Official Luthiers Forum!

Thought I'd post some pics of my latest build.

Back and sides - Tasmanian Tiger Myrtle
Soundboard - King Billy Pine
Bindings - WA Jarrah
Neck - QLD Maple
Fretboard and bridge - QLD Mulga
Soundboard bracing - Bunya Pine
Pickup - LR Baggs StagePro Anthem

OK, I admit it, I love Australian tone woods.

It's only a couple of days old and it is already sounding great. The LR Baggs pickup is so good. Captures the natural sound of the guitar and has all the control I need in a live situation.

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Martin Taylor
http://martintaylorguitars.com.au

Sorry, for a minute I had you confused with one of my idols http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USgds2Ruc8U
Lovery guitar, and I really like the woods. the back and sides are stunning.
How do you find the woods down under to work with? I hear they can be tricky.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Nice work! I like that you used all local tonewoods.

Haha Colin. If only I had his skills!

I find the Aussie tone woods great to work with. The Blackwood can get a bit of tannin stain a bit after bending but that is easily cleaned up with some oxalic acid. The West Australian Sheoak can be a bit of a bugger as it has such crazy cross graining. The Tiger Myrtle is a breeze, bends really well. The Black Heart Sassafras bends well but feels so different to work with in the hand. It has a grainier/drier feel when sanding, hard to describe and can be a little brittle but does finish really well.

The hardest timber to bend is the Gidgee for the bindings etc (Jarrah bends really easily). I have only done one with Gidgee bindings so far and I made sure I heated it up well and bent it slowly in my jig.

As to the tops, Bunya Pine is really easy to use, only challenge is getting consistently good quality pieces. The King Billy is really nice, my favourite so far but a lot more expensive. When sanding it the aroma is so good.

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Martin Taylor
http://martintaylorguitars.com.au

Sweet guitar

Very pretty guitar. Another winner, Martin.

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

Very dramatic woods! Nicely done guitar, too.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Thanks all, I'll keep trying.

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Martin Taylor
http://martintaylorguitars.com.au

Tiger Myrtle is somewhat rare to find here. Is it more plentifull round your way?

It's one of my favorite woods...and that's a particularly nice set.

It's rare here too but as it is a "local" timber we are usually able to get it. It is great to work with, bends well and finishes well.

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Martin Taylor
http://martintaylorguitars.com.au

Lovely guitar Martin.