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He was my bucket list, so nothing ventured - nothing gained!

It took him 17 years to get back to Australia, so I wouldn't hold my breath. ;-)

I saw him when he played in Adelaide a few years ago. A very disappointing concert and a lazy performance from EC. Derek Trucks played shrill and loud slide on every number while Doyle Bramhall...

Hi

I printed up everyone's messages and gave them to Brad at Paint Central today so he can chase up his boss who looks after the emails.

The super beaut spray can filling machine still hasn't...

I haven't been back there for a while. Last time I was there the machine to fill the cans was doing laps of customs. I should be back there next Tuesday so I'll see if they got your email. Maybe PM...

It must be great to be rich enough to be elitist. One day when my Cross Lotto numbers come up I'd love to buy a Maton 808CL Performer, but until then my Chinese Martinez will just have to do. I'm...

I've done rebuilds on an AXL Tele and 2 AXL Strats when they were available here in Adelaide and always found them to be fairly honest guitars. With replacement pickups, pots, cap, socket, tuners,...

I'll second the vote for Stewmac. Maximum of 5 days to outer Adelaide, great products at reasonable prices and very good people to deal with.

I recently placed an order and updated my address...

My suggestion to any youngster would be to buy a reasonable quality Asian guitar around the $300 mark and upgrade the pickups to something like some of the GFS range and then spend half your time...

I get Queensland blackwood, Ironwood, Sheoak and Myall from Dan at Barking Log in Maryborough, Queensland. He runs it through the thickness sander at 5mm plus or minus 0.25mm for me. Hold frets...

Hi

That's them. 68 Daws Rd. It's the building that was Flexitool's.

Hi all

First let me explain that I have no business connection with Paint Central. I'm just a customer and musical instrument maker who's excited about some new possibilities!

I've been using...

They need to be longer and find some with a really coarse thread! The thread on woodscrews or longthreads just isn't coarse enough, especially on softer neck timbers like mahogany.

The standard...

I used to rout the trussrod slot, then completely shape the neck, then shape the fretboard to exactly match the neck, install the side dots, then fret the board, then glue it all up (and end up...

Look on eBay for a set of aircraft drills. I got a set that ran from 3/32" to 1/4" for about US$30 shipped. The drills are 12" long and worth their weight in gold!

Good point Wood Butcher.... I remember reading where someone (I think it may have been James Morrison but I can't be sure) said that an amateur is someone who practices until they get it right; a...

Hi Martin

Therein lies the problem. Usually it's only the Americans who are pretentious enough to call themselves "master luthiers", and most Aussie makers who would possibly be up to the title...

Les Paul said that Gibson got it wrong and the body should have been maple with a mahogany cap.

I make solidbody instruments ranging from soprano ukes and emandos to lap steel and tenor guitars, so my list is more agricultural that the acoustic instrument luthiers in here, but here goes:
...

I've used it for smaller instruments... solidbody ukes in all sizes and electric mandolins. It worked well on those instruments. I built a tenor guitar with a jarrah body a while back and the tone...

The most important component is the player. The shape, timber and pickups come down the list.

Listen to a few versions of Clapton playing Crossroads. ES335 (semisolid hardwood body, softwood neck,...

Shipping is usually between a week and 2 and a bit weeks. I placed my last order on the Wednesday night SA time and it arrived the following Friday, so 10 days all up. It's a good service.

I read a comment a few years ago from Bob Taylor of Taylor Guitars about polishing guitars. He said that at some stage someone discovered that if you spray a guitar, then sand it, then spray it some...

I've been buying from them for the past couple of years and they've always been great to deal with. I've bought the Tele Deluxe pickups, the alnico Strat sets (top of the range and the ones below),...

Ellie Erickson from the Musical Instrument Makers Forum gets a lot of her timber from hardware stores and hard rubbish collections. Things like pallets and scrap timber from renovations, old tables,...

There are some good points there. I think if I reorganise my workshop (and maybe hire a mini-skip to get rid of a heap of junk) I can tuck the tablesaw into a corner and just bring it out for cross...

Hi rayc

I'm making solidbodies, not acoustics, so the resaw capability isn't an issue for me. The Ledacraft is as expensive as I'm prepared to go. If Bunnings had had stock of the Rybobi scrollsaw...

