Official Luthiers Forum!

Man, I had a rough week on the luthier front. First, I glued the bridge on my parlor guitar. The next morning I noticed that one of the edges wasn't quite down. Off it came and I'll make glue attempt two tonight. The headstock is also giving me fits. In my attempt to get a smooth finish around the truss rod hole and nut I've burned through several times. I really want to hear this puppy sing, but it seems like I'm going backwards.

Then, I went to put a few finishing touches on the fp finish for a dulcimer that I am making for a friend's wife, and noticed that it had a deep gash in the WR cedar top right next to one of the hummingbird soundholes. The more I tried to fix it, the worse it got. Aaarrrrggghhhhhhh! Now I have to rebuild or refund. Of course, the lady wanted her name inlaid so that limits my options.

You guys that build full time or for commissions must have nerves of steel.

Anybody else have one of those weeks?

Bruce

You are not alone, all of the stuff I make is one off commisions, well unless someone wants an exact copy of something I made before.

Some weeks are a dream others you just can't seem to get it right, I was final sanding one yesterday and caught the edge of the binding and purfling and made a nice nick, AAARRRGH.

Seems small but I had to rebind today and of course the whole lot had to come off, never mind.

Next weeks another week

In luthiers terms if you still have 5 thumbs on each hand at the end of the week...it's been a good week.

Bruce

I know exactly how you feel. I have spent a good chunk of this week working on the neck for a guitar I am trying to get finished up. This guitar has been turning out so nice and it is going to be a beauty. Well I was at the stage where I was ready to carve the neck, all I needed to do was trim the extra wood off on my bandsaw. Well I started to cut and the blade took a funny twist cutting deep into the neck. There was nothing I could do. The neck is toast.

So I too am looking forward to a new week. I'm hoping that in a day or two I can be back on track. It makes you feel a little stupid, but these things happen. The main thing is to pick up the pieces (see if there is anything good you can salvage) and try again.

But I must say I learn the most from making mistakes. Fortunately I have not made the same major mistake twice. I just keep finding new mistakes I can make . But I must say that many of the improvements that I have made on my guitars have come about after I made a mistake and developed a better/safer way of doing things. This case will be the same. I will come up with a different way to quickly remove extra stock of the neck before carving. And I will make sure that this mistake cannot happen again. I'm sure you will be checking your bridges more carefully as you glue them down.

So these kind of days/weeks are really a good thing. It can get a little discouraging if you have to many of them in a row. So do your best if you can space your mistakes out a bit.

JoshJosh H38688.9465509259

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Josh House

Canadian Luthier Supply
http://www.canadianluthiersupply.com
https://www.facebook.com/canadianluthiersupply?ref=hl
House Guitars - Custom Built Acoustic Instruments.
http://www.houseguitars.com

You guys are making me feel much better about my boneheaded setbacks...I carved a neck today and then trimmed back the heel for the WRONG fingerboard! (I have a couple different scale lengths going on the 3 guitars in progress right now)...so, I thought I was well along on this one, and now I have to carve another neck...I already have the blanks ready though so it's not a total blunder...I can use the one I trimmed short a little further down the road...earlier this week, I spent a morning cutting braces...then realized I'd cut the brace stock for 3 guitars so that it's non-quartered...so that was a total do-over on one of the things I hate most ...so, I hope things improve tomorrow for everyone of us here on the OLF!

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http://www.presnallguitars.com

Since we are sharing....   

I am starting a new koa guitar. The sides got a shade scorched in the bender... nothing crazy but a little "toasted" -- but all was not lost It would mostly go away when the binding was routed... but I could tell this area was a little brittle.

Then....

When I was sanding the rim to profile everything before installing the kerf lining.... A piece about the 2" long snaps out of the side.

Can you say -- *&%$!!!(%

sigh... oh well... now it is time to see if I can glue the pieces back together so I can proceed forward.    Brock Poling38688.9446296296

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

French polishing yesterday and I cracked a side. I was tired.

I'm working on two guitars sort of side by side, my #2 and #3, and the first ones outside of class. I inlaid soundhole rings and had everything thicknessed and ready to start bracing... The other night I took one out to start laying out the braces. I found out I had mislocated the soundholes on both of them by an inch.

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Jonathan Kendall, Siloam Springs AR

My favorite Uncle was telling me a story years ago. He often did that to teach me life lessons. The one he was teaching me that day was that adults are not always correct in everything they do. While he was telling me this story I was watching him work in his garage. While he was making his point he was drilling a piece of wood that was supported on a couple of his kitchen chairs. Yes, you have probably guessed that he drilled right though on of his kitchen chairs. That was a moment I will never forget when he accidentally provided evidence to support his own teachings. This was always a valuable lesson to me and I thought that you might enjoy it too.

Philip

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aka konacat

If you think my playing is bad you should hear me sing!
Practice breeds confidence and confidence breeds competence. Unfortunately, I'm stuck in practice.

Bruce it happens to all of us. I had an OM all buffed out and was getting ready to glue down the bridge. Dropped the bridge clamp on the cedar top. Nice ding that took me 3 days to fix.

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I think the most stupid thing I EVER did was gluing the bridge on a top backwards.   I have told this story before but it haunts me and it needs retelling as a form of personal therapy. (like the ancient mariner) Anyway, I had drilled the pinholes throught the top before I realized what I had done wrong. There was no recovery. New top, new top binding, new finish.

It seems like some guitars just fight you at every turn. Others go together like they were precut from a kit. Its like raising kids. John Kinnaird38689.3152546296

Anybody else have one of those weeks?

yupp, I have one of those weeks every day!

