Bathroom Remodel: Destruction

I’m still working on tearing everything out of the bathroom. I’ll post a bunch of pictures once things start going in. I have to be mindful of how I rip this apart because it is our only bathroom and I don’t want any part of it unusable for any extended length of time. More soon!

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Acoustic Guitar Neck Routing Jig

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acoustic guitar, Appalachian, guitar, guitar maker, home made, instrument, jigs, luthier, neck jigs, neck templates, Pennsylvania, shop, stringed instrument, templates, wood, wood shop, work shop

After my last guitar build I realized that I would need to make more jigs. Since I have rough cut a few necks I decided to start making neck jigs. The first of these is a jig for routing the joint where the neck meets the guitar body. Usually with a dovetail or bolt on configuration.

I used a single piece of MDF (2’x4′) to make this whole jig (and still had some left over.) However if I had to do this over again I would have used plywood. The MDF tends to not hold up when you take thickness out of it as I have done here. So I will likely be making another one of these in the future.

Previously I had purchased some neck routing templates and made this jig to accommodate those templates. They just slide into the slot I made and bolt in place for routing. I have not yet tried this jig because I need to find the right bolts to use, but I have high hopes that it will work fine.

If you want more specifics on how I built this just comment and I can help you out.

As a side note: I’ve realized a better way to cut guitar necks and am at a stand still with the current six necks I cut. While I’m hoping I can salvage the six I cut, I am also not kidding myself that they may all end up scrap. Bummer.

 

Bass Guitar: Fretboard Lifting

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Appalachian, bass, bass guitar, fret board, fretboard, gio, glue, guitar, guitar maker, hide glue, ibanez, luthier, nut, reglue, repair, shop, stringed instrument, western red cedar, wood, wood instrument, wood shop, work shop

A friend of mine had an old Ibanez Gio with the fretboard lifting off the neck. Rather than remove the whole fretboard I just lifted it and cleaned it out the best I could. Next, I used hide glue to reattach the fretboard and clamped it for 24 hours. Below are the before and after photos.

I still need to clean it up and I spoke with him about getting a new nut on there (as you can see he put a hurting on the thing!) I am going to go ahead and do that. Hope this helps someone.

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Acoustic Bridge Repair: Part II

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acoustic guitar, Appalachian, guitar, guitar maker, instrument, luthier, shop, soundboard, stringed instrument, wood, wood instrument, wood shop, work shop

While in the shop today I began to prep this guitar for repair. I was just about to tape off the bridge area when I noticed a crack in the soundboard.

My shop is still not put together and I could not find my mirror to see the extent of the damage on the inside. By the looks of it the crack is all the way through the soundboard, which would explain why the bridge fell off (also probably due to a terrible job of putting it on in the first place.) Until I am able to find the mirror I’m putting this repair on hold (due to it’s value possibly indefinitely.) This is a guitar I acquired from a friend and no one is waiting on it so I’m not in a big rush.

On the plus side, I found some of the violin parts I had been working on before the move. I can’t seem to find some of the hardware I bought for it but I found the violin itself and the new fingerboard. I would like to finish this project but I need to find those parts first.

…I really can’t wait for a new instrument build…

Acoustic Bridge Repair

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Acoustic Electric, acoustic guitar, Appalachian, bridge, Bridge Repair, guitar, guitar maker, luthier, shop, sound board, soundboard, stringed instrument, wood, wood instrument, wood shop, work shop

Even the best of intentions can be side-lined by family and holidays. That is the case for me in making progress on this guitar repair. I was not going to post this since I don’t really have anything to show other than the guitar that needs repaired. However, since most people are on vacation and might need a quick read after feasting I decided to go ahead and put something up. Also, I keep testing this ‘aside’ format in WordPress hoping I will figure out how it’s different from ‘normal.’

Shown below is a picture of the guitar in need of repair. This should be a simple procedure of reattaching the bridge. It is an acoustic electric so I’ll need to be careful of all those internal parts.

