The Hub

I did a pretty big update to my web tools last week. These are updated from the older versions I had up on celestialinstruments.com. There’s an updated FFT tool now, plus mode detection for guitars and plates, wolf note detection, played-note energy transfer, monopole mobility, plate thickness calculation, and 1/2/3/4 DOF modeling that can be prefilled from FFT data. The part I’m most excited about is being able to fit a measured guitar re…

I added measurements for the Yamaha FG red label FG 75's some time ago. I Keep getting these in for neck resets. I wanted to add photo's from the first one because they show that the dovetail joint does not align with the first fret beyond the neck/side to make folks aware so that one knows to slightly angle the drill to hit the pocket. I do the same on the holes drilled at the fret at the side/neck fret. I slightly angle the drill…

Hey lads I'm in a bit of an indecisive spot with a 70's yamaha acoustic refret. Pulled the original frets and the tang is .018" with no barbs just divots pressed into the lower edge. The slot is measuring .018". Struggled to find any suitable sized fretwire in stock in the UK that match what the customer wants that'll fit in the slot. Sintoms looked ideal but couldn't find any, so went with something with 0.20 tang and they're not pressi…

Hey everyone, recently I've been getting more requests for neck resets from customers, and up until this point I haven't been offering them since I don't have the practical experience. I'm keen to change this, and I've borrowed my fathers Harmony H167 that has seen better days. I've done an initial cleaning and assessment, the truss rod works although I may need to force it into a backbow to have a fully adjustable neck. This shouldn't…

I just pulled the neck off a Vega Arthur Godfrey Solo Lute baritone ukulele. It was pretty easy. First I heated and loosened the short fretboard extension. I already knew the neck was attached with a glued butt joint and small straight tenon. The picture show where I drilled three holes for foam cutter heaters. I only used the two on either side of the tenon, at the 16th fret (Note: neck joins body at 16th) and didn't need the hole at…

Here are neck pocket measurements for: Harmony Patrician and H165 and Framus Barcelona 3/26

Technically this is a repair, but I thought there would be some crossover with building, so I posted here as well. A 1950s Gretsch Town & Country Rancher 6021 is missing the two braces on either side of the sound hole (see photo). Because this is such a wide instrument (17” lower bout), I’m thinking that installing those missing braces will help with the stability of the top in addition to repairing the cracked/loose ladder braces. The…

A customer recently brought in a 1950s Gretsch Town & Country Rancher 6021. In addition to two main ladder braces being loose/cracked, it’s missing the two braces on either side of the sound hole (see photo). Because this is such a wide instrument (17” lower bout), I’m thinking that installing those missing braces will help with the stability of the top, which is pretty sunken right now. Does anyone have any photos or measurements of or…

I am working on a wall hanger that I thought would be fun to get working. It is an old Tokai. I have repaired a crack on left tuning arm. Also removed the bridge that had been badly glued on by previous owner. I am deciding if I want to put the effort into re-fretting it. I am new to Classical guitar actions, so my question is this - when you put a straight edge on the neck, where should it hit the bridge, if at all? I have learn…

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…

Hey all, I’m curious to know people’s general thoughts on the appropriate or ideal saddle height after a reset. And, when to replace a bridge that’s been shaved down. I know there are a lot of factors (for me anyhow) and this question could open a whole can of worms when it comes to the specifics of the guitar, its age, style of bridge and desired sound. I’m providing an example I encountered recently, but would also like to know people…

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 will tag @member for this question. I hope you are ok with that. Is it of any use, to use the deflection measurement from for tonewood before building? To determine the basic deflection/stiffness for the selection of the tonewood.

Here the dovetail location measurements for a 74' Yamaha FG75.

Friends - My "go-to" truss rod for my basses has been the rod sold by LMII; however, since they are now out of business, I am evaluating what other rods are suitable for bass guitar necks. The attached photos are all showing truss rod lengths from the front edge of the nut slot location on the blank. One photo shows my last LMII rod (23 1/2" in length) vs. 2 other rods, one longer (23 11/16") and one shorter (22 1/4") -- all measured f…