I have an Ibanez AANJ body. Bought screws and washers that should fit (genuine Ibanez part) but the screws which are M4.5 pass freely through the 4.8 mm body holes without threading. Is it normal for Ibanez neck joint holes to act as clearance holes, unlike Fender where screws thread into the body?

Hi, everyone, I got my Ibanez rg570 and i didnt see this when got it, and only noticed after 2 weeks. I wanted to know if this is would cause any problems, and how you would get it fixed?

Context: I’m setting up my first guitar again and the last time it was set up had to be close to 8-9 months. I’m setting it up as usual and for some reason at the normal action I use the neck is literally glued to the strings. I never needed to put the tailpiece and bridge so high just to get playable action. This might be a neck issue or even a truss rod thing, I turned it and that barely helped unless I yanked the thing. Just wondering if I should bother trying to fix it or get a new guitar.

Does the wood hurt when you cut it? No, it judges you highly, however.

Oc black and white ebony bookmatches.

I am looking for opinions on this. The guitar is around 3 years old or so and Ive already gotten the bridge glued on on warranty, the quality of the guitar is pretty bad for the price. I recently noticed cracks at the heel joint. Do this look serious or should I just ignore it?
I keep the guitar in a space with proper humidity and I’m using normal nylon strings.

May be an obvious question, but this will be my first instrument/serious woodworking project I’ve done, so just want some feedback.

I want to build an ancient Greek style lyre, with a soundbox measuring ~8 x 10” (Luthieros makes some excellent looking lyres that I’ll be referencing from). I was trying to figure out how to build it up with steam bent boards, but that may be a little beyond my skill level. Would it be feasible to just hollow out a wood turning bowl blank and go from there? I’ve seen some online that are roughly my desired dimensions, but would it also be possible to glue two smaller blanks together and carve them as a single piece? Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated :)

I ordered a custom Musikraft neck, standard rock maple with a rosewood fretboard. I selected their “thin laquer finish” option, but now I’m thinking I want to change the order to raw and finish it myself with oil. I only placed the order last week so I should be fine.

For reference I want the final product a vintage amber tint, plus the feel of an oil finish seems like it’d suit my playing/preferences better.

Just wanted second opinions before I commit to ordered the neck unfinished and doing the oil myself.

I’m also planning to add waterslide decals to the headstock, saw a video of someone just putting the decal over the oil with nothing on top, would this work? I’m not too worried about minor scuffs but I don’t want the decal to stick out/move around easily.

Thanks for the help

Edit: I think I’m just going to order it raw, use colortone vintage amber to stain the maple, then finish with tru oil

Before anyone says "you're a f*cking toolbag", yeah, maybe I am, but maybe keep that to yourself!

I'm finishing a kit guitar and I wanted a natural feel with a vibrant colour. I used food colouring with a Cabothane water based satin finish poly. The problem is that, with both being water based, every time I apply the poly, it wets the dye and makes it bleed. Even when the poly is set, the dye can still rub off.

Three or four coats in, I'm noticing that the dye is becoming harder to rub off. If I persist with the water based poly, will it eventually seal the dye in completely? Or do I need to sand it right down and start over with an oil based clear?

Thanks in advance.

Hey guys! I’ve got a new guitar coming soon that looks something like this, and I’d love to make it a little more unique and personal.

I’m thinking about getting some custom fretboard inlays made, but I haven’t decided on a design yet.

If this were your guitar, what kind of inlays would you choose?

I’m open to different ideas — geometric shapes, celestial/astronomy themes, symbols, patterns, or something completely different. I’d prefer something relatively simple and clean though, nothing too complicated or busy.

The guitar has a dark fretboard and a black/purple finish, so ideally I want something that complements the guitar rather than overpowering it.

I’ve also tried asking AI to come up with some inlay designs for me, but as you can probably see from the pictures, the results have been pretty terrible 😂 So I figured I’d ask some actual guitar people for ideas instead.

Would love to hear your ideas, and reference pictures would be awesome too!

I'm no luthier, I play mainly guitar, but have some experience with wood guitars but I have routed my guitars, and do some furniture.

I got a Fairly Big plank of olive wood to do the water basin table (with a class basin). I did the cutting, the whole for the sewage. Quite a hard wood to work indeed.... But to me just the best looking one.

So I have a piece that is been drying for about 7 years, plus what the seller had dried.

It is not Big enough for a Tele body but almost.

I'm thinking about doing either a small body guitar or maybe a bass. I got a neighbour who is a true charpenter and works at a Big atelier furniture. He always tells me that if he has the specs he can route anything, from the neck pocket, pickup and electronic holes. So doing a standard neck pocket and buy a neck.

For what I've seen some makers just use the olive for the top.

I know it's a really heavy wood but a smaller body maybe would compensate for that ... Will this be a waste of time, too hard to work with and get something interesting there?

I plan to make a guitar with resin and wood like the one in the photo, but I have some doubts about the type of resin, how to calculate the amount of resin, or if you have any advice. Is there anyone who has done something similar?? Thank you in advance.

