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Austin,

Did you ever give the EmTech finish a try?

Here's something that has worked for me. I use Z-Poxy Finishing Resin to porefill most of my instruments. When I'm going for a vintage look, I just apply it over the bindings and leave it. (no...

John,

I do have quite a bit of bar fret stock that's got a very gentle radius, nowhere near enough to use "as-is". I've had it for quite a few years as it doesn't get used very often. I know LMI...

James,

Does it look like it will work on bar frets?

Michael,

If you only need enough fretwire for 5 frets, I'll be happy to send you enough bar fret stock for that. Measure the thickness with a caliper and let me know the thickness (Most Martin...

Dennis,

Rick knows what he's talking about. Listen to the voice of experience. You can't get a better sealer than shellac, it's time tested, and works under almost any finish. I just wipe it on...

Lefty,

Try Behlen's Qualarenew. You can probably get it at Woodcraft, at least the one in Austin has it. It works on nitro and most solvent based finishes. I've used it successfully in a situation...

Hans,

Fortunately, I've not had to take one apart and your point about repair is well taken. It would be a pretty tedious task, but one that is certainly possible, as Frank illustrates.

There...

Haans,

Beautiful work. The end result is the same, just a different path to get there. The modified bridle joint is very difficult to explain, but not that difficult to execute. It requires a...

Another equally elegant joint is the modified bridle joint used by Martin until about 1915. The origins of the "volute" or "diamond" lie in this joint.

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Mario,

Dremel makes a little diamond cutoff wheel. It works great for lots of things. I built a sliding table saw to cut abalam sheets into strips and it works perfectly. It will cut most...

How do you get on the invite list? I'm not a mandolin player, but I can bring a guitar and bang some chords.

Andrew,

My advice (based on your desire to make the guitar playable and not treating it as a museum piece) would be to have the neck reset. I honestly don't think it reduces the value of the...

I'll be there displaying guitars (No mandolins - maybe someday) and would like to invite all Cafe members to drop by and say hello. I'll have a Brazilian/Adi 13 fret 00 and an Amazon RW/Lutz Spruce...

Andrew,

I've had good luck using Stew-Mac's amber trans-tint. I just sand off the gloss and apply the tint. You can vary the appearance by either thinning the tint w/alcohol or varying the number...