Hey Muttley.........

ausrock

ausrock

Well-known member
Hey Muttley.........and Light

Well mate, the journey has started..........I have my European Spruce wedges for the top plate, will hopefully get to lightly dress them on a jointer tomorrow ready for glueing up.

Do you have any suggestions for sources of quality figured Maple back and side sets for archtops..........I know I can get them from LMI but thought you may know of others.

ChrisO :cool:
 

Attachments

  • P8150044a.JPG
    P8150044a.JPG
    7.8 KB · Views: 62
Last edited:
Sorry just seen this, I'm holidaying with the wife and kids...

Glad to see you've made a start. I have no idea about getting maple in your part of the world sorry. I select all mine and only rarely buy unseen. If you have to ship it in then I would bite the bullet on the first set and order a set from a known supplier. Light may be able to point you at a few in the states. I normally buy at least half a dozen sets and if I get them blind from the states it's normally on recommendation from guys I know. Here in Europe Gleisner are the safest bet. Other than that I pick the stuff up when I come across it from the guys that do tone wood here in the UK and make an annual trip to Austria and Germany to buy it a source. I can ask around for suppliers in Aus if your not in a hurry..
 
Muttley,

There's only one place in Aust., that regularly stocks archtop timbers which is why I'll probably have to import. Gleisner look interesting so I'll probably contact them in the future.

Many thanks for your comments.

:cool:
 
I'm not an archtop guy, so all I can say is that LMI is a reliable and consistent supplier. Another good place would be Exotic Woods. I've got some other suppliers who have the stuff, but they are not on the internet, and I don't think they sell less than 12 sets at a time.

One suggestion - for your first few guitars, buy good wood, but don't go overboard. The truth is, you're probably going to make some mistakes. Everybody does. Don't worry to much about it, but there is no need to use a $500 set of 5A quilted maple in that situation. The 3A Eastern Flamed will still look and sound great, and cost half the money. Similarly, there is no reason for some guy building his first flat top to use a set of Brazilian rosewood.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
Milnoque said:
I found this thread which may be of interest to you.

http://www.woodworkforums.com/archive/index.php/t-38284.html

Good luck on your project. Allow your wood to acclimate as long as you can before using.
Click to expand...

Milnoque,

Thanks for the suggestion........oddly enough I had actually posted in the thread in that link (different username).



Light,

LMI was my preference but Exotic Woods look very interesting.......thanks for the suggestion.

:cool:
 
ausrock said:
Milnoque,

Thanks for the suggestion........oddly enough I had actually posted in the thread in that link (different username).



Light,

LMI was my preference but Exotic Woods look very interesting.......thanks for the suggestion.

:cool:
Click to expand...

The main thing I like about Exotic Woods (other than saying the name of the owner, Gulab Gidwani, which is just a fun name to say) is they have a wider selection of sizes and types of maple - which is very useful for me as the standard sizes that LMI sells don't actually work on my guitars - they have really good lightweight ash, and their prices are usually just a little bit better than LMI.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
ausrock said:
Milnoque,

Thanks for the suggestion........oddly enough I had actually posted in the thread in that link (different username).



Light,

LMI was my preference but Exotic Woods look very interesting.......thanks for the suggestion.

:cool:
Click to expand...

It may be worth your while dropping by at mimf and checking out some of their sponsors who are tonewood suppliers a few of them post there quite often as well. I haven't been there for a while but watch for their posting rules as they used to be quite strict about self promotion. I believe that they have relaxed them a bit. I know Larry Davis posts there and he is Gallery Hardwoods. He's a nice bloke and although I haven't bought from him I know others who have and recommend his service highly.
 
Hey Aus

Surprised you're not taking up the challenge of making an authentic Australian guitar by cobbling one together out of termited fence posts...

Although I grant you that spinters could be a problem... :eek:

How you doing?
 
Armi,

Good to hear from you.

Mate, I've been flat out at work, something that probably (hopefully) won't change for some time as it's kinda funding my lutherie adventure :)..........I considered using some local timbers but at least for the first "build", I want to stay close to what I consider traditional materials and methods.

Anyways, how are you?.........Working on your next album?

ChrisO :cool:
 
Hey Aus - likewise

The "difficult" fourth album is actually all written... just can't get around to recording it! Always the way... I have about 20 tunes, some of which are quite good(!) tabbed up in Guitar Pro for when I get the chance..

These days I'm actually working on getting a duo (yeah, what the world really needs is another couple of guys playing acoustic guitars and singing songs...) together with a pal of mine. This would feature actual singing... bit of a departure for me, I know... mostly his, but some of mine. Mainly originals, few covers to pad it out. Think we have about 24 songs on the list in various stages of development.

For some reason, my songs rarely feature middle eights with vocals, but there are often instrumental middle eights... now why would that be, I wonder!

Probably another 4 - 6 weeks of practicing and we'll be ready to go. And we may even have a gig here in the bar underneath where I work... the IT crew here have a band called The Blue Tongue Lizards that do blues / bluegrass etc. and they play there regularly and the singer is keen for us to play there.. and he books the place, so here's hoping.

Could have been playing there tonight actually but had to bail as we're just not quite ready yet...

Good luck with the guitar building. Let me know how it goes... if you get production happening, well I can always use an extra acoustic - saving for one now, as it happens.

Cheers

(Sorry to any HR person who entered this thread expecting it still to be about guitar building...a bit OT I know....too lazy to PM...)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top