The Hub

I have three aluminum Ukulele molds for sale. I was surprised to find them in a thrift store here in Athens, OH. I bought them with plans to refurbish them. They are heated with propane or gas via copper pipe with small holes similar to gas stove burners. i had planned to use new piping but would probably have tried what’s there to see how it worked (being safety conscious of course) The molds are very well made, and I assume are cast alu…

Refretted my Yamaha Studio Lord 550 with jumbo frets. This is my second fret job. First was on a bolt-on BC Rich neck. The Studio Lord (Les Paul copy) was my first set neck project. It is pretty good. No fretting out. I set the action at 4.5/64 on bass and 3.5/64 on the high strings. Today I noticed that if I bend a high F to G (13th fret on first string), the note frets out (I can get to F # no problem by bending from the 13th).

Thinking of trying a scoop cutaway on my current acoustic build. I actually planned to do it but I’m having second thoughts. I have no issues bending a cutaway. Question for those who have done it - is the higher end of the fretboard still comfortably accessible with the scoop and, is there any perceptive difference in sound by saving that small portion of the upper sound box? I guess I’m just wondering if the extra work is worth anyth…

This may be a stupid question. A client has a Bartolini jazz guitar humbucker with no brackets, 5JNB: https://bartolini.net/product/5j/ They want to attach it to an ebony jazz guitar pickguard. How do you do that? My thought was to make a metal tray, bend it to the appropriate shape, screw it to the pickguard, and attach the pickup to the tray with double stick tape. Does anybody sell something like that? Or alternately, how do you attac…

I'm building my first BRW guitar, started with the back, pictured below. What do you normally thickness BRW sides to? I guess they can probably be a bit under 2 mm, but I don't want to overdo it in case there is some slight deformation that needs to be sanded later. I bend manually on a heating iron if that makes any difference.

Hi Gang, Has anyone switched out the plastic, 8 pin box output 18 volt active/battery switch output jack on a P Bass special for a standard TRS output jack or some other? I just got off the phone with Fender and they don't make this anymore and they recommend replacing with another plastic box from Molex and are sending a wiring diagram. The problem with all this is the plastic boxes have wimpy thin spring steel and wear out quickly.…

hello looths - i'm building my first guitar. generally following (and enjoying) the gore/gilet books. after 3 tries, i've yet to get a crack free bend around the nose of a venetian cutaway with a mahogany side. i made a version of the fox bender - using clamps on hand for the waist and cutaway, and a pid temp controller (verified accuracy), and am using a stew mac blanket and three straps. the recipe for my last attempt was: sapelle (fo…

Side bender machine in great condition. Includes spring steel, heating blankets, and thermocouple. No bending forms included, just the machine itself. Asking $600 for local pickup in Chicago area.

A client has asked me to build an acoustic guitar using crelicam ebony for the back and sides that he is getting form Stewmac. I have heard it's challenging to bend, and this will be an OM so the waist is pretty tight. Any thoughts or suggestions for bending these sides? I use a homemade bending machine modelled after LMI's latest design (may they rest in peace) and I have had good success bending rosewood, walnut, mahogany, and pau fer…

I drew up and printed these F hole plugs for a customer a little while back, felt like showing them off here. The bottom diamond shaped piece has a M4 nut in it, and is super glued to the body of the plug at its two tips. An M4 screw threads into the nut through the counter-sunk hole in the top of the plug. The entire plug drops into the F hole, and then you can tighten the screw slightly to expand the plug so it clamps itself into plac…

Hey everyone, I could use some advice as far as the fretting process is concerned. I’ve been doing guitar repair since around 2008, I opened my business doing guitar repair in September of 2021, and I’ve always felt that fretwork has been the most challenging part of this job. I’m getting to the point now where I finally feel like I’m getting the hang of it, but I’m not where I want to be yet. I should mention that I use the Erlewine…

I have some acoustic building templates for anyone that's interested. I bought these from Allied Lutherie before I got into CNC work. Now that I'm drawing my own stuff I don't really use these at all. Maybe someone would find them useful? Includes: 1 - L-00 template for outside form (1/2" mdf) 1 - L-00 template for side bending form (1/2" mdf) 1- L-00 body profile template (1/8" polycarbonate) 1 - J-45 template for outside form 1 - J-45 temp…