Official Luthiers Forum!

I am thinking about building a baritone with a figured redwood top. I'm pretty sure that would be a disaster, so I want to make it more tough/strong/durable. Rather than going with Nomex, what if I just double it right up to Lutz? I figure I could put a light coat of epoxy on both sides, slap them together and then thickness sand to my deflection value. I'll leave enough redwood top on so I don't sand through, keep it light, etc. Does any one have any knowledge or warning or encouragement for me?
Thanks!

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"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered." G. K. Chesterton.

I think its a good idea to laminate Curly redwood tops.
I do a "semi-double" top on all my curly tops and it works great. Laminated tops normally get a bit stiffer from lamination so I go a bit thiner.

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Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

Those are beautiful guitars Peter. I remember you had quite a method of trimming and hole cutting for those. I'm wondering if all that was necessary. Rather than making it a little thinner, I would thin it to a predetermined deflection under load and use it if it was light enough, but I'm not sure what light enough is right now.
guess I better weigh my next several tops.

Does anyone have a target weight for tops. I have never weighed mine.

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"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered." G. K. Chesterton.

Is Peter the only one who has done this?

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"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered." G. K. Chesterton.

Steve buddy all I have is encouragement for you my friend!

Peter - beautiful guitar!!

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Ann Arbor Guitars

Steve, I saw a couple of curly redwood topped guitars that had major bellying on the bridge area. One of them from a top builder in the East Coast. That's the reason I came up with the "semi-double" tops which are used only with Curly Redwood tops or other figured soundboards. Not only does it reinforces the top it also stiffens it which IMO makes it a better sounding guitar than a regular curly redwood top. I do use a proprietary design that reinforces the top while removing weight....
It is a good idea to think ahead to prevent problems in the future.

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Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

Looks like I'll be working on my proprietary method.

I'll let you all know what it is, when I know it works.

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"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered." G. K. Chesterton.

Thanks, I need it!


Yes!

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"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered." G. K. Chesterton.