MIMF

The back on the Stauffer has a very slight 2-4mm cross arch. 3 bars on the back and 4 on the belly. There does seem to be some thickness tuning on back and belly. The belly is thicker, 3-3.5mm at the bridge. I started the Stauffer simply because the wood was just wide enough for it. Sometimes violi...

One thing you can do to get a feel for the glue's tenacity is to loosen the fretboard extension. This needs to be done for either a reset or a bolt-on conversion. Heat it up and stick a putty knife in there. See how much effort is required. If you have success, you might as well try a normal reset....

Glad to hear it has found a new home. +1 Michael, One final thought, About 35 years ago I took a course on piano repair and tuning. I learned a number of simple and inexpensive things that can be done to "rehab" a piano to restore it to a useful condition. If the "Three Geezers Piano...

Count me in!

My wife said "maybe they amputated a leg", which reminded me of the three legged pig joke.

If you can find some "water thin" super glue It will wick all the way through the crack without having to separate it. When you see the glue seeping through the other side put a clamp across the peghead until it dries. Don't wipe off the excess super glue. After it has dried thoroughly, yo...

Lmii sells Roy Courtnall's plan for a Torres small bodied short scale 19th century guitar. I think a number of people on the forum have built from the plan and been happy with the results: https://www.lmii.com/plans/3347-plan-1888-antonio-de-torres-short-scale.html The 1918 Martin size 1 plan by Ted...

Thanks!
I wonder how they keep the wood from drying out and cracking? I'm also curious what they used for the skin head?

I've been reluctant to use redwood for guitar soundboards. The redwood I've worked with on other projects would split very easily. Western red cedar can sometimes be weak like that so you have to select the right piece, but I haven't had any trouble gluing it. If I can find the right piece of redwoo...

Hi Mark, I had plenty of other colors to choose from but pond scum green suits me. Ugly looks fine in a campground setting. Nothing wrong with painting it if you didn't like the color. Bryan, If you use western red cedar for the top the guitar will be fairly humidity tolerant and if you use Titebond...

Hi Bryan, As Tom mentioned Martin does make some with High Pressure Laminate tops - the same basic material as Formica, Wilsonart, Nevamar, Pionite, et al. Formica, like Kleenex is a trade name that has come to be more recognizable than the generic name for the material.The HPL topped guitars Martin...

Something I tried on this one was an open harmonic bar and fan bracing extended into the upper bout. I had been using an X fan combination but this is simpler. Torres did something similar as have others, so the concept is not new. I think I made the harmonic bar heavier and kept more of it off the ...

It's more of a light pond scum green. light green with a brown haze in places and light and dark mottles. I can't imagine who would want it for a countertop but there you have it, and some equally ugly color variations of the same pattern.

Bryan Bear wrote: ↑Fri Feb 12, 2021 9:46 am The takedown style and Formica make this ideal for camping! That color though. . .

You don't think Gene Stoner would approve? I didn't have any camo pattern Formica.

It's been awhile since I've built a Formica bodied guitar and I decided I would like to have one as a compact knockabout guitar. I decided to go with a size 1 body shape and my "AR-7" takedown design to take car camping. I used a solid spruce top that was originally sold for tenor ukuleles...

Pickin' sticks can be a lot of fun. I did a little "Production Run" thing with them some years back and made about 40 of them using scrap formica for the back and sides and spruce soundboards that were not of a quality I would want to use for more serious instruments. For such a small body...

Hey Mark, Nice to see your post. I've often wondered how you and Ellie are doing (do you still keep in contact with her? - I always liked her funky creations) With the threat of covid I've become even more of a Hermit than usual. I've retired, but my wife is still working, so she runs most of the er...

Steve that looks like a well organized solution to the off cut problem. I think many of us suffer from "off cut disease" - we find it difficult to cut off our off cuts. Unfortunately I've taken it to the next level - I actually bought a few bins of some offcuts. They were bits and bobs of ...

Gibson did 12 and 14 fret necks on their L00 size bodies, and probably a few others.

Still another option would be to remove the bridge and glue a piece of rosewood to the bottom of it to build it up. I would just make a new bridge to the original design. Originality has it's place, but a hacked up original that is unserviceable I have no qualms about replacing. For smaller bodied g...