Just to clear up some botanical confusion, Port Orford cedar (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana) and Bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) are not in the same genus, but are in the same conifer family...
Just to clear up some botanical confusion, Port Orford cedar (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana) and Bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) are not in the same genus, but are in the same conifer family...
I like this "torture rack" design. I've been luck to get realignment on some examples with cauls and clamps but it can be challenging with round or oblong objects. I like John's idea of "splitting...
If you see any signs of white glue, or heaven help us CA, "just say no."
Gibson's trademarks are not really the "issue" with lots of people, it is the companies' heavy handed tactics related to such.
C F Martin has trademarks too. The "rectangular" peghead being one of...
I am a young builder.......but a very respected building mentor told me once if you want the best pieces to use for tone bars, you cant just cut a couple out of one piece of wood or only order 2. To...
The nice thing about hot hide glue is that you can control the strength of the bond depending on the amount of water you use when mixing it.
Looking good James!
Carter's used to be the greatest music store in the world. Probably still is, but it ain't quite what it used to be. The first time I went, the sales guy left me alone playing a Loar in a room full...
Usually the ones that ain't for sale!:))
Here is a Bayard 26 inch based on the 24 Loar K5, really nice tone on this
I'll admit 26 inches scares me a little
bkuAmpKIQ9U
I’ve only played 1 Loar, and it had a very lovely sound. Of affordable instruments, there’s a Duff and a Sullivan I lust for, although neither are for sale. I’ve played several very nice mandolins...
All that may be true, but why not use the best stuff you can find now?
Bill
The grading stamp has 'SPF' (spruce-pine-fir), which groups western species of similar strength. The spruce is Engelmann, the pine is lodgepole or other similar western pines, and the fir is white...
THe longitudinal (aka parallel) modulus does indeed follow density. However, the cross-grain (aka perpendicular) modulus can be all over the map, and for a variety of reasons. Per Graham...
Why not use an A/B switch and a line splitter?
My recommendation would be to go ahead and set up your mixer and one or more PA speaker and set up a GoPro or other recording method to actually hear what it sounds like out at audience position. I...
Tony is a fantastic picker and everyone should look up Jerry’s mandolin album on YouTube. Jerry is a great picker.
The Murphy brothers played a lot in NC where I’m from. I love this story.
Harry...
This mandolin was featured in the "Sometimes a case tells a story" article recently.
hSCJPC5LrYo
If someone has a problem with that conversion they might have too much time on their hands. I can't remember the last time anyone asked where they could find a tenor lute because they were looking...
Copper plumbing has provided many ferrules.
I’m sure some of you have done something like this: raising the tailpiece to lessen the downforce on a fragile instrument. In this case, an awful Rover 35 whose top was collapsing. I pulled the...
Good gouges are still good many years later unless they were badly damaged and lost their temper.
My best chisel, I dug out in the garden behind our church where old houses used to be 60 years ago....
Almost all of my gouges are old with the exception of 2 custom made ones (one of them is good, the other doesn't live up to it's supposed quality) and some small carvers gouges that I bought new...
Old gouges become new gouges when you sharpen them. If you make a new handle, that’s just deluxe.
Old Buck Bros are very nice tools. I have some that were old when I got them in the seventies.
If you draw a vector diagram of the forces, you will see that the down force on the top is nowhere near the full string tension. The formula for the down force of the strings on the bridge/top plate...