Official Luthiers Forum!

Hello, I have my Martin kit and I am ready to do the top, I want to go ahead and buy a Go- bar deck. I have seen the ones from LMI, Blues creek, Stewart Mcdonald, was wondering what if any others are out there for sale. Which one is recommended and why. Best to you and yours ddreamer;

Hi Robert and welcome to the OLF.

A go-bar deck is very easy to make on your own without getting anyone's kit. Here is a list of what you need:

4 36" 1/2" threaded rods - I have seen this for about $7 each
4 24" X 24" X 3/4" plywood - HD and Lowes have "handy panels" that are 48 X 24 and they will cut them in half for you
8 T-Nuts 1/2"
4 1/2" nuts
8-16 1/2" washers

To cover the threaded rod you can use PVC pipe or conduit or leave them uncovered.

Also if you search the archives you will see lots of creative ways to make very simple go-bar decks.

The rods can be purchased form stunt kite shops including one called into the wind if you Google them.

Welcome aboard.

Definitely build one and definitely use 2" PVC over the threaded rod... Actually tighten the rod against the PVC and use a miter saw to cut the PVC (or have the hardware store do it for you.) The threaded rod by itself will make the stand real wobbly and unstable, at least it did for me.

You can get the go-bars from intothewind.com, get 3/16" fiberglass rods, 48" long, and cut them in half. They have the rubber ends, too. Get the little Zona hacksaw and blades, too, it's a nice little saw for $8. Or if you have hardwood lumber scrap sometimes guys prefer to use that for go-bars instead.

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Jonathan Kendall, Siloam Springs AR

One suggestion,
If you go with a homemade deck, be sure to space the corner rods or tubes sufficiently apart so you have adequate shoulder room when adding and removing go-bar rods. I'm going to have to re-do mine because of this.

René

I dislike go-bar decks that have support posts, they get in the way and are a nuissance. I use one where the top is supported by heavy duty brackets, and with the workbench as the base. I used to have one with supports by after using it for one guitar it was ditched.

Colin

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

I would definitely make one. I put a shelf on mine, and I have found it to be exceptionally handy.

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

Here's mine. I've made the top adjustable so I only need one length of go bars. I started off using wood go bars but they take a set and eventually need to be replaced so I decided to try fiberglass. So far I'm happy with them. Note the clear plastic tubing over most of the threaded rod; this has prevented damage to relatively fragile parts more than once.



The deck is mounted on a 20" x 20" cart that is on casters so I can pull it out and rotate as needed during the glue ups then put it back in its parking spot when I'm done or while the glue dries. You can see that I haven't made the drawers yet for this.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Mine is exactly as Hesh described and I built it while building my 1st guitar 5 years ago. I do not see any reason to cover the threaded rods, I adjust the height to where I get enough go bar deflection and tighten the nuts against each other. I am constantly adjusting the height of mine as I use it for so many different operations of the build, and when gluing on the back, especially on a wedge guitar requires the top to not be parallel with the base. I use the 3/16" go bars that I got of ebay and also have some wood bars, I never seem to have enough go bars especially when bracing tops.

Fred

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Fred Tellier
http://www.fetellierguitars.com
Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/FE-Tellier-Guitars/163451547003866

That is a good idea... I am going to borrow that.

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

I simply extended the shelf over my bench-works great.
I will try to take a picture of it.
Brad

I posted about this recently, but I'm so pleased about it, that here it comes again.

I built a cheap go bar deck last year. I made it so that my homemade 24" dishes fit in it and the whole deal. it was not the best but it worked.



but wouldn't you know it, one day I suddenly realize that my go bar deck is sitting beneath an I-beam that runs thru the ceiling in my basement, and passes directly over the workbench. I grab my yard stick and measure the distance between the surface of the dish on my workbench and the I-beam, and it is 35".

so I buy a few SPF 2"x2"s at menards for 98 cents each and rip go bars that are 1/4" by 3/4", and get various lengths to accommodate different situations.

I like to use craft store popsicle sticks to keep my go bars from denting my project. and if I'm worried about the go bars sliding around, I'll use cut up pieces of an inner tube.

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"...you have to get over your strict adherence to your largely imagined notion of absolute perfection..."

Fred, I may be clumsier than you but if the rods weren't covered I would have already dinged some wood. When a piece of spruce hits some 5/8" all-thread, the spruce loses. I only cover the threads part way up so I can still adjust the height. It's one of those 'do what works for you things', I suppose.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

My experience also. I cover part way, same reasons

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Here is mine, although its a bit cluttered at the moment. I built it into the end of my bench, and the top serves as a shelf. I bought fiberglass rods from goodwinds.com

I had a stand alone in the old shop and made two adjustable ceiling mount in the new shop. The thing I liked about the stand alone is the ability to spin it.

Mine too. I turn the entire deck to put rods in, and when I'm not using it, I roll it out of the shop and into a storage area. I bought a metal cabinet at a flea market and put mind on top of it. Works like a dream and gives me a lot of additional storage.

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Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.