The Hub

Hi All, I wanted to check in with folks in the industry and ask for some advice. I have been on a building Hiatus for a number of years now (Hand Injury, Medical Issues). Things have gotten much better, and I am fully able and capable of building once again. The 2nd biggest hurdle I have had was a lack of opportunity for shop spaces to build. I now have a viable workspace and full use of my hands once again to build. The problem is that, o…

Howdy folks, I'm a 2026 graduate of the two year guitar program at Red Wing (Minnesota State College Southeast). Between my two years at Red Wing I worked at Collings Guitars in Austin, TX for two years in the acoustic neck department, shaping and finish sanding ~2000 necks, radiusing and gluing ~750 fingerboards, and pressing ~100 sets of frets. I also spent a couple months in the finishing department level sanding and pore filling ~300…

Question about splines: At what point are they necessary? My question is primarily regarding the crack to the left between the bridge and the sound hole as well as the crack at the upper bout that runs along the fingerboard extension. I have already glued them both and used the TJ cleats that run the full length of the cracks. I have already splined the lower bout crack that runs from the bridge to the binding as it was super gappy and d…

Rask Guitars — Utah (relocation required) Rask Guitars is a Utah-based custom shop dedicated to building exceptional instruments — primarily high-end acoustics, alongside electric guitars and prototypes. We operate with a small, focused team where craftsmanship isn't just a standard, it's the entire point. We're growing, and we're looking for a skilled, experienced luthier who's ready to plug into a real production environment, contribute…

Hi Folks Newbie here so please bear with me. I have a lovely early 90's Yamaha LD-10E acoustic in for repair, I think all solid wood? made in Indonesia and a lovely sounding instrument, however the electrics are letting it down. The pre-amp has a PCB populated with SMD electrolytic caps. Many of these have leaked and destroyed the PCB pads underneath. Repairing the traces is nigh on impossible so it looks like I'll have to replace t…

Hello again folks, how is everyone! So I'm curious about what people here think about re-tops, who's done them, and what sorta ballpark rates you've charged for past completed jobs. I've got a bit of a wild one here, so strap in if you've got a couple minutes for story time! Back in 2012, I traded an HD28V of mine for a cool 1966 D-35 that needed some work. Basically, the body and neck of the guitar were fine apart from…

Here's yet another acoustic guitar bridge tear off, this time the sound board came with and was damaged. The bridge is not damaged and can be cleaned up. But how would one go about repairing the sound board where the pegs? this is another skill building exercise - not a customers guitar. I included pictures of the bridge plate. If this has already been covered here, please provide a link. Thanks again very much to this great group…

Hi Everyone, I believe this may be my first post here, so just a quick introduction — I’m Andrew in Milwaukee, WI. I’ve been building a few years. My luthier eyes were opened first by Charles Fox in Portland which led me to the Gallop School. I recently retired from a tech career and I am now based in Milwaukee, WI focusing on acoustic builds. I’m currently exploring wood-body resonator guitars, and I’d love to learn more from t…

Hi all. Brand new member. I’ve been building a classical guitar via kit from LMI for a couple of years now. I keep putting it off but recently became motivated to get back to it. Unfortunately LMI is out of business so I now have no one to go to to ask questions. I’m at the stage where I’m putting the sides together in the form. I followed the dimensions for the form based on the plans as I measured them, but the sides overlap pretty ba…

Just something I stumbled across on YouTube. He has also built an acoustic guitar from a 5 gallon bucket.

Has anyone developed, or know of for sale, a fixture that can be installed in an acoustic body (dovetail neck) during finishing? I'm approaching the spraying stage of my build and would like to be able to have a "handle" on the body that I can use to hold & hang the body during that process. Regards,

I’ve been building electric for a few years but decided to make an acoustic this time. I have some German spruce panels I was going to use for the top. While running it through my drum sander to dimension it, I noticed that both panels have matching 6-8” cracks so the original blank must’ve had a split pre resawing. Would I still have good results if I glue the panels and move on or should I buy a new top set? (I can’t return what I have…

Hello. I am interested in the luthiers opinions about using Osmo oil as a finish on acoustic guitars? Advantages vs disadvantages. I am a new builder with small home workshop, mostly using hand tools to build my first acoustic guitar, an OM pre war style. Thank you all.

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…