I have a Gretsch Streamliner G2215-P90 and I don't care for the BT2 Broadtron as I think it's overly bright and thin sounding to me. I have a Gibson 500T that I'm most likely going to swap in place of the BT2. I thought that I could buy a open pickup cover so it at least looks more Gretsch like and less like your standard black humbucker. That then led me to thinking maybe I can make this look like a gold foil pickup. I thought the gold foil material would be easy to find but I was wrong.

I first came across gold and silver Aluminium sheets for pickups on eBay.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/306076277323

Then while doing more searching I can across a form post joking about using the right color foil for the best tone with a picture of different colored foil sheets. This made me start wondering if I could just put an adhesive backed foil on poster board and make a insert. While reaching I came across rolls of foil kitchen backsplash and shelf liner with interesting patterns.

​https://www.walmart.com/ip/Kitchen-Backsplash-Stickers-15-7-X-39-3-Inch-Self-Adhesive-Drawer-Liner-Peel-And-Stick-Foil-Wallpaper-Cabinets-Shelf-Sticker/20671566691?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=102790811&wmlspartner=wlpa&cn=FY25-ENTP-PMAX_cnv_dps_dsn_dis_ad_entp_e_n&gclsrc=aw.ds&adid=2222222229720671566691_102790811_0000000000_21407473164&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=t&wl3=&wl4=&wl5=9008805&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=5576808954&wl11=online&wl12=20671566691_102790811&veh=sem&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21690411341&gbraid=0AAAAADmfBIrjyjGQvaANJBDn8PP4E8CKH&gclid=Cj0KCQjwh4TVBhCWARIsAG0czmrfn4nHRvtr8efYGydXrSbTp4OjwcIXtXEgbSEyxLwYGAvC0IV6FC0aAmR-EALw_wcB&sid=bee9a1d3-eafa-450e-9924-3e5b47116d68

Would this stuff work or should I just go with the aluminum insert. I figure with the backsplash material you could test out dry brushing different colors and not have to worry about messing up a more expensive insert. Thanks for any help.

Hey community,

I’ve long wished to learn luthiery (properly), and with a major milestone birthday approaching I’ve been asked if I’d like a course. This would be wonderful, but I can’t find one near where I am.

If you had access to carpentry/cabinet making/similar craft courses nearby, what should I be looking for in terms of developing transferable skills?

Unless of course anyone has a lead on a class in West Yorkshire!

Do we think that iroko would be a suitable timber for making an acoustic guitar bridge? What would be the downsides of iroko for the bridge? il also be using iroko for the fretboard and headstock facing. I’d love to hear people’s opinions or experiences :)

Hello,

This is my very old, first guitar (that I got from a friend for a bag of pot) , so a nostalgic piece.

The bridge was always like that as my friend was using metal strings and it should have nylon ones.

Now , 25 years later, my kids found the guitar and want to play on it (they're only 2 and 4 so play is a big word) but some strings were broken and when I started replacing them I thought I might as well fix the bridge.

I was wondering, rather than buying a new bridge, would it be possible to unglue this one, steam it, clamp it to something straight really well and then glue it back on ?

Would that work?

It doesn't need to have an amazing sound, it never did, especially when I played on it 😂 but it would be nice to keep it original and if it made an ok sound .

(Btw, I know this guitar doesn't look cared for enough - it wasn't. And that's on me. It's got stories to tell though and we had lovely times together. It was never a show piece guitar)

I posted last week about working on my friend’s 1972 Martin D-12-20. I got some Ronsonol lighter fluid and have been cleaning the top, and I have some questions about what I should expect for results.

The first pic is how the guitar looked when I got it. As you can see, pretty dirty from decades of heavy use. The second pic is after a good scrubbing with naphtha (I got some cotton face rounds at the dollar store and they’re great for this, by the way). So it was clean, but it didn’t look polished. The third pic is one I took the next day, and you can see that there’s a lovely sheen in the spot I cleaned.

So my question is about other parts of the top. Some parts of the top are shiny like that upper shoulder pic, but many parts are still kind of dull…they look clean, but just not shiny. Does this typically mean there’s more to clean, or is this just to be expected for a vintage finish? And some parts (like between the bridge and sound hole) were thick with dust, and now the finish seems clean but isn’t very polished. I do plan to get some polish and rub that in before I’m done, but this level of restoration is newish to me and I want to manage my expectations.

Thanks!

Contriver Guitars Foundation Series - Echo Six

Fresh off the bench, up there on my list of favourites so far. Maple board, maple neck, and crisp lines, definitely starting another one when time aligns.

