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Every builder has their own "look". It's the combination of inside, outside, detail, etc that makes the look. I always went with 220 on the inside and 400 on the outside. Being careful through the build is what is important.
I always had to laugh at the builders that put fancy crap on the inside...it means nothing except for the "big buck boys" that spend more time with mirrors looking inside their little 'precious' than playing. One look at an old Martin, Gibson, Larson or Stella will show you how much difference it all makes 80 years later. A few drips of glue or machine marks make no difference. A few years of cycling through humidity changes will rough up the inside considerably anyway (unless you apply finish to the inside too, we won't even get into that) and how many players do you know that regularly blow out the inside of their instruments anyway?
Who the heck cares if there are a few squeeze out drips on the top. I'd rather see them than wonder if the joint is starved...

I was always a squeeze bottle with stainless bolt (Mario P. idea) user for HHG and in time I learned what bead size for my brace widths would results in some visible squeeze out, what I wanted to see but very little of it. Waiting for the stuff to start to jell and not using too much made clean-up easier too. That's working clean I guess knowing that if we don't we will be chasing our tails to clean up.

Sorry, I was talking about between the top and kerfing when the top is glued on to seal the box. Typically, all bracing was cleaned up from squeeze out with a chisel, stick of wood and damp cloth, whatever. Runny as HHG can be, you do learn how to apply the right amount to braces...you still will have some cleanup.
Sure, the mentioned corporations could get pretty sloppy with bracing glue-ups, but as individual custom builders, we have enough time to clean up that sort of thing.

I ran across this photo today in an article about what the insides of common objects "actually" look like. It made me think of this thread.

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Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right - Robert Hunter

'Nuff said...

Is it possible for wood to feel embarrassment?

Now there’s a luthier with way too much time on his hands.

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

A guitar made by Tiffany & Co. ?

I'm picturing tiny people in 1800s garb sitting on tiny furniture playing parlor guitars.

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Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right - Robert Hunter

I'm picturing the"Texas wedding suite" at a cheesy casino.

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One of the biggest things I took from the Greenfield video was to apply glue with a little dry sponge. I didn't glue it to a stick like he did but I keep a bunch of them around of different sizes. It's made a huge difference in the cleanliness of joints. It seems like it's the perfect amount of glue ever time. I haven't really bothered cleaning up glue lines very often since. They either look good the way they are or they aren't even noticeable at all.

I do try to work as cleanly as I can but that's just in my nature. Chisel marks drive me nuts!

More on this topic. This is what I'm talking about. This is a 00 style I'm building right now. You see that little chip on the back graft? Would you actually unglue and replace that portion just so it looks good on the inside of the guitar where someone would literally need a mirror to see it? I think some builders actually would, to me that's crazy

Probably 2 mirrors would be needed to see it, but it would still annoy me,
But it's OK, I'm seeking treatment....

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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.

I would replace it.


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How 'bout I just use a little glue and some sawdust

Call me crazy.....

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Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right - Robert Hunter

I'd glue a little piece of scrap in there, trim it and sand it. I probably need treatment

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Yep.
I usually save the back graft offcuts for just that reason. Find one that matches and graft it into the defective area. It’ll look good.

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

Yup. Even at a lowly 3k base on my fancy guitars I would be compelled to replace that. There should imo be nothing objectionable.

You all are crazy, I would make it look intentional with a decorative inlay

Kidding of course. As a hobbyist, I would leave it as is. I'm not sure what I would do if I were charging thousands of dollars for it. On one hand, it is an easy fix so why not just do it? On the other hand, do you joint the intersection of the veneers strips of the rosette under the fret board extension?

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

What, like this? Do I need help?

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Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right - Robert Hunter

I'm friends with the luthier that made that. He's helped me alot on multiple occasions.

Jay, that's just hubris!

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Pat

The joints in the back strip bother me more than that little chip out, but even they don't bother me so much that I would replace them. I try to run single lengths between the braces, but if I don't have them handy I will join two pieces as he has done. As far as interiors go, my work falls somewhere between that of a Gibson and a Martin (I leave a lot of latitude saying that )

Ok I fixed it. Hopefully the clean work Gods of OLF approve. It's good enough for me anyway

And yeah I have always just used what ever cutoffs I have laying around and never really gave it much thought. After all it serves as a function. I definitely have very high standards where the back strip meets the bracing, but all the way back at the tail block... Meh.