Official Luthiers Forum!

I am getting my ducks in a row to start my first guitar from scratch. I am going to purchase a Dred mold and I would like your opinion on the various styles that I have seen. What model/type do you use and what are the advantages and disadvantages? I will be purchasing it from one of the OLF sponsors. Thanx, Vic (8string).

I suggest calling John Hall of Blues Creek. I have two of his molds and they are super. So is John.

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"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

Everything John sells is great. I've made all my molds but if I need anymore I'm going to get them from John instead of going through the hassle.

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I didn't mean to say it, but I meant what I said.
http://www.brackettinstruments.com/

Thirds on John Hall. I've got two of his - they're excellent.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

John Hall......he makes the molds sold by the Martin store.

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......

I think this hobby is expensive enough as it is... molds are easy enough to make, and any guitar making tools can be used to make a mold as well. All you need to do is trace half of the outline to a piece of plywood or MDF or whatever scrap you happen to have. Then once you got one half made you can make 3 more, or 5 more depending on how thick you want the mold to be, and get one perfect and use a router or robo-sander to trim the rest to the exact size of the first one. Then you glue all the pieces together, and you got a mold. Expanders can be made with a piece of wood the right size that are wedged in, or two matching pieces of wood for the inside contour expanded by a turnbuckle, or whatever. Making a radius dish is harder (lots of dust and time) so if you want to buy anything specialized spend your money on that. Once you read enough books and watched enough videos and spent enough time at various forums including OLF, you should be able to make the jigs you need. Now if you don't have a lot of time then by all means buy a mold but remember time is money, if you buy items that has more work done for you it will cost a lot more.

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

I heartily recommend John Hall, too!

Tai Fu, Victor did say he was looking to purchase one but, for sure, they can be shop built.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

John Hall, and LMI both sell dread shaped molds.

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

I would get the blanket and steel benders from John, and make your own molds. (I would also use the blanket bending method obviously.) Painless in what can be a painful learning curve!

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Here is what a Parlor Guitar is for!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEa8PkjO6_I

Hi All,

To those who are preaching "build your own mold"... to the prospective builder I say this: You must want to build your own tooling! It's not quite as easy as tracing, cutting out and done. The inside shape MUST be perfectly shaped and very smooth! I spent a couple weeks building my classical mold years ago when production molds were not available. What do you get for $90 + shipping nowadays? A CNC cut mold to perfection and nicely finished... with no building headaches. I've talked to a couple guys in the last year who tried to build their own. Building guitars is one thing, building tooling is quite another. My .02.

Blues Creek Guitars and KMG Guitars both sell nice molds and all manner of guitar building jigs that make life much easier!

Dave

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God, Family, Carreer

I have got to say, i have built a lot of molds and i am pretty fast and efficient at it, but every time i make one i think i would be better off just buying the dang thing. $90 + shipping?!? It still takes me way more than $90 worth of my time to do it, and i am speedy now, the first couple i made took me forever to get right.

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Jordan Aceto
Ithaca, NY

IF you dont mind getting messy, you can cut a pattern out of 3/4 MDF in about a half an hour. Then use it and a flush cut bit on your router to cut 3 more layers. Drill, pin and glue. I can make a perfect mold in about two hours. That said, the mess is not worth it

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

I get my plywood for nothing, at Home depo seconds, that is why I am a fan of home build. And if you blanket bend, you need 2 molds, the second one is alot more trouble.
I also have a sanding drum with a drill press so its easier to get everything close to perfect.

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Here is what a Parlor Guitar is for!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEa8PkjO6_I

Until I get to the point where I feel like I have to build something that stock molds aren't available for, I'll be using molds like John sells.

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Jim Hansen

Vic,
I done went and got me one of them there molds from Johnnie Hall (Blues Creek Guitars). They sure are purdy and put together real nice like.

I'd say go on and get ya one from him if you're a hankerin' to get one.

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"After forty-nine years of violin building, I have decided that the search for a varnish is similar to the fox hunt. The fun is in the hunt."
Jack Batts Maker and Repairer of Fine Violins

Made a 000-bought a slope dreadnought from John. Buy John's mold. Even in tight economic times, I say "Dance with the one that brung ya." John contributes so much more than products. So, that additional generosity should be rewarded. Besides, you cannot find a mold to equal his at anywhere near his price. And, you can pick up(or I guess , flip open,) the phone and there is John, ready to answer your questions and never treating you like an idiot. Keep it in the family.Mike T.

I make my pattern from 1/4" MDF. Actually I make my body pattern from 1/4" MDF and use a inlay kit to make the outside mold pattern. Trace it onto the plywood pieces and cut close to line with a band saw. The cut offs are used to make bending form and spreaders. I then screw the MDF pattern to one piece and route it on the router table using a 2" spiral bit with bottom bearing. Then I take off the MDF pattern and screw another over cut plywood blank to plywood finished piece and use it as the pattern. Then I'll just keep stacking them as I go and flipping them over as I add. That way I can route a 3" thick mold with a 2" cutter and when I'm done it's screwed together and no need to glue or you can put glue on it before you screw the pieces together. It's a pretty fast process. I'd rather buy a plexi body template and make the exact molds and forms from that using the inlay kit. I did a tutorial on How I do my molds and forms over at MIMF but it's in the library limbo. Another future youtube I guess when I decide to build another style of guitar.