All right, here's mine.
So.... here are the stories behind the "1st"
was so eager to glue the back on that I did it outside the mold. (stupid) Now the neck block was not square to the centerline of the back. So, now I had to take the back off and re-set it. So, after much heat (with little water. stupid) I got the back off and had a 6-8" crack from the top (near the headstock) to the middle of the back, thank goodness it was along the grain line. I sure cryed when that happened and I wanted to trash the entire thing (Thank goodness for level headed wifes. She's the best). But cooler heads prevailed and the back was fixed (I can't even find the crack) and glued on.
Next, neck. I was so eager there also that I sanded through to the truss rod in 3 spots along the neck. Yikes, way to many to backstrap (although I tried, it looked awful) So I made a second neck, thinking I could use the fretboard at least, well, I didn't have enough heat (read knowlege or what the heck to do) that I ended up trying to saw off the neck from the fret board, Well you can guess how that went, so I made a new fretboard as well. I least I saved the truss rod
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Finaly I was so afraid to mess anything more up that I farmed out the finish. It was great and 1 month later I was ready to bolt on the neck, bridge and set it up. Well, I was bolting on the neck/gluing down the fb when I hear this "crack" as I'm tightening up the bolts. Well, I nearly popped the bottom portion of the heal off the neck, it was hanging by a sliver and the finish. I was using the new Cumpiano style bolts and I guess I torqued it up too much and snaped the heal. Well, I glued on the heal, drilled and installed a 1/2" maple dowel, filled the holes for the barrel bolts and used the screw in inserts instead. That worked (has been holding for 4 years now). I still have the crack in the finish and all the burn marks inside the body to remind me that it certainly isn't perfect actually there is a very distict hump at the bass side of the bridge to also remind me it isn't perfect. But I sure love the sound. That guitar has alowed me to make and sell 3 others, with 2 more on the horrizon (very near infact, just waiting for the deposits).
So there you have it, stories and all.
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My Facebook Guitar Page"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox
"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman
"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson
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FAQ
It is (used to be) a much prettier guitar than the copy I made; it has multi colored purflings, Brazilian rosewood back and sides (as far as I can tell), a French polish finish and so on. I think it is of German or Austrian origin, but I could not tell you how old it is. I know my wife's great grandfather got it around 1910 but it was not new then.
