The Hub

After several years of fighting with my bandsaw blade jumping off every few inches of cut (it needs a new bearing on the top wheel), I decided to try something bass-ackwards. I put the blade on with the teeth facing the 'wrong' direction. Not only did that solve the problem of the blade jumping off, but it has made the cutting of pickguard material much smoother. Has anyone else experienced this kind of situation? Do you have any other…

I've built a number of classical guitars with an adjustable neck and they seem to gather quite a bit of interest, so i'm currently in the process of looking to refine the design and build. It's quite a simple construction where the neck is held together by string tension and hangs on a pivot. I developed a 3d printed "socket" which acts as the interface between the body and the guitar and allows for some fine tuning of the alignment of t…

Good evening folks, lately I'm experiencing some sanding methods/mechanism frustration. Can't explain better than look like I'm regressing at doing it. The only thing changed in my building routine is that I'm currently using a CNC (I haven't used one for some years) for both bodies and necks. I have no problems with necks, but sanding bodies has become incredibly frustrating, specially around the edges. While I keep improving my c…

Hi everyone, I'm Martino from Hub of Acoustics, a collaborative project created by luthiers for luthiers. Our goal is to explore and teach acoustic principles that are directly relevant to instrument making. In 2026, we’ll be running four courses in different parts of the world, all focused on giving luthiers practical tools to better understand and control the acoustics of their instruments. We’re excited to introduce our very…

I'm fast approaching the finish coating of 2 acousitcs. The sitka spruce tops are really bright. I'd like to tone them down a little and have been scouring the web for methods. Seems like adding amber toner in either the sand sealer or more likely the first set of nitro lacquer coats might be the the ticket. I see Stewmac has a Colortone stain called "Vintage Amber" that can be mixed into the nitro. Anybody have expirience with this pro…

I cut the fret slots for a baritone guitar build today, so I thought I'd share my method for cutting fret slots, as I think it is a bit unusual. I radius and profile my fretboard before I cut the slots. I print out a paper layout of the fretboard, double-stick tape it to the radiused and profiled fretboard, line up the saw by eye to using red hatch marks on the printout, and saw the fret slots with a 3" circular saw that rides on…

For my current mandolin build, I set out to answer 2 questions: 1. Whether to use physical deflection or frequency analysis to measure stiffness, and 2. How well can I measure wood quality in rough sawn form? (T. Gore says it needs to be planed smooth and rectangular for frequency analysis.) I have 4 different topwood species available for my current build: California Sitka, Englemann, Lutz, and Coastal Redwood. The billets range from 37…

I attach my necks using the LMII/O'Brien jig. No matter the method, there is no guarantee that the neck block and edge of the rim at the top is truly perpendicular to the centerline of the guitar. I’ve just flossed when things weren’t quite right. But now I take a long square, place it on the rim at the neck block and measure where the long square aligns on the top seam. I note Bass/Treble deviation at a known point (I use 290 mm).…

I've been trying to figure out an easy to use jig that will allow me to clamp a top and back fast, so that I can use hot hide glue. No way with my spool clamp method I could ever get everything clamped in time. I thought about trying to use pneumatic cylinders with 3D printed perimeter feet, but that seemed very complicated and a lot of work to get something to attach the pneumatic cylinders to. But it kept coming back to me that usi…