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Tom Krebs DiscussionGeneral

Old Video Archive

Love the new look and navigation. Good work. I do miss the Video Archive Page as it was a constant reference source for me. Is there a way to those links that I am not seeing.

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Ian Davlin
adv search now gets it done.
Private member DiscussionDesign and Testing

Incoherence between CAD and test-piece

Good morning everyone, I was taking some measurement on production necks with scarf-joint (13° headstock angle) to add some machining process with the cnc. I so recreated the standard neck blank feature (100mm wide and 20mm thick), then drawed the 13° angle. Everything correspond the to the real piace but two measurement: the startingcut behind the break angle is ''off'' by 20mm +/- as well as the cut on the bottom, still off by 20mm…

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Is it possible that the angle of the scarf joint is different from the angle of the headstock on the real piece? Could be a manufacturing quirk
Private member DiscussionGeneral Business

Fender, Schmender

Since most of us fix or make guitars, we have probably heard something about the cease and desist letters Fender has sent out concerning the Stratocaster. I thought I would offer some thoughts. As always, caveat emptor. There are three basic ways to protect intellectual property under Federal law. Patent, trademark, and copyright. Each protects different things, and has different underlying legal theories. Lets begin with pate…

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There is also a time limit to both Patents and Copyright (and Trademarks, though Trademarks can be renewed). Don't know how long they last in other countries, but Canada is normally 20 years. Copy…
Private member DiscussionJob Postings

Full-time Luthier Position @ Austin Straight Frets

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…

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Private member DiscussionCAD/CAM

Contriver Node Atlas

A visual dependency map for Autodesk Fusion. It turns complex Fusion designs into an interactive map of model logic, helping users understand how parameters, sketches, construction references, features, bodies, and other design elements relate to each other. Instead of digging through dense timelines, browser trees, and feature chains, Node Atlas gives users a readable graph of how a design is connected. It is built for designers, builder…

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Private member DiscussionGeneral

Tips for weekly maintenance on acoustics/electrics/basses?

Hey everyone, I'm a technician at a music production school in London. As the most 'guitariest' technician on staff, I've become the de facto guitar maintenance person. A big part of my work is taking a look at each guitar once a week. Usually my "routine" is to check action and intonation, making adjustments if needed, then cleaning/polishing. The thing I struggle with the most is getting strings feeling good. We use D'Addario…

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Your wife makes a good point. They are signed out, so it would be possible to keep track of who last had it. In theory, the technicians are supposed to check them when they're returned, but I think I'…
Beau Hannam - Beau Hannam Guitars DiscussionShare Your Repair Content

Setup quick reference guide 2026

My wall worksheet I look at everyday. If you can think of any other common info that would be helpful to add let me know. Also, i can email the PDF if you message me. It wouldn't allow me to upload it here.

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Thank you that's a great wall hanger for the bench. I'd be grateful for a pdf [email withheld]. Question about nut heights which you set about 0.004" higher than I have been doing. I do set ups for…
Private member DiscussionAcoustic Builds

Wood-Body Resonator Guitar Construction – Materials & Suppliers?

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…

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Ian Davlin
Andrew, I'd like to talk to you about this question. Could we connect on a zoom call ?
Private member DiscussionAcoustic Repair

Seagull Acoustic Neck Reset...

Hey everyone, I wanted to do a bit of a follow up on a repair I'm doing. A customer brought in a Seagull acoustic guitar that had been dropped, causing the heel block to separate. I managed to get that glued back together with pleasing results, however I did need to take the neck off by removing the two bolts which thread into the heel block, and unglued the fretboard extension. All went well here, although I'm left with a situation whe…

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One other issue with the guitar that I wanted to mention was a fairly sizeable split in the back. At its widest, there is a gap of about .015" and I'm curious to know how you all would handle this? I…
Private member DiscussionAcoustic Repair

Rough In Saddle Height w/o reference height

Does anybody have any cool tricks to get a closer rough in saddle height when making a new saddle without the option of referencing the old one? Ex: replacing a lost saddle, making a saddle after a neck reset, making a saddle for a new bridge

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Private member
This was extremely helpful and great to hear all the different methods. Thank yall!
Private member DiscussionAmps, Pickups, and Pedals

Help with wiring

Hey guys, a little help? I'm trying to recreate the old PRS wiring (rotary switch) but instead of the rotary, on a 5-way superswitch. I managed to get almost everything but I can't seem to figure out the series/parallel positions and it's starting to hurt the brain. I've looked everywhere online but I can't find exactly what I need. Here's the image of the positions I need, for reference.

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Thanks Gerry. Well yeah, it's still super noisy, I've no idea of what can be causing it
Private member DiscussionAcoustic Builds

Trevor Gore on tucking top braces into linings

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…

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That makes a lot of sense -- thanks. And yeah, I build for fingerstyle -- especially with OMs -- so that may be more of what I want. I'm building just for myself right now, so I only need to please my…
Private member DiscussionAcoustic Repair

Modular Clamp For Acoustic Guitar Repair

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.,…

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Ian Davlin
Really cool design !
Private member DiscussionGeneral

Tracing and Transferring Cavity Covers

Wondering what methods people use for tracing the shape of a cavity to make new covers, backplates, or switch-plates? Attaching a photo example of a battery cavity that's missing a cover and wondering what the best way would be to trace and reference the size so I can transfer it to a cardboard cutout and eventually cut a piece of wood to cover the cavity?

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Ian Davlin
In the old days I would have done an etching. Tape off the paper really tight and then use mechanical pencil to rub around the edge. Now I would lay that on my office printer with a 6 inch rule, scan…
Private member DiscussionAcoustic Builds

Archtop f-hole placement: how precise?

I was finally able to model something like a Gibson L7 top plate! Now I'm trying to build my f-holes... My only reference is the Benedetto archtop book, where it puts a few rules of thumb about how the f-holes should be placed. My question is, how precise are we talking here? One of the rules of thumb is that the bridge intersects at the midway point of the f-holes. Does this imply that the f-holes are at a certain location on the plate,…

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Possibly answering my own question...given my current drawing, there is 11.157" from the f-hole point I chose to the end of the body. If you assume that's the 14th fret, it implies a 26" scale length…