Official Luthiers Forum!

Just listen for a flushing sound and you`ll figure it out.
Not unpleasant at all, in fact.
Coe

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

Wow... it's going to take me more than one post to acknowledge and answer everyone so please bear with me.

Steven W. thanks my friend and great to see you here too!

If I knew what a Hesh is I'd do a toot (tutorial) on it but I believe that it would never make the best seller's list....

Thanks for the two thumbs up my friend - very much appreciated!!

Terry I hope that all is well with ya! I think of you from time to time remembering as I do your inclination to use technology in your Lutherie activities. X-Raying neck joints was something that I always got a kick out of and so far you are the only one that I know who has been doing this.

Although we are very much old-world in much of what we do in the shops here using HHG we also embrace technology in our practice using UV cured dental fillings for nut slots when it makes sense to do so. An example would be an ivory nut on a rare and vintage instrument where now replacement is not the only option because we can fill the slots that are too low, match the color very closely too, and it's a solution that addresses the immediate need and retains the vintage vibe and value of the instrument.

We also use miniature cameras to get a better view of the far reaches that we can't see easily.

And then there is David Collins who is brilliant in his pursuit of excellence in the Lutherie trade. Many of the things that we use daily Dave imagined and created. Tools such as a laser guided, vacuum clamped bridge slotting jig. Measuring devices that will tell you exactly how low (or high) a not slot is are very helpful too. And a one-of-a-kind fret buffer that one may use after dressing or refretting an instrument to bring the frets to a blinding shine in no time at all. Old-school methods such as progressively finer grits of sand paper, OOOO steel wool, etc. are still used by us from time to time too but it's nice to have options especially when one is under time constraints.

Anyway it's great to see you here too Terry and the very best of luck to you in the future. Not sure if I will have the time to participate with the OLF in so much as I'm pretty busy and not getting any younger either. Thanks for the well wishes!

Awesome! Good luck!

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http://www.PeakeGuitars.com

Coe buddy I hope that all is well with ya! Great to see you here too and your comments remind me of my original avatar that I once used here on the OLF in the early days when my bathroom was my shop.

Guess I'll have to post that avatar for old times sake...

I'll try again..Somehow my first post went into the bit bucket.

Hesh: I thought that you fell of of the face of the earth, but I guess I did as well. Best wishes in your new endeavor.

Al Peebels

Hi Trevor and great to see you here too! I hope that all is well with you as well! Thanks for the well wishes my friend!

Hi Mike and very glad to hear that my toots on my site are helpful. I get on average 75 views a day in the toot section of my site so I knew that someone was looking!

Chuck I've missed you too my friend and heard that you got married and wanted to congratulate you and the Mrs. as well. I hope that married life is treating you well! And as always is the case a very sincere thanks from me to You for your very valued service to your nation and it's very fine folks! I'm proud to know you!

George my friend when I read your comments last evening I had to step away because I so very much appreciated what you wrote - Thank You! I did specifically try as hard as I knew how to help others feel welcome here and my hope was too that I was an encouraging sort as well. Nice to have this be noted and you made my day my friend!!! Thanks a million George!

Waddy my bro it's great to be in touch with you too once again. I have been lurking and you have become quite the builder of your very fine classical guitars now and your stuff looks top-shelf to me! Don't know if I ever said this to you before but you were always someone who I looked up to and admired for your steadiness, class, and character. When I left the OLF one of the only things that made me feel a bit better was knowing that you were still here understanding the OLF traditions and carrying on the encouragement and civility to all. I hope to meet you in person one day so if you are ever anywhere near Michigan please let me know?

Thanks Al and I remember you well too but in my lurking have not seen you post here for a while now. I hope that all is well with you too and thanks very much for the well wishes my friend!!

Heath!!! Thanks my friend for your very kind comments and invitation as well! I also hope that all is well with you!

Professor Robbie!!! You may be happy to hear that these days I am one hell of a french polisher and I owe it all to You Robbie. I had tried FP shellac with other folk's methods prior to taking your very fine class that I was able to take remotely from the comfort of my own shop but my results.... sucked.... Once I learned your method the "concepts" made sense to me and I can do a fine job these days!

