Taffy Evans Stringed Instruments, handmade guitars & Repairs | Brand
Taffy Evans Stringed Instruments, handmade guitars & Repairs
Address: 132 Millchester road PO Box 1373 4820 Charters Towers City, QLD, Australia
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24.01.2022 Here are some instruments from the early days, 1979 - 1980, I saw them on Gumtree for sale by the original owner. A Mountain Dulcimer and a Citern 10 string.
24.01.2022 My customer complained of strange noises from his bass.....when I removed the top this is what I found......... only kidding.
24.01.2022 A family of folk Instruments. In-between the more serious builds. These three instruments are made as a group or matching set. They are all made from the same fencing and packing case timber, the tops all have the same figuring [not so noticeable in the violin]. All necks have the same fiddleback grain pattern and are a bolted-on design. Bridges on all are the same timber, Maple, as are the arm and chin rests, Mulga. The violin has a bass bar and soundpost inside and has a tone not unlike a student grade violin and is surprisingly loud.
23.01.2022 Meet Mary. As usual my guitars are named after old gold mining leases in the Charters Towers district. This guitar is based on a "Dobro" style resonator guitar, with spider bridge. It has a preamp that drives a pickup on the cone and a microphone in the body. It has a square neck and is set up for lap slide playing. ... The back and side timber s were recut from a 100 year old wardrobe door of solid Silky Oak [Lacewood]. I chose it due to the striking grain. The top and neck is New Guinea Rosewood and the fingerboard is Ebony. See more
23.01.2022 The Son of Torch. This bass is built along the same lines as cigar box guitars, using "found" or repurposed materials. In this case Ive used a bread board for the main body, coupled with a box I normally use for my cigar box guitars. The bass fittings come from an old jap bass branded TORCH. It was always laughed at when the Venus Blues Band was together some years ago. It was so bad that nobody offered to play it. So it has been rebirthed as "the Son of Torch" . Bass players may notice that it is only half a bass, 2 strings half the neck, bridge, tuners and pickup. The control knob surrounds come from an old toaster. ..........at least it gets played now.
23.01.2022 Hi All, and a HAPPY NEW YEAR. I had a break over Christmas but could not stay out of the workshop, so the result was the Cigar Box [style] Guitar you see here. I decided to build a CBG with a bit more style [as it was for me to play] and aim for as good a sound/tone as I could get out of such a basic instrument. and it works well, best sounding CBG to date. Enjoy.....
22.01.2022 A Bunch of Banjos. Here are some banjos I have built and finished this year. A Minstrel Banjo Cigar Box style Banjo - Wood Top Banjo Parlor banjo built using a Ceiling Down Light [LED] and a rebuilt mandolin banjo with wood top. Now my lacquer has arrived its back to guitar building. Taff
21.01.2022 Major Cello Repair.
21.01.2022 Hi again, heres something really different using an old tin again. I built this 100 year old fiddle last week. Well the tin is a hundred years old and I used parts from an old hundred year old violin. It has a pickup so can be played through an amp. Now back to some real guitars.
20.01.2022 This Violin came in the other week for some TLC. After many years of not being played it looked pretty sad. A lot needed doing to it to make it playable again. It also needed a new case and bow. I think some lucky person is getting this for Christmas. Its a copy of a J Stainer violin and it plays and sounds very good for a very old instrument. Old but no longer dead and back giving pleasure.
19.01.2022 Here is a photo of the CBG shown below but in its finished state, a few embellishments make all the difference. At least the customer was happy, and so was I.
19.01.2022 Just a few photos of an ongoing project
18.01.2022 Here is another top replacement repair on a good quality guitar. The better the guitar the more you have to look after them. This one was damaged inside and out. Heres a few photos of the process.
18.01.2022 The Machine Shop. Its even more cramped and cluttered looking in here, but it all works very smoothly. Its a dark shop so there are lights on each work station. Lots of jigs and moulds stored on walls and under benches. Many dedicated [to a task] machines in here.
17.01.2022 SLIDE CITY. Here is a collection of some slide guitars I have built. Three are lap slide guitars, the rest are bottle neck style CBGs
16.01.2022 A series of photos showing some of the steps in the building the Queen of Hearts guitar. Its the same for all my acoustic guitars, give or take. I love this guitar for volume, balance of tone and of course pleasing to the eye. I think, and so do many others who have played it..
16.01.2022 At least one Bat left Charters Towers............ Here's an unusual build, a solid body electric six string bat, I fitted it in-between some other builds for my grandson. He plays guitar and plays cricket, his two loves he said. He sent me the bat as he is the agent for this brand, Lift. New bat using parts from around the shop.
14.01.2022 At least one Bat left Charters Towers............ Heres an unusual build, a solid body electric six string bat, I fitted it in-between some other builds for my grandson. He plays guitar and plays cricket, his two loves he said. He sent me the bat as he is the agent for this brand, Lift. New bat using parts from around the shop.
14.01.2022 A Special Parlor Guitar. "Percy" This guitar was built for my son Warren in Adelaide. It is a small parlor sized guitar. It is made of New Guinee Rosewood back and sides and a Ceder top, maple binding and Indian Rosewood head stock veneers, with herringbone purfling inlaid around the top edge. Inlays are mother of pearl. The guitar has plenty of volume and bass responce for its size, with penty of sweet harmonics that unerpin the notes as they are played enhancing the fullness of the tone. And very important its very easy to play.
13.01.2022 I've heard some people say "its only a box, don't overthink it". I think the more thought and care that goes into a project the better the outcome. More in More out sorta thing. This six string "box" guitar is played here acoustic only, its my go to guitar when travelling. Built with the same "rules" in mind as when building a full acoustic guitar.
13.01.2022 This is a little Parlor Guitar "Clara" just completed. Although time was spent working inside the guitar for a good sound the outside is pretty plain. Its very easy to play, very good volume for its size and the tone is great for blues and/or slide playing. If you want sustain this guitar has it.
12.01.2022 "MOONSTONE" is the latest build completed. it is of course named after an old gold mining lease on the Charters Towers Goldfields, as are all my guitars. Made using Indian Rosewood, Canadian Spruce, Ebony, Canadian Rock Maple, Australian Silky Oak with Ebony and Mother of Pearl inlays.
11.01.2022 Hi all, its been awhile but here is the latest creation off the bench, a Baritone Uke. Made from New Guinee Rosewood and Cedar. The Baritone is the biggest Uke in the range, Ive pictured it here with my smallest Parlor style guitar.
11.01.2022 Hi all, thought I would post a couple of recent interesting repairs. The first is of a guitar that is really a "budget guitar" but meant more the the owner than the cost alone. The other is of a far more expensive Martin guitar, but the same attention to detail and procedure is the same for both repairs.
10.01.2022 Heres some photos of last weekends market display. I had really good interest. Acoustic guitars and violins stayed in their cases until somebody requested a look-see, it was a bit warm for them. But all the CBGs, solid bodies,mandolins, banjos ect made a nice display. And I did some entertaining on slide guitars...blues of course.
10.01.2022 Hi, Im in the middle of building a Resonator "Dobro Style" guitar at the moment, but in the mean time heres something different. A guitar using a biscuit tin, an Anzac limited edition tin.
09.01.2022 Here is the "Cockatoo" 000 style guitar. This one is 14 frets to the body. It is named after an early gold mine in the Charters Towers district, as all my guitars are. I did not know at the time of inlaying the bird feather in the fingerboard, that the customer is a very keen bird enthusiast. Hence the bird style inlays. She also has a pet cockatoo. The guitar is made using New Guinee Rosewood, Sitka spruce and Ebony. Inlays are Mother of Pearl and ebony.
09.01.2022 Ive heard some people say "its only a box, dont overthink it". I think the more thought and care that goes into a project the better the outcome. More in More out sorta thing. This six string "box" guitar is played here acoustic only, its my go to guitar when travelling. Built with the same "rules" in mind as when building a full acoustic guitar.
09.01.2022 Regal Le Domino Parlor guitar Project. This guitar I obtained about thirty years ago, and over the last few months I have restored it to a playable condition. There are a number of these Regal guitars around, some in particularly good nick and many like I received this one. sad. It is built using all solid timbers and built exceptionally light. This one needed top braces inside regluing, bridge and bridge plate repairs, neck binding replaced, tuners repaired, attention to ...the nut and new bone saddle and bridge pins. Frets are good and fingerboard unmarked. However, I did have to reglue and patch [reinforce] 900mm of various cracks in the top face. I did not try to hide the damage [its part of its charm] but just make the guitar stable and come alive again. It sounds great for a 90-year-old. You all stay safe. See more
08.01.2022 Heres the last of a run of Cigar Box Guitars I have built in recent months. These two are resonator guitars. They have a very different tone to the others. The Left one using a dogs bowl as the resonator and the other has a proper resonator cone. Both have electric pickups in them and controls. One is four string and the other a six stringer. I have just noticed that some people have left questions on here. I dont use this page for communicating to and fro, so best to email me any queries and Ill respond. Sorry to those who have waited for a reply.
08.01.2022 Hi again, here is the first of the two repairs I am showing its actually the second guitar, the expensive one, as mentioned in the post below. This guitar was actually worth the cost of the repairs which meant removing the top, build a new one and fitting it to the body. Captions tell the story of only part of the procedure.
07.01.2022 I had a enquiry some months ago about a banjo. It asked if I build Minstrel banjos. So after a bit of research I came up with this prototype. As you can see [if you know banjoes] it is different. It has a wider fingerboard, nylon strings and no frets. There are other special features too that go back to the mid/late 1800's. I just built a neck and other fittings that fit the 1930's Bacon USA rim/body.
07.01.2022 I have not posted for a while, I thought this little challenging job might interest you. The captions tell the story. Ill have some new guitar builds to post soon.
06.01.2022 Hi again. the state the world is in has caused some hold ups in the workshop. Some parts for one, and now lacquer is holding up the completion of two guitars. here is a photo of one of them, a Parlor guitar. based around a 1927 Martin I had in the shop to work on. Stay Safe...Do the right thing.
06.01.2022 Hi, here are some photos of some recent builds, some not so serious. "Queenie" the "000" acoustic was built for a local lady. The others are a Ukulele, cigar box style, a shovel fretless stand up electric bass. Also the Queen of Hearts guitar also went to a local lady recently.
04.01.2022 HI all, just bit of an update of what has been happening in the workshops beside the major repair work in recent times. I have just finished off 4 Cigar Box Guitars in various configurations. All were a bit experimental and Im happy with the acoustic sound of them all, especially the smaller very basic 3 Stringer. Enjoy
04.01.2022 I thought Id show some pictures of the building workshop it looks cramped but most materials, jigs and patterns are stored out of site. The room is air-conditioned. It is also separate from the machine shop.
03.01.2022 "Lady Jane" D18/12 013-014 Its been a while coming and I thank the customer for his patience. This latest Dreadnought guitar is a twelve string guitar. Some features are ebony fingerboard and bridge, abalone inlay, side ports [heart shaped]. and the neck and the inside of the guitar is reinforced with carbon fiber. It has a satin finish.
02.01.2022 I thought this was an interesting project, it certainly had me thinking as to how to go about the repair. As you know the Sitar uses a gourd for a body, this one had cracked and sprung open. I had to find a way to pull these cracks together and glue them, then having them glued together find a way to reinforce the glued joint. The problem was solved by using wooden stitches, put in place after gluing the cracks. Anyway it all worke well. Normally I would try to hide the repair, but I think these scars add to the look, some people are proud of their scars.
02.01.2022 Hi, I have not posted for a while, lots of things happening. I had to leave the guitar pictured here to start a new commission. Customer could have had this one [on the right] but wanted one especially built for them. The reason for showing these two guitars is that they are both built from the same batch of rosewood but are 40 years apart. That batch is all gone now.
01.01.2022 If you want to talk to me email is best: [email protected] or ring 0418778943
01.01.2022 I needed a banjo quick so that I could give a lesson, so I built this 5 string banjo and had it playing the next day. Back and sides are old fence timber, the top is from a packing case, the neck was from an old Gibson banjo repair job years ago and other bits from old repair jobs. Plays and sounds great. I could have sold it next day but how do you put a price on a one off unique instrument that would be hard to replace.
01.01.2022 Heres some photos of a fun project. As Im a bit held up building due to the slow delivery of Lacquer. Its a VCCG, or a Violin Coffin Case Guitar. Pics tell the story I think . Its a Lap Slide guitar made from an antique violin case, all parts are recycled. The inside is braced as an acoustic guitar would be, old 12 string Fingerboard, old arch top guitar tailpiece, old Di Marzio pickup, handmade bridge and old Taylor guitar gold tuners Acoustic sound Hmmmm! Electric sound I love it, Playability easy peazy. Just a bit of fun. Enjoy......
