MIMF

I got a kit on sale from BargainMusicians, since the price of the kit equalled what I would have paid for the neck alone, so I basically got the body and electronics for free. The assembly instructions were pretty bad, since they applied to all the kits they sold. They did send me, via email, a pict...

When I did my experiment I made up 'coupons'; slices of wood from broken sides that were about 1-1/2" along the grain and 4" or so across it, and around 2 mm thick; normal side thickness. Thanks for the write-up, Alan. Your methodology seems sound to me. But what were the results of the t...

I agree that linen soaked in hide glue would probably be the best solution. But I'm going to use the insignia cloth on a test piece, just to see.

Thanks, all.

I found an unopened bottle in the back of my supply cabinet. I've tested it and it seems to work well, so I think I'm set for the next three or four necks.

Barry Daniels wrote: ↑Tue May 03, 2022 6:32 pm Amazon carries it. However, if you existing stock hasn't dried out, it should work fine.

I'm not sure Amazon would ship it to a California address, but it's worth asking. The "sell by" date on my unopened bottle is 2021, so it will probably do.

I've always used Tru-Oil for finishing the necks of my guitars and mandolins because they get so much more contact with skin and perspiration, etc. Now that Tru-Oil is increasingly difficult to get here in California (LMII no longer carries it, and most of the gun stores can't get fresh stuff anymor...

On my next build, I might try what sailmakers call "insignia cloth" which is a thin polyester cloth with an adhesive back. It's used for cutting out the letters and logos on sailboat sails, and it sticks to just about anything and is hell to take off. I happen to have some left over from m...

I have it in my head to build a short-scale (30") electric bass guitar using a hollow-body or partial-hollow body, somewhat on the lines of the Hofner bass, although the violin cutouts don't seem to be necessary. It would have the usual four strings. Can anybody steer me to plans for this or to...

Hi, all, I recently came across a book called Making a simple violin and viola by Ronald Roberts. He'd built several violins and violas with trapezoidal soundboxes, based on some experimental work done by Savart about a century ago. He claims that the sounds are comparable to the conventional violin...

I met a guy in the tonewood business on monday who had part of the tip of his left index finger missing thanks to a bandsaw. He has some nice guitars but can't really play them any more. That didn't stop Django Reinhart. Over the years, I've done horrible things to my right hand (I'm left-handed). ...

Clay Schaeffer wrote:D'Addario posted a guide on line for telling counterfeit strings from authentic.

http://www.daddario.com/upload/DABR_...wRes_12587.pdf

That's the first place I went. Ball ends were the right shape, wrapping looked good, so I assumed that the strings were the genuine article.

Hi, all: While stringing up a new build with D'Addario EJ16 strings, I happened to notice that the color-coded ball ends on the two upper strings were switched ... the first string's was purple, and the second string's was silver. I caught the error right away, but got to wondering if anybody else h...

Just to expand on my comment, linseed oil is a drying oil - similar to a varnish. The difference is that "boiled" linseed oil is partially oxidized, so it dries and cures really fast. Raw takes several days, sometimes more than a week to dry, and longer than that to fully cure. Old time w...

Chisels should be very sharp on one end only. That end should not be pointed at body parts. I have 4 stitches in my left hand as reminder of that simple rule. Remember to keep the sharp side directed away from the parts you want to keep. -Jim I second that, having put a nice gash in my off-hand ind...

Alan Carruth wrote: All I can do is tell you how I do it, and that may not be your cuppa.

Good enough for me.

Thanks for your response, Alan. I'm going to go for 2.8. If it ends up thinner than that by a wee bit, I can always make the braces a little taller. In fact, that might be the way to go, since I can always modify the bracing when the strings are off at string changes, reducing their height if the bo...

Thanks for your responses. The scale length is 24.9", and it's going to be a finger-picking guitar. I'll be putting either lights or extra-lights on it. As for the feel, I'm really not skilled enough to give an opinion, but it seems a little stiffer in flex than the spruce tops I've used before...

I'm building a 000 12-fret with a western red cedar top. It's currently just a shade over 3mm thick. I've gotten two conflicting opinions from luthiers about what the optimum thickness should be: one says 3.5 mm and the other says 2.5 mm. What has your experience been with this material?

I'm building an acoustic guitar in which I'm installing an active microphone system (a Baggs Lyric). The unit came with one of those little nylon battery bags you're supposed to attach to the inside of the guitar with Velcro. Instead of using that, I'm going to build a battery case into the body. (I...

This is a tool I've come to use all the time: http://www.stewmac.com/Luthier_Tools/Types_of_Tools/Scrapers/Scraper_Burnisher.html t's really a "last step" tool for setting the hook. Most of the real work in sharpening scrapers, like sharpening plane blades, is truing up the surfaces. The f...