Many thanks to you, Robbie, for your plethora of contributions to the trade and of course for your willingness to share, share and share some more! I consider myself to be one of your students too so many thanks for putting up with me!

Hi Rick and it's great to hear from you too!!! You have a standing invitation to visit us whenever you wish and we will be sure to show you a great time. There is always something interesting happening in our shop so be sure to look us up!

Hi Askins and I remember you too! Great to see that you are still active on the forum!

Steve S. you will always be one of the "old timers" to me and I hope that all is well with you too! For me the career change was not all that difficult although I completely understand how it may have been had I not been so fortunate to have the friends that I have. They made it easy for me but I had to put in the time, do the work, keep an open mind, and basically be willing to unlearn much of what I thought that I knew. It's very different this Lutherie world and not at all like licensing enterprise software or acquiring corporations like the BORG.... But these days I'm a bit more selfish asking my clients to take the stinkin guitar out of the case and play me a song to be sure that they are thrilled with the set-up or repair. What often results is a great big smile and perhaps some thanks too and this makes my day every single time it happens!

Was saying goodbye to corporate America worth it to me? Hell yes!!!!! I often think back these days to all that once seemed important to me but in time I learned it had very little value to anyone else at all. Funny how that goes. Aside from the IRS not liking me as much as they once did... I'm pretty at peace with my world now and that, to me, is an unexpected benefit of becoming a Luthier!

There is no better therapy than making shavings!

Dave buddy great to hear from you too!! I hope that the family is thriving and that your guitar building is as rewarding as can be for ya!

JS buddy thanks to you too! I've been noting some of your builds as well and they look GREAT!!! You also, if you don't mind me saying this, remind me of me back in the day in so much as one can tell who is hooked for life on this stuff and who has a very good chances of going large with Lutherie! Keep building your great guitars my friend!

Link my very, very dear friend! I've missed you and if you don't mind would like to call you sometime this week and catch-up. I owe you an apology and I'm man enough to say so publicly as well.

Not sure if you know this but you too made huge contributions to my own development as a Luthier. For those who don't know or remember my background did not include any prior experience with making anything beyond reservations.... Where many of you start with woodworking and eventually decide to take on a guitar I started with guitars.... I could build a pretty nice guitar and my stuff has held up well but when I try to build a stinkin bird house I am clueless...

Link is a Master at wood working and as credentialed as they come as well. Link was my go-to guy for all things woodworking that I did not have the background or the knowledge to do. From our debates about epoxied fretboards to "keying" to "A2 steel" and even swimming with whales (not speaking of Internet dating on Match.com...) Link helped fill in the blanks for me always selfishly and generously!

Sometimes on these forums it's difficult to tell who in reality has the chops but make no mistake about it Link knows more about wood, tools, processes, and much more than anyone else I have ever known. Hope to speak with you soon Link!

Hi Gene and great to see you here as well! Thanks for your very kind comments my friend, much appreciated!!!

You have been here on the OLF longer than I and I remember you well too from the early days. Remember when Serge and Ron Wisdom (hope Ron is doing great too) would openly discuss what they had for breakfast? It was my first introduction to Canadian Corn Flakes!

Regarding photos of cool stuff there are some on my site but some of the coolest stuff that we work on one has to exercise some judgement with because it's the property of others AND there are security concerns as well. I'll give it some thought though knowing as I do how much we all liked pics on the OLF.

Hi Med, Marcus and Colin!! Great to see you guys too and thanks for the kind comments!

Don buddy hope all is well with ya and that you guys are keeping the yacht racing world on their toes! I still love my hand-made-by-Don-Williams genuine "Williams Jig" and it has served me very well over the years!

You were here before me and one of the ones who encouraged me to build and build and as such I thank you kindly for all that you share with me and us all! Although I was once a mod here you pretty much set the example for me personally that I tried, and did not do all that well with...., to follow. Your "steady" calm nature was an inspiration to me in terms of learning how to participate on a forum. Great to hear from you Don!

Congrats Hesh! Glad to see you doing well... I learned quite a bit from your posts here; your presence was much appreciated!

Couldn't have said it better. Congrats to you, Hesh. I, too, am actively doing repair/restoration work, and agree that it's invaluable to my development as a builder. Continued success on your journey!

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Mountain Song Guitars www.mountainsongguitars.com

Rod bro!!! Great to hear from you and we need to do a phone call soon if you are up to it? I've been wondering how you are and how the family is these days too! Sony is getting old and has a lot of issues now but our vet is a good one and the medications seem to help him. He's very fat now... but happy and loves to eat!

I still have my Wells/Karol router jig that you very kindly made for me! It works great too and something that has far more value to me personally than any old tool! Let's get back in touch?

SKIN!!!! So I know where you will be stopping the next time you visit your daughter in A2! Please be SURE to stop by Dave and I would love to see ya and take you to lunch!

For everyone else SKIN, aka: James WB is one very talented Luthier AND singer/song writer. His voice is unique, beautiful, powerful, and as sincere as a heart attack. Hope to see you again too soon Skin!

Hi Tom and it's great to see you here too. You go back on this forum a vey long way too and I remember you as one who always shared freely and your comments were always spot-on and helpful. You certainly helped me many times and as such here's a big thank you to you too my friend!

Hi Ken!!! I just figured out or remembered that when I hit "submit" if another post comes up it's the two trains passing in the night thing... Great to see you here on the OLF too my friend!

Yeah repair work is great and certainly rewarding in many ways! Something that I often attempt to convey to others is that it's very different from building in so much as in the repair world we have an opportunity to make someone happy in minutes and perhaps a few hours. In the building world the making someone happy part may take a couple hundred hours AND there is an "opportunity cost" to this as well. Certainly for those of us with a bit of ADD like me...

I'll add though that doing repairs and doing them well is a great stalking horse for selling guitars. Just leave them out and someone will want them!

Ringo aka James R.!!! I still wish that I had taken the Somogyi course with you and will always regret that I was not healthy enough at the time to attend. I hope that all is well with ya as well Ringo and thanks for the kind remarks!

Thanks Hesh, I always think of you whenever I glue braces or a bridge with HHG and clean up the residual glue with a tooth brush and hot water. That was your tip and it works great.

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

The planets must be aligning and all is well with the world again. Thanks for stopping by! Congrats on the new venture. Sounds like a great step along the rocky road of trying to make a buck at luthierizing. And, thank you for for all the help over the years.

All The Best,
Danny

Terry these days I'm using a wooden toothpick from Jerusalem Garden a Falafel joint next to us with a dulled point and some warm, wet paper towels. I typically will wait about 3 minutes on bridge glues/reglues before cleaning up HHG because it starts to jell and can be pulled off in snot like pieces... but you get the idea, intact and not a liquid. I also tape, regular masking tape, around the bridge as an aid to locating, an anti-skate well of sorts is created too until the HHG tacks, and when it's clean-up time removing the tape removes much of the glue too. I'm careful to only use a quality 3M tape which I know from experience won't attack the finish. If it's a new/newer build I may stick the tape to my shirt a few times first to detack it a bit. The tape is only on the guitar perhaps 10 minutes max so no issues so far.

IIRC correctly you too are doing the rabbit thing around the bridge perimeter which is a great practice in my view and solves the problem that most factories, Collings not included, of not cutting back the finish enough and reducing the wood-to-wood contact area to the degree that the joint may and usually does fail in time.

Danny!!! Thanks for the best wishes in my Loofing pursuit my friend!!! I hope that all is well in your world as well!

Well, well, ye olde Hesh popped back out of the woodwork again!
Glad to hear all is well in your bit of the world mate.

Cheers,
Dave F.

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Cambrian Guitars

"There goes Mister Tic-Tac out the back with some bric-brac from the knick-knack rack"

Congrats on your business I have missed your post and chats , Look forward to seeing and hearing more from you when you can .

