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http://stores.ebay.com/Antoniotsais-Guitar-Mandolin-Arts_W0QQssPageNameZstrkQ3amefsxQ3asstQQtZkm

I know this guy is probably the best source of inlay pieces for me (he's got lots of good abalone inlays) but what about his guitars? aside from being overdone how are the quality of his acoustics? some of the prices is in the "too good to be true" category. One guy in a Taiwanese forum said his guitar looks good but up close it "needs work"...

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

I have never seen one of his instruments but i have had him cut some inlay for me in the past. He is a good ebayer as far as his buisness practice and his inlay work and shell cutting is good.

He is using very thin pearl so be aware that you can sand right through it. I have used him twice. once I was pleased the 2nd time I wasn't. I haven't used him since. I prefer Dave Nichols , or Andy Depaulle
john hall
Blues Creek guitars

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

I will agree with John while his inlay work is good it is thin, and I too use Andy Depaule for all my raw and cut shell, and have for several years now. My point was only that Antonio is not deceptive in his business on eBay.

I agree , antonio is real and not a crook , just be aware of the thin pearl issue.
john

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

OR Craig Lavin and Paul Bordeaux

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

Search his name on Google. I did that a while back regarding his instruments and see some of the feedback you get from there.

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Brad Tucker

Well I was only asking because I saw that he sells a guitar on the Taiwan's yahoo auction site with what looks like really nicely figured koa back and sides (which he said it was solid) for something like $700-1000 dollars. Now having looked through LMII catalog numerous times I do know a nicely figured koa back and side will run around $500-600 dollars, then factor in all the inlay work (and materials) and bracing, neck, rosette, etc and the guitar should run about $1000 or more just for materials alone. So I figured something must be amiss because no way I would sell a AAA koa back/side guitar for $1000, it would be more like $3000.

I know he got a workshop (probably more like a sweat shop that employs child workers for 2 cents a day) in Vietnam so I am not expecting his quality to be great, but I mean, I am sure good grade koa costs a lot even if you process it yourself...

Maybe I might buy inlay parts/nut and saddle blanks from him but not sure about guitars...

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

Actually, a friend of mine who is a luthier bought one of his fancy inlaid mandola's, and it is a real beauty. It doesn't sound that bad either. But the top is caving in after about 3 years. So if you buy one, it will probably be pretty decent if you can do your own setups. The inlay job was impressive as it was done on the fretboard, the pickguard, and all over the back, and it was only $400USD. It just sits on his wall, but when you see it, everyone is impressed!

I also used him on my first guitar to create a custom logo. The logo was okay, but now I can do the same quality of work. The ebony he used was not good quality and I wouldn't buy an inlaid fretboard from him. But I may purchase a guitar from him just to have a beautiful inlaid guitar hanging on the wall!

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Tracy
http://www.luthiersuppliers.com

I've seen two of them. Both dreadnaught guitars with lots of inlay. The inly was decent, but the rest of the guitars joinery was horrid. It played bad too. I don't think this guys shop is climate controlled, because there were wicked frets ends on both, and both had multiple cracks on the top, backs and sides. Stay far away from his instruments. I hate to be overly critical, but in this case I'm not....they were really that bad. His raw materials aren't horrible though. I'd rather go to DePaule supply or MOP supplies.

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John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

I'd have my shop climate controlled just for the fact that I hate working in a hot, humid place. I can't imagine that be too good for the wood/guitar either. I just hope that my first guitar don't end up cracking and stuff in a few months... any way to avoid this?

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

Hi there.

I live in Melbourne , Australia.

Antoniotsai has an agent operating an ebay store from the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. That agent goes by the name of Dane Clark, and operates a business called MandoHarp.

I purchased a soprano ukulele from him last year for about $325 AUD. It looked very nice on the web page with lots of close-up pictures. It looked pretty good in the flesh too until I examined it more closely.

The pictures you see on this web-page are of the actual instrument I purchased. It seems to have been a one-off of that design, hence the "status-sold" at the top of the page.

Apart from the inlays, I was impressed by the claim that it was a solid koa instrument with rosewood fretboard and bridge, and came in a plush lined hard case. In fact, I found that it played quite well in spite of its faults. Indeed I will go as far as to say it is rather a well built uke. There are, however, a number of faults which really piss me off, because it is potentially not a bad instrument for the price.

I think that if it had been totally built and finished by the one person, it may have been much nicer, but it looks like one too many dills has had a go at it, and spoiled it. The pictures don't show the reflection that you can see when it's in your hand.

The first thing I noticed was the buffing marks which show as criss-cross rays parallel to all sides of the bridge and fretboard.

There are glue smears and splashes all over the fretboard, which don't show on the pictures.

The yellow parts of those puffs of smoke on the headstock are just yellow filler, where the inlays don't fit the routing, as with the gaps between the fretboard dragon's teeth, etc. This could be more of a problem on the fretboard if the filler wears faster than pearl and rosewood.



You can see where the nut was crooked, even with it removed.

The tuners are cheap plastic ones, and the whole tuners, their bushes, and the foot part that is supposed to remain stationary at the back of the headstock all turns in the holes.
When I removed them (tuners), I found that the holes were far too big, and had obviously been drilled to suit different tuners. In fact they looked like they had been drilled with a samurai sword.



The Puff of smoke coming out of the dragons nose has part of it's filler missing.



Furthermore, the finish has a fine crack at the back, where the heel joins the body.

Here's a picture after I replaced the nut and strung it up. It still has to have the holes filled to fit the gold/amber Gotoh tuning pegs I got for it. I'll use epoxy putty to fill the holes and re- drill them.



Apart from that it was basically well put together with nice (unfigured) koa, mahogany neck and rosewood fretboard and bridge. The back is rather nice.

Hope I haven't discouraged you. A mate of mine has a dreadnought acoustic bass that looks magnificent, and plays well. He doesn't have any complaints.

Cheers Hip.