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I am so freakin mad at myself. Just realized I installed the tail end graft inlay upside down so the narrow end is near the top. I guess there is no law that says it needs to go the other way but darn it - I hate when that happens.

Considering leaving it alone, going to a design that is not tapered and re-doing it, or creating a larger wedge with the bottom being wider than usal. What would you do?

leave it alone....

been there... done that. It looked fine. Nobody ever noticed but me (and other guitar builders).

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

Rich,
What does it look like? And what does the back laminants look like? Got any pics?
IMHO upside down can be made to look great, as long as it flows with the back.

Rich...you planned it that way, right? That's your story and you should stick to it!

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

You mean it's supposedto be the other way around?????

D'Oh!

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

YOu guys know how to make someone who has goofed really feel good about it (ha ha). I will shoot some pics tonight and post them. Just finished gluing up the body so will get to see how it looks.

I was fretting about it some more this morning and thinkinig like Brock. No none would ever know except me and other builders - but every time I see it now, it hits me - I think "you idiot, how could you have made such a basic mistake?"

Heheh. Don't feel too bad Rich. I just did the same thing a couple of weeks ago! Everybody who has seen the guitar
in-process thinks it looks great. I just thank them graciously and .

I figure I won't make that mistake again...


-Mark

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Pullman, WA

The more I know, the more I know I don't know.

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I have been doing that for years and still haven't decide which way I like it.

I don't understand the rationale for the wedge shaped end graft (other than tradition). I usually use the same dimension and materials as the back strip as I think it gives a more continuous appearance. It bypasses the problem discussed in this thread as well!

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

[QUOTE=Arnt] I don't understand the rationale for the wedge shaped end graft (other than tradition). [/QUOTE]

I think it is just really easy to make a piece that fits really tight and works with virtually any purfling scheme.

My guess is some wiz at a production facility somewhere (Martin?) got this idea as he looked at a big stack of bodies that needed end grafts.

Just a guess... but I would lay odds on it....

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

I suppose that could be true. However, it should not be more difficult to install than the backstrip which most people inlay between the plates after they are joined.

Of course, most people may just like them better, and I won't argue with that.Arnt38707.3745023148

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

   The Luthier police will never arrest you for that. They have bigger fish to fry.
john hall

If it bugs you that much ... you could always re-rout half of it and turn it into a BOW tie and start a new trend ;)

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tim...
http://www.mcknightguitars.com

I saw a bow tie once. It looked really sharp

Inlay something on each side of the now narrow upper part to give the illusion of the taper going the other way.
It could look like it was planned that way.
Larry Robinson says he got into inlaying to cover an "oops".

I think the way you're "supposed" to do it looks upside down. Why would the wider part be for the top? The wider part of everything else in life is toward the back....

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Instagram: @jfrenchluthier
Web: https://www.jfrenchguitars.com/

[QUOTE=rich altieri] I am so freakin mad at myself. Just realized I installed the tail end graft inlay upside down so the narrow end is near the top. [/QUOTE]

Who says it's upside down? It's your guitar. It's a design feature, make it your signature on every guitar you build. This is a custom one off instrument. Joshua is right it should be wider at the base logically.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Like Brock said been ther done that Infact for two years I did all mine that way so I could tell prospective clients that it was a design feature

I've never done a tapered end graft. I always make them parallel. I just
never was crazy about the tapered look. Since it's only a decorative
element, who cares which way the taper goes? As someone else said, add
some small inlay elements to balance it and people will ooh and aah over
the added bling. Have fun with it.
Craig

One 'use' of a tapered graft is to hide it when you don't quite get the centerlines on the top and back to line up. If you use a straight graft it will have to be at an angle to match both centerlines, and that shows on the end. A tapered graft will disguise that problem, if you should ever do it, not that I ever have..... ;)