Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

I have been really happy with this Falcate Crossover. I did however just notice some bracing print-through just behind the bridge. It's not much I can feel it when I run my finger tips across the surface. It shows up in the right but and very hard to show in a photo. Should I be worried about this? ...

Some more pics of my build. The tuners are Perfection Pegs. They work well once one gets used to them. The bridge has 12 holes that go right through and 6 holes that go halfway, just to anchor string ends. I am going to call is a 15-Hole Bridge. The Black Bean back looks really nice. Lots of the fea...

That's a mess, what happened to it? You mentioned plywood but that looks like solid spruce?

Hi Alan, Thanks for your interest in my project. I made my sound hole 95mm dia which seems to be right for my bigger body. I got out my old F10 and it's sound hole measures 85mm dia. I put my hand in and feel that the space is such that I would be able to get bolts done up in there. Swinging a small...

Thanks Mark, the top is domed at 10m radius but the dome is tilted down toward the neck. When I was shaping the dome I took 5mm off the neck block and virtually nothing if the tail block. This way the neck meets the sides at closer to a right angle than it would have otherwise. Neck doesn't appear t...

Just been looking at resonances. The main body resonances when the box was first closed were: 88,176 & 237 Now after binding, shellac and bridge, I get: 97,188 & 231. The top went up because of the bracing added by the bridge; a bit more than I would have expected really. I guess the back went down ...

I have finished french polishing and fitted the bridge. There are some visible bending cracks on the top bout. I thought about getting some new sides but did a bit of epoxy work and I quite like the look of them now. Here is the crack when it happened: PXL_20230801_230052160.jpg And here is the resu...

While I am waiting for some veneer for the headstock so I can finish the neck, I made my bridge. It's Blackwood with Carbon Fibre to the Gore/Gillet book design. It weighs 14g. Rather than making it 12-hole, it has 18 holes but six of them are only a few millimeters deep. So, tying strings will be l...

I have had made some progress. Completed the binding using off the shelf Indian Rosewood/Maple from guitarwoods.com.au I thought the colour looks good against the Blackbean. I used double black/white purfling which matched the rosette purfling pretty well. PXL_20231211_001124102.jpg PXL_20231211_001...

Jon, I went for 48mm nut width and 58mm neck width at12th fret. asgilbert, all the wood is well seasoned and the neck was cut to rough size at least six months ago so everything should be fairly stable now . Changes in humidity will always cause some variance of the neck angle (height projected to b...

I spent a lot of time thinking about the neck joint. I fitted the sides of the neck to the neck pocket before glueing the top on. It was easier that way as I could work with the taper of the pocket to gradually bring the neck into the correct position. The neck was aligned with the body centerline a...

Thanks guys.

'Crossover' is nylon strings with some features that would not be usual on a steel string. A narrower fretboard with a radius. It does have a pickup now.

Back, Top and sides ready to assemble:

Here is my rosette, made using off-cuts from Black Bean back:

After a few distractions, I have made some progress on this guitar. As I mentioned, I am going heel less neck with elevated fingerboard. Here is my neck block. I plan to use 4 x M6 bolts, sort of like a telecaster. I should be able to put the bolts in through the sound hole. PXL_20230518_003052907.j...

I have left this thread hanging for a while! Thanks to Mark & Martin for your replies. Good point regarding bolt access. My thinking about sizes went like this: 1. OM has larger outline than a typical classical so, make it thinner to compensate. 2. Smaller volume will make for higher air resonance s...

Hi, It's been a while since I made a guitar. I have been having too much fun making violins & bows. I am however about to start a falcate crossover guitar and am planning to use my body mold which is a Gore mid- size SS. I believe that I would need to reduce the body depth and sound hole size from t...

I bought the BP355 and it has been really good for me. More heavily built that the BO360 and that's a good thing. Only issue is lower guide bearings needed replacement exactly as someone else experienced.

Thanks Trent, guitar is French Polished using 'advanced method' from Gore/Gillet book except that I used a water based grain filler on the Silky Oak first. I think all shellac finish may have looked better but Silky Oak needed a lot of filling.

I have been looking to order some violin timber and came across a European supplier who offers torrefied tonewood, maybe maple & spruce, for guitars. I have found a bit of discussion on ANZLF about benefits of torrefication but unless I'm reading it wrong, there does not seem to be a whole lot of in...

Thanks everyone for your kind comments. Mark, the Silky oak was easy enough to carve, virtually no different to Qld Maple. It looks like it would be tricky but I had no issues with it at all. It did need pore filling though. As far as stability, I did the scarf about 6 months ago and it was perfectl...

Thanks Richard, it is actually X braced. I went Falcate on previous build. This time I was mentoring a school student who was making a dreadnought for his woodwork project so I did X bracing for him to copy. I'm very happy with the sound. Nice bass and really sings up high. I can now understand why ...

Yesterday, I finished my third guitar. I must thank the members of ANZLF for the wealth of great content here, both old and new. I have found this to be a resource that is indispensable. Sitka Spruce & Northern Silky Oak with Burdekin Plum fretboard & bridge. If I may indulge is a little bit of show...

Thanks Trevor, much appreciated.

Hi, I have previously done a couple of BOBO necks but this time am going with Bolt On. I haven't found much info in the book regarding truss rod extension pocket for BO. I am using the folded truss rod per the book. I assume that I will route out a channel through the neck block that the end of the ...