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Part two of the shrunken and separated waist binding repair on this Martin
acoustic. Let's get this glued up and back in shape

  1967 Josh White Model It was in 1966 that Ovation Guitars first came on the scene. Their first instrument was "The Josh White Model" named for a folk singer. By February of 1967 Ovation introduced perhaps their most popular model; the 'Balladeer'.  D...

Binding shrinking at the waist is a pain. It can be repaired but does
involve a little work to do it right.

  Ed Sullivan and the Beatles 1964 In 1964 the Beatles made their first United States appearance on the Ed Sullivan television show. At that time I was 13 years old and like kids of that era I had to have a guitar. Harmony Patrician My Dad relented and bought...

  Fibonacci Guitars Fibonnaci Guitars are Boutique builders of some of the most wonderful handmade archtop guitars. Their shop is in London, in the United Kingdom.  The company takes it’s name from the Middle Ages Italian mathematician Leonardo Bonacci who was co...

I don’t feel like I’m a thought-leader when it comes to capo placement but
people keep asking me about it. Time to nail my colours to the mast.

Here’s Part 3 of my New Model Mandolin build series. In this one, I look at joining the Adirondack soundboard and making and fitting the rosette. There’s also a bit more on the neck and last but certainly not least, the back gets braced and fitted and you’ll see how the radius dish (seen in part 1) continues to help the process.

Cheers Gary

  Where In The World... Where in the World was my guitar built?In the not-too-distant past this was an easy question to answer. It was the United States, Japan, or perhaps Korea.  But in 1965 when I was learning to play guitar, all of the most reputable instrumen...

I have two back and side sets of higuerilla, one of which I'd classify as remarkable, with the other set attractive enough, but much plainer in appearance. As this is a wood species I've not previously worked with, I figured I'd put together a 00 model using the plainer of t...

Direct or body-mount humbuckers are more and more common. If you’re
planning on upgrading and swapping them out, there are some considerations
that you should be aware of, though. Check it out…

We humans are great (mostly). Our amazing minds let us do incredible
things. And sometimes, they try to screw with us. When that overlaps with
guitars, I find it massively interesting. Check out the story of The
Mystery B-String Noise…

 I would have bent my first set of sides during my first year at the London College of Furniture (1976/77) and I’ve bent a fair few bits of wood since. It never ceases to amaze me what you can do with a drop of moisture and a bending iron. I wasn’t 100% sure about the extreme bending that this new shape would need but as you’ll see (spoiler alert) it all went well. So, in part two, I make the rim of the mandolin: bend the sides, fit various blocks, linings etc and use my radius dish for fitting the back. Also, I get the neck blank made too! Quite a lot to take in, so get yourself a cup of tea.

Cheers Gary

The Folk Singer Issue  Where Have All the Folkes Gone…Long time passing?  Most of them have rambled off this Mortal Coil. But we still have their music and memories.  Pete Seeger In my opinion Pete Seeger was probably the best. He wrote some of the mos...

Some body mount pickups can be installed using foam underneath. This is not
without its problems though so be aware of the following when you’re
considering adding or replacing pickup foam…

No sooner one mandolin is complete than another comes along!

So, after a very long gestation period, my New Model Mandolin is finally being realised. In this first episode of a new build series of videos, I look at its overall shape and go into detail about the making of the external mould. The mould is used for accurate construction of the mandolin’s rim.

  The Regional Court of Düsseldorf DÜSSELDORF, Germany (March 9, 2026) — Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC) has secured a significant legal victory following a ruling by the Regional Court of Düsseldorf that establishes broad legal protection for Fende...

Jerry Jones Jerry Jones was a well known figure in Nashville. As a luthier and guitar repairman he  worked at The Old Time Pickin’ Parlor, where he repaired guitars for some of Nashville’s finest, and well known players, including Chet Atkins, and Reggie Young.&nb...

There’s no real rule that says we have to divide an octave into twelve
equal parts. That’s just how it’s historically been done in western music.
Some players are digging into the space between the notes and playing
microtonal guitars and basses. Check it out…

  Bob Taylor - Kurt Listug 1985 Taylor Guitars were not even a glimmer in the eye of a teenaged boy named Bob Taylor when he was a student in the Eleventh Grade. He was 16 years old and enrolled in a high school woodworking class. Young Bob wanted a guitar at a local ...

  The electric mandolin (e-mando) is now complete! In this video, I give a “guided tour” of the instrument and a demonstration of how the pick-up system works. And a few photos below......... Hope you like it! Cheers Gary