Guitarmaker Issue 88

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Front Cover

Alton Acker

Headstock of a patriotic guitar auctioned to raise funds for “Guitars for Vets.”

From the Director

Alton Acker

Acker starts to answer an apprentice’s question about guitar cases and drifts through all manner of things to do with the guitarmaking business, stream-of-consciousness style.

case

Jigs and Fixtures for Guitarmakers, Part 3

Sylvan Wells

Wells tells all his secrets regarding jigs and fixtures. In this final installment, he talks about making butt joint inlays, trimming the back lining for braces, gluing the bridge, fretboard inlays, taper jigs, cutting rosettes, making Les Paul tenons, and as a shop bonus, he shares his clamp racks and two methods for holding a guitar while working on it. Whew! See issues 86 and 88 for even more jigs and fixtures. With 46 photos.

tools, jig; tools, shop-built; bridge; bracing

Guitars for Vets

John Reitz

Reitz lead a group of about a dozen Mid Atlantic Luthiers as they collaborated on building a very special guitar for the “Guitars for Vets” charity auction. In Guitarmaker, the article is incorrectly attributed to John Hall; that mistake is corrected in issue 89. With 17 photos and one more on the cover.

guitar, steel-string; club; charity; collaboration

Martin Re-Fret

Nate Clark

Clark says refretting is one of the most common jobs in his shop. Here, he goes into exquisite detail on a refret of a Custom Shop Martin 0-42. The article includes insights on the process as well as the special tools that make the work faster and more accurate. With 42 close-up photos.

repair; fret; guitar, steel-string

The Fledgling Luthier on a Budget

Jack Clark

Clark uses low-cost Home Depot lumber and barnwood to build two very successful ukuleles on a budget. He heartily recomments low-cost wood like this for experimentation and developing your technique. With 8 photos.

ukulele; tonewood

Building a Bound Pickguard

Greg Voros

Voros, who works in the Gruhn repair shop, details a method of building a bound archtop pickguard/finger rest using solvent that he says is far superior to using superglue. The article is worthwhile for restorers or building a pickguard for a new instrument. With 9 photos.

repair; pick guard; guitar, archtop

The 6th Annual Reno Ukulele Festival

Jack Clark

Clack travels to the Reno Ukulele Festival to play, listen, and sell instruments. The event gets biger and better every year and Clark had a very successful trip, selling 5 ukuleles. With 9 photos.

ukulele; event

Building with American Chestnut

Michael Trietsch

Trietsch builds a fine ukule from the venerable American wormy chestnut. With 12 photos.

ukulele; tonewood