Official Luthiers Forum!

I'll kick off ... guitar wise, I hate to see really high end guitars with no fretboard markers ( oh yes ..there are always these minuscule MOP dots on the edge of the fretboard ) ... I am talking proper dot or snowflake markers.

Machine wise ... tables which are not totally flat.... I have a Grizzly left tilting saw which I have used for almost 13 years, and an excellent machine it is, too, but it still bugs me that the left hand side of the saw-table dips in the center by about .008".

Tool-wise ... I get annoyed by Youtube videos which purport to demonstrate how to flatten the sole of a plane, and then advise starting out with 120 grit sandpaper on plate glass ... you start of with 32-grit, dude ... and on a granite surface plate, not a piece of glass.

The one thing that really freaks me out, however, is the assertion that plane irons and chisels can be sharpened satisfactorily freehand.

As a carpenter, I sharpened my tools freehand for like 40 years, until I encountered Brian Burns sharpening method.

If it doesn't matter to you that the cutting edge is straight, and square, then freehand is OK. If you want total accuracy, and squareness, there is no way to do it without a jig. ( and Brian Burns' jig is absolutely the best)

Anyway, these are the things that bug me ...

When a router bit shank gets bent and all heck breaks loose.
Scared me silly.

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wah
Wah-wah-wah-wah
Wah

Well, some folks don't like inlays on the F/B. Building one right now with NO nothing, and just side dots. No end pin either...
Hate paddle heads too, but this guy wants a paddle. I dislike dread-nots.
I hate purfling strips that vary in width. I hate Englemann spruce.
I hated my SM dovetail jigs. Love my Luthier Tool's jig. Looking forward to getting the slot head jigs too. Hated my PC cordless batteries.
I hate dust. Can't do much more than I am to alleviate the problem, but is not good for my health. I hate Cocobolo and other woods that raise he!! with my system.
Wood, machine and tool wise, I hate the prices. We are all being priced out of existence...

Rant over.

Freaks me out:

Table Saws.

I have a huge respect for them and it freaks me out every time I use it. In the late 60's I worked in a local furniture shop and every one of the table saw guys had fingers missing. I still have all 10 of my digits...

Things that irritate me:

Crappy finishing on anything. If you don't know how to lay down a good finish... don't do it. Get someone else to do it until you learn how to lay down a proper finish.

Guys that play the entire soundboard on a guitar... The wood is not meant to be strummed and doesn't add anything to music. I loaned my D-18 out to a "friend" for a weekend and it came back all garfed up from him strumming the wood. I mean REALLY??? How does someone strum a guitar 6" past the pickguard?

I could go on but those are the top of my list.

Cheers,
Bob

Irritates me:

Guitar designs with "Chunky" proportions, Shapes that aren't sexy and have no sence of design. A guitar is supposed to both sound and look beautiful. Usually boxy a guitars like dreadnoughts are not sexy to me.

Also, customers that choose woods because they're "Pretty" even after advising that the particular wood isn't the best choice for the desired tone. If you want a "pretty" guitar, buy one at guitar center. If you want a one of a kind instrument that sounds handmade and also looks beautiful and functional, hire a lithier.

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Chris Alvarado
www.ChrisAlvaradoLive.com
www.Driftwood-Guitars.com

Ovations...

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

Guitars with "less than discrete" fretboard markers.
Table saws. Even my Proxxon freaks me out.
Tool-wise - well, just about anything I can't find when I need it!!

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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.

Personally, I'd rather have a table saw than radial arm. Never liked any saw with a blade that isn't stationary.

What freaks me out? YouTube arm wrestling bloopers...
Guitar wise? No guitar has ever freaked me out....
Tool-wise? Router table

Not sure this thread has any value -- seems a little whiny. Make your personal choices and move on.

Does every thread have to be pre-screened for value?
Other forums are strict "how to" forums. I always got the feeling we can chat a bit more freely on here.
Besides, this thread further convinces me that I don't want a table saw!

Also interesting to hear Haans' purfling qualms! So this thread has been valuable to me even if my input wasn't worth much.

...about a third of the people I've met in the music business.

I don't much like table saws either...so I made my own saw to avoid those inherent safety issues.

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I read Emerson on the can. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds...true...but a consistent reading of Emerson has its uses nevertheless.

StuMusic

C'mon. This is a community. It's OK to talk about stuff, and if you don't like the subject, move on to something else.

Table saws freak me out. I have one, and I always think is there another way I can do this before using that.

What irritates me? The new guy who just invented THE breakout design that the guitar world has been longing for (eg, like putting the peghead on the tail block).

You asked.

Mike

I would be interested in checking out your saw Stuart. If you can PM me or post a link I would love to see some details.


I agree, This is one of the reasons I like this forum. Silly little threads like this always get a lot of responses and it is part of what makes this a great community.

A bit like having a coffee break with co-workers.

Cheers,
Bob

Electric guitar-wise: A screwed on neck. I'm talking wood screws, not bolts.
Machine-wise: The absence of lock washers and a mix of Metric and SAE hardware on the same machine. Thanks a lot Sears. And thanks for not providing the Allen wrenches as well.

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wah
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Wah

Tool wise:

Those homemade looking tables that you are supposed to put a circular saw under it to use it as a "table saw". Thing's dangerous enough already.... let's not add to it. It's ALL contractors use here.

Guitar wise:

Poor fret jobs on every factory guitar, from cheap Chinese guitars to higher end Gibsons. There's NO excuse to have frets out of level but nearly all guitars I have seen required one, no matter the price range. Lifted frets are even more inexcusable.

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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

Hey Tai, I see you studied at UT. I have been in Austin all of my life. Small world.

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wah
Wah-wah-wah-wah
Wah

Guitar wise I'm freaked out by the absolute humility, kindness and openmindedness of the most successful builders I have met and become friends with. They love to discuss approaches, theories, design, tools, and finishes. Their quality as humans surpasses the quality of their craft.

Machine wise nothing freaks me out, I've been around machinery all my life, big and small, old and new. I have all my digits, I used to work long hours, not any more. If a table saw freaks you out don't use one is my advice. Also bear in mind that there are a lot of tablesaw accidents because they are the most common stationary power tool and people process panels on them without sliding tables or sleds. A bad idea.

Tool wise I guess I freak a bit with snob appeal hand tools, some are better, some are not. Most amateur woodworkers get obsessed with the notions of "experts" many of which are often journalists or noodlers and not woodworkers.

Tim

Yea, I studied at UT until some unfortunate things happened to me which forced me to go to Taiwan. I'm working on coming back however and may end up going back to Austin, however it remains to be seen if the visa will be approved.

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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'll have to say I like this thread. Once you feel like you know a few of the folks on this forum or at least their work, it's interesting to get their personal perspective on things. While my table saw often freaks me out, I can't get by without it. Wish I could get my band saw set up better. Finished my 8th classical yesterday and haven't tried a steel string yet, that iritats me. Just to potentially aggravate a few, I've yet to put a fret marker on anything, haven't done an inlay but like them, and I do all my own finishing, and will keep trying until I get it right. Every time I think I won't like something on a guitar, someone on this forum posts a picture of a build that convinces me otherwise. A good whine or rant can be therapeutic.

I got my engineering degree at UT, loved the town but back in 78 there wasn't a lot of industry there like there is now,
Mike

Flying pieces of wood launched by a table saw.

Crappy fretwork.

My shop's poor layout.

Pat

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formerly known around here as burbank
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

Machine wise - the widow maker.

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http://www.bobmatthewsguitars.co.uk

Radial arm saws scare me. Not having ample room to work with the tools I have can be scary as well. I also don't like guitar designs that look lumpy or asymmetrical unless it was intented to be asymmetrical. I also don't like over-the-top inlay that goes well beyond the limits of good taste, or overly complex bridge designs, especially with sharp points that can create stress risers.

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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."

Shapers. Those things just look like finger eaters. I don't know how Charlie Hoffman keeps all of his.

First time builders that make their first guitar with cutaways, arm and waist bevels, tree of life fingerboard inlays AND EXECUTE IT FLAWLESSLY! Man I hate that!



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