it all back up and work out other issues that might now arise (bridge position change etc.) A smaller box might lose some bottom end, but if its to your original template size you should be right.

What kind of timber is it?

Are you refinishing the guitar? I wouldn't use super glue as it can seep out into the surrounding timber and show up yellow when re-sprayed. For a plastic Rosette I'd recommend Acetone glue(I think that's what its called), it'll melt the underside of the inlay slightly and help it to bond to the timber...then just scrape back and finish.

Is the new rosette a tight fit or just firm?

Does it come out when you scrape it or sand it? Black Acacia, sounds interesting.

I would be inclined to go for the final example, the bookmatch (facing out both front and back). Its going to be stronger and possibly more predictable to carve, no point reinventing the process if its been tried and proven.

Good luck with it, is this your first build?

I'd seriously go for a second-hand acoustic.

If it has been taken care of, all the hard work to soften it up and smooth out the sound should be done.

Also your money will be worth more. If you know enough inspect it carefully before you buy, or take it to a tech.....just my 2-bob.

Ok, before I get blasted to check out PGs website, it will not work for me, mind you my computer is suck-prone. And google was as helpful at this as if I asked a cookie maker 

So, down to the question, I have an old crappy acoustic guitar that the finish is dirty and ugly. Its not a full sized acoustic, but its not a small toy one either (first act etc. ) But I wanna strip it and give it a glossy black (or if somehow possible) a sparkle black finish.

Can anyone give me a rundown on the best ways of using these things?

Thanks in advance! 

←

Remove hardware --> Mask Fingerboard etc. --> Paint stripper --> Sandpaper --> Paint (better quality = Better finish, visa-versa) --> depending on the quality of the black coat you could nitro over it and get a really nice sheen, or if its shiny enough leave it -->string-up --> enjoy! -----------------------> now stop making excuses and build one for real!

Okay, I made a mistake there

I wondered if anyone else had experienced the same. I don't have to know it.

BTW The guitar is a acoustic Fender, the >saddle< is plastic, and maybe you're right louder, but also clearer and less "buzz" in the sound.

←

What was the string angle like over the saddle before you added the plastic strips underneath?

It may have been that the angle was way to shallow so the string didn't "act" upon the saddle enough to transmit a clear sound, it would also explain a strange buzz, which is diiferent to the sound of fret buzz.

I dunno, I havent had it happen to me, but thats my $2.

Aihe = Dolphin in Maori.

I was going to wait for things to calm down, but the quality of the work pouring through the site is overwealming, so if I don't post now I never will!

This is my first instrument.

It's an acoustic guitar which I made for a school project, I designed it around a Dreadnought cut-away and added my own things to personalise it.

SPECIFICATIONS:

- European Maple neck, back, sides and binding.

- Sitka Spruce top.

- Rosewood detailings such as bridge, neck laminates and purfling.

- Rosewood fingerboard.

- Paua inlay.

- Gotoh tuners.

- Bone nut and saddle.

- B-Band pickup and preamp.

I made the guitar over 6months and then at the end of that time I had to write a 15,000 word thesis to the teachers, and do a 1hour presentation as to how I did it, to over 200 people.

The guitar sounds great, its more favourable for rythm work and has a massive projection. The pick-up also sounds great. I am really happy with this instrument and look forward to making my next one.

This is how it beganMaterials

Whole Guitar...

Back...

Soundboard...

Soundhole and Bridge...

Headstock has an interpretation of a dolphin inlayed into it. My Maori family symbol is a dolphin.

I played on my guitar as usual. Suddenly, I realised it was a crack by the slot where the bridge sits in. Okay, the bridge is still on, so it's no problem. But one day, that crack got really open, and it snapped. So i glued it back on with some CA glue. And the sound was bad. But then I thougt to put in the plastic strips under the bridge (I got them with the guitar) and the strings got raised a bit, and then of a sudden, the guitar sounded  better than ever. Any explanation?

←

Ok, so what material is the saddle? (I think your confusing the bridge with the saddle) What are the plastic strips, a lazymans form of action raising?

What do you mean by sounds better, describe the sound, it may just have been louder because of the raised action...

Give us some more info before we try to make some conclusions..

Gotta love unclej's initiative and individuality....

I voted yes... I documented my first build (which I then lost all the photos and video after my computer crashed)

The only thing which is annoying is stopping to take a photo every now and then!!!

I would only keep track of important steps...such as attaching the neck and cutting out certain parts.etc

So what makes them more of a pioneer than ormsby, gilet or hollingworth guitars who already have websites like that?

Still, good stuff posting a new one, can't hurt to have more!

- Dan

←

I know when I started I never knew about gilet, ormsby or hollingworth. It was only after ringing up several luthiers and questioning them on suppliers that they mentioned the local guys.

Hopefully with more access available people may be more encouraged and maybe it will even drive the price of supplies down.

New suppliers are coming to Oz...

Check THIS out.!

I can't wait, its been a long time coming...the site says that its not fully functional yet but it looks promising.

I think this is a major step for Australia, keep your eyes peeled for new talent coming from down south as the art of luthiery grows...

My acoustics are:

- A 'Waldorf' brand japanese 12fret at body steel-string.

- A Cimar (ibanez) dreadnought steel-string.

- My custom (just-finished) steel-string cut-away with a b-band Nf1 pickup.

My electric is a Monteray Les-Paul rip off, it sounds like **** and I never play it, i'll probably sell it to fund my next project, an electric (it'll probably only buy a set of tuners .)

Please avoid the scatlogical references in future!

The funny thing is, a guy came into a repair shop I was doing work experience at and brought with him a jackson, similar to the one I designed.

He had taken to it with a few cans of house paint and a chainsaw/axe. It was basically held together by the width of the wood at the pickups, he said it was so he could play it with a violin bow, it was damn funny.

hi guys. my beloved epiphone SG has a cracked nut..the E and A wont stay tuned for the live of the guitar, not to mention they wander.

It was plastic anyway. My fault im sure.

So, im curious, on opinions for nuts on an electric. Graphite? bone? rolling?

I LOVE this guitar. Its a cheapo SG, but the thing is, ive yet to find a neck this thin, and frets like this. Its better than a wizard neck, and the frets arent jumbo, i think theyre about medium. It just a guitar id never replace. sure i could afford another one, but why should i when im content with it?

I am thinking of upgrading it more as time goes on. For starters the full face pickguard, and now im seeing tremolo setups for the SG on ebay. Then imi wondering about rewiring the pickups and add 2 more knobs..

I dont know if type of nut affects tone like on an acoustic, so i know you guys would know.

Thanks in advance everyone.

←

Sure the nut affects the sound. Imagine if you placed a piece of fabric under the nut, it would have the same effect as placing your hand on it.

I'm not sure for electrics but anythings better that plastic as far as I'm concerned. go for bone or even a locking nut.... (for when you get a tremolo)

With the other post about dream guitars, I thought it would be interesting to show your 'NIGHTMARE' guitar...

It must be your own design, no slandering or criticism of other peoples guitars...

I'll get the ball rolling with my "sexually confused, army boy guitar"

I think it speaks for itself....

Heres my custom...

- One-piece Rosewood body and neck...

- Double, custom wound humbuckers...

- Hardtail bridge

- Chrome hardware

I might actually make this now I think about it...