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Thats the body all ready for the soundboard...

https://www.nkforsterguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/irish-bouzouki-1.jpg

Nigel...

The latest update:
https://www.nkforsterguitars.com/blog/irish-bouzouki-build-thread-the-back-goes-on/

https://www.nkforsterguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/1-768x768.jpg
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More Irish bouzouki action today -

First, the wenge back is sanded inside -

https://www.nkforsterguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/back-2-1-rotated.jpeg

That is now put aside. The...

https://www.nkforsterguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/wenge-back-768x768.jpeg

In the picture above you can see the back for this instrument – its a lamination of wenge, cedar and mahogany....

Depends on which parts you're talking about Simon. And how thick. Generally, if you increase side and back mass in relation to the top, the effect on volume will be greater than the effect on tone....

Happy new year to you all.

After a week or so off I’m back in the workshop and am starting the year with a build thread. So if you keep coming back, you’ll see this bouzouki going from bits of...

How do you post images on the new version of the forum?

Just strung up this little beast for a chap in the US. Its a lefty, 10 string OM. The body is 1960s vintage Queensland red cedar, the neck is Cuban mahogany felled in the early 1900s.
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Was sorting through my Youtube videos and realised all sorts of videos were listed in the tenor guitar playlist. Well, its all sorted now, so follow the link below for half an hour of tenor guitar...

Last week I had the pleasure of being interviewed by American guitar maker Michael Bashkin for his "Luthier on luthier podcast." Which is hosted by The Fretboard Journal. Not much in the way of mando...

I see this thread was started in 2012! But yes, I've been making guitar bodied OM and bouzouki for years.

Flat top:

http://youtu.be/m5Hurotz7Ko

Cylinder top:
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Maple with a bone saddle.

Nigel
https://www.nkforsterguitars.com/instruments/mandolin/

If you send me an email via my website, I can send you the current price list. Link below, there is a contact form at the foot of every page.

Availability - I make one batch of mandolins a year -...

Here is a recent A Model mandolin of mine - I don't make as many of these as I do my Celtic F mandolin, but they're really great.

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Not posted any Session King photos of late - here is one due out the shop today - mahogany back and sides, torrefied sitka top, 22" scale, tuned GDAE.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrlpEYE1728

Carving the 19" Parlour King tenor neck last week. The guitar is off to the spray shop now...

Nigel
www.nkforsterguitars.com

Go fairly light for now -

PL012
NW017
PB032
PB042

Nigel
www.nkforsterguitars.com

What scale length Rick?

Nigel
www.nkforsterguitars.com

Been on with a pair of Parlour Kings' recently - the one relevant to this part of the forum is the guitar on the right. Its a cedrela and mahogany 4 string Parlour King tenor. 19" scale, with a flat...

Been on with a pair of Parlour Kings' recently - the one relevant to this part of the forum is the guitar on the left. Its a torrefied sitka and mahogany 8 string Parlour King octave mandolin. 22"...

The tailpiece is my own design - but obviously based on Stefans'. They are machined from brass by a very talented chap and I do the final shaping, polishing and lacquering. The tuners are Waverly,...

Another mandolin from the 2020 crop goes out this week. This one will live in England pretty soon. I think the new owner should be pretty happy with her...

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As far as I know, Martin has one, and loves it. We made it in the late 90s early 00s.

We only made a few and I thought they were great.

Nigel
www.nkforsterguitars.com

And no, I don't find having a wider saddle has any effect on tone. The difference is mass is negligable.

Oh right. Wondered what he was on about!

Its an idea I saw on a posh guitar by Tom Sands. Its very clever. Wish I'd thought of it. Guitar tops tend to pull forward over time, making the guitar...