It didnt help that I was making a 31 tone fretboard for a friend. I did it practically for free and will probably do another one for him.

What do I need to keep my slots perpendicular and clean. I have a Hosco saw and this https://www.hosco.co.jp/en/tools/by-use/neck/other-neck-fingerboard-tools/h-fswg.html

I never really figured out how that was supposed to work.

I finished this guitar a year ago And I’ve been playing. I decided it was too heavy, and I wanted some fatter frets so here I go carving out the body. I have a problem where thoroughly enjoy carving wood. I do need to get on guitar number two though so I have one to play while I’m carving on the other.

I love seeing all your posts and tips, I'm excited to do a simpler one next

that Aliexpress is a cheap way of getting the job done. Screws of neckplate broke of in two places. I’m cured

Hi all!

I was recently gifted this acoustic guitar by someone very close to me, I'm determined to restore it back to health but have never repaired a guitar before, so am reluctant to try anything until I know what I'm doing.

Would anyone mind giving me some advice on how to go about fixing this bridge? It has partially pulled away from the body of the guitar.

Or, if you reccomend I just take it to a luthier, that would also be helpful advice!

Thanks in advance!

Assume the tail piece, pickup rings & headstock will all match the wood from the board.

Pau or Ebony?

I have no clue how I could fix this

So recently Ive had alot of counterfeit guitars brought to me for work. Everything from Chibsons, to PRS, and even a Wylde Audio knock off. I'm curious what other luthiers thoughts are about working on these guitars. While I don't want to turn away any business I don't want to put work in something that might be tried to be resold and ripoff someone. Plus most of these need way more work than people want to put into them to make them playable. Just a thought. What say you guys?

So I have a collection of old violins that was donated to my store and all of them are in pretty bad shape. I have sold a few on Reverb that were in ok shape by Spickler, Curatoli, and Burlitzer. They are all very old and I think all European. I'm a guitar guy and have no want or need for this work and just want to be rid of them. I sold one as is for around a grand but I'm thinking that may have been the best one....Do you violin guys repurpose necks and bodies? These all need MAJOR repairs like no top or missing a piece of the side...What to do?

Finished the frets. All they need now is a polish. My first ever fretjob, and if you take a close look it's not clean at all, but i think it'll do nicely for a first neck.

Next up after the frets is drilling the holes for the tuning pegs on my sketchy headstock design. It's thicc, but i'll be sweating. If i fuck it up, i'll be making a headless.

This bass was designed for me to learn a bunch of techniques and experiment, so it features a super thin body, whacky slotted headstock, binding on a wrist contour and will have a slightly recessed bridge due to the fretboard being at the same height as the top.

I cant help but love the design. I really lucked out that i could totally rip off rickenbackers design. After looking at this thing so much, i think it looks even better than a Rick.

Next one will be a headless (not fanned frets) bass with basically a chasm for all kinds of different pickups. I'll call it the testbench.

Greetings venerable luthiers, I have questions about my fretless bass neck. The bass has been stored for maybe ~10ish years and I just took it out to fix it up. Note that it's a dirt cheap bass ($300CAD Squier) but I don't want to just trash it, it deserves a second life regardless of value. So it used to play fine from what I remember, but now the strings are super high above the neck. The neck has a visible curve. I put a straight edge against the fingerboard from just in front of the nut to end of the neck and caliper shows it's off ~2.85mm around the 8-9 fret marker. The neck is ~603mm long for reference, so 2.85mm curve over 603mm length. I'm not concerned with making it sound like an expensive bass (I'm having the body sprayed with truck bed liner lol), I just want the bass comfortable to play.

My questions: Is this something that the truss rod will fix or is it beyond adjustment? SHOULD I try to fix it at all or get a new neck? I doubt it's meant to be totally flat, so if not, how much curve should it have? And why is the nut angled so much? I've never changed the nut so that's from the factory.

Help would be appreciated, fine Sirs and Madams

Hi All, I was gifted an unusual guitar. I'll add pics. It is a Babicz Octane and I think it might be a prototype. It has a humbucker and as an acoustic player I am not sure what to do with it. I have always wanted an electric guitar but I am not connecting with the tone I am getting out of this guitar. I noticed that other models of this guitar also have piezo pickups and they can be blended with the humbuckers so I am thinking about doing that, then I thought about the bridge plate style pickups like LR Baggs that might also add some natural tone. And of course maybe this guitar is not worth all the trouble. It has an unusual adjustable fretboard and bridge/saddle configuration. I don't want to sell it because it was a gift. Any opinions are welcome.

My cello fell down a few days ago by accident, and when it fell down so did its bridge, so I put the bridge back in its place but its still off. Now when I look at my cello the strings are not in the middle of the finger board they're leaning out. Is it the tailpiece's fault? Or the bridge's? Its not tuned rn but can someone please help?

