Today’s Tips du Jour Mailbag question comes to us from New York. “Robert, I have always struggled with getting the end of the fretboard cut to the right length. Have you got any tips to help make this process easier? – Scott from Horse Heads, New York” Scott, I’ve always struggled with that as well.…
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Today’s Tips du Jour Mailbag question comes to us from California. “Robert, I was French polishing my guitar- I mean my friend was French polishing his guitar when we caught an edge during the spiriting off stage and left a fingernail mark in the top. Is there a way to fix this? – Eric in…
Read More “Repairing a Scratch on a French Polish – Full Text”

Today’s Tips du Jour Mailbag question comes to us from Alaska. “Robert, do you ever use epoxy for pore filling and if so, how do you apply it? – Matt in Alaska” Matt, thank you very much for this question. I actually get this question quite a bit. I have used just about every pore…
Read More “How to Pore Fill with Z-Poxy – Full Text”

Today’s Tips du Jour Mailbag question comes to us from New Jersey. “Robert, how do you remove the masking tape from the fretboard without chipping the finish? – Karen in New Jersey” Well Karen, this is a common problem. It’s been known to happen in the best of families. Let’s go over to the bench,…
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Today’s Tips du Jour Mailmag question comes to us from Spain. “Robert, in your online acoustic guitar building course, you show how to install bindings and purflings. However, on my guitar, I want to do mitered purflings around the end wedge. Would you be willing to show that process? – Miguel in Spain” Sure, Miguel.…
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Today’s Tips du Jour Mailbag question comes to us from Mexico. “Robert, I’m having trouble with low spots in the rosette and these usually show up during finishing. Is there a fix for this? Thanks for your videos. – Marcos in Mexico” Marcos, it’s a very common problem actually. Especially on the classical rosettes. All…
Read More “Leveling Marquetry Rosettes – Full Text”

Today’s Tips du Jour Mailbag question comes to us from Canada. “Robert, how do you keep from blowing out the veneers on the peghead when drilling the tuner holes? – Rob in Canada” Well Rob, I usually say a few Hail Mary’s and have a swig of everclear before I go to the drill press.…
Read More “Drilling Tuner Holes on a Steel String Guitar – Full Text”

Today’s Tips du Jour Mailbag question comes to us from Ohio. “Robert, what is the shelf life for cyanoacrylate glue? Thanks for your videos. – David in Ohio” David, not all CA glues are created equal. I like the Hot Stuff brand made by Satellite City and available from LMI. According to the manufacturer, the…
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Today’s Tips du Jour Mailbag question comes to us from Minnesota. “Robert, I am following your online course and I’m to the point where I glue in the reinforcement strip on the inside of the back. I made a mistake and glued it in the same direction of the back grain instead of perpendicular to…
Read More “Repairing a Cracked Guitar Back – Full Text”

Hi, I’m Robert O’Brien of O’Brien Guitars. Occasionally, I have sets of wood in my shop that are not quite large enough for the size of guitar that I want to build. Normally, in that case, I would od a three piece back. There are several ways of doing this. Let me show you some.…
Read More “Tips and Tricks on Joining a 3-Piece Back – Full Text”