Hi everbody,

I'm a new member from Australia. My question to the forum is about moulds. I have a plan of a weissenborn and would love to try and make one. Do I go an inside or outside mould? Where I live it is a tropical climate and lots of humidity. Any pics or recomendations will be greatlt received.

Looking forward to learning from you all !!!

Cheers

Ozzie

Thanks for the welcome to the forum.  There are some very useful links there for me to research my build. Thanks Todd for the great pics.

Cheers

Alan

Hey Martin,

I'm in Townsville, North Queensland. Its been cold up here too. Not like your putting up with though.

So do you a guitar builder also?

I've buikt a few solid body lap slide guitars but this will be my first acoustic project.

Cheers

Alan

Probably the best piece of advice anyone could give about building a Weissenborn is to use a taller brace design, especially for the x-brace. Changes in humidity in particular will be a killer on Weissenborns.

I've got one here right now which I consider my camping/festival Weiss because of some problems that occured during construction. It's built with the original specification braces. Because it's my knockabout guitar I keep it strung all the time (which I'd advise against, especially with the sort of tension I have on the strings) for playing around the house. With the cold front that's set in down in Brisbane recently there's a good 7-8mm depression in front of the bridge right now.

You can keep the same bracing pattern, but more sufficient braces will remove this problem - other Weissenborns I have right now are handling the crazy weather we're having here just fine.

Probably the best piece of advice anyone could give about building a Weissenborn is to use a taller brace design, especially for the x-brace. Changes in humidity in particular will be a killer on Weissenborns.

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Hey Richo,

G'day. I have a weissenborn that was made for me by a local luthier which was made to the spec of the MMIF weiss plan. My luthier was of the opinion that the MMIF plan is over braced. I haven't had any problems with the bridge on my guitar. It is only just over twelve months old. It is made with a cedar top, new guinea rosewood back and sides. Mine is kept on a stand and is tuned to open D. Do you use heavy guage strings or higher pitched tunings? I use standard medium guage strings and beef up the 1 st and 2nd strings to a 16thou and 18thou respectively. No problems !!!! I intend using that particular plan to build my effort of a weiss copy. Interested in your opinions mate!!!

Cheers

Alan

Sorry, that shoulkd be:

MIMF Musical Instrument Makers Forum weiss plan

Cheers

Alan

Yeah I should have added that I am using a heavy gauge of strings tuned high (open E) on this particular guitar. Eventually I plan on sorting something out with it, but until then it'll remain the guitar I pick up when I'm at the computer or the one I take when I don't want to risk damage to a decent instrument. Best thing about Weissenborns is when you're at the desk working it can sit on your lap out of the way (as it is right now)

I've not built one to the MIMF plans so I can't comment on how they turn out. If it's a year old now I wouldn't realistically expect anything to go wrong down the track. With taller bracings, a Weissenborn I had sitting next to the one I mentioned earlier tuned the same etc. was completely fine through weeks of crazy weather in Brisbane.

I'd have to go check, but I believe the plans list the top braces as .38" or thereabouts. Width is fine, but in my view, especially with the X-brace, going for a taller brace more akin to a regular acoustic's design will go a long way in improving the structural integrity of the instrument.

I'm actually building a custom designed lap steel now which has a dreadnought shaped body with a hollowneck, featuring a standard Martin bracing pattern for something a bit different.

Dave,

Thanks for your web site link. What a great reference. Sometimes a picture tells a thousand words. Beautiful instrument mate !!!

Cheers

Alan

Hey Martin,

I'm in Townsville, North Queensland. Its been cold up here too. Not like your putting up with though.

So do you a guitar builder also?

Hi ToddStock,

Thanks for your further input. I have a replica weiss made by a local luthier for me from the MIMF plan and the SM plan. He found there are some problem, measurement issues on one of the plans. I reckon your right there is enough info to build a good sounding guitar. I have my replica to copy from also. Here are two pics of the weiss:

ttp://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r261/ozziebluesman/IMG_000 5.jpg[/IMG]

IMG]hIMG]http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r261/ozziebluesm an/IMG_0006.jpg[/IMG]

Here in Oz there are a few luthier suppliers. I was going to use huon pine for brace material and kerfing. It is cheaper than spruce and I don't really think I need to use first class materials for my first effort. My top, back and sides wood is Tasmanian Sassafrass which would only be B class quality.

When you get some time Todd would you mind commenting on my thoughts on building my first weiss.

I have many years experience at guitar setup and small repair jobs to stringed instruments. However, a luthier I am not. Building an acoustic guitar has been something I have always wanted to do and I need to start somewhere.

Thanks for your attention

Cheers

Alan 

I've not worked with huon myself, but my understanding is it's considerably stronger than spruce. That there might be enough to cancel out any potential shortcomings in the Weissenborn's bracing design. Tasmanian Sassafras should make for a beautiful guitar.

Best of luck with it... sounds like you're well on track to making a beautiful guitar.