Howdy from BC, Canada

Rod True

Member
Messages
22
Location
Abbotsford, BC Canada
Hello everyone.

I found this site while looking for ideas for a cross cut sled. Great site and some nice folks here I think.

OK, my name is Rod True, I'm 37, married for the past 11 years, 3 kids and totally addicted to building acoustic guitars :D

Don't know if there are any other guitar builders here but I'm here to better my woodworking skills and try and share any tips and tricks I've learned over the 10 some years of my woodworking hobby.

To date, I've built 4 guitars with another 3 in progress and 2 other's needing to be built for sale.

I'll post my humble 185 sft shop in the shop section with some pics and details.

Here are a couple pictures of two of my guitars to date. They are basically the same woods, but they are different sizes, scale length and internal bracing.

Anyway, it's great to be here. I'm sure I can learn a bunch from you all and I hope I can give some help along the way as well.
 

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Hi Rod, wellcome, it's nice to see a guitar builder on this forum.
Wonderful hobby, and your guitars are looking great.
In earlier times I build furniture, but now I'm a fun woodturner.
Hope you have a great time here.
Ad :wave:
 
Hi Rod, hows it going eh? :D

Where abouts in BC are you? I'm originally from Kelowna, but I've been here in Japan for going on 18 years now.

Your guitars are super, the attention to detail is stunning.

Welcome to the Family! :wave:
 
Thanks allot ya'll.

Stewart, I live in Abbotsford. We sure like going to Kelowna for the summer, hanging out at the lake and all.

Bob, sorry bout the Colts, I was hoping they would go all the way.

Frank, I do moderate other types of wood working. My shop is so small though and is really just set up for guitars. I have made a couple of built-in shelving units in the house over the years but that's about it. My father in law is a journeyman cabinetmaker and he and I do some small projects together at times. For now though, most of my passion is spent on guitar making.

Jeff, my wifes maiden name is Bowser and she has a brother Jeff so every time I see your name I have to remind myself that it's Jeff Bower, not Jeff Bowser. I play, but not very good. I really enjoy hearing other's play my guitars as usually they are considerably better than I at playing. Mostly I just play for the kids, camping, and just to relax.

Anyway, thanks for the warm welcome and the kudos on my guitars. I have a long way to go AFAIC before they are up to industry standard. Most guitar makers always feel their guitars can improve in some area, even after a couple hundred built.
 
Bob, sorry bout the Colts, I was hoping they would go all the way.

Rod your comment is appricated,
but it dont help the pain..............:soapbox:
 
Welcome to the family, Rod.

Those are some fine guitars. I don't have any interest in making guitars but cannot resist appreciating a nicely handcrafted one.

BTW, how did you finish those guitars?
 
Well, I said in your shop tour that I cant wait to see one, all I had to do is look a little furthur to your intro and here is one! Beautiful guitar :thumb:,bet it sounds as well as it looks!

Again, welcome

Tom
 
Welcome aboard, Rod. Beautiful workI'm a lifelong guitarist (started at about 8 years of age), but have not yet built an acoustic guitar. It's one of the things on my list of projects I hope to do someday. The solidbody electric (body only) and the lap steel I built years ago don't quite count as "guitar building".

From the looks of things, you went all out and built and shaped your own neck. Are you also doing the bending and such? How about the fingerboard? Do you use any pre-made components? I suspect my first acoustic will start as a kit. Any advice pro or con? (I still need to go check out your shop tour thread, but I'm short of time right now.) I'd love to see more info about the hows and whys of your guitar-building exploits. Again, welcome to the clubhouse. Your experience will be a good addition to the mix. :wave:
 
Thanks again guys, you really know how to welcome a new member :)

Vaughn, the only pre-made items I tend to use are the liners (inside the guitar), tuners, strings and fret wire of course, truss rod and bridge pins. Everything else I make including bending my own sides. I don't re-saw my woods however, I buy most of the materials in rough form, mostly to size. I have a ton of links to great guitar suppliers both in Canada, the US and in Europe (if anyone is interested). I'm also a member of a growing guitar makers forum (I've been a member for just about 4 years now) and that's where I've learned a bunch of building tricks and tips. Now I try my best to 'pay it forward'.

I've spend a good amount of time making many of my own jigs and specialty tools (for bending sides, circle cutting for the soundhole and rosette, etc...) which can really take up time when you want to build. None of them are totally necessary, but as most of you know, a good jig can save you a lot of set up time and increase your accuracy if you're going to build more than a couple of the same item.

When I get into the shop more I'll try and document one of my builds and post it here for you all to see and watch. That would be very good for me as it would force me to document my building better and might be fun for some of the members here to see what goes into making an acoustic guitar. This will not be a quick process mind you, it will take me about 6 months or so to go from start to finish (the day job always gets in the way of our fun doesn't it :doh:)

I've got lots of guitar building friends, some who had no previous woodworking skills who are turning out incredible guitars. If you can use your table saw and have some patience, you can build a guitar either from a kit or a full scratch build and I'm certainly willing to help anyone decide which avenue to go if anyone here wants to give it a go. Like most things now a days, there's probably more information on the net than anyone of us has time for. Guitar building is no exception.

Thanks again for the warm welcome everyone. My wife said "What, another forum?" when she saw me logged on here. I assured her I wouldn't be spending to much time here :rolleyes: (ya right) but that I wanted to learn and improve my woodworking skills some more :)
 
Oh, by the way Vaughn, you live in an area swarming with guitar builders. Some very well known and highly regarded luthiers live in the SoCal area. Also I know of a few 'hobbyists' down there too who might be willing to show you around their shops if your interested (and in close enough proximity).
 
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