Official Luthiers Forum!

Sarge I followed Kathy M. building one on Facebook, very cool to watch.

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Ann Arbor Guitars

How does she sound?

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Ann Arbor Guitars

That's a great idea to have them looked over by a pro JF, thank you I am going to do this too. We have a guy a 1.5 hour drive from us who we have sent dozens of clients to. He owes me.

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Ann Arbor Guitars

Very nice Dan!! And a priceless family heirloom now too. Very cool!

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Ann Arbor Guitars

Very nicely done Chris it's a beauty and perfect for that guitar too. You matched the color to the binding very well too.

Folks this is what a great nut should look like. It blends in with the guitar well. Notice the side shots how it's all the way down in the channel and all the way snugged up to the fret board, no gaps. Perfect. Check out the corners how Chris rounded them and the back angle as well. This nut blends in with the instrument and looks like it's always been there.

Chris also has some string above the nut top which is what most old school Luthiers still shoot for. And he has the high string deeper in the slots, also perfect in MHO.

This is an example of a nut that is worth paying a Luthier for a couple of hours time to make and set-up your guitar with if you are fortunate enough to have someone who can do this fine work like Chris has.

Thanks for posting this Chris.

PS: Are you swamped with business we are, most we have ever seen these days and I'm working nights to not let it pass us by.

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Ann Arbor Guitars

Terry when I come into the shop around 1:00 in the morning these days I never know what crap will be waiting for me to turn into something.... well.... less crappy

So I can relate.

We tell people that the word "Cordoba" means bridge reglue in Spanish.

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Ann Arbor Guitars

Even better Hesh, it’s an Esteban. Repair or roast marshmallows?

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

1 in the morning!!? Out gigging?

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

Careful, the smoke from burning that thing might be toxic

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Wonderful work happening all over the place!

Here's yesterday's chaos....controlled chaos.....
Three acoustics hanging on the wall that are ready for final neck set and bridges - left to right a parlor, a L00, and an OM. A '61 Gretsch 6124 Single Anniversary that came in for a setup and actually had a cracked neck block. I've got the dovetail rebuilt and neck refit, and now am cleaning up some damaged binding and getting ready to refinish some small damaged areas. And a cheap Ibanez 12-string that had the bridge half pealing off, and still strung to pitch! I couldn't believe it hadn't ripped off entirely. Hardly worth the effort to fix it, it has sentimental value to the owner. Fun to have a variety of things going on. And the time to work on them.

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Tony Thatcher
Bozeman, Montana

A couple of pine T-style bodies....


A CNC inlay test


And some non-guitar work, dry assembled, ready to break down and finish.

I've become much more of a homeowner than a guitarmaker over the past year, but I have one pretty close to finish prep this weekend. I need to route the truss rod access through the soundboard and neck block, round those binding edges, and sand.

roast marshmallows!

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Ann Arbor Guitars

Oh the joys of home ownership eh.

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Ann Arbor Guitars

Today I peeled all the old shrunken/separated binding off of an old Guild F-20, made a pickguard for an epiphone SG I acquired from someone who had tried to make it a baritone heavy metal vomit guitar (Hesh's terminology not mine), and got the color to where I want it and first coat of oil on a Tele build I've been working on.

The Tele has been a wonderful exercise of figuring out how to turn curve balls into features. It all started when my router threw the body across the garage. Luckily most of the damage was where the pickguard would go. So I cut the damaged wood out, and inlaid some maple. Then I tried to dye the maple red, but my masking job didn't work (which I was semi prepared for) so I decided to turn it into a kind of burst. I think I'm liking it so far. My original finishing plan had been a weathered/worn in barn wood thing with tarnished hardware, not a relic per se, but with some built in patina. Pretty forgiving goals.

Making my niece a guitar for Christmas
Just finished the fingerboard. This was one was inlayed for me. (I’d never have gotten it that good).
Also closed the box today!
It’s a early L-1 shape ‘28 with a cut away!




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Nice inlay! Judy Threet quality.

Looks real nice! Let's go Brandon!

I dig that pickguard shape, Conor. Groovy.

My three replacement 22K resistors are said to be in my mail box thanks to Tommy at StewMac so I may, more problems/mistakes not occurring.... I may get to fire up my new amp today. Whoo hoo!!

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Ann Arbor Guitars

Why do I know that name?

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Enjoy!
https://www.threetguitars.com/home.html

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

On the question of scratchbuilding versus using a kit for a first guitar amplifier build, have purchased all of the items for what was 8 amplifiers, material or full kits are usually going to be somewhat less expensive than purchasing the SAME components al a carte. Some kit manufacturers allow component upgrades as well, so the principle advantage of sourcing materials by component - getting exactly the BOM desired - may be somewhat mitigated.

One area where I saw some real cost impacts was on the cabinet. Had we sourced the cabinets already made and covered, our aggregate cost would have been about triple what we actually saw for cabinets with hand-cut dovetail corners in low density white white pine with Tolex covering, but our labor hours per cabinet erased any cost differential.

In summary, the rationale for a BOM project versus a kit should probably be along the lines of what I heard recommended time and again to want-to-be commission customers at Greenridge: build from a BOM (aka, a la carte) ONLY when you cannot find what you want from the various offerings from kit makers. Besides the support and intimate kit maker knowledge of common assembly errors, kit makers have a very good idea as to which offering are appropriate for first-time builders.

I'll suggest the TPDRI's Shock Brothers forum once again for those contemplating or perhaps already proceeding with an amplifier project. This particular group is unlike some the other TPDRI sub-fora in that it is quite similar to OLF in tone and degree of welcome commonly afforded neophytes. A frequently seen event on the forum is a request for visual inspection of a completed tag board or initial wire dressing, with ensuing detailed conversation and - quite often - time and money-saving adjustments. On at least one occasion I noted in my deep-dive of the archives, a potentially very hazardous situation was averted due to one set of sharp eyes noting a high voltage connection made to an insulated input jack. An equivalent level of critique outside this sort of online forum would require a builder to find a local, experienced amp repair or custom maker, establish a relationship, and avail themselves of a few hours of that person's time.

Much like OLF, the advice on the Shock Brothers forum may sometimes be contradictory (shocker!!! ), but usually provides enough options for the recipient to move forward after consideration of what has been offered.

Best of luck for all those considering an amplifier build, and best wishes to Mr. Breakstone for a successful conclusion to his project.

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We have become a civilization that elevates idiots, prostitutes, and clowns. Am I still to defend it? Yes, for its principles. Yes, for what it was. Yes, for what it still may be.

-Mark Helprin, The Oceans and the Stars: A Sea Story, A War Story, A Love Story (A Novel)

Thanks, Colin - I must have met her at Symposium...

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

I attended one of her inlay classes many years ago. Impressive skills.