I realised today that I'll still need the tablesaw to cut my body slabs. The bandsaw only has a slightly less than 14" throat and some blanks are up to 20" long.

G'day.. apologies in advance for a long post.

I make solidbody mandos, ukes, tenor guitars, etc.

When I first started with this hobby / venture I bought a cheap GMC single speed scrollsaw for...

Stewmac sell a foam backed abrasive product called Micro-Mesh. It's about US$8 for 7 2" square pieces. If you go to a Crash Supplies type business you'll see the same stuff in 150mm x 100mm sheets...

Mirotone Miralac precat rattle-can nitro stuff.

Jack's comments just reminded me.... I always work from the darkest area to the lightest and try to just extend the stained area by a bit more each pass. I've totally fallen for the "natural burst"...

I give the body a quick wipe with uBeaut sanding sealer on a piece of old towel first. It helps raise the grain and lets me know which areas are more likely to suck in the stain.... areas like...

I've used that circuit on a few Tele style tenor guitars I've made... just one Tele bridge pickup and the Esquire circuit. More usually I use a GFS dual rail Tele bridge pickup and have it switchable...

Looks nice! I use Fijian mahogany a lot for my solidbody instruments. My local supplier has it up to 305 x 45. Easy as butter to work with, looks good and sounds great. I built a guitar for my...

I bought a set of "aircraft" drills on eBay.... they range from 1/16" to 1/4", they're 12" long, and the whole set was about US$20 or so.... absolute bargain!

But in your case I'de be drilling...

Hi again

While you were posting I'd edited my post... sorry.

Re the Tele earth, I've attached a pic that shows that little link wire on Tele bridge pickups. It's actually a great idea provided...

Your Tele doesn't need a separate earth strap, it's built in, unless you've cut the wire link.

I recently built a Tele style tenor guitar for someone in Canada... customs decided to undo the...

A Ressurrection.... except it's Christmas, not Easter! :eek:

I'm now using the K&H clear acrylic if the weather's not too hot nor too cold, and Mirotone's Miralac nitro at other times. The...

Hi

Your Tele does have an earthed bridge, unless you've cut the wire. If you look at the brass plate on the bridge pickup you'll see the wire goes from the coil to the baseplate. The pickup...

Fender stuff is the essence of simplicity isn't it? All the Fender neck pockets are 5/8" deep from memory. The P-bass neck pocket looks the same shape as the Strat pocket. Does the Tele bass have a...

Mine's a little GMC cheapie, and next to my pedestal drill and similarly cheap GMC bandsaw I'd rate it as a must have power tool in my workshop.

By the time you make up a 2 piece Flying V body the thing is about 17" wide! It's a hell of a big chunk of wood! The Tassie blackwood I get through Australian Timbers is generally heavier than the...

A mate wants me to make him a Flying V. We're looking at a bolt-on neck using an old Ibanez LP neck, two GFS Tele Seth Lover style humbuckers, all attached to a Tassie blackwood body. I was hoping...

Hiya

I'm almost convinced that I should spend some money on a spray setup for applying nitro, and maybe solid and clear acrylics down the track.

Is an initial budget of $300 absolute maximum...

Hi Paul

I just looked on Collins Industrial Supply's website and they list Tufbak Durite paper up to P2000 grit. When grits changed from Imperial to Metric in the 70s I think 2400 changed to...

Hi Moonshine

I get my clear K&H acrylic spray and spray tins of custom colours from Crash Supplies, 22-24 George St, Stepney 5069, ph 81329000. They also do wet and dry paper down to incredibly...

Hi Martin

I've been working on a few other projects for the past few weeks. My wife's been working with photolabs and post-processing both in her work and as something she does at home, her hours...

I use Snarling Dogs orange oil. Works well and as a bonus smells like Southern Comfort!

Hi all

Miralac is an aerosol pre-cat nitro semi-gloss ... easy to use. Doesn't shine like a full gloss but it's simple to use and cheap. Retail is around $10 a can including GST. They sell direct...

Hiya

I'm looking for an Aussie equivalent to Korina / Limba (Terminalia superba).

It's to make a Flying V body for a mate. Gibson now make their V from mahogany, so at a pinch I can use some...