TJ Fuss

Gotta love the estimate range: $10 - $1000.

Be careful with Goo Gone - particularly the "Pro Strength"... it's a very agressive solvent compared to Goof Off!

How about a nice spruce top blank for double bass? I have maple for the neck, back, and ribs (gotta find someone to resaw it though). It's not something I'm likely to find at a garage or estate sale like the others and they're awfully expensive!

Never liked pegboard, so I built a simple rack. Smaller clamps reside in a Kennedy tool box drawer.

Yes, the lighting is a mess, but... we wouldn't see that much detail in the reflected scene if the finish weren't so glossy.

Here's my simple solution for recharging HumidiPacks instead of discarding after they've dried out. The one on top is getting somewhat worn-out feeling... I might toss it before it ruptures.

Not so much the tailpiece, but I replaced a missing fret with ivory cut from an old piano key top.

I can't speak to this specific brand but I've been using the D'Addario / Planet Waves equivalent in three guitar cases - two or three packets per case. They seem to work quite well but in the dry winter months, I need to rotate them out and recharge them in a small, sealed container with a very wet sponge (using distilled water to avoid unnecessary growth). I put a little perforated "shelf" in between to keep the packet(s) from touching the sponge directly.

So... if I'm going to use a fiddle as a canoe paddle, I should probably not use hide glue?

Quick and easy and cheap.

I dunno for sure, but that greyish wrapping looks like heat-shrink tubing to me.

I'm not sure... if any moved in, they'd already been evicted and cleaned-up before I got it as a flea market rescue.

My poor old German flatback bass has a mouse / rat chewed f-hole but I'd never dream of listing it as "good" unless I followed that with "firewood". It's somewhat playable now but it really needs a good bunch of crack repairs. Actually, it needs an lmost total rebuild. Someday. After I get through the backlog of violins and guitars that have accumulated!

Thank you, Bill! Yes, I am a commercial photographer with my specific niche serving artists and craftspeople making images for their promotional needs and for their applications to juried shows. This is a second career of 15 years now after 24 years as an engineer with Eastman Kodak. Sadly, things are pretty slow right now because all of the shows were cancelled this year (and next year isn't looking so good either). On the plus side, I have a lot of time now to work on my instrument repair projects! Should anyone care to look, a wide variety of my images may be seen on Flickr at: www.flickr.com/tjfuss/

I've used blobs of wax to hold stuff in place for photographing. There are "positioning" waxes available from jewelry making suppliers but it's rather pricey. I found that a mix of 50% beeswax and 50% toilet sealing wax (use a fresh ring) is firm but pliable and sticky.