Luthiers...

[Sporky McGuffin]

Necks aren't as tricky as you might think. Even fretboards are perfectly doable by hand - though to my mind there's no shame in buying in anything you don't enjoy making yourself.

 

[user 29368]

I bought the Chicken bone John fret slot cutting template and made the corresponding jig from some 18mm ply.
Really pleased with my first fret board... so far.
Planed some maple flat for the neck earlier today.
As long as you're careful and methodical, making a neck from scratch is very possible with limited experience.

 

[Sporky McGuffin]

My first was made on a course, hand planed fretboard radius, hand sawn slots with just a mitre box - each one marked on masking tape by hand. Turned out beautifully, and I'd done almost no woodwork before that.

 

[user 29368]

I set about radiusing my FB with a sanding block, 80 grit and some guides suck onto my work bench. Have more sanding to do as it's still a little too thick.

 

[thetyreman]

the kits are fairly easy as long as it's a good quality kit, I can highly recommend crimson guitar kits, that was my first build last year, I made a p-bass and it sounds great, there's still a surprising amount of work though but it's better than one you'd buy and far more satisfying.

 

[Nelly111s]

Crimson Guitars (as per @thetyreman) / Ben Crowe have lots of stuff online, particularly YouTube. Very good source of information.

 

[Rufus]

Crimson are good and quite local to me. I did a 1-day setup course with them when Christopher was there and learned so much from him and Tom, mainly around fret levelling and crowning. Highly recommend that course if anyone wants to learn how to set up properly.

 

[xy mosian]

I built a couple of rennaisance Lutes, from scratch, in the early seventies. One based on a modern lute by Daum and the other based on an 'original' instrument by Gerle. The latter was recognised by a curator at the museum it is in, somewhere in Italy, at a Lute Society Summer School. It must have been a reasonable facimile.
Almost the most enjoyable experience fell between finding suitable wood and working out a build method.
Neck, Ribs, Peg box etc., were of Sycamore and the Plate, Soundboard, was quarter sawn Sitka Spruce. Pegs and Bridge were 'Rock Maple', I assume Hard maple, basically off cuts from squash court floor.
I have just been looking at the drawing of the Gerle and another of a Heiber, wondering just what to do with them. I have templates for the ribs as well. It seems a shame just to chuck them away.

geoff

 

[Ttrees]

I built a couple of rennaisance Lutes, from scratch, in the early seventies. One based on a modern lute by Daum and the other based on an 'original' instrument by Gerle. The latter was recognised by a curator at the museum it is in, somewhere in Italy, at a Lute Society Summer School. It must have been a reasonable facimile.
Almost the most enjoyable experience fell between finding suitable wood and working out a build method.
Neck, Ribs, Peg box etc., were of Sycamore and the Plate, Soundboard, was quarter sawn Sitka Spruce. Pegs and Bridge were 'Rock Maple', I assume Hard maple, basically off cuts from squash court floor.
I have just been looking at the drawing of the Gerle and another of a Heiber, wondering just what to do with them. I have templates for the ribs as well. It seems a shame just to chuck them away.

geoff

You should try taking some pics for the OLF or the MIMF should you wish not to keep onto the plans.

Tom

 

[yetloh]

Not a luthier but this may be of interest to others. Many years ago I used to attend an evening woodworking class in Bognor. The tutor (who was the CDT teacher at the school) would occasionally invite one of his daytime students in if thay had done something interesting. One week there was a 16/17 year old lad there who had made his own guitar


This stunning poece of work is very obviously beautifully crafted with great attention to detail.

You may have noticed the carbon fibre, but the complete neck is really worth seeing

Now it just happened that his father worked for McLaren cars. The lad had made his moulds for the neck and taken them up to Mclaren where he was to lay up the carbon fibre, but on arrival was told that his moulds were not up to the standard required of anything that was to leave their factory, and told to go away and try harder. What you see here is the result of his second attempt.

Nice wirework signature. I have often wondered what this remarably talented young man went on to do.

Jim

 

[Zedgeezer]

I am not a luthier, and could never claim that level of skill, but my family own and love several beautifully made guitars. A recent post on youtube: Dan's Acoustic Guitar Build Part 1/5 With Master Luthier Jonny Kinkead - YouTube gives an appreciation of what a true Luthier is all about. It's a 5 part explanation but this guy is truly mesmorising, his knowledge, his love of woods and his skills are going to be a lost art unless he gets some apprentices! Try watching it, it will not be wasted time.

 

[thetyreman]

Not a luthier but this may be of interest to others. Many years ago I used to attend an evening woodworking class in Bognor. The tutor (who was the CDT teacher at the school) would occasionally invite one of his daytime students in if thay had done something interesting. One week there was a 16/17 year old lad there who had made his own guitar


This stunning poece of work is very obviously beautifully crafted with great attention to detail.

View attachment 126451View attachment 126451

You may have noticed the carbon fibre, but the complete neck is really worth seeing
View attachment 126452

Now it just happened that his father worked for McLaren cars. The lad had made his moulds for the neck and taken them up to Mclaren where he was to lay up the carbon fibre, but on arrival was told that his moulds were not up to the standard required of anything that was to leave their factory, and told to go away and try harder. What you see here is the result of his second attempt.

View attachment 126454

Nice wirework signature. I have often wondered what this remarably talented young man went on to do.

Jim

that is interesting and well made for a 16/17 year old, how did you end up with it? I'm wondering why the maker wouldn't want to keep it.

 

[yetloh]

Sadly, I don't have it, I photographed it at the time.

Jim

 

[Jacob]

What you're writing about is referred to as a lace, but I'm not sure that the EMS stocks anything like that, or ever has. It was a feature of many earlier instruments, and I don't know if anyone does it now, other than in restoring historical instruments, To answer your questions: 1. Yes, it's a good idea if you've a problem with a battered edge. 2. You can buy high quality parchment from William Cowley's, in Newport Pagnell (and see it being made). I think they are now the UK's only source, and they supply all the stuff for government use; awards, etc., and diplomas. It is a wonderful (though messy) skill; they are craftsmen in their own right. I buy the parchment I use (not much, as I'm technically retired, and demonstrably arthritic) for cittern and early lute rosettes there. If you want to buy a lot if it it won't be cheap. 3. Stick it with hide glue, in case the table ever needs to come off for repair. You can thin it down a bit, but not quite to the extent you would for glueing the table itself in place. 4. You would need to decorate it yourself. A simple scalloped edge is fine, which you can perforate with a reasonably strong leather punch or a hole punch (it's thin dried leather, in essence, and good and stiff) of a size to match the scalloping. Of the historical examples I've seen, most were a plain strip of parchment, though.

Thanks for that Exluthier that's brilliant and I'm on the case. I'll report back at some point.

 

[xy mosian]

You should try taking some pics for the OLF or the MIMF should you wish not to keep onto the plans.

Tom

Thanks Tom, but I will have to ask for translations of both OLF and MIMF.
geoff

 

[Ttrees]

Official luthiers forum, and Musical instrument makers forum, two of the largest,
but there is ANZLF Australia New Zeland one and also some others.

All the best
Tom

 

[xy mosian]

Official luthiers forum, and Musical instrument makers forum, two of the largest,
but there is ANZLF Australia New Zeland one and also some others.

All the best
Tom

Thanks again Tom. That all belongs to a time in my past. However I will have a good look at both of them.
geoff

 

[Ttrees]

Recently been watching this fella who's got a real good setup.
An interesting channel compared to many in my view.
Kevin LaDue
Enjoy