Відео

PTOs?

@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 paid time off, probably

@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 paid time off 😀

Never heard of it. What a concept!

@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 an idea invented by some MBA at the HR office probably 😀 all jokes aside, these videos deserve to be seen in an uninterrupted sequence, a difficult task with a toddler in the house 👶

Edge tool work and finish sanding is not only what separates the men from the boys, it’s what makes the work fun! Plus, I hate using routers. No routing is done in the building of one of my guitars. Mostly I use the router upside-down in a little table for rounding over sharp edges on wood and aluminum tooling. Routers work great on aluminum using sharp carbide and stick lube formulated to lubricate cutting metals on a bandsaw. Magic.

Ain’t it the truth! Why else would you do something so risky and difficult just to break even?

Thank You for the attribution, I had forgotten just where this came from, and should have know, the Sage Zappa strikes again!

Known

Isn’t that a riot? I live in Gloucester, MA, where this dumb movie was filmed, and suffered through the inconvenience of having to make way for the Enormous Fans they use to make wind, along with the zillions of filmmakers and who knows who that get the thing in the cans. I love this poster, a send-up from one of my favorite local scalliwags.

This is such a tricky thing to fit, I'd hesitate to depend n a shaped caul yu describe. Each one comes out a little bit different enough to make this method risky, I think. One reason is that the lamination has a mind of its' own, and springs back a bit, just enough to make trouble. I enjoy the challenge. If you get it right, the clamping force needed is quite small.

Great story! I am an avid rower, and have lots of oars made from eastern spruce and hollow tapered carbon fiber tubes. I wonder what reason there would be to use such heavy wood for oars? Great score on the Versa-Vice, it's just perfect for our use with guitars! Now you just need a 1.5" chunk of steel with a 1/2" - 13 hole tapped in it. I made a bunch of these so I can easily mount them on any bench around the shop.

I struggled with this method, and tried some much more complex attachment schemes for awhile. Finally, I gave up and made peace with it. It's a little tricky to get it in exactly the right spot first try, but I can't think of any other downside. It looks clean and does a perfect job. Sticking things together is always a challenge. Did you know that Stradivari attached his necks with three little nails? No lie. I think they have all been removed over the centuries and converted to the shallow mortise that violin-makers all use now, but wow. maestronet.com/forum/index.php?/topic/319973-violin-neck-joinery/ maestronet.com/forum/index.php?/topic/324898-neck-nails/

I was trying to solve the headstock design puzzle for these three goals... Stiff Lightweight (small is how you do this) Unique appearance so as to be a "signature" Many thousands of guitars later, I feel it was successful for all three goals, although somehow the appearance of it is different enough that it seems to offend some players. All I can say to this is go try to satisfy these three for yourself and see how hard it is. As I mentioned, the J strip does add stiffness to the headstock, and the strings don't care what's underneath them.

@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 Oh! Definitely a great iconic design of late 20th Century, recognisable in silhouette from a distance! Reminded somewhat of Elf X motorcycle, Britten V1000, or Cannondale Lefty. No criticism of shape, interested in functional intent. ISTR the 6 in line layout was desired for longer plain string length beyond nut? (Apocryphal?) Consequently had been erroneously wondering if headstock were designed for short stiff structure supporting wound string machine heads, and longer ever-so-slightly-more-compliant structure supporting plain string machine heads (cutout intentionally introducing a smidgen of flexibility). (Similar to carbon weave tapering out along neck, or purfling on plate edges, specific mechanical compliance targets for different purposes.) Anyway I was barking up completely wrong tree, thanks for your explanation, and apologies for my English.

What an interesting idea! Good for you! Is adhesion at the edges a problem?

@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 only at the nut where it curves into the shoulders of the headstock. The film is only somewhat stretchy. Just a slight hint of trying to peel. Still looking for a good touch-up adhesive.

Having worked with all sorts of PTFE, not just film, I was always kind of blown away by the fact that there’s a way to actually bond this weird stuff at all! I understand it is etched with some strong acid in order to get the adhesive to adhere. I can’t think of a fix for a lifting edge, but maybe you’ll find something. Good luck, cool idea!

@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 A thin film of CA glue sort of works. Cutting the film in a pattern that fans out nicely on curves might work. I've only tried it on a couple of builds so far. Research continues...

So glad that Archtoppery is working for you! Isn't the finish great? Pretty simple compared to the usual spray methods, and cheap, too. The 205 always darkens with age, and I save the old stuff for finishing because it ages to a nice red/amber color. I agree that the thin film may not really change the color much, but it's in the right direction!

This is a tall order, and I don't have anything helpful to offer except that a knockoff of the original style from 200 years ago in Austria is now available here, but only for classical strings, they say. www.rodgers-tuning-machines.com/stauffer-style-tuners/

You can use any glue, of course, but I prefer not to use water soluble glue unless it's hide glue in my instruments.

Thanks, K!

I guess I don't think of it as tedious, but I do agree that it's worth the effort, thanks! II love making jigs and tools, makes me feel like a crow.

Here's where you might start looking... images.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?p=unidirectional+dry+carbon+fiber+braid&fr=yhs-infospace-078&type=ud-c-us--s-p-sbib6zsu--exp-none--subid-y7ysaw62&hspart=infospace&hsimp=yhs-078&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn11.bigcommerce.com%2Fs-tmz16y2nan%2Fimages%2Fstencil%2F1280x1280%2Fz%2Fbraided-carbon-fiber__54138.original.jpg#id=203&iurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.spsco.com%2Fmedia%2Fcatalog%2Fproduct%2F6%2F_%2F6__hybrid_carbon_fiber_braid_02hcf06030_4917_2__image.jpg&action=click

@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 thanks Ken! I was asking about fiber for bindings though?

You're most welcome! Thanks for your kind words.

Lots of advantages apart from its' beauty, like no sanding or polishing, easy to touch up, and relatively low toxicity.

@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 thanks for the video it’s really appreciated. I’m building an acoustic and finishing it has been a little off putting. Once you start having to sand and mess about it seems there’s a lot that can go wrong. Plus I’m lazy !

Archtops don't normally need massive bracing, and in my opinion, most are wildly over-braced, and therefore hampered by too much stiffness. The wood has to move in order for it to move the air! Hard to answer your question without the parts in front of me, but likely less than you think.

Really good question, and yes, the core crushes a little, and the epoxy fills the little steps in the carbon thickness.

Thank you very much!

This would seem to be an obvious solution, but I have found that surface grinding funny shaped castings, as these certainly are, presents insurmountable problems due to the extreme difficulty of perching the darn thing on the flat magnetic chuck so that the grinder can do its job. A huge amount of fixturing would have been required to get the surface to be ground parallel to the machine's travel, and nailed down so it couldn't move or shudder during grinding. I could have scraped three of these in the time it might have taken to make the tooling.

@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 Yes. Makes sense. Ken. You have the patience of a saint. I could never do that by hand. I don’t have that skill. I have a uniplane also.

Awesome! Thank you!

Glad you enjoyed it

This puzzles me, as I have no memory of speaking with Floyd about instrument design, ever. The only conversations I had with him were regarding the installation of his first product, and these were 45 years ago. Perhaps you are referring my own reasons for choosing "all on a side" tuners, which I'll be happy to address in full detail in an upcoming film in the Neck Journey, stay tuned!

