Delft's Workshop

Here’s another of those ‘should have been simple’ repair jobs, the kind that reveal worse problems as the repair work progresses. ‘Hmm… should have been simple. I should have looked more closely before starting. Should have quoted four or five times what I originally thought the repair would cost. Won’t make that mistake again…’ ...more

This nice old parlour guitar has been passed down through the same family for several generations. It was brought in for a restring after having been in storage some time. I told the owner that it was basically in good condition and a nice instrument, but urgently needed some repairs before it would accept string tension without serious damage. ...more

I have two collapsing instruments to deal with at the moment: an old mandolin which might be German – or might not, and a nice old parlour guitar which has an Australian store label, but woods and styling suggesting it was made in the USA some time around 1890-1930. ...more

Nylon-string guitars, and similar instruments with thin wooden fronts and glued-on bridges, place a lot of strain on the wood fibres just behind the bridge. Their designs evolved based on using a thin slice of solid wood for the soundboard and rely on the wood grain of the front – and its direction of greatest strength – running the same way as the strings. If the soundboard grain ran sideways, parallel to the back edge of the bridge, it would probably break quite soon. ...more

When you say ‘Mexican band’ most people will probably think of guitars, trumpets and big hats. More knowledgeable musicians might fill out the picture with a violin or two, a Requinto – like a small higher-pitched guitar, and a big guitar-shaped acoustic bass called Guitaron. These instruments are part of the Mariachi musical tradition and well known to tourists. ...more

If careful set-up and adjustment is important for a steel string guitar to play comfortably and in tune, then the same care and attention is almost essential for a mandolin. There are a few specialist dealers in NZ (and overseas) who set up their instruments to a high standard, but a significant proportion of mandolins are sold with actions too high for serious playing. ...more

When Hofner made the Club-series guitars and basses in the early ’60s they cantilevered the neck and fingerboard out over the front of the body in the style of arch-top acoustics. They also reduced timber wastage by making the laminated neck and head in one piece, the laminated heel block separately, and then gluing the heel block onto the end of the neck. Because the neck is set forward and mostly relies on the heel piece for connecting it to the body, this glue joint between neck and heel is in a critical position: it is about 80% of what holds the neck on and supports the total string tension. ...more

I do know about the guitarmakers' and patternmakers' vises which can be ordered from overseas, but I'm not convinced they are necessary - or even the best choice - for the usual run of guitar repair and maintenance work. ...more

One of my first jobs was setting up a Spanish nylon string guitar, which I would guess was made some time in the '50s or '60s. There were signs of previous repairs and partial refinishing. The original nut and saddle were installed in a hurry, and it was never a fancy instrument - probably one of thousands made by local craftsmen all over Spain and Latin America. But I was struck by this guitar's graceful proportions and its quiet but well-balanced tone. ...more

No, this is not about learning to love your credit card - it's about a modeling plastic that melts in hot water, and a clamping jig for refitting necks on old guitars. ...more

I have recently come across a few electric guitars with Floyd Rose type bridges where the main trem pivot screws and the shallow body recess under the bridge have been placed a little too close to the neck and pickups. ...more

This Workshop is a review of a small instrument with a long name - Giannini Viola Caipira - known to friends and enquirers as just 'Rosie'. ...more

With a revival of interest in arch-top acoustic guitars, instruments made in the '50s and '60s are being rediscovered in sheds and garages and under beds, and brought into music stores for basic setups, minor repairs or major restoration. ...more

I like to think that my instrument making produces elegant and beautiful instruments - that's what people usually ask for. But luthiers also need to break out occasionally and make a crazy one. This is mine... ...more

This is Rosie, a Viola Caipira (country guitar) from Brazil - like a little 10-string guitar, but with a unique sound - silvery at the top, and earthy at the bottom. ...more

I'm now running two workshops, one in Otaki and the other at MojoSound in Cuba St, Wellington, so I've needed to duplicate some of the little tools and gadgets I've made over the years. ...more

I've had two interesting problems in the workshop this month. Both concern string height above frets and bridge though the solutions were very different. ...more

At the beginning of this year, a US performer was booked to play at our local festival, and arrived in NZ to discover that his guitar had been badly damaged in transit. ...more

A few weeks ago, someone brought in a Fender Squire Strat with the complaint that it was "too noisy to use in the studio". And indeed it was... plugged into my test amp, there was far too much buzz and hiss - as well as the usual low frequency hum from holding a Strat or Tele too close to the amp. ...more

Some of you with long memories and a big pile of NZM back issues may remember an article I wrote a few years ago about compensated nuts for guitars and other fretted instruments. ...more

Repairing instruments does not bring the same fulfilment as building new instruments from scratch. But there is satisfaction in working out what conditions and events in the past lead to the present problem on the workbench - in some ways it is similar to archaeology or forensic science. That's what this month's Workshop is about. ...more

In the 1950s and '60s, guitar-driven music was booming in Britain and Europe. USA guitars were still hard to obtain there, and Asian guitar factories were not yet supplying most of the world's low and medium price instruments. ...more

It’s finally done! As you read this, I’m away on holiday with the mando neck unscrewed from the body, and both parts neatly fitting into the approved size of airline hand baggage. ...more

This issue I'm continuing with the travel-mando series from the August/September Workshop lesson... neck and head. ...more

With eight steel strings on a fairly narrow neck, to keep a good action for more than a year or so, I think some kind of neck reinforcement is necessary. ...more

My apologies for being away from NZM for several months. I've been rearranging my life to give me more time for making instruments and playing music. ...more

Probably the best known - and certainly the most discussed of these tuning schemes is the one patented by Buzz Feiten ...more

Yes - I have one... a little chromatic tuner with rows of red and green lights; small enough to slip in my pocket with the car keys. ...more

As you will see from the photos, last month's Spanish Mando job turned out nicely. ...more

There hasn’t been a Workshop article for the last two issues. I’ve been unusually busy – repairing and setting up instruments before holiday-time gigs and festivals, rebuilding an old greenhouse and converting various pieces of wood and old roof-iron into the ‘Chook Hilton’ for my beloved. ...more

This one's a bit of fun - built in a weekend, and mostly from scrap parts - but it sounds pretty good. Loud enough to be useful, quiet enough for recording... and at less than two watts, I can crank it up without waking the neighbours. ...more

Three items for you this month: an update on the Tenor Cittern project; things for hanging guitars on the wall, and some retro-fit 'Plexi' transformers. ...more

This amp was one of those jobs which looks straightforward at first ... and then turns out not to be! ...more