Official Luthiers Forum!

What are peoples opinions here?
They make sense from a durability point of view, but I'm curious to what the general perception is.
Thanks,

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

Doesn't seem to hurt Kevin Ryan's sales...

I don't use them because it's actually pretty expensive stuff, and when I resaw mahogany I quite often have a 'spare' side and various other bits of mahogany (or maple, or whatever) scrap that are too small for much else. Glue those up (have vacuum bag, will travel) and you've got your own ply-that-matches-the-rest-of-the-linings. Not cheaper, per se, but it works for me.

I use them and they work fine for me.

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

How about using it for neck blocks?

Steve

My last sheet of 1/2 BB was about $25. Pretty cheap for about a hundred end blocks.

I think Rick Turner uses it for headblocks but of course he stiffens up the area with flying carbon rod trusses.

He must have a dickens of a time catchin' them flyin' trusses...

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Very funny Don
I use 1/2" birch ply on my end blocks too. Seems lighter than mahogany and more stable. Never used it for a head block, but I do use a 3/4" thick piece of birch ply that I put on top of my head block so the fretboard rests on this instead of the little flat graft in the upper bout.

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Tracy
http://www.luthiersuppliers.com

Jim,

I do it...works great with the endpin jacks that all my guitars seem to get now...

Stephen,

I'm trying a BB headblock (glued up to double thickness) on a guitar for myself right now...I'll let you know how it turns out...

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http://www.presnallguitars.com

I used one on my latest guitar for the same reason as Todd. I
bought a couple small pieces of birch from Woodcraft that should last a while.

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Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755

I tried to edit my last post but was too late .
Anyway,I use a piece of birch ply for under the fingerboard ext.too
for a double mortise and tenon bolt on neck.

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Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755

I've used a bunch of baltic birch ply for tail blocks, usually the 3/4" stuff though. I cap the ends with scrap mahogany so that the top and back are gluing to long grain rather than the edge of plywood. I like to do a simple finger joint to join the mahogany to the birch ply, just so it can't split at that location too easily.

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Dave can you show how the fingerboard support is attached to your headblock?

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A higher purpose for wood.
Rich Smith
Issaquah, WA

Ricardo, I just cut the angle to match the tops radius and glued the birch
piece on top of the neck block. This is my 1st fb ext. bolt on by the way so I'm learning as I go.
I have glued the previous fb exts. on
Don, I did the same thing with a thin piece of mahogany on the tail block.
No finger joint though.

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Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755

Tom Humphrey used it for headblocks, and I caught it from him. Makes a split-proof tailblock, if you like those thread-in jacks.

Dan

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Dan
http://www.acme-archtops.com

This is great stuff guys.
Thanks for the input.

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com