Ken Parker Archtoppery - The Neck Journey - 3) Origin Story , not exactly how i remember it, it was 8 months ago but let me quote you: "before that I was I was making three and three headstocks like everybody else and I'm going to explain that to you and when maybe for right now as a placeholder we'll just call it that Floyd Rose taught me that three and three is inferior to everybody on one side but that's the story for another day"

Thanks for quoting me so I have an idea about how I sowed confusion with my sloppy sentence. As I mentioned, I never spoke with Floyd about instruments, only about the issues regarding the installation of his earliest products. When I said "that Floyd Rose taught me", I was speaking about the experience of installing a "locking" nut, that is, a nut that can clamp the strings in what amounts to three little vises. What I discovered was that the rock players I was doing installations for were HORRIFIED at the huge difference the locking nut made to the feel of their (mostly) Strats. By clamping the strings at the nut, the string lengths between the nut and the tuning pegs were taken out of the loop, and the result was the perception of wildly higher string tension when bending. When I loosened the clamps, everybody's shoulders dropped as the guitar returned to "normal". Next, the player had to decide whether or not to put up with the change in feel in exchange for the dependable tuning stability during feverish dive-bombing sessions. Most did, some by tuning down or reducing the string guage. The actual tension of the string at rest does not change, but when bending, or really, even just fretting, which is a kind of subtle bending, the "afterlength" of the string over the headstock no longer can stretch and add to the elasticity of the string. Make sense? Try it for yourself, I was blown away by the difference. If you're playing electric guitar with light strings and like to bend, you will always perfer the 6 in line feel over the 3 & 3 feel. Promise. Wonder why Fenders outsold Les Pauls by so much? There's the story. In the first Floyd trems he used leather washers as part of the stack of hardware that attaches the bar to the vibrato. These lasted about one song before needing adjustment or replacement. I replaced them with precision washers which I faced with thin teflon sheet, and mailed a bunch of them to Floyd. Never heard a word from the guy. Oh well, I learned a life-changing lesson as a result of installing these gizmos in 1979, and it changed my understanding of headstock design in a profound way. Fair enough.

@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 I imagined, after the fact, what you meant with the "floyd rose taught me" sentence. I imagined right. But always better to have confirmation. The 4 to 7 inches of extra string length on a non Floyd trem guitar makes a hugue difference when bending the 3 first strings indeed. Not so much on the wound ones but that's the nature of them. The thicker and closer to the nut, the less difference there is. I recently modded a customer guitar, he struggled a lot with his Floyd bridge (he wasn't too "handy" when replacing strings on it and found it to be a hassle) and I replaced it with a fixed Hipshot one. The first thing he said was: "did you install lighter string on it? it feels softer when I bend". Well, you stringss are longer now. The longer the string, the more it gives applying the same force. Regarding the strat outselling the Les Paul, well, it's a matter of taste i guess, but for me the Les Paul is heavier, the bridge feels like resting your hand on a set of knives, the neck/headstock breaks if you look at it too much with no easy way of fixing or replacing it, the offset plane of the fretboard against the body feels weird and the prices are ridiculous. Yap, I don't like Les Pauls much They look nice though....that's it. Credit where credit is due, a nice figured top looks better than a flat painted one with a massive plastic pickguard 😀. Anyway, thanks for clarifying your story and keep rocking 👍

Just another piece in the puzzle!

What a guy. He would have sued elon.

Happy hunting!

It's what it's all about, no?

Right on w/ the right on.

My Mom's family were fruit farmers from the Willamette Valley, but I'm all E side, a New England guy who loves the Pacific NW!

Yeah, it's tricky to know when there's enough heat to release the bond, and easy to rush things. How did you heal the guitar after removing the board?

@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 I didnt... The guitar came from a scrap pile in the back of a local guitar store. It had been stripped and cut up (no head stock, etc. But still had the fingerboard, bridge, saddles and bridge mounting posts. I bought it for $50 for spare parts. My plan is to rebuild my very first guitar (early 90s Ibanez EX series), and modify or replace the neck with one that i could apply the Fly fingerboard too. I'm not a luthier by any means, so it's definitely going to be a challenge. Your videos have been helpful, specifically around the adhesive used, application, etc.

