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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      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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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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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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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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Your body is built, the neck is on and now it’s time to install your tuners. Beginners beware! What should be an easy enough procedure can turn into a nightmare if you don’t take steps to make sure things go well. Here are a few tips to guarantee success and move you effortlessly towards the…
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Until recently, the tuners for steel string guitars came with only a narrow range of options with regard to the gear ratios. Typically, you would find them somewhere between 12:1 and 16:1. This meant you had to turn the button 12 times (or 16, as the case may be) to get the post to rotate…
Read More “Tuning Machine Ratios and Gotoh’s Innovations”