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Post by alexkirtley on Oct 15, 2022 20:51:04 GMT
Hi All, I currently have in what can only be described as the worlds worst Gibson J100 extra, it’s been smashed in at some stage and an area of spruce about 3 1/2” x 5” directly beneath the fingerboard extension had been replaced badly, it broke free and the top collapsed, it was also made out of poor wide grain spruce, so I need to replace this section, does anyone have a piece of very fine grain spruce the size above or slightly larger, or enough to make a book matched piece the right size, I’ve attached a photo of the grain below the soundhole to give an idea Cheers
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Post by alexkirtley on Jun 20, 2021 21:43:40 GMT
Looks good, Alex. How does it sound? Keith Thanks Keith, It sounds sweet already, its punchy on single notes, and it should mellow out a little more with a bit of playing in, I'll see if I can get a recording of it at some point
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Post by alexkirtley on Jun 20, 2021 21:28:56 GMT
It's not all guitars around here! I'm far to erratic to be able to hold a build thread together, so I thought some would like to see the latest instrument to get strung up, I'll leave the build process up to the imagination, it may or may not involve elves and magic... This is a soprano ukulele with a bit of bling, specs are as follows: Flame maple back and sides Spruce top Honduran Mahogany neck Old Brazilian Rosewood fingerboard and bridge Flame maple faceplate and backstrap Schaller tuners I'm happy with how it turned out, it should make someone pretty happy when it finds a home. And Heres a nice little family photo.
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Post by alexkirtley on May 26, 2021 14:14:21 GMT
Well, look what followed me home today, I wasn’t going to buy a banjo just yet as I don’t have much money right now, but I checked Facebook marketplace at about half 2 am last night and this had just been listed, for a hundred quid I couldn’t resist, it seems barely played too, I’m not saying it’s my be all and end all banjo, I will likely upgrade at some point, but so far I’m quite impressed, the Deering Goodtimes are simple banjos but it sounds pretty good, it will do for now!
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Post by alexkirtley on May 22, 2021 13:04:10 GMT
In time I'm thinking about getting another banjo, the only one I have is a nylon string banjo from the 1890's, which I love but I'm looking into maybe getting a steel string open back banjo, but I don't really know as much about banjos as I do about guitars, so are there any decent ones to look out for, either new or vintage?
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Post by alexkirtley on May 16, 2021 18:33:33 GMT
I’ve got a bit of a mystery guitar on my hands, the label inside says G Kerrell - Maker and his address in Manchester, I couldn’t find much of anything about a luthier named G Kerrell, but this is certainly an interesting guitar, fan braced spruce top, Brazilian Rosewood back and sides, ornately engraved tuners with ivory buttons, and a lot of wooden purfling, I doubt this was an inexpensive guitar in its day, I’d imagine it’s day was somewhere around the turn of the century. The guitar has had plenty of work done over its life, mainly to repair side cracks, it’s obviously not been touched in some time, it’s pretty dry, the glue failed on the bridge and a section of the top is lifted and some of the wooden binding is loose but I shall be putting it back into service, the neck profile is excellent. Has anyone ever heard of G Kerrell? There’s a thread on a forum somewhere about a G Kerrell banjo but I’ve not heard any more of him
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Post by alexkirtley on Nov 12, 2020 21:46:46 GMT
I think it does, in reality, no magnetic soundhole pickup is going to do the work of a microphone in front of the guitar, but the M1 gets halfway there!
If you want to get away with no drilling, I.E no jack there's no avoiding a wire hanging out of the soundhole, but it's easy to install and remove, just 2 screw clamps either side of the pickup
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Post by alexkirtley on Nov 12, 2020 21:23:17 GMT
I've used LR Baggs M1's for years, great pickups, at the moment I'm on a dearmond kick and I've got them fitted to a couple of my guitars, if youre not after an acoustic sound which I'm not generally, they can sound incredible, I've got one for sale but it's a bit more expensive than a woody
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Post by alexkirtley on Oct 2, 2020 20:36:26 GMT
A friend at a folk club once said that he could use his eko 12 string to paddle down the river, and it would still be in tune at the other side, I almost believe it
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Post by alexkirtley on Sept 30, 2020 21:51:19 GMT
just one of those things that happens with lacquer, this is my old J50, it has a few...
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Post by alexkirtley on Sept 27, 2020 18:54:17 GMT
Hi Alex I have a nice set of Honduran Rosewood that chimes as bright as any wood I've owned. I've also got old growth Cocobolo. Both woods are said to be good and close alternatives to Braz. I don't have any Mad Rose left but agree with Colins sentiments on this wood. I have a nice set of Bocote and this is a very under rated wood. I also have Lutz Spruce soundboards. I AM NOT a seller just a builder who has a large collection of wood I'll never use. If you would like some pics, I'd be happy to send some. Mat Hi Mat Yes please, PM me some, that'd be great
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Post by alexkirtley on Sept 24, 2020 0:03:51 GMT
Thanks Colin, very informative
I think I am going for largely looks, I doubt my ear could tell too much of the difference between Indian and Brazilian, the tops being the same, I do like the look of that Madagascar rosewood, I think I'd like to try and find a set of that if I can find a decent one, I only really plan to use something fancy on this one project, aside from that I'd mostly use indian, so maybe I could get lucky, I think the only reason I don't want to use Indian is I think it looks a bit on the plain side, but maybe as you say it might be a wise option. The other ones mentioned I will explore, it may come down to cost at some stage, so I will look into options and availability.
I may well explore different spruces too and see what I can find in the UK, I recently built a mahogany slope shoulder dreadnought which I built with some not particularily high end timbers, but it has a european spruce top I bought on ebay of all places, and it really sings, it's an incredible sounding guitar, so I may go for european again if it's giving the big sound I like
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Post by alexkirtley on Sept 23, 2020 11:59:58 GMT
I've recently found myself wanting a Martin again, namely a vintage spec D28, I don't have a spare 40+k lying around for an original pre war one, and the authentics are pretty up there too, so I'm going to make one, an Adirondack top can be found readily, but I'm looking around for brazilian rosewood alternatives, what would anyone here consider to be a good alternative that can be found without too much difficulty, I know a few that I've heard could be considered similar, but I've no experience with them so it would be good to hear from anyone who has
Cheers!
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Post by alexkirtley on Sept 16, 2020 23:42:01 GMT
I like 'em skinny, my favourite neck is on the late 60's gibsons, 42mm nut width
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Post by alexkirtley on Jul 18, 2020 21:57:22 GMT
All the time, I prefer old guitars
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