I don't understand how the UA-cam search works at all. I would think that the word "Bridge" would show up on a search, but maybe we needed to add the word "Guitar"? I always suggest that using and finding things in Archtoppery is always better when you log on my website, clear as a bell.

Sometimes simple isn't easy.

Sam is a fresh face this summer. Glad you like the filming, we're trying to get it right!

It seems like this is nearly always the right move, “Just enough, Never too much” “Keep it simple, Stupid” (KISS) “Simplicate and add more lightness” “Shortest line between 2 points” Please feel free to add your own! When you can get the job done correctly with a nut and a screw, I think you can feel pretty relaxed about that, It’s a dependable pair!

Wow, what a story! Thanks, Antonio, and good fortune with your musical journey!

It's important to have a flexible, sensitive set of plates which can be successfully driven by the little plucked strings we use on guitars. In my opinion, nearly all archtop guitars are wildly overbuilt, and are way to stiff to realize their potential as acoustic instruments. This is the reason that "traditional" archtop guitars are normally plugged in, and strung with nickle strings in order to drive a pickup designed for electric guitars. Remember that the stiffness of the plates varies with the cube function of the thickness. A little too thick is way too stiff.

I do not, but the sharp young undergraduates at Worcester Polytechnic Institute have been wrestling with this problem ever since the daft purchasers of Parker Guitars threw away the beautiful production tooling that we created to produce this complex spring design. Hard to figure how anyone could have thought this was a good idea! The WPI students have re-created this tooling, tested the material and crucial heat treating specifications, and are nearly ready to offer these springs for sale. Check on FlyClone.com for the full story, and also for your other potential needs regarding any Fly Guitar parts.

You would be hard pressed to imagine my exuberant delight when I first applied the “slotted wheel” idea to this vexing, demanding job!! Not sure it’s so “whip-smart” as it is a result of obsession and desperation!! Thanks for the shout-out anyway, and I hope it helps make your fret jobs go more smoothly!

@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 Thanks for the note, Ken. Love your work.

I use about 4 1/2 degrees of headstock angle, the smallest angle I can get away with before strings start jumping out of slots in the nut!

Thanks, Patrick! I gave up trying to sell archtops for a living around 1982, and in order to stay in the field, I came to admit that my potential customers were not playing acoustic guitars, and that that I owed my full attention to the solid-body guitar. It seemed that it would be easy to do better than what I saw as primitive designs from the '40's and '50's, but boy did I call that wrong! Turns out that a Telecaster built from light material was damn near perfect, and I had to do back flips to figure out how to make a better mousetrap! Only now do I feel like I finally know enough to really leave a mark on the field by re-imagining the solidbody guitar for modern players. Cross your fingers for me that I might have enough time left on the clock to get it done, and stay tuned!

@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 Thanks for offering up that exciting news. I, among a great, great many, will be eager to see what develops.

Yeah, but I cheaped out and because I hardly needed any clamping force from these 14 clamps, I broke down and bought low cost Chinese knockoffs and didn't want to misrepresent that they were made by the fabulous originator, the "Kant -Twist Company". I do have these original clamps in a variety of sizes, and use them all the time. These copies are pretty good, and almost the equal of the originals.

@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 😝 Sometimes budget is a bigger factor than brand. I’ve always wanted a set of these but couldn’t justify the expense. I guess they really are “Can’t Twist”!

You are so welcome! It's my pleasure.

Thanks!

Well, since the whole reason for peel-ply is that it is a "release film", and so is especially made so that it cannot be reliably bonded with epoxy resins, I would suggest that it wouldn't bond anything like well enough to take the stretching, or tensile loads it would "see" during bending, and would just pop of right when you need it to stay stuck on. I have found that using linen is the best solution for me, although I did try some other materials like cotton and thick Kraft paper on the way to this conclusion, and you could certainly try other bondable cloth or papers of your choosing if you like. Good luck!

Cleanliness is next to something or other.

Thanks, Guillaume!