Category: Articles and Blog
Articles and Blog Index
STOP – READ THIS FIRST! We’ve created this list in alphabetical order to help you navigate through our articles and blogs and find items of interest to you. In addition, you can use the search box to the left to search by words or phrases. Our articles and videos are an accumulation of data covering years.…
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Tonewoods Added to the 2023 CITES Appendices
Some new species were recently added to the list of CITES Appendix II species. The two that are often used for guitar building are Padauk and Khaya. Here are the specifics of the listings: African Padauk – Pterocarpus spp. (African populations) Inclusion in Appendix II CITES with note #17: Means logs or logs, sawn timber,…
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Plastic Binding Length
At Luthiers Mercantile, we have the largest assortment of binding materials anywhere. When shopping for plastic binding, it’s important to realize that there are a wide variety of lengths. This is true with wood bindings, but there we find that 32 inches long is pretty standard. The plastic bindings come in quite a range. This…
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Finish Compatibility
We are often asked whether certain guitar finishing products are compatible with others. With so many great finishing products available, it is tempting to try a new combination of filler, sealer, and finish. But caution is in order. Even if you carefully prepare a test piece, there is no guarantee that incompatibility between finishing products…
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Measuring Fret Distances and Scale Length
If you are ordering pre-slotted fingerboards from Luthiers Mercantile or using one of our fret slotting systems, then you are wisely leaning on super-accurate CNC technology for the proper placement of your fret slots. Still, many are inclined to check to see if the slots and scale are accurate. With our pre-slotted boards, we know…
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Cardinal Musical Instrument Coatings Nitrocellulose Lacquer Finishing Process
Steps for applying Cardinal Pore Filler and Nitrocellulose Lacquer Step 1– Sand bare wood with coarse-grit sandpaper (180-220) Clean off the surface with air or solvent on oily woods. Step 2– Stain wood if desired Step 3– Seal wood with Cardinal’s Vinyl Sealer 2059-CLE18773. Color/Stain may also be added to the sealer.…
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Defining and Photographing Bearclaw Figured Spruce
What we call ‘bearclaw figure’ is a rare phenomenon among woods as a whole, but is not too uncommon in Spruce. The source of this nickname is obvious; the wood appears to have been scratched by the claws of a bear. Of course, the behaviors of our Ursidae family friends have no real impact on…
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Why Buy Bone from Luthiers Mercantile?
Bone is the standard material used for acoustic stringed instrument nuts and saddles. It replaces the traditional elephant ivory, the use of which is both illegal and reprehensible. Bone is also used to replace the plastic nuts and saddles used on many inexpensive instruments. The hardness of bone supports great sustain and strong tonality in…
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Ukulele Sizes
Our ukulele wood offerings reflect the four main ukulele sizes. Unlike many of the guitar size designations, the uke sizes do not refer to specific factory models —such as the Martin Dreadnought. For this reason, you will find small variations in what one person and another call a ‘soprano’, for example. This goes for the…
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Repair Shop’s Bread & Butter
Tonally and structurally, the guitar’s bridge is a delicate and critical fulcrum. The bridge of a standard acoustic guitar with medium gauge strings is being pulled by about 200 pounds of tension! Obviously, for a luthier striving to build a guitar with a light, responsive top, this is a fact that can not be tip-toed…
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