I have this guitar and I needed to sand the neck off in that part, after some time that part start to became blackish (idk if y'all can see it), I am missing something to do after the sanding? The neck is unfinished (it's an Ibanez sa360nqm), some help?

Here we go, € 12,90 Aliexpress instead of R-U-fucking-kiddin-me 100,- Stewmac. Although i'd like to know from someone who has the original, is the grinding plain supposed to be elevated for about 0.1 from the sides? I thought it would be perfectly level to the sides to use them as a guide when you reach the same level as the neighbor frets. No big deal, if that's how it is, one needs to use the fret rocker to check the progress.

I recently bought this Abe Gut 63C off of a Japan thrift store. Could it be the nut slot height? Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I received a guitar with some cracks right below the headstock. It is a late 70s Yamaha 335 style guitar with a mahogany neck. I can tell the cracks are in the finish but it’s hard to tell beyond that. Anyone have any thoughts on if this could be a structural concern?

Pics might help but it’s late now , I can upload them tomorrow if needed.

I bought a used guitar today , which seemed surprisingly cheap . What I usually do to check the neck relief is I place a capo on the first fret , press down the last fret of the high e and check the gap around the 10th . I’m a noob at guitar setups but this is usually what has worked for me . I’m bad at sighting down a neck and checking the neck for straightness . Bare with me here lol . I did my usual neck relief test as stated above , and noticed there was a huge gap . I adjusted the truss rod , somewhat a lot but noticed that gap was still pretty big . I checked the bass side instead and noticed the low E was nearly touching the fretboard meanwhile the high e side was still kind of high . Is this the sign of a twisted or warped neck ?

I’m a guitar player at the end of the day , my guitar tech skills are lacking , any help appreciated

Hi there,

So about 10 years ago a luthier gave me that but i have no idea what model it is. I have a fender mex strat with 3 singles and i was wondering if I could swap a single coil with it.

The wires confuse me, I have a little (very little) soldering experience but I want to learn.

Thank you all

I got this early 80s Tokai just over a year ago thats been sitting under a bed for over 30 years and am looking to restore it to be play/gigable.

I got it playing ok but it sounds a little dull (with new strings) and it buzzes a tiny but on the 12 fret and frets out on the high strings on the higher frets (15 - 19) (I should also probably raise the action). What materials should I buy to get these frets smoother and polished up. I ordered a new bridge with saddles (fender import spec).

I also want to replace the bridge pickup, because it sounds terrible, with either a super distortion or hot rail. My local music store has both of them under retail new but could use some pushing one way or another. I think I like the super distortion better but the store doesnt have the single coil sized, which isnt ideal. I play mostly punk and hard rock with inspo being Ween, CKY, Weezer, Sabbath... my only other guitar is a Gibson SG standard with I think stock pickups so I'd like the guitars a sound different enough. Thanks for the guidance

I saw this Martin for sale for 150 dollars it's very beat up but Ive been after a Martin for while. I was curious if this was worth the trouble or if Id be better off searching for a guitar In better shape

Ive been looking into warwicks because they are my favorite bass (alot of the metal bassist i like use them) , from what i understand the wood is what really drives the sound of a warwick. Does anyone have expirience building gutairs/basses from wood. Ive never touched any luthier tools before, i know how to sand and varnish and stuff since i work on boats and tables, and i have a basic knowledge of electronics, what are the bare minimum resources for taking on this art of making instruments. I ask because i have this big store of really nice redwood and i sort of want to shape it into and instrument, i think it would be a beautful art piece on its own if it doesnt go well, i would like to learn, if theres something simple to start with im also open to that,

Hello!

Having a little crisis of confidence and just looking for some feedback from the community. I've just received all of the parts for my first build (telecaster shape and hard bridge) but am beginning to worry if I'll be able to pull it all together and if it will be an instrument I enjoy playing/that plays well.

This is definitely a big project for me and I've very much bitten off more than I can chew, my question or worry is if its achievable or if I'd be better off returning the parts and waiting for another time. I have pretty minimal woodworking skills but have bought a drilled body (pickup cavities, wiring & ferrules - no bridge or pick guard etc) and a neck shaped neck which seems to be in good condition to my untrained eye. The neck has the holes for the tuning pegs already drilled but will require drilling to attach the tuners to the head.

More concerningly the neck is undrilled where it connects to the body.

Now that it's time to begin building - measuring/planning with the parts in my hands - I'm getting cold feet. Am I likely to cause myself issues I can't resolve? I know that what I'm asking for is to see the future, but does anyone have similar experience or were they in a similar position? I've been in contact with a local community wood shop to ask about bench rental to use the tools they have there.

Thanks and sorry if this doesn't fit within the sub rules

Does anyone know what that little metal thingy is called or where I can buy these? It's for an old shot up sixties Framus twelve string I'm restoring. Thanks!