MY TOP 5 LUTHIER HACKS (grab a pen)

I always wondered ,,, WHY , In a Violin or Fiddle in My Region of the world , there's a " Soundpost" , That's friction Fit Placed , directly under the Bridge and against the back of the Violin ,,, Inside most times somewhere about 3/8's in diameter ! This Soundpost , greatly amplifys the volume of the instrument and brings it alive ! So why doesn't a Mandolin or Guitar , Benefit from that same Thinking ? A viola, cello , Bass has them ,,, ? And if it's because we Play the Mandolin or Guitar against our Body and would Dampen the sonic resonance ,,, What would be the Answer to that problem ?

Thanks so much for sharing, would be possible please to show a technique (we are sure you master? on how to build a fret board, how you transfer the positions of the frets in the wood and more important maybe, how to make a template from scratch, what tools to use materials etc, so we don't have to pay a certain company to make it for us. It would be greatly appreciated !!

These have been super helpful!!

Thank you so much! You’ve made this old man feel better about himself and the future by being the first wood nerd worsethan myself. Granted I don’t hang with luthiers but have done very high end cabinets and trim for 20 years. Great stuff!

Great tips, thanks Tom. I am working on guitar #70 and I will use these tips. Always more to learn.

Wow wow wow.. thankyou thankyou thankyou

Great video. I would love to know what your most expensive mistake was in your guutar making journey?

Great tips. Can you sort out a 50% discount on the elevate bridge jig😂

These all are very helpful tips. I also have problems with pencil lines, so the chalk tip will be put to good use. Thanks!

Brilliant. Liked, Subscribed. That flat board neck sanding was worth the price of admission! Thank you, kindly!!

Great tips, Tom, thanks for sharing. Only knew one and a half of them... will definitely be using the others!

You’re a clever cookie Tom. Your work is utterly inspiring mate.

Thank you Tom .

I would love to see a super in depth video about the neck to body joint…… but that probably just me.

Brilliant tips!

I don’t make guitars. So why did I find this so fascinating?!

wow, excelent tips! the last one is really a simple game changer, thank you!!

The plywood and screw trick is very clever - despite being of little use for electric builds. The sanding board and chalk line tricks are useful for all types of builds. The masking tape and superglue trick is so common it probably shouldn't even count. Tricks that are essentially using a fancy tool are not really tricks. Doing the same thing with a paperclip, a rubber band, and popsicle sticks (for example) - now THAT would be a trick!

You mentioned in a previous video a while back about the neck-carving-sanding-board method. I think i've done 4 or 5 necks with that technique now, not sure how I ever managed without it! Also, if you need white pencils, and want a propelling pencil version, it took forever to find some but found that you can get those from dress makers. They use it for writing on material. Way better than endlessly sharpening a white pencil. I like the idea of the scalpel-chalk option for marking cut lines but it's probably not so ideal for quick marking, putting measurements on etc.

You are so nice to share all of that. God Bless!

Great tips. Thanks for sharing with us!

GREAT Video! thanks!

Great tips! 👏👏👏

Great tips Tom! Will keep them in mind ❤

Sanding & polishing transition of body to neck heel please

Thank you so much for sharing all this knowledge, make it available to everyone and inspire people, I hope I can someday do the same

🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉 Awesome!!!!

Brilliant...thanks Tom!

Thank you brother😊

Tom I have found all of your tips invaluable it's certainly going to enhance a lot of things in my building thank you so much

Hello Tom, one little question:

When calculating where the bridge needs to be glued you basically project the distance between fret 0 (nut) to the 12th fret from the 12th fret until the bridge position, correct? On that sense, the alignment needs to be where the saddle will be or where the bridge will begin?

Excellent assortment of tips! Thanks for window into the parts of the process that can be the most troubling, and rectifying them. The semi-permanent fixing is a really great idea in particular, and the thickness/removal jig.

Cunning carpentry meets learned luthiery - alternative alliterations available…

thank you Tom

You're my favourite luthier ever x

Great tip! Thanks!!

Dope shit.

The scratchblock is new to me. Thank you !

Excellent Tom!
Perfect with coffee.
Really appreciate your content and personality.

Maybe start a video series that documents your whole build process?
From wood selection to finishing?

It would provide you with a clear path for your videos and allow you to segue into operational hacks. : )
I am of course just babbling and any content you provide us with is just fine.

good ones Tom! thank you!

Great tips man! You’re awesome

All very interesting and even more useful. I have used a similar trick to your screw method when fitting patches into steel fabrications where I would use a grinder to nick the edges of a plate to the depth that I required removing. As with your screw method once the nicks disappear the plate ought to be to size and fit into place.

I’m currently on my second build ever. These tips are very helpful, especially the neck sanding and bridge placement. Wow

Great tips, the depth scratch is genius, but I don’t know if I have the guts to do it.

Great tips ! Thank you!

First commenter, yet again! — Thanks for the tips!