MIMF

I think the color comes from being submerged in swamp water for untold decades, possibly centuries or more. The "chemistry" of the river sediments give this wood a different character than if it was fresh cut cypress. For reference, there is a show called "Axe Men" on the History...

I agree that black walnut is too soft, like red cedar. I've had trouble with frets in both of those. As for domestic U.S. woods, I use Cherry, Mahogany, and Chinaberry as my main fretboard/bridge stock. Maple and Pecan both work as well, but I prefer darker colored woods in those applications.

I used a modified ladder type bracing, It's Ladder above the bridge plate, and Fan bracing below. That was to allow room for the F-holes. The top is 3/16" and the F-holes tapered. The wood is fairly common, but not found in the "usual sources". Gulf Cypress is a very close relative to...

My most recent building project is a "Les Paul" shaped, flat top acoustic slimline. Built out of Gulf Cypress with Florida raised Mahogany fretboard and bridge, and 3 piece laminated Cypress & Cherry neck. I've taken it out to the local open mike to show it off, and received much posit...

LMI sells a black power dye that one mixes with alcohol to use, they claim it is a permanent dye. I have not used it, but it might be less susceptible to coming off on fingers when still fresh. I've used the LMI powder dye before when mixing shellac flakes. Both the shellac and powder are alcohol b...

I love Danish oil... it and hand rubbed shellac are my two preferred finishes. 1st) Wood prep... Sand with 120, 220, then 320 grit. 2nd) Burnish raw wood with fine steel wool. 3rd) Apply a quality Wood Conditioner (Minwax) to help avoid blotchy absorption issues. 4th) Apply Danish Oil with a clean c...

Interesting, this could help explain the tone qualities of the deadhead gulf cypress that I use in my builds. The "Pecky" and discoloration in such cypress is caused by fungus.

A common practice in the Cigar Box community (where there is abundant fretless slide guitars), is to place the position dots (small side dots) where you would normally place the frets, or use some other marking for the fret positions. The main position markers are more decorative and should be place...

Yea, it hasn't worked for me either. The best way I know of to fill grain and seal wood is to wet sand with 400 grit and alcohol based shellac. It's a little bit of work, but a whole lot more reliable to just go "Old School". De-Waxed Shellac flakes will give you a wonderful base coat/seal...

I recently did a building seminar for a grade school age church youth group. I showed them how to build "Canjo"s with plastic "Red" dixie cups, and 45 lb fishing line. I used 3/4" wood dowels for the necks, cut in half length wise about 18 inches long. and brass linoleum tac...

Hey Wow... that's not far from my place... I can't wait to see everybody.

Barry, the answer to that question is long, and involves religion, shop politics, and conservation efforts. Honestly I wanted to do it a bit differently, but I'm a 3rd generation woodworker with 2nd generation micromanagement. And the shop owner ( father ) knows nothing about building musical instru...

This is the third "full size" guitar for me, my first with a handmade neck. I usually build dulcimers and CBG's. Yea the top soundboard is a little thick by "traditional" standards just under 1/4 inch ( @ 3/32" ). I have had good results from my cypress wood at that thicknes...

Trevor Gore wrote:
... My guess is that you'd be better off maximising the mobility of the soundboard, but if the "rules" are "don't mess with the box", you have what you have...

Rules?

Cigar Box Guitars?

My current project is a "Bandsaw Box" Acoustic Guitar. Instead of bending the sides on this guitar, I pieced together blocks from my scrap bin and cut it out on the bandsaw. The body is recovered Gulf Cypress from the St. John's River. The hand carved neck is laminated cypress with a cherr...

I've been tinkering with ways to improve the tonal quality of my acoustic slimline guitars, and now I'm considering the idea of placing a sound post under the bridge, like found in the violin family. Any thoughts? Has it been tried before?

There is a sawmill in Cental Florida that supplies a selection of "exotic" Florida wood.
I personally like the recovered "deadhead" Cypress, Chinaberry, and Florida Black Cherry among others...

Might be worth looking at.

http://olegeneralstore.com/LumberPrices.html

What should I call this? Round #2 I'm sure we have all experimented at one time or another with "unconventional" instrument designs... Here is one in my collection. Background... I recently built a Tiple, and was intrigued by it's 3 string course with an octave string lay out. So in my cur...

Nice... Just a thought, if you installed a pair of drawer rolling guide rails for the block to ride on, and an adjustable screw lift to elevate the jig upwards into the sanding block, and used a flywheel motor to move the sanding block back and forth like the old steam locomotives, .... hmmm Sounds...

It looks to me like what the Cigar Box Guitar folks call a Cookie Tin Banjo, except that it's made of wood. The body is of very similar dimensions to a vintage wooden cheese box http://usbox.com/Gift-Basket/Round-Wood ... oxes/2LV-P
So I would call it a "Cheese Box Ukulele/Banjo"