Official Luthiers Forum!

Hello fellow members. I am a keen person from South Africa wanting to start learning to get into guitar building.

How will a layman establish if the guitar neck needs adjustment?
How does a beginner learn to adjust the guitar neck?
Does this affect the sound of the guitar?
Does a person need to adjust the neck after every new string replacemnet?
Does the gauge of the strings affect the sound.
Should the strings be stretched whils't be inserted.

Excuse the questions as I am keen in learning from the professionals out there !

Gansen
:

Some answers .....

The neck needs adjsutment if the relief (the amount of curvature in the neck)is too great or too little - one can easily check the relief by holding down one string (I usually use the low and high E) at botht eh first fret, and the fret nearest the neck joint, so on a typical acoustic that would be 15, and then seeing how much gap there is under the srting at the 7th fret. More than a business card and its too much .. no gap and thats usually too little.

next question .... same way one gets to Carnegie hall .. practice.

It doesnt.

No

Any string change can affect the sound of the guitar, even the same gauge by different manufacturers. generally I find heavier strings sound warmer, fuller. Thin strings sound thinner and weaker ...

Once installed, I stretch the string a bit .. helps them to setttle in and stay in tune whilst playing.

_________________
Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

Same answers...

_________________
A man hears what he wants to hear, and disreguards the rest. Paul Simon

Thanks a millon Tony Karol.
There are so much advice and assistance I can get from member like you.

Thanks .....................

Ganasen South Africa :
D

Hello fellow members being a novice and this is my first restoration & build project, I would welcome any suggestions and advice.

I have already sanded the guitar body and neck.
The glue holding the body together has since perished.
What sort of primer should I use .
what sort of varnish or paint should I spray on.
What should I use on the fretboard.
Should I remove the frets or not.

Excuse me for asking these question's if they sound funny,as I am a true novice and want to learn from the professional's out there.

Thanks folks

Keen South African Novice Luthier !

Gansen,
if you haven't picked up "Guitar Making, Tradition and Technology" by Cumpaino, you need to . He outlines the adjustment of the neck process very well.

Where would I get contact details for Cumpaino ?

http://www.cumpiano.com/

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

Well, opinions differ on that. I would suggest you read his website rather than his book. You'll stand a better chance of getting it right.

http://www.cumpiano.com/Home/Book/textbook.html

Techniques have moved on quite a lot since Cumpiano and Natelson wrote their book. If you want to start by adjusting necks, most of the ones you'll see will be dovetail joints or bolt-ons. Cumpiano covers neither of those in his book. You'd be better off looking for a repair book (try the ones by Dan Erlewine or Don Teeter; just Google their names).

_________________
Trevor Gore, Luthier. Australian hand made acoustic guitars, classical guitars; custom guitar design and build; guitar design instruction.

http://www.goreguitars.com.au

Thanks for the information