A growing work flow in a small shop means I have in-process guitars stacked all over my work surfaces. I need to protect them and keep all the pieces together but also to have them readily accessible, and cases are less than ideal for that. Never mind the caseless guitars. I'd be grateful for advice on containers/stacking/shelves to protect and organize the growing mess. Thanks!
If you have the room to go 48 inches deep, this was our solution. Stores lots of projects and all the drawers slide out. Just like at the morgue.😉🙃 Of course you don't have to make it as tall as we d…
Friend brought his "old guitar in the basement" over for me to have a look at. Long story short, it's a 1945 D-18, it's all original and it's a beauty. He had no idea. I explained to him that it was worth somewhere between 15 and 25 thousand bucks, that it needed some fairly routine repairs and that he should get - among other things - an insurance rider and take a little more care of the guitar than he has been. Picture attached for fu…
The VG price guide is a pretty good place to start. On something like that, I'd be tempted to pay for an appraisal from Gruhn's though. They used to do email appraisals that were reasonably priced. Re…
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Private memberDiscussionFolk, Bluegrass, Irish, Old Time Instruments
Just posted a full build video for the last mandolin batch over on YouTube. Give it a watch folks, its 25 mins long. And there should be a few woodworking tips there for some of you, and some lovely tunes all played on my work.
Straight Frets in Austin has an excellent full-time position opening up soon. The job pays by the job, and equates to $70-85K a year for a tech that does:
*neck resets
*structural repairs
*bridge making/reglues
*refrets
*headstock breaks with splines/airbrush
We work on about 1,350 guitars a year (about 28-30 a week) and have had work shipped in from 22 different states at this point. We also teach setup classes on…
So the first real "full build" I'm doing is a Stewmac 000 kit. I was wondering about the back brace shape.
I'll was planning to taper the ends at the side joint to about 1.5mm.
Should I do some scalloping of the braces?
Suggestions and comments are welcomed and appreciated.
Regards,
Gerry
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There's nothing "wrong" with what you have pictured but it lacks some finesse. There are soooo many variables in play to worry about for a first build. If you want to practice some skills in this st…
Here You'll seehere pin tip sized bubbles. Nitro finish. It got hot in a case. They'll need a light amagolmater mixture applied to melt'm back into the surface. Im looking for advice on the recipe for said amagolmater....Straight retarder? Im not sure if Id need lacquer in the mix that I apply....Thank you! Colin O'Brien LittleCreek Instrument Repair, Nashville.
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Hello all- We have a job opening in the repair shop here at elderly. Looking for someone professionally trained, with 5+ years of experience preferred, but any and all are welcome to apply. Send resumes and inquiries to [email withheld]
Tell him you saw the post on the looth group!
Hey all.
I apologize if this type of post isn't allowed here but wanted to share anyway.
I've been building a tool called Looth specifically for luthiers and repair techs, and I'm looking for a small group of interested looths to help shape it a bit more before it goes public.
I got tired of managing spreadsheets and decided that it could be simpler and more automated.
The core idea is simple: one place to track every build…
Greetings fellow Looths! I recently received a request from a customer to replicate Kurt Cobains 59 Martin, starting with a Sigma DM3. I have pasted the customers email to me below. While I have been a looth hobbyist for many years, I just recently opened my official business, Finger Lakes Guitar Works, and am just getting off the ground and a good flow of repair work is already coming in. While I feel 100% confident in my abilities to…
Seems kinda annoying to me. The guy wants to spend a ton of money building a replica of a guitar but he's going to not use a guitar by the actual brand to do it? I'm going to go with this is going t…
Is anyone using the LuthierTool Neck Angle Jig. I have a quick question about setting up to cut the tenon and getting the correct angle dialed in for cutting the heel block. TIA for any help
Greetings and thanks in advance for your help.
I live in one of the most inhospitable places in the world for wood storage (Mojave Desert CA) and later this year will be moving to another more inhospitable place (Sonoran Desert, Buckeye AZ). The realative humidity is currently 16% and that will drop when summer comes.
I'm attempting to collect and store wood for future builds and today I spent some time wrapping all of it in seran…
Where is the wood at in cure right now ? Is it ready to build ? One thing we did at Breedlove (Oregon desert and quite dry) was wax the end grain before stickering. I'm not an expert on wood storage, b…
Reputable looths in Albuquerque, NM? A buddy of mine needs work on his mid-60's Jaguar. I know it's missing a saddle and needs a general going-over and a setup, nothing major. But it's a vintage instrument and it's his baby, wants to make sure it's in good hands. Who do we know out there?
Doug Proper designed a sanding jig that supports variable concave and convex curves, described in the following Loothgroup article:
https://loothgroup.com/post-imgcap/the-variable-radius-sander/
I built one and am impressed with how it facilitates preparing bridges, braces and also allows tracing any radius using the chord formula. I made a rough measured drawing and assembly guide to share, with Doug's blessing.
First step, ma…
Greetings,
I'm doing some research on suppliers for Brazilian Rosewood. I see there is more available than I imagined but pricing is all over the board. I came across a group named HanoverBrazil Marketing and Trade. Looks like they import product from Brazil legally apparently from stumps which are CITES certified. Anyone have expirience with them?
Or, any recomendations for a reputable vendor for Brazilian Rosewood "000" or larger…
Greetings,
I was wondering if anyone has expierence with good a supplier for red spruce, preferably old growth, that they would point me to. This would be for acoustic tops/sound boards. From the reading I've done, it seems that the "Adirondack" variety might be the prized piece to get. Haven't decided if torrified is what I'm looking for.
I'm also going to need to get brace wood of the same species.
Any and all suggestions are…