Official Luthiers Forum!

Can I use walnut for the bridge patch and can i use walnut for the bridge as well?

This is an uncommon material....likely to be lighter than rosewood, and much lighter than ebony. The weight of the bridge is critical in shaping the voice and tone of a guitar. It is definitely going to change things. I will let the experienced SS builders comment further on, but for nylon-string guitars, light bridges tend towards a brighter, faster treble, and less sustain.

As for the bridge plate, if I was the select a nonstandard wood, i'd first try to test it and compare to the standard maple and rosewood. You can crush the edge of a 3mm plate with a couple different pliers. Can also try to cut it with a real string and see how it copes with.

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It might be a bit on the soft side. How nice a guitar do you want?

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Here is what a Parlor Guitar is for!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEa8PkjO6_I

it is my first, spruce top, black walnut back and sides it was just the extras i had lying around so i thoght i would ask, so i will just buy a patch and bridge from lmi, also i am working down my top that i received from lmi and i am not very skilled with the hand plane does anyone use a portable belt sander to get down to final thickness?

it is my first, spruce top, black walnut back and sides it was just the extras i had lying around so i thoght i would ask, so i will just buy a patch and bridge from lmi, also i am working down my top that i received from lmi and i am not very skilled with the hand plane does anyone use a portable belt sander to get down to final thickness?

Getting used to a handplane is a good skill to have. I find that thinning the spruce is one of the more enjoyable aspects in guitar making. It should work easily well as long as the plane is good, with a flat sole, the blade is well sharpened, is used correctly, you take reasonably light cuts and do not work against the grain runout. It would take a small book to try and explain everything in detail, but in time you should be able to figure out what is wrong and what's to be done to fix it. You can also ask here about specific issues.

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