ron steiger

.. .. .. Thanks for all the great input on my snakewood allspruce (guitar of the month) I did'nt win...but it was so nice to get votes ...that Ill try it again. This on is a allspruce harp...with ropebinding...That I copyed the old dryer harp (show in photo 1)...I sure love the harp,and she sound great too. hope you guys like her..... ron steiger...

.. Done Guys

.. thanks jay...almost done guys..

...well some work done ,heres my update...

Ill update the photos this week guys , as far as I got...was getting the neck set and finger board glued...I went with pink ivy wood for the head plate and fret board...with a 16rad on the board...The wife got me doing other job around the house... Ps is there a place to sell wood here? (red spruce,ind-rosewood,

Rich Nice Job...Guess I have to get back to work too...well building Guitars...

... Heres were am at on this harp build......also guys Happy New Year Guys......................... Ron

Hey Rich You should get a pat on the back for that introll...man nice work...on bending the cut away....dammm .... still not sure were your going with the bridge plate?...so keep us posted ...I love to see it.. Ron.

Well Heres my 2cents... First check the intonation ,,,heres how you do that....if its a 14fret guitar...then use a tool like the one in the photo ...or make one... the way you use it is..(..from the nut....to the 12fret ........then turn the tool around and from the 12fret to the saddle )should give you the right intonation... well in your case the bridge because its and arch..top. mark lines with a white pen and file and test the guitar out....when your happy with the sound then copy the bridge with a piece of ebony and make it your self..all your need is a hand saw ,files, sandpaper,and some good old time.....

Thanks Pete Ill keep my photo 1 pre post next time.....sorry... about the GOTM well thats easy to Fix.....I have'nt glued the bridge on... Because I wait sometime till the guitar open up and go back and sand down the bridge and do the last adjust ,file the saddle and fine tune the guitar...I kind like the customer to tell me what he of she like....and I go from there... It just make for a good guitar and a happy customer...

I dont have much info....ktm9 what I do know is ..after spaying it..(WAIT TWO WEEKS) just walk away from it ,and let the finish do its job...and set.up ... I think you have a window were you burn in coats as your painting ,thin coat,wait8hrs,thin coat/up to 10 coats....then wait 10days...color sand with 1500wet and dry paper,use water.... then buff.... one thing ktm9 does'nt do is fill the pores of the wood....You need to epoxy the pores....2 part system...

well I do own a bender ,,,but also like to hand bend wood too.... Did you guys know that you can bend wood on a hot pipe waterless/// I have to show you guys what a one piece top looks like..... ... and the tops cutt...ready for thickness sanding... ...

I have to show you guys some of the ways I build...no molds here...what??? what no molds ,..yes all by hand and eyes.... .. I do use a heating blanket....work great..guys.... .. and when am done the shop is ....well torn up.....

Peter That looks great man....keep going your be happy you did.... Did you know that stew mac sell bolts with holes in them that you can install your bridge bolt the bridge down and install your strings....and pre set the guitar up and play it? when its all set up ...intonation right then glue the bridge on...also lmi sells ktm9 thats water base ... finish that almost all companys are using.. well over all she looks great.... ron

Rich Thats the same size as the 1900 Dryer Harp blue print I used on my harp...bridge plate.. but my own design on my guitars...I just like the hardwood (snakewood,ebony,cocobolo ,,,maple ??? they look big but no bigger then Gibson Acoustic You really not what to use to hard of a wood for the bridge plate because the wood tends to crack over time....maple or mahogany works the best... most guys just use what ever they have left over from the sides or back.... but try to stick with maple or some kind of fine grain wood (hardwood). if you like to change string alot...seems to wear better...? and I found mahogany has a nice sound ...It just seems that all the string ring the same.. some things you just can't change....as far a weight on the bridges? I tent not to worry about that...I do worry about wear... well peter Nice Guitars man....I like that you have your own design and you stay true to it.... Great work.... ron

... Well I do build hardwood guitars ..heres one 12string western black walnut....with a one piece spruce top... also the ebony brace allspruce has a one piece spruce top and back ....check it out if you notice it?

.. heres that ebony hardwood braced allspruce guitar...

.. Heres am allspruce I did about 2 years ago...take a look

.. .. well guys Thanks for kind words... heres the inside of the harp and bracing...well I myself think a store bought guitar is over braced...I tryed just about every kind of bracing design and thickness.. came up with a design and thickness that work very nice with my all spruce guitars. I still like spruce braces Q-sawn 1/4 thick 1/4 high works the best with and X design...what I do change is the thickness of the spruce I tried to stay with .095 then taper down .085-+.010 this is for the top and back the sides are almost paper thin.... yes paper thin...when Its all glued its really rigged but the top rings as I tap the top...very light guitar and easy to play... I guess the key in building them is ,taping the spruce,flexing the top and back just knowing the spruce and making sure the spruce is stiff... and try to keep the braces to a min.....and take off a little of the braces as you tap the top....The hole idea is ,a floating top... The ebony all spruce was a great guitar...but still over braced but had it hardwood sound almost like a old martin 000 well thats a little close martin makes some of the best sounding guitars and so does Gibson and taylor am just trying to make my own name ... and my own sounding guitar...if your looking to make and allspruce guitar I can help with the spruce...I also sale spruce kits? well for more info just post here I love to help... ron I have over 500photos and love to show you guys....

Yellow Cedar very stiff. will some what...I still have too add a solid steel rod and adjust the relief and angle in the neck... Because the harp so big am trying to cut the weight of the hole build...and yes its a top wood...should be fine..... am going to start doing Rope Bindings on this so guys that like rope Ill post some photo and show you guys How too....can be used on strats?I think..... SwedishLuthier ,,,do you have a web site and what you name man....? ron

Thanks Guys . I did notice that....but I sure like the Guitars posted here...wow.....You guys rock with all the cool stuff here... I myself would like to build a strat fender style guitar ,so Am here to see what going on...just what to show you guys What I do.... thanks for the nice welcome... Ron PS Thats a Yellow Cedar neck on the harp Guitar....

.. .. .. .. MY All spruce snakewood guitar.....

.. Just wanted to say Hi am Ron...First post here... am from ventura calif ,,, Here my latest Build...Its a all spruce Harp Guitar ...Sure one of a kind....I build all spruce Guitars...www.bigbadrockingdaddy.com am here because well.....I love building guitars and talking too all kind of cool people...with the same ideas.... looks like a cool place to say Hi... marry christmas...too all........