Official Luthiers Forum!

Favorites
everything, would send my inst. out for finish though, no skill there yet other than tru oil.
Being here seeing many wonderful instruments CRAFTED.

Least favorite
Being here seeing many wonderful Instruments and knowing that they are meant for other relationships.

K.O.39061.7807291667

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"It's a Tone Faerie thing"
"Da goal is to sharpen ur wit as well as ye Sgian Dubh"
"Sippin Loch Dhu @Black lake" ,Kirby O...

The favorite must be hearing and seeing something you built being played really well by someone else... that's what it it's all about isn't it?

There are so many little moments of magic along the way that I treasure. Like planing herringbone purfling and seeing those funny looking shavings curl up. Or putting that first layer of finish on everything and seeing the woods come alive (I can't believe how many people dislike finishing).   

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

I get a real buzz from sorting through my wood stash pulling out a nice set and deciding what I'm going to build next.


Least favorite, being too busy with other projects that HAVE to get done first.

I agree with the first layer of finish Arnt.

Ok, cool

So what could make some of these "least favorite" tasks go smoother for people?

Binding-a good jig for the router I assume would help getting the channels cut well.

Finishing-it's all about patience isn't it. It call always be stripped off.

Anyone else....

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My Facebook Guitar Page

"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

Oh and I agree with you Paul, I hate changing the paper on my sander.

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My Facebook Guitar Page

"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

Favourite: Rose carving, brace carving, neck carving, bridge carving (can you see a pattern here?). Tying on the frets.

Least favourite, sweeping up the shop.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

The least favorite for me is my being so critical of my work and making mistakes where I really do know better.

My favorite part is being able to come here and hang out. Maybe that`s one of the reasons I get sidetracked so easily.
There`s also the part about having to shut down the shop and go to work, and explaining why the postman is bringing yet another package.
Coe

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Give me 50 cents worth of regular.
Check my oil too, if you don`t mind,,,

Most: Stringin' up and carving the braces, neck shaping

Least: finishing used to be my worst nightmare but i'm learning fast even in that department so i should do better this time around

Most--Building guitars
Least--having a day job.

Someone once said that John How is a wise man.

I agree....

For me, the best part is the collecting of the wood, visualizing the body style of a guitar with what design elements, and then knowing in my mind exactly what it will look and sound like once it is completed.

Since I know exactly what the outcome will be, I am then released from the agonies associated with making major mistakes and having to carve a neck, so I simply stop after the visualization stage now. That way, all my guitars come out as perfect as I'd planned.

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

I find it gratifying to know that most of my faves and not are the same as most of the rest of the folks here. I enjoy the carving and shaping aspects of building, save one: carving a classical neck heel. But probably my least favorite aspect of building is, no matter how carefully I've examined an instrument to try and find and fill all the tiny hairline gaps between binding/purfling and tonewood, as soon as I've applied a couple of "coats" of shellac, I usually find several more. Even tiny gaps bug me, and gotta go, because shellac don't do fill well.

Best,

Michael

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Live to Play, Play to Live

I like every aspect of the build, but there is one thing I do NOT enjoy doing..

Building jigs...

I know they are essential...

Best part for me is a satisfied customer.
The worst part for me is pore filling. I hate it.

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Instagram: @jfrenchluthier
Web: https://www.jfrenchguitars.com/

Favourites:
All tasks with a chisel
All tasks with go-sticks
French polishing

Least favourite:
Final neck adjustment
Clipping the fretwire tangs
Hand-sanding the sides (especially in the waist)

One of my favorites is finding better ways to do things.
My least favorite is not having enough time to implement them.

Wade

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Wade
Nashua, NH
http://www.wadefx.com

Most favorite: Building the box.
Love/hate: Setting the neck angle and action
Hate/Hate: Finishing. There are times when a person could walk into my shop and offer to do the finishing for me if I gave him my car, I'd do it.

Mike what kind of car do you have.........New Hampshire isn't that far from British Columbia

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My Facebook Guitar Page

"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

[QUOTE=Rod True] Mike what kind of car do you have.........New Hampshire isn't that far from British Columbia [/QUOTE]
I suppose that it isn't if you usually live on another planet and you're just visiting. Besides, You'd have to catch me at just the right time and it's only a Honda Accord.

Mike, you're cheap! I thought you'd give a Hummer!, Well what, it would be worth it!

Just ribbin' ya friend!

[QUOTE=Serge Poirier] Mike, you're cheap! I thought you'd give a Hummer!, Well what, it would be worth it!

Just ribbin' ya friend![/QUOTE]

I've been through the BMW stage and then the Acura Legend stage. The Accord is a better car than either of them by any objective measure.

Favorite bit's got to be shaping the soundboard bracing/tuning the top. Sharp chisels, fine work!

Least favorite's bending - especially the short bits of side for florentine cutaways. I do it on an iron at the moment, but will soon have a side bender I hope!

FAVE: Side bending.

LEAST FAVE: Scraping finish from the bridge area.

Truthfully tho, any and all of it beats going to work! My alternate answers were going to be:

FAVE: Waiting for box coming in from Tony.

LEAST FAVE: Waiting for box coming in from Tony.

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http://www.presnallguitars.com