Official Luthiers Forum!

For the center brace on the back strip, seeing as it is supposed to be cross grain, Where do you guys get this strip from? Do you take it from the off cuts of the top?

That is what I did for a new back the other night, but it seemed kinda thin at about 3/8-1/4.

I have not bought all my fretting tools yet, so I am going over and over on plates, bending and roughing out necks and slotting fret boards. I have 3 sets of ribs, 3 back plates and 4 tops now, and about 10 roughed out necks.  It's a shame only one set of ribs, one or maybe two tops and one neck are gonna make the cut though.  Oh well, I am learning alot I guess.

John, yes, the rips off each end of a top gives you enough to do one guitar plus. I usually toss the graft, unless it's perfectly invisible.

I've heard of folks using up a problem top into backgraft strips.

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

I bought a big block of sitka spruce a while back that has color in it and I use cuttings from that block to make back straps.

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Reguards,

Ken H

If the top is long enough, get the strips from there. Sometimes I buy a low grade top just to cut it into a bunch of back strips. You can get a lot of strips out of a top set. Shanes' packing material also make great back strips!

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

This year I bought a set of May. Ebony from ZOOTMAN. (may hero) and he sandwiched the two planks between a plank of Sitka that had a few imperfections. Well all my center gracts have come from that plank I too save my top cutoffs and turn them into grafts.