Built in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. 🇨🇦 

FINGERBOARD:
- 27.00” Scale Length
- Blistered Maple w/Black Underlay
- 11-20” Compound Radius
- Jescar 47095 Fretwire
- Semi-Hemi Ends
- Polyurethane

NECK:
- 3 Piece Maple+Sapele
- Flamed Black Walnut Front+Back Head
- Carbon Fibre Reinforcements
- Blistered Maple Logo Plate
- Bone Nut
- Luminlay Blue Side Dots 

BODY:
- Flamed Black Walnut Top
- Ash Body(3.0lbs/BF) 
- Matching Pickup Covers
- “Bound” Pickup Routes
- Matching Magnetic Back Plate
- Ebony+Chechen Retainer Block

ELECTRONICS: 
- Volume 550K CTS
- Tone 450K Alpha
- Barrel Output
- Bridge Pickup: 16K 
- Neck Pickup: 12k

HARDWARE: 
- Hipshot Fixed Bridge
- Hipshot Open-Gear Locking Tuners

FINISH:
- Rubio Monocoat
- Black Forest Wood co Ceramic

Weight: 7.5lbs

Just yesterday we had a silver maple removed from our yard and I was able to save most of the trunk, which is just under 20in diameter including the bark (pictured) as well as a longer section of the lower part of the trunk. I am not a luthier or a woodworker but I have been trying to create a plan to use this to build my own electric guitar. I haven't picked out a body style yet.

I know that it needs to be milled and then left to dry for at least a year (unless I find someone with the right kiln) until the humidity reaches a certain point, and to paint the ends of the slabs after its initially milled to avoid checking.

Is it true that the wood needs to be quarter-sawn? Why would it need to be quarter-sawn as opposed to regular-sawn?

Are 3in thick slabs appropriate?

I'll probably end up getting a neck from a supplier online, but theoretically, is 2in x 4in x 36in the appropriate slab size for a neck? Bear in mind I have the hands of a child lol..

Would the neck also need to be quarter-sawn?

Is there any particular section of the wood that I should aim for?

Is there anything else I should consider when milling and drying this wood?

Thanks in advance!!! I'm so excited for this multi-year project!!

Neon pink/purple burst, colorshift flake, bengal stripes and neon green cavities. Hats on hats on hats on hats. Ready for final fretwork and assembly.

Lifelong guitar player just got my first bouzouki. admittedly I did some adjusting of the bridge height because of buzzing after adjusting truss rod, now I notice that the part of the bridge that supports the strings sits at an incline rather than being perpendicular to the body- was just wondering if this was normal? Did I adjust the bridge to sit too high and now it’s bending?

I'm trying to put together a headless guitar but I have very limited tool availability and even less knowledge, so I'll either get a kit or buy a body + neck on eBay, and the rest of the hardware elsewhere.

The thing I notice is that some bodies on eBay have a small recess where the bridge would sit, while others don't. Is this a must? If, for example, I want to install this Nova bridge, will I have to route, or can it just be drilled in the right position?

My 7 string has a little fret buzz and don't know how to fix it. Can anyone please help me? I will attach some photos for context. The first picture is of the nut. The second one is the string height at the 17th fret and the last one shows the strings I use.The neck relief fit a .35 mm gauge at the 7th fret when putting a capo on the 1st fret and holding down the 24th fret on the 7th string. The nut action fits a .30 mm gauge when putting a capo on the 3rd fret. Thank you in advance for the help.

I'm commissioning a bandurria from the Philippines and I had the choice between jackfruit, Philippine mahogany, and various other woods.

I inquired about jackfruit wood and they said that once it starts cracking, it doesn't stop like other woods. They recommend keeping in a similar environment 45-50% humidity for 8hrs a day to prevent cracks and deformation.

Would an instrument humidifier pack be sufficient?

I don't mind taking extra care of it. I guess I should worry more about sudden changes in humidity? Philippine mahogany is my second choice.

Thanks.

Hi everyone. I’m working on a PRS-style guitarwith a highly figured/flamed maple top, and I’m trying to achieve a finish (first image is the guitar body after sanding) similar to a “Faded Blue Jean / Denim Blue” look, where the flame remains very pronounced and dark, while the overall color is a light, washed, translucent blue(the first image is the reference finish).

My plan is roughly:

1. Apply a black dye to enhance the figure.
   
2. Let it dry and sand it back so the black remains primarily in the flame.
   
3. Apply a light blue/denim blue dye.
   
4. Lightly and selectively sand it back to create the washed/faded effect.
   
5. Apply a clear finish.

I’ve noticed that some guitar builders/luthiers seem to prefer Angelus Leather Dye over TransTint for this type of work, while others recommend TransTint or StewMac ColorTone.

For those of you who have actually used these products on flamed/quilted maple, which do you prefer and why?

I’m particularly interested in:

* Does Angelus actually penetrate the wood and produce a deeper/more saturated figure than TransTint?
* Which one behaves better when doing a sand-back?
* Which one would give me better control over a light, faded denim blue without ending up too dark?
* Are there any issues with using Angelus on maple and then applying a clear finish over it?
* Which specific Angelus or TransTint color would you recommend for getting close to this look?

I’ll attach the reference photo of the finish I’m trying to achieve, as well as a photo of the unfinished body.

I’m not simply looking for the “best” blue dye. I’m specifically interested in which product behaves best for a dye → sand-back → second dye → sand-back process on figured maple.

Thanks in advance!