Official Luthiers Forum!

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

Hi ozziebluesman, I'm working on my first guitar as well, and It just happens to be a Weissenborn. The general consensus is that when building a Weissenborn a outside mold is the way to go. I built my outside mold about a month ago. Below is a link to a website that explains the process quite clearly.If you had any other Weissenborn question I probably would not have responded, because all of this is new to me as well. But, since I've made a mold If figured Id contribute.
       
http://pweb.jps.net/~msm/htmlpages/gcmold.html

Welcome to OLF, Ozzie.  I'm a first time builder too, but I'm into classicals, not Weissenborns, but I know someone else will chime in eventually.  Good luck with your build.

_________________
Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Dang, Todd, that's a fine looking wall o'chisels.

Ron

_________________
OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

All far too neat...Todd must have a cleaner

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

[QUOTE=old man] Dang, Todd, that's a fine looking wall o'chisels.

Ron[/QUOTE]

I thought the same thing, Ron.

Todd...John Watkins has 92 on his wall...how many do you have?

Also...nice looking bench!...and BTW, also a fine looking mold!!!

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

Alan,

Whereabouts in Oz are you? Im freezing my b*tt off down here in Adelaide.

Cheers Martin

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

Todd,

Nice mould (an Weiss). Let me know when you have worked out the double necked one

Alan,

Welcome to the OLF. I did a photo-documentary of the build of one of my Weisses here on my website that might be of interest to you. Be warned though, my bracing pattern is not "traditional". I'm looking forward to seeing you progress pictures.

_________________
Dave White
De Faoite Stringed Instruments
". . . the one thing a machine just can't do is give you character and personalities and sometimes that comes with flaws, but it always comes with humanity" Monty Don talking about hand weaving, "Mastercrafts", Weaving, BBC March 2010

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.

_________________
Richard
http://www.guitarmaker.com

Another comment on the humidity issues you mentioned.
If you know all of this already, please ignore this...
It really is important to build in a humidity controlled environment. If you build in high humidity, tops & backs can (and will) collapse & crack when the humidity is lowered.
I know this from first hand experience & when it happens, it's a total drag!

[QUOTE=richo]

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.

[/QUOTE]

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.

_________________
Richard
http://www.guitarmaker.com

Dave,

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

Cheers

Alan

[QUOTE=ozziebluesman]

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?

[/QUOTE]

Im an amateur luthier when Im not out working at my day job.

Cheers Martin

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 

Alan,

Todd's advice is sound. The one place you do need to use "first class" materials is the bracing and I would use spruce - the cost is tiny and maybe the other Oz OLF'ers can point you in the direction of a good supply there.

In some ways a Weiss type guitar is easier than a conventional one as there is not the same critical procedure of neck angle/set and getting playable action - in some ways the higher the better for a Weiss. Plus no intonation slant angles/calculation for the saddle.

I just treated my builds as though I was making any other guitar - you have to think hardest about keeping the soundhole and upwards area stable as there is no neck block as such. Definitely go for taller/thinner bracing than the "conventional" plans as Richo says.

Christolphe's site is a great help and pm Todd or me if you have any questions/issues as you go.

_________________
Dave White
De Faoite Stringed Instruments
". . . the one thing a machine just can't do is give you character and personalities and sometimes that comes with flaws, but it always comes with humanity" Monty Don talking about hand weaving, "Mastercrafts", Weaving, BBC March 2010

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.

_________________
Richard
http://www.guitarmaker.com