I know a few fellow luthiers read this blog and if you have any suggestions on the electronics side of this repair, please feel free to comment here or on my facebook page. Thanks and have a good Thanksgiving!

Guitar Repair, Violin Restoration and a Bonus

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acoustic guitar, Appalachian, cabin, folk, guitar, guitar maker, instrument, luthier, restoration, shop, wood, wood instrument, wood shop, work shop

I’ve started to get some semblance of a shop at my new location! I am writing this in anticipation of soon being able to continue work on the violin I was restoring. Further, I have picked up an acoustic guitar repair. It appears to be just a bridge replacement but I’ll have to look a bit closer at it when the time comes.

I wish I had photos and more to say but It’s been a while since I wrote and I wanted you all to know I still have full intentions of continuing this blog.

Bonus:  A Location Unknown

This is mostly a luthier blog but I also do other woodworking and construction too! If there is interest in these other projects I may post them! Here is a hunting cabin I lent a small hand building. Enjoy!

Update for end of 2014!

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acoustic, acoustic guitar, ads, Appalachian, archtop, AutoCAD, ¾, bending iron, Binding, bridge, building, cedar, classical, classical guitar, connections, copy, curly maple, Dan Erlewine, dulcimer, f hole, fiddle, finish, folk, guitar, guitar maker, guitar side bending, guitars, home made, home made bending iron, inlay, instrument, instruments, luthier, Mahogany, maple, marketing, music, Pennsylvania, resources, restoration, shop, side bending, small holes, sound board, soundboard, stradivarius, stringed instrument, strings, tips, Tru-Oil, tuning pegs, ukulele, viola, violin, western red cedar, wood, wood instrument, wood shop, wood working, wood working help, work shop

Hey all! I’ve been quiet lately due to selling my house and shop. I’ve been shut down for a while and am still looking for that perfect place. Once that happens you can count on me building instruments and posting about it. Enjoy your new year!

Until then, here’s my shop dog, Midnight.

Stradivarius Copy Restoration: Part II

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acoustic, ¾, bridge, copy, f hole, fiddle, finish, luthier, restoration, soundboard, stradivarius, tuning pegs, viola, violin, wood, wood shop, wood working

As promised here are a few more pictures of the violin I recently purchased.

You can see a few cracks and how poor the condition of the original finish is.

The back is a beautiful piece of maple.

Who ever owned this played it a ton. They also took excellent care of it!

Inside label. I’d love to find the build date of this instrument.

 

This picture was taken after the first application of finish remover. That grain is beautiful! This should turn out to be a really nice job once I’m done because there is not a lot of damage to this instrument.

 

Round 1: Stripping

 

Stradivarius Copy Restoration

Tags

acoustic, ¾, bridge, copy, f hole, fiddle, finish, luthier, restoration, soundboard, stradivarius, tuning pegs, viola, violin, wood, wood shop, wood working

The other day I impulse purchased an old fiddle/violin. Inside it says that it is a Stradivarius copy. It seems well made, but I don’t know much about it yet. I plan on stripping the old finish off and applying a new one after I fix some cracks and other damages.

At first glance, it’s missing two tuning pegs, a bridge, tail-piece. It has a few cracks and chips and has some serious wear from play. However, the sound post is still in and in place and does not appear warped in any way.

I’ll post some more pictures of this later. If you know a good way to strip off this old finish I would like to hear it! Lastly, If you know anything about this instrument, let me know.

The Next Guitar Build

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acoustic guitar, classical, classical guitar, guitar, luthier, shop, wood, wood shop, work shop

For the past few months I have been chipping at making pieces and parts for the next guitar. I really could not find an interesting way to talk about each part so I just didn’t bother.

Since I haven’t posted in over a month, I thought a handful of you would want to know that this blog is still going. Although I have quite a few other obligations at the moment, I will be posting more frequently in the coming weeks/months.

I’m looking forward to this next build. (It already has a musical recording project waiting for it!) The more tools I accumulate, the more of this process I can do on my own! It’s pretty exciting! Hopefully I can keep it interesting for you.