The Hub

Hello to the Council of Elders! My name is Joe Byron, and I am president of the Stringed Instrument Makers of Southern California (SIMSCal). We have been around for over 30 years and have a large number of members and followers. Our membership includes both professional and non-professional luthiers. SIMSCal meets 4-8 times per year (both live and virtually), and we share tips, processes, stories, and show off our work. We frequently inclu…

Hello Luthiers and Guitar Builders,We manufacture and supply high-quality natural bone Guitar Nuts and Saddles in custom sizes for acoustic, electric, classical, and bass guitars.What We Offer:• Custom-sized Bone Nuts & Saddles• OEM & Bulk Orders• Precision Cutting & Finishing• High-Density Natural Bone Material• Consistent Quality• Worldwide ShippingWhether you need a single custom specification or bulk production for your workshop or…

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…

I have a Favilla Classical guitar on the bench, in for a bridge reglue. This is a low to mid-range classical guitar, made circa 1960, and it's an heirloom guitar for the customer, he basically wants it back in playing shape. The story is that he went away on vacation, and when he returned the bridge had delaminated from the top and took a fair amount of finish with it. It also appears that someone attempted to glob on superglue at some…

Video on Top Mapping a Master Built Robert Ruck Classical Guitar with a Magic Probe- at the end I talk about the magic probes benefit to some repair work.

Hello all, got a problem in a telecaster I rewired that has me in a twist. The basics: friend has a 2001 US Standard telecaster (left handed not that it matters). He bought it used and says it was quiet initially. A few years back he grabbed the pickups out of it and moved them to a new tele body with a torrefied maple neck he preferred. Recently he upgraded the new build with a Lollar CC tele set, and asked me to reinstall the original…

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…

I'm reading the Design book of the Gilet/Gore set (2nd Edition) and ran across something that surprised me. Under "Top bracing layout - guidelines" (Section 4.4.8, pp 4-52) Gore writes, "Brace ends that are housed into the linings stiffen the edge of the soundbard considerably and so constrain its mobility. Unless you are chasing a particular effect, it is generally not very beneficial to house the lower bout braces into the linings." My…

So, I made a modular clamp based on the split clamp idea. Started on a prototype about two months ago and finished it. What I was aiming for was a clamp that I could use on the BOTTOM of acoustic guitars as well as tops to clamp cracks, cleats, braces, patches etc. Especially a clamp that would access small openings like "F" holes, small sound holes etc. Essentially a way to get a clamp to areas not accessible to jacks, wedges etc.,…

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…

This is a Kamouraska classical guitar, model 111, made in Canada in 1979. Internet information says it was made in La Patrie, Quebec, and later the line became La Patrie guitars. It looks like someone has been into this one before as the dovetail fit was poor, the gluing is very sloppy, and there are some rough chisel marks on the face of the heel. Note that if you drilled holes at the 13th fret you would miss the pocket by a few mm. Th…

I would really appreciate some advice on this repair that I need to do. I've built a number of (classical) guitars so far, but this is my first repair job. I have already set the expectations with the customer that I can probably fix it structurally but the repair will be visible. The guitar is modestly priced and of no historical significance so it seems like an ideal project to take on as a first one. The guitar suffered a blow on the…

I had a client dropped off his Suhr JM Classic for a pot replacement yesterday. The fretboard extension hangs over the pickguard on these a little so I flipped it over to loosen the neck screws a tad. I found what looked like 3 missing neck screws and only one screwed in place. The one screwed in place was bright and shiny. I removed that screw and the neck would not budge at all. I focused a pin light into the neck pocket holes to find…

Hey y'all, Got another interesting job I'd like some advice on. It's a 70s yamaha classical the current owner inherited from his father. At some point it developed a rather nasty top crack, to the point that I'm thinking the job would involve fresh spruce being applied in there. That's routine enough at least, albeit uncommon for New Zealand's climate in my experience so far. (Also open to suggestions on cleaning out the crack to accept…