Big Ed Guitars

Big Ed Guitars Big Ed Guitars - custom handcrafted guitars, featuring Australian tone woods

Australia has beautiful native tonewoods... but when it comes to fretboards,  ringed gidgee is hard to beat! With whoppi...
24/05/2026

Australia has beautiful native tonewoods... but when it comes to fretboards, ringed gidgee is hard to beat!

With whopping 4,270 lbf on the Janka scale, this wood is leaving African blackwood and ebony long behind, and its extreme durability makes fretboards made of it virtually indestructible.

And just look at this grain! This is straight off the cnc, with simple yet elegant Aussie mother of pearl 8mm dot inlays, and a leaf on the 12th fret.

25.34" scale, for the new "all Aussie" OM style guitar I am working on.

Levelling that workbench by hand plane was quite the feat! But now it's complete, finished with Danish oil, and I'll be ...
29/04/2026

Levelling that workbench by hand plane was quite the feat!

But now it's complete, finished with Danish oil, and I'll be crafting my guitars on a sturdy heavy workbench from now on!

Rock maple frame, reinforced with additional stretchers of Spotted gum, mixed hardwood 60mm thick and 1600 x 700 mm benchtop...

Love it!

Another guitar is waiting for its new owner! This one is truly a unique piece, and I absolutely love how it turned out. ...
11/04/2026

Another guitar is waiting for its new owