Post a picture of what's on your bench?

[David Houchens]

Heres a set of madagascar I got recently. Hope to be building a 12 fret slothead dreadnought with it. The sides are real nice too.

[Nick Gellie]

Here is the headstock of my Arches F5 kit with an inlay and my logo on it.



Let me know what you think.

[John Frets]

It's Andrew's bench, but it will be my mandolin -- expected to be finished by the end of February.

[GarY Nava]

Here's the next two; both quite different to each other!
Cheers Gary

[David Houchens]

[saucytomato]

Just staring one.

www.missionvalleymusic.blogspot.com

[Charles E.]

David, whats the story on that one? I do not recall ever seeing a violin pegbox and scroll on a banjo.

[Marty Jacobson]

Pre-Loar F-4 with some interesting appointments....

[Dave Richard]

1934/5 Epi made 'Sorrentino' Artist archtop: all solid, carved black walnut back. Rather rare. Needs a neck reset, frets, and seams reglued.

[theCOOP]

David, whats the story on that one? I do not recall ever seeing a violin pegbox and scroll on a banjo.

Hey, that works really well for me. Great proportions. Seen a lot of weird pegheads on (primarily mandolins) that are either poorly conceived or poorly executed, but this really works!

[mandobassman]

I like it a lot.

[mandobassman]

Pre-Loar F-4 with some interesting appointments....

That's beautiful Marty. What tuners are those. I love them.

[theCOOP]

I like it a lot.

Looks like (planetary?) tuners.

[David Houchens]

Charles,I started this neck in 1996. It has taken a back burner for years. I finally got tired of seeing it hanging on the shop wall. The pot is a thinned out Stelling Foggy Mtn rim with 1/8th inch tone band. It has a bronze ring instead of bracket shoes so I made the flange piece out of maple and attached it to the top of the reso. The reso is a slip fit. No hardware. I may have jumped the gun but assuming a player of fiddle tunes would buy it I scalloped the finger board to the 17th fret. I think I have it sold but haven't seen the green yet.

[mandobassman]

Never mind Marty, I see now that they're Rubner's. Did you put those buttons on yourself? I didn't see any like them on their website.

[Charles E.]

Charles,I started this neck in 1996. It has taken a back burner for years. I finally got tired of seeing it hanging on the shop wall. The pot is a thinned out Stelling Foggy Mtn rim with 1/8th inch tone band. It has a bronze ring instead of bracket shoes so I made the flange piece out of maple and attached it to the top of the reso. The reso is a slip fit. No hardware. I may have jumped the gun but assuming a player of fiddle tunes would buy it I scalloped the finger board to the 17th fret. I think I have it sold but haven't seen the green yet.

David, I think you nailed it on this one. Proportions are really nice. Good luck with the sale.

[Marty Jacobson]

Never mind Marty, I see now that they're Rubner's. Did you put those buttons on yourself? I didn't see any like them on their website.

Yep, they are Rubners. I airbrushed the buttons (ivoroid) to match the aged binding on the rest of the instrument.

[alfie]

Getting #3 finished up. The fretboard is boxwood and blackwood.



The tailpiece has a buckle built into it, which seems to work quite well. It can't scratch finish from there!

[GarY Nava]

The latest, just strung up and in the white.
Cheers Gary

[Ron McMillan]

The latest, just strung up and in the white.
Cheers Gary

Beautiful.

[Marty Jacobson]

The tailpiece has a buckle built into it, which seems to work quite well. It can't scratch finish from there!

Very clever!

[Ginridge]

I'm finishing up the french polish on this Wasburn 1897 New Model 212. This got a neck re-set, several face splints, and significant work on the back repairing a split that ran the entire length of the guitar. The brazilian rosewood back was flawed when cut. The saw blade must have moved somehow and the the back had a very thick part and thinner part. I patched the crack and inlaid rosewood onto the thin section to even it out.

[CarlM]

Plates for first time mando build. Top is Western Red Cedar, back is Black Walnut my father cut 35 years ago.

[Dan of SC]

This looks like a fun project. Where did you find this guitar?

[Ginridge]

Hi Dan,

Assuming you are asking about the Washburn, I've been looking for good to high quality guitars in very bad shape for some time. It's basically how I am teaching myself instrument repair/restoration. This particular guitar was an ebay find. Interestingly enough, it came with an appraisal that George Gruhn did from photo's. He got most of it right, but did miss a couple things (of course, he didn't have the instrument to examine first hand). The back braces on this guitar are rougher than many Washburn's I've seen. George thought that they had been replaced. After taking the back off the guitar to repair the back split, I realized that they were in fact, original. I've since purchased a second 212 which I have not worked on and it too has the exact, rough style braces.

He also thought that the six gouges on the face, visible in the second shot if you look closely, were the result of an old tailpiece that would have been added late in it's life. There were no screw holes at the end of the guitar to indicate this so I still can't account for that damage. My best guess is someone may have created them when they attempted to remove the original bridge, but that will remain a mystery.

This guitar had been the victim of a glue dump where someone poured titebond or white glue into the guitar and let it pool on a damaged area. Made for an interesting clean up!

Here's a shot of the guitar as I got it and George's appraisal.





The tuners on this particular guitar are unusual. The posts are not held to the gears with screw, they are pressed together more in the manner of a rivet. I've seen this on several styles of Washburns and Regals over the years. They have a tendency to split the gears, making them non functional. This one has that problem so I'm looking for replacements. If anyone knows of a source (or if you've got an old set lying around you want to part with) please let me know!