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The Shallower the depth of the stream , The Louder the Babble !
The Taking Of Offense Is the Life Course Of The Stupid One !
Wanna Leave a Better Planet for our Kids? How about Working on BETTER KIDS for our Planet !
Forgiveness is the ability to accept an apology that you will probably NEVER GET
The truth will set you free , But FIRST, it will probably Piss you Off !
Creativity is allowing yourself to make Mistakes, Art is knowing which ones to Keep !
The Saddest thing anyone can do , is push a Loyal Person to the point that they Dont Care Anymore
Never met a STRONG person who had an EASY past !
http://wiksnwudwerks.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/GatewayA ... rAssembly/

Good to hear from you Hesh. Looking forward to your contributions again as yours were always among the best.

Hi Hesh,

I am in Ann Arbor quite frequently. I'll drop in and say Hi one of these days!

Ken

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http://www.casperguitar.com

I'd often wondered what became of you... Even forgot your name at one point during a conversation regarding luthier forums.

Glad you kept at it! Now, pay it forward!

Ken buddy any time and from what I have seen here over the past several years of lurking your guitars look superb!!! Stop on by any time and maybe bring a guitar to show too? Thanks!

Hi Darrel my friend and it's great to see you here too!!! Not sure if I will have the time to participate in so much as I am racing a clock at this very moment to get my arse to work in A2. But many, many thanks for the invite!

Wud!!! Nice to see you here too Big Jim and from what I have seen in the past few years you too are now producing some pretty nice instruments!!! Being one who always appreciated joking around with the fine folks here I see that you do that very well too which makes me feel better in that I know that the place is in good hands when it comes to keeping it fun! Tony from NYC too! Hope all is well with ya and you will likely hear from us the next time we need bandsaw blades.

Mario my friend and teacher! I hope that you know that during the time that I participated here, in the early days 2005ish and on you were the single greatest source of my learning!!! Speaking of paying it forward, of which I intend to do be sure of this, you are the shining example of sharing of "quality" info that the rest of us attempt to live up to. Thank You!!!

Do you still have your Hot Rod Buick? Any bears in your yard recently? And if you recall for some years I would email you in the dead of winter telling you it was cold as heck here something like zero degrees and you would email me back telling me it was 20 below in your part of the woods!

Folks in the early days of the OLF and likely even still Mario was the definitive source of GOOD info on this forum. So very many of us learned to do what we do following Mario's lead and listening intently to Mario's council. Mario knows guitars - nuff said!!!

Thanks a million Mario for all that you have shared with us all and me personally too! I know that you pass through these parts on your annual sojourn down south so please know that you have a standing invitation to visit our shop in A2 and lunch, dinner, what ever is on me!

Hesh good to hear from you. I wish you well in your new endeaver. Give my regards to David

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Beautiful and unusual tone woods at a reasonable price.
http://www.rctonewoods.com/RCT_Store
The Zootman
1109 Military Rd.
Kenmore, NY 14217
(716) 874-1498

GREAT to hear from you too Uncle Bob!!! Some of the time that we spent together with other OLFers in Ft. Erie and later Buffalo were some of the best times of my life! Yeah, yeah I don't get out much.... Thanks for the well wishes my dear friend!

Folks "Uncle Bob" was/is one of the very most encouraging sorts during my time here. Bob's product offerings were always my first stop too in searching for that fantastic back and side set, top, what ever. He always understood us, understood what Luthiers need in our materials, and we watched with joy as RC Tonewoods grew and grew into a real brick and mortar business that offers world-class products!

Which also brings to mind that lots of businesses that I know of have resulted from OLF participation including to some extent our new business.

Many thanks Bob for all that you do and have done for all of us AND for being the one and only Zootman!!!

Hi Dave, I hope that your laser is still helping your make your beautiful and unique guitars my friend! I think that you were the first and only one here ever to employ a laser in our craft and that makes you in my book an innovator! Thanks for the well wished too my friend and great to see you here!

Hi Hesh, another of the oldtimers! Good luck in your new venture, hope everything goes well.

Colin

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