Members meandi Posted August 1, 2008 Author Members Share Posted August 1, 2008 brass inserts take a 6/32 threaded capscrew. caps of the screws sit flush with top of the saddle. i don't know that i'll use them...may go back to the thumbwheels, but wanted to try the idea on this prototype. i like the saddle part of it though...this will allow me to have the strings sitting on bone rather than the softer wood. saddle is wide enough for 2 1/8" string spread with 1/16" on each end before entering the channel in which it sits. i didn't take the time to do any roundovers or finish configuring...just enough to allow me to assess the item to see what i think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Etienne Rambert Posted August 2, 2008 Members Share Posted August 2, 2008 meandi: "who is the builder of the archtop?" My luthier, Mr. Binh of Tam Hiep Luthiers on Luthier Street in Saigon, (Nguyen Thien Thuat). I bought it out of the display case. I had him replace the tuners with black Schallers, install the Kent Armstrong & later on, inlay my name on the headstock. It's a nice guitar. The guitars over here will sound as good or better than anything made in the West. Where they don't measure up is the neck and the set-up. This neck is kind of thick to my liking. The necks on my Guilds are much nicer. The fingerboard action is fast on it. But the neck is kind of chunky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members meandi Posted August 2, 2008 Author Members Share Posted August 2, 2008 Originally Posted by marcellis My luthier, Mr. Binh of Tam Hiep Luthiers on Luthier Street in Saigon, (Nguyen Thien Thuat). most interesting. do they have a web page? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Etienne Rambert Posted August 2, 2008 Members Share Posted August 2, 2008 No. I keep telling him he needs one. He'll probably answer your emails. binhguitar@yahoo.com I ought to give him space on my website. But then, I'd have to spend time photographing all his guitars. Five or six people have made the trip here, looked me up in Saigon and bought guitars from him. That's the best way to do it. There are a lot of luthiers on luthier street. I'd only buy guitars from three of them though. And one of them is a s*it. And he's more expensive than Binh. His guitars aren't as good either. The other one is known for violins & stand-up basses. He's made some amazing looking things. I haven't bought any instruments from him though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members meandi Posted August 2, 2008 Author Members Share Posted August 2, 2008 Originally Posted by marcellis No. I keep telling him he needs one. He'll probably answer your emails. binhguitar@yahoo.com I ought to give him space on my website. But then, I'd have to spend time photographing all his guitars. Five or six people have made the trip here, looked me up in Saigon and bought guitars from him. That's the best way to do it. There are a lot of luthiers on luthier street. I'd only buy guitars from three of them though. And one of them is a s*it. And he's more expensive than Binh. His guitars aren't as good either. The other one is known for violins & stand-up basses. He's made some amazing looking things. I haven't bought any instruments from him though. didn't think they did. i did a google on them & the first thing poped up was this thread where you & i were talking about them. i'm just curious to have a peek inside their shop...see how they do things. i've watched several videos shot in some of the shops in that little guitar town down mexico way. since i do so much of my stuff by hand...never know where you're gonna find a new "twick of the twade". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members meandi Posted August 3, 2008 Author Members Share Posted August 3, 2008 fret slotting blade still did not arrive. i ordered it early last week...usually get small items in usps in 2 days, 3 at most. going to get one more coat on the body mold...marine spar varnish even gives the cheap plywood a nice amber glow. with my bridge/saddle prototype done, i'm going to proceed with the tailpiece. tracing for the backside of the tailpiece is used to transfer the forward line for the fulcrum to the maple template, which is used to transfer same line to the ebony blank. one can tell i've been in the book a lot...the pages are falling out. straight edged piece of maple is clamped at the line for use as a guide for making straight cuts & to keep the work square with the tailpiece blank. cutting is done with a 1/4" nut slotting file which has the teeth on the edges rather than the face of the file nice & clean & square...even in the bottom corners of the slot. random piece of ebony is left from cutting fingerboard & fixtures earlier. fulcrum blank was sized on the belt sander after cutting excess away. i sized it in a slight wedge shape & took off the bottom side till i had a nice snug press fit into the slot. still slightly large dimensionally overall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members meandi Posted August 3, 2008 Author Members Share Posted August 3, 2008 cavity for the adjustable tailpiece strap in progress. will use the 3/8" chisel to channel between where the ends were bored. pretty sweet, actually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members meandi Posted August 4, 2008 Author Members Share Posted August 4, 2008 got the rest of the reference points drilled on the hard maple template. i can now quickly & easily do all of the layout for further tailpieces off of this one pattern. clamped the template to the ebony piece & marked the locations for the string slots by using the drill bits as centering punches & tapping them with a hammer to make an impression. and drilled them. opened the area between them with the copeing saw & dressed with a small knife edged riffler file. i must admit i'm not totally pleased with my results on this step...i've lost some of the crispness of the transition from the 3/16" hole at the point where the 3/32" cut leaves it. i may re-build this piece...i'll lay it out with the bridge/saddle prototype & look at it as i do other things & see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Etienne Rambert Posted August 4, 2008 Members Share Posted August 4, 2008 This is a really great thread, BTW. It's one of the best ever, if you ask me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members meandi Posted August 4, 2008 Author Members Share Posted August 4, 2008 Originally Posted by marcellis This is a really great thread, BTW. It's one of the best ever, if you ask me. thanks for the compliment, marcellis. i'm glad you're enjoying it. even though i earlier stated that i may not use this tailpiece, i went ahead & radiused the top to match the fingerboard radius i'll use on the guitar. i guess that's a good indication that it may be used...indecisiveness bothers me, but sometimes it's difficult to make up my mind when an issue is right on the balance point. i really like compound radius on my fingerboards...this guitar will be 12" at the nut to 16 in the upper registers, so i used a 16" radius block with first 40 grit & then 80 to cut the radius on the tailpiece. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members meandi Posted August 4, 2008 Author Members Share Posted August 4, 2008 and then matched it on the underside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mjuenem Posted August 5, 2008 Members Share Posted August 5, 2008 Originally Posted by meandi opened the area between them with the copeing saw & dressed with a small knife edged riffler file. i must admit i'm not totally pleased with my results on this step...i've lost some of the crispness of the transition from the 3/16" hole at the point where the 3/32" cut leaves it. Maybe the hand held coping saw was the problem. Why not cut two more holes in some scrap stock and use a scroll saw with a fine blade to see if you like the result. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members meandi Posted August 5, 2008 Author Members Share Posted August 5, 2008 mjuenem:i've thought of that as well as the possibility of a small benchtop multipurpose machine that has a lathe, overhead mill & boring function with a feed table.i could clamp the square tailpiece blank on the feed table...bore the holes for the tailstrap, mill the cavities for the tailstrap adjusters & do the string slots in one set-up, then cut the final shape.this machine would also be beneficial for cutting the saddle slot for the bone insert on the bridge/saddle piece as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mjuenem Posted August 5, 2008 Members Share Posted August 5, 2008 I have a few milling bits lying around. What size are you looking for? I could see what I have and let you know. I got them at a previous job and thought I would maybe use them on my drill press with a feed table. As you might guess, all they got me was the chuck out of the press and spinning like a top on the work table. I was lucky that day... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members meandi Posted August 5, 2008 Author Members Share Posted August 5, 2008 i'll get some info to you later...i've got a piece of side wood soaking that's about 10 min. from being ready to bend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members meandi Posted August 5, 2008 Author Members Share Posted August 5, 2008 first piece of side wood soaking...used a small clamp with the threaded shaft in the water to keep the wood from trying to float. probably more clamps than i need...i am prone at times, it seems, to overkill. bending is certainly one of those skills where a conceptual understanding only gets you started...nothing but the feel of how the wood reacts to the steam within to make you adept at the procedure. i do have full contact between the wood & the mold on both sides of the mold, top & bottom. so i feel pretty good about the results of my first attempt. my only split out. this was my first bend, & i think i may have been pushing it just a little to fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mjuenem Posted August 5, 2008 Members Share Posted August 5, 2008 Wow, that bend looks good. How long do you steam it and how quickly do you have to work after taking it out of the steam bath?By the way, I checked my mill bits and I have .020, 1/16, 3/32, 3/16, 5/32, 11/64, 19/64 and 11/32. I'm not using them so if you think you can put certain sizes to use I can mail them to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members meandi Posted August 5, 2008 Author Members Share Posted August 5, 2008 Originally Posted by mjuenem Wow, that bend looks good. How long do you steam it and how quickly do you have to work after taking it out of the steam bath? By the way, I checked my mill bits and I have .020, 1/16, 3/32, 3/16, 5/32, 11/64, 19/64 and 11/32. I'm not using them so if you think you can put certain sizes to use I can mail them to you. the steam occurs within the wood while it's on the hot iron...thus the need to soak it before. some of the larger shops do have steam cabinets, but most of the smaller builders, whos web pages i've read, seem to do it this way. in addition to the soak tube in the photo, i have a bucket of water on the floor below the bending pipe which i used to re-wet the cut-away area & a bowl of water with a piece of terry cloth for re-wetting areas further down the side. heat drys everything out pretty quickly. i'm sure there is still residual excess moisture within the wood, so it'll stay in the mold under clamps for a few days. the 3/32" bit would work for the smaller dimension on the string slots, but that seems to be the only size i need that you have. i'd be happy to purchase it from you, & thanks a lot for the generous offer to help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members meandi Posted August 5, 2008 Author Members Share Posted August 5, 2008 a huge sigh of relief has just been uttered! for some reason i was more nervous about the side bending than i was about my ability to carve a good top/back plate. the clamp at the tailblock area is quite loose since there is overlap of the two sides & i don't want it to dry with a crimp of any sort. that will be pulled into place when the tailblock is glued in place. no splintering at all on this side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mjuenem Posted August 5, 2008 Members Share Posted August 5, 2008 I can't sell what I never bought and don't use anyway. I will send you two - one has drill style tips to start the hole and then travel, while the other has typical flat bottom tips. Both are double ended. Send me your postal address and I will get them in the mail. Just use the PM function if you want to keep your home address private. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members meandi Posted August 5, 2008 Author Members Share Posted August 5, 2008 Originally Posted by mjuenem I can't sell what I never bought and don't use anyway. I will send you two - one has drill style tips to start the hole and then travel, while the other has typical flat bottom tips. Both are double ended. Send me your postal address and I will get them in the mail. Just use the PM function if you want to keep your home address private. postal address pm'ed to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mjuenem Posted August 5, 2008 Members Share Posted August 5, 2008 They're on the way. Should be to you by Friday. Cheers and keep those pictures coming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members meandi Posted August 5, 2008 Author Members Share Posted August 5, 2008 Originally Posted by mjuenem They're on the way. Should be to you by Friday. Cheers and keep those pictures coming. more photos coming along shortly...my fret slot blade got here today, so i'll do the fingerboard tomorow. and, thanks again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarist21 Posted August 5, 2008 Members Share Posted August 5, 2008 Haven't seen the thread in a few days, so I'm glad to see things are going swimmingly, meandi! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members meandi Posted August 5, 2008 Author Members Share Posted August 5, 2008 Originally Posted by guitarist21 Haven't seen the thread in a few days, so I'm glad to see things are going swimmingly, meandi! putting right along. thanks for stopping in! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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