"stuff happens"   I dinged a neck that I was just about to spray yesterday.

Matt

Jon,

I did that very same thing on a Master grade red spruce top that cost me $125. It stinksthat it happened, but I can still use it for something different, like a small bodied 12-fret OO or something.

Matt.....steam is your friend, brotha! get the ding wet and steam it back out.

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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."

Thanks, guys. It's good to see that I'm not alone, although it stinks to be a member of this club.

Too bad we can't convince the public that the "stressed" look is in; you know, like that cheesy country-style furniture that comes with dents and scratches right out of the factory so that it looks like old stuff. We could tell the customers stuff like, "This dent right here is just like the one Hank put in his Martin back in '53 when he played at the Ryman. Normally it's a $100 upcharge, but I'll let you have it for $50."

Oh well, back at it. I've got a dulcimer to rebuild.

Here's a fresh one to make you all feel better! I let my daughter take my car to a sleepover last night (all girls!)...well, she took my keys as well, and now I'm locked out of my shop! And I had the whole morning to myself-no wife, kids, obligations! At least I can't make any blunders IN the shop I guess...off to watch John's DVD's for a couple hours...

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http://www.presnallguitars.com

I have ruff weeks like these we've been talking about too. My latest "bad week" was just a couple of weeks ago. I didn't even feel like talking about it at the time but I think I'm okay now. It was in the selling part of being a Luthier. It was my first time to really sell a guitar.Except for one other time where I sold to a friend. I probably lost money on that sale though. It was really more of a giveaway. Anyways, I put a guitar that I made on ebay for $800.00. Sitka top, EIR back & sides, koa bindings. It was pretty nice. It had a few small things that I would like to improve on but it was pretty good. It was a small jumbo shape and I included a nice TKL case with it. Anyway, probably where I went wrong was on my return policy. I said "If you don't like it, you can send it back and I'll refund your money". They really had nothing to lose but a little shipping cost. Anyway, someone bought it (buy it now) within the first few days of it's listing. He did make me a little nervous asking questions and double checking on my return policy. It didn't feel quite right. And sure enough, after he got it he packed it up and sent it right back. He said that it was beautiful and amazing work for only my ninth guitar, but that it was not the guitar for him.
It was very disappointing and discouraging. I think I'm okay now. Anybody else had guitar rejected? Probably not.

Here's one that almost went bad -- in the little spare time of late I've been finishing cutting out a Canadiana inlay theme on the headstock for a commissioned archtop. Before I started inlaying I made up a digital pic of the layout and fired it off to a couple of luthier friends for a "last" look. I get an email back that says "hey looks great but wouldn't it be better to inlay the 15th fret.   

Brock that's a bummer about the koa...ughhhh

Anthony Z38689.566087963

Colby

I haven't had your exact situation happen to me but I do know how you feel.

I've seen the work you have posted here and I think $800 would be a bargain for one of your guitars. If they are as good as they look (and I think they are) don't be afraid to charge a higher price. I had one of the top guitar guys in this part of Canada tell me that if I didn't start pricing my guitars higher no one would take me seriously. He said my workmanship was comparable to that established builders in the industry and my prices should be as well. So I raised my prices so that they are close to what others in the industry are charging. If you are like me your first few guitars have gone to friends and relatives who got them at a great price. But once your workmanship gets to that certain point your prices should go up. Don't sell yourself short and I would try selling that guitar again. You just might want to make some changes to your return policy if you are going to sell on ebay.

Josh

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Josh House

Canadian Luthier Supply
http://www.canadianluthiersupply.com
https://www.facebook.com/canadianluthiersupply?ref=hl
House Guitars - Custom Built Acoustic Instruments.
http://www.houseguitars.com

This was a good thread for me to read. This morning I inlaid the end-graft on my second guitar upside down!



The really sad thing about this is that it turned out great! Just tapers from bottom to top!

DOH!

-Mark

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Pullman, WA

The more I know, the more I know I don't know.

trippguitars.com
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That is not an original mistake.   

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

Heheh, That is good to hear! I *hope* it is one I will only make once tho'!



-Mark

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Pullman, WA

The more I know, the more I know I don't know.

trippguitars.com
OR
Find me on Facebook

We all have those days, even the people we idolize have had their share of mistakes. I heard it said that the difference between amatuers and pros is that the pros learn how to cover their mistakes.

The one thing that I learned that makes ALL the difference is that when I'm having a day like that, I just stop building and go do something else. Sometimes you just get in a rut and a little time away can make all the difference in the world, the worst mistakes I have made have been when I'm having day like that and just get mad and keep going...

Cheers

-Paul-

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-Paul-

Patriot Guitars

Hi all,

I know the topic subject is "I've been all thumbs lately", but I had a little thumb-related accident yesterday. I stabbed a #2 knife blade about half-way, straight into the tip of my thumb! Yikes, that hurts. I was working on binding a peghead & the knife slipped & it just happened.

I was so intent on finishing the job, I bandaged it up pretty quick & went back to fitting the curly eucalyptus binding. After bleeding through the bandage & getting it on two pieces of binding, I removed the bandage & CA glued my thumb back together & replaced the bandage. It worked like a charm. Finished the peghead binding too.

This "hobby" has me so obsessed sometimes, I won't stop for anything - even after bleeding all over some of Bob C's gorgeous wood. It's a sickness. Let's all be careful out there ...

Skip

You can call the dents "Character" it give the instruments personality!

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Joe Breault
Merrimack, NH
Perpetual novice

Skip, would it suprise you to learn that CA glue was developed as a liquid bandage?

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Joe Breault
Merrimack, NH
Perpetual novice