Guitar Nerds Anonymous

Love how minimal he is too. Just super fucking cool. Looks like he's hardly tickling the thing, while he's grooving and tipping his hat to the other musicians whilst generating this righteous boogie.

When he invites his buddy up to take the last solo, the contrast makes apparent (to me anyway), the difference between a good player and Billy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjqykLGsjE8

What the fuck is up with that weird awful hat he wears under his hat though?

heh. It's actually sweet story. https://tybeeguy.wordpress.com/2008/10/06/the-juju-behind-billy-gibbons-hat/

Pfff, it's all about the pre-ZZ Billy... 😉
https://youtu.be/Ctt16zqgDpU

Had no idea I was grooving along to Billy as a 15yr old... He is a great player, like you say it's almost like he isn't playing blues, it's so sideways or something...

Got the white Junior and B-bender back from my guy today, both are playing fabulously... Crack has gone and it may be the nicest playing of all my juniors now... It's so resonant, sounds great acoustically... Guy did a great job on my strat too, it's never played better... Final fettling after the refret did the business...

Gonna leave this here for you guys, I know @rickster is a fan...
https://youtu.be/f1XrTzVzbJY

If you can't hold the joint together using only hand strength when you are dry fitting then you are asking for trouble.

Out of curiosity what plane did youuse to prep it?

Apologies for coming in and telling seasoned guitar builders stuff but this applies to the type of work I regularly do with other kinds of woodworking.

Guys I'm considering building my first guitar and want it to be an acoustic. I've got some lovely apple wood that's been seasoning for the last 2 years for the top and some mango for the sides, back and neck all decent tonewoods but stuff that's not regularly used by luthiers. The thing is a couple of weeks ago I got an idea in my head that just won't shift....... What if I build a resonator instead of a dreadnought? I'm I being terribly stupid even considering this?

My uncle was lead camera for the first 2 or 3 years of Austin City Limits. He saw some bands back in the day.

/csb

What a great job that would've been!!

I'm watching the rest of that Son Volt show now, been playing them a lot in the car recently... I never listened to much Uncle Tupelo BITD but been enjoying that as well recently...

For balance... I love this LP so much, feel privileged to have seen most of these songs played live when they toured Being There...
https://youtu.be/_RtoFAviHC4

You are of course right. but hindsight, etc.

I didn't plane it, my mate did, with a machine. At least the flats.
The edges I planed with a tiny Kunz 102 handplane. Totally the wrong tool for the job, but alas there is actually no other plane in my workshop. Got to spend some cash on a proper one sometime.

A few weeks into lockdown i dug out a little soprano ukele my wife gave me about 10 years ago and have enjoyed playing it, signed up for an app that has some lessons and have enjoyed progressing through that, but its very small and although i'm a shortarse i find lots of chords very cramped so i've been thinking about upgrading to a concert uke and buying something a bit more refined, but while on guitar websites thought about potentially just changing course and learning to play the guitar instead (i realise 6 strings is a lot more complex and sure there's a bunch of other stuff ive not even considered yet) but i'm not sure which direction to head in and looking for some advice!

in my head a smaller acoustic guitar will be easier to manage, I dont want to spend a fortune but i dont want to buy something that im going to want to replace again in 6 months time, and it will sit on display in my home office so i need to like the way it looks too.

so considering the following options:
Fender Malibu Player (has electric options built in so has plenty of room to grow right at the top of what i could conceivably spend and worry a lot of the budget is going on the electric bit that i may never use)
https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/product/190110337324008--fender-malibu-player-burgundy-satin-wn?gclid=Cj0KCQjw2PP1BRCiARIsAEqv-pSFpgXMNmusGFUa0dEAsvz75qbTiFdVfVuMNx1Kj9QuIZzjqkWAe7waAqTbEALw_wcB
Fender Sonoran Mini (worry a mini will be comedy small and limiting really soon)
https://www.reidys.com/acoustic-guitars-c2/fender-sonoran-mini-natural-p7159

Awww yeah. Son Volt, Uncle Tupelo, early Wilco (and later Wilco as well, let’s be honest), just beautiful.

Have this:

https://youtu.be/_wNtk4mea9A

An apron plane will just cause you issues with surfaces that you are trying to joint it is just possible to prep a surface ready for jointing with a no. 4 bailey pattern smoothing plane but the attention to detail has to be spot on and you have to be well practiced. The shortest plane I would ever use to prep edges for jointing is a 5 1/2 bailey pattern (jack plane) and it's also what I would recommend for people who are looking to refine their skills. It is tempting to use a 6, 7 or even 8 but the extra sole length on these planes actually start to present issues as expansion and contraction with changes in temperature can cause the sole to bow slightly.

I recently bought a super-folk size Tanglewood that I'm enjoying playing and it is quite "chuckable". It's got quite a lim neck and nice light action. They do a travel size one, which might be worth looking at. The Yamaha Guitalele has also been recommended here before.

Hey @>>>>>> speaking of pre ZZ, have you heard this version?

https://youtu.be/LB0jHiPH2Ds

Personally I've got a tanglewood parlour (this one, but electro-acoustic: https://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/Tanglewood-TWJPS-Exotic-Java-Parlour-Acoustic-Natural-Gloss/2L9Q) and absolutely love it, the size is great for a combo of playability and sound. If you didn't want to stretch to £350 keep an eye on reverb and ebay, lots of interesting parlours come up and it's a nice option.

This parlour from Vintage (sort of the btwin of the guitar world) also looks a nice option: https://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/Vintage-V880-Acoustic-Parlour-Guitar-Cedar-Top-Natural/IV0

I have an old Stanley No.5. Bought from a car boot sale for five quid years ago. Aces. Sadly it's still in London and I'm not....

Old planes go for real money here. I had no idea how expensive the high quality new ones are.

They sound like some lovely tone woods man! I'd be tempted to build an OM or Parlor sized guitar with those rather than a dreadnought, I'd probably avoid the resonator, I love resonators but I prefer a steel one...

Looking forward to build progress reports on this though!

@Sainsburys_Ed it was probably me extolling the virtues of the Guitalele. It is loads of fun (I keep mine in bathroom to play while the kids are in the tub) but not exactly a “proper” instrument. I did once do a gig with it. Supported the Fat White Manson Family (bad taste Fat Whites spin-off) at the Windmill with just that and a mic.

Anyway, I’d keep an eye out for a nice solid topped small bodied acoustic on the bay if I were you.

Is there a "proper hand tools" thread? I think I'm in need of some recommendations. I'll try to remember the 5 1/2“ mark, cheers.

Okay, so to prevent this thread from becoming a "watch me fail at woodworking in every conceivable way" thread, here's some good-ish news:

Everything went better than expected.
The second glue up was way better than the first. After flattening that to a workable degree, I cut out the body using a table mounted jigsaw. First blade got promptly bent, so I changed to a 20cm festool monster, which made short work of the ash. Somewhat respect inducing.

After that, I routed the body outline to shape, which went well, and sanded to shape on the belt sander.

Only minor fixable, or already fixed, accidents today. And I ended the day with something guitar shaped.
The bad join isn't so bad on the outline. I have photographed the worst bit and I think I can mask that and live with it.

The part where the four boards meet looks pretty sweet though.

3 Attachments

There's a pretty killer deal on a Recording King parlour at Thomann right now. https://www.thomann.de/de/recording_king_rp_a9m.htm?offid=1&affid=84

Other flavours are available https://www.gearnews.com/massive-savings-on-four-recording-king-acoustic-guitars-some-over-50-off/

Full solid construction for £150? That's only a little more than I paid for a fucking Squier a few years ago.

That 0 size is the business, really pretty little thing... You won't be able to beat that, Ed! Just buy it...