Nigel Forster Gouzouki Build Thread

[timcasey55]

Nigel is building me one of his fantastic guitar bouzoukis, as I'm a bit of a geek when it comes to hand made instruments I've convinced him to send me some videos and pictures as the build progresses. Thought it might be of interest to folk on here !

[timcasey55]

Here's Nigel joining the top of the soundboard https://youtu.be/URSztnmmOx4

[Lord of the Badgers]

ha ha well done, he didn't do that for me! I was used to Phil D sending me updates, but then he's a close mate. so not entirely the same thing.

it'll be a beaut going for the cylinder top?

[timcasey55]

Hey badger. Ya cylinder top, sold my Peter abnett to make way for it. Can't wait! Nigel's a good lad, prob will have emailed him 1000 times by end of the build but he gets back sharp every time in fairness

[Lord of the Badgers]

Good luck with the emailing ;-)
worth the wait dude

[nkforster]

Here's Nigel joining the top of the soundboard https://youtu.be/URSztnmmOx4

Here we go Tim,



I used the video tab on the editor and missed the "s" of https off to make it http://

Nigel

[timcasey55]

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...sfosqadqc.jpeg

[timcasey55]

I've started a photobucket album with some pics which will be great to follow from start to finish or even flick through to see the various stages of the build. The first three are Nigel's back braces which he makes from arch top wedges of fine European spruce.

[nkforster]

I've started a photobucket album with some pics which will be great to follow from start to finish or even flick through to see the various stages of the build. The first three are Nigel's back braces which he makes from arch top wedges of fine European spruce.

Aye, every few weeks I sacrifice an old archtop wedge for braces. They get rough sawn to about 12mm wide and sit for a couple of months. When I'm starting a batch of braces I take the oldest ones and take them close to final thickness by machine and finish them off with a Japanese plane which leaves a lovely burnished finish.

That's the Indian rosewood back getting glued up too. It's the same process as the top went through.

Nigel
http://www.nkforsterguitars.com/inst...itar-bouzouki/

[timcasey55]

[timcasey55]

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[nkforster]

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So, starting from the bottom, the simple rosette is black and white veneer lines, this is bound with a thin veneer of smoked eucalyptus - it's a nice black colour and bends easier than ebony.

Then I bind that with a 2mm thick piece of rocklite which is a new "engineered" wood, a really great ebony substitute. It makes great fretboards and bridges, but I think it makes superb binding - jet black but is so much more co-operative than ebony and more stable.

These engineered woods are very interesting and getting better all the time. I first saw them about 10 years ago - they are made from layers of veneer from fast growing trees like polpar, birch or pine. With more and more woods being added to the endangered list, these may well be the future of instrument making. And not just for decoration lie this case.

When that is dry I give the soundhole edge a heavy round over on both sides, when it takes the finish (nitro on the top) it looks classy and simple.

nigel

[nkforster]

[Pete Brown]

Nigel, as a guitar builder, I'm used to installing four back braces. Can you please explain why your "gouzouki" has five?

Watching with interest!

[nkforster]

Nigel, as a guitar builder, I'm used to installing four back braces. Can you please explain why your "gouzouki" has five?

Watching with interest!

Sure. I want the back "dead." There are several ways to do this, and adding an extra brace is one of them. These instruments are made for playing in noisy pubs, they have to be loud, so a "dead" back is part of that equation...

nigel

http://www.nkforsterguitars.com/inst...itar-bouzouki/

[timcasey55]

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[nkforster]

So, I'm on with the last batch of necks for this year - about three or four years back I realised I'd become "sensitised" to wood dust - it creeps up on you so watch out fellow makers. It started with ebony, then cocobolo and other rosewoods, then mahogany, then pretty much any wood dust. It got to the point where I was having to take a day or more off after final sanding despite wearing a decent mask I was having sneezing fits and breathing problems.

What do you do? Look for another occupation?

I wrote a book about guitar design a few years back, and reading back over it I can see I was quite "sniffy" about makers using cnc. But these were the thoughts of a younger man who wasn't aware he was in the process of doing himself in with wood dust exposure. Faced with the option of farming the messy stuff out or packing in lutherie and retraining made me grow up a bit!

So, I found a company in Spain to whom I sent all my fretboard stock - hundreds of old ebony fretboards - two weeks later I got the lot back - they flattened them, cut the slots, to a variety of scales and cambered them perfectly, all by cnc. I put the relief in by hand using a cabinet scraper (which makes shavings not dust) and sand them with me super posh Mirka sander (thanks to Haydn Williams for putting me on to them.) The Mirka uses Abranet abrasive and all the dust is sucked away as you work. Brilliant, and leaves a superb finish. Should have done all this years ago.

The necks are prepared by a machine shop in Newcastle - it's my timber, stuff I've had for years, I taught them about the grain orientation I want, what to reject, the order I want things done, and they do it. I'm still carving them by hand but I use a spoke shave for most of it - so once again I make shavings, not dust.

The little plane is a cheap Chinese one from ebay, and for an easy job like brace shaping it's great.

n

http://www.nkforsterguitars.com/inst...itar-bouzouki/

[timcasey55]

[timcasey55]

[timcasey55]

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[timcasey55]

[nkforster]

Gary Carter makes these fret saws in Wales. I use them to make sure the slots are the correct depth after scraping in the relief. Look for GMC luthier tools online or on ebay.co.uk. They use normal hacksaw blades and they are the best I've found.

nigel
http://www.nkforsterguitars.com/inst...itar-bouzouki/

[nkforster]

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Head veneers on back and front.

nigel
http://www.nkforsterguitars.com/inst...itar-bouzouki/

[Mandocarver]

Many thanks for posting this thread, Nigel. It makes fascinating reading and viewing for amateurs like me.

[fox]

Yep, I agree, this is a great thread, so interesting to follow a pro build.