Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

That is annoying! Might be worth an email or phone call enquiry? If they still won't ship overseas you can use a parcel forwarding service like Shipito - or get it sent to your cousin Randy in Minneapolis.

If it is flexible enough to do the inner ring of the rosette is should bend around the edge of the body without difficulty, even a cutaway. Gurian stuff has a good reputation for quality. Quite a lot of the purfling material that you see for sale on Stew-Mac or other sellers is actually sourced from...

OK, you will be good for tools then - but some luthiery specific things like a bending iron, fret hammer and nippers, bridge clamps, reamers might be additional purchases along the way. The Myrtle could certainly make good back and sides. You will want a softwood like spruce or cedar for the soundbo...

Hi Jack
Welcome to ANZLF.

Gurian Instruments is always a good place to look.
This one looks pretty close
https://shop.gurianinstruments.com/coll ... 3835074620

Hi Steve and welcome. We are here to help - always fun and challenging in equal measure for the first build, but you probably have a lifetime of skills that will assist you. I had none!
What are you planning in terms of guitar style and also timbers? What tools are you starting with?
Cheers
Mark

Hi Jules It is true that using a really thin veneer for a rosette is a challenge because you are likely to sand through it as you try to level it after inlaying in the soundboard. You could glue a number of layers of the same veneer together to make a thicker piece. Or glue a single thin sheet on a ...

If I don't spray stuff, would shellac - TM - shellac do the same. I guess this is a question I should answer for myself. Thanks for the inspiration.

A small amount goes a long way. I just checked and found that I have actually been using a different brand of hard wax oil - Whittles Evolution. But let’s assume it has the same coverage as Osmo. Whittles claim a coverage of “up to 30 sq metres per litre”. Presumably that is for a single coat, and I...

That looks really great Wayne. I love how this work can be put aside for ages and then you just pick it up again when you can! So, why the sound port on the treble side? Nothing wrong with that, but I am used to seeing them point towards the player. That one could be good for pointing towards a floo...

I got a few useful fingerboards, a carved neck, and some bibs and bobs from the stash of Moss Munchenberg, and had a nice chat with him along the way. Thanks for the tip off Graham.

Hi Richard, and welcome. I am glad to hear that it is working out for you so far. Starting a new business venture is pretty demanding. Good luck with it.
Mark

Hi Brett Here are my thoughts on your questions – but others might disagree. 1. Neck width at the body join (I am presuming 14th fret?). This depends on what string spacing you are planning at the bridge. The plan that you have is quite different from the Yamaha that you are using for comparison, an...

If you want the appearance of “blind fret slots” (I.e. ends of the frets not showing on the edges) you can just bind the fretboard in the same material. Thickness the blank, then rip two binding strips 3mm wide off the edges and put them aside. Then cut the fret slots with a saw, old school. Then cu...

I like Martin’s idea, and Taffy’s. Hopefully that gets you out of trouble. Also, Frank Ford at Gryphen Instruments used to sell a tool called Jack the Gripper, which is a tool that inserts into the 1/4 inch jack hole and expands in there so that you can manipulate the thing. I don’t know if you can ...

I just saw some flat interlocking sheets of that type of stuff at Bunnings, sold as flooring for your caravan annex or Ute tray. Cheap.

I'm impressed. It is looking good, and that much progress usually takes me about 6 months.

Great project Kim and Caitlin.
I have done the survey and encourage my luthier friends here to do so too. I will be interested to see some of the findings.
Cheers
Mark

That is a real looker Bob! And if you are happy with the sound too then you have the whole package.
What do you think of the Osmo hard wax oil? I am really partial to it, but my experience so far is limited.

Everything I bought from Bob was great quality, and backed up with really good service and communication. I never met him in person but it is clear that he was universally revered. I note that one of his sons is continuing the business, although at smaller scale.

You know how you can buy feedback busters for acoustic guitars with traditional round holes which are just a rubber plug that blocks the soundhole. Well, there was a guy who had a business in the USA called Doug’s Plugs and he made f-hole shaped plugs for archtops. His website had a hundred or so ar...

It is really worthwhile making a shooting board and doing it with the boards flat and the plane on it's edge - like in the video (which is great BTW, thanks Martin). The shooting board can be a pretty basic design and still be effective. If you do it in a vice as your photo shows it is easy to have ...

This might be from the same lovely lady who phoned me yesterday to say that I had just been signed up to an Amazon service at a cost of $99 but if I thought this was a mistake all I had to do was ring her back straight way and she could sort it out with my bank.

She is a stunner Taffy.
Are they original pickups or did you need to source new ones?
And how did you get around the problem of the thick headstock? Thin the timber, or replace the tuner posts with longer ones?

Could you cut a cueball-sized hole in a chunk of sacrificial wood and embed the ball in it - then slice through the whole thing?

So, now it is a Taylor with a Bunya top? Unique. I agree this is a very nicely executed repair. I also really like the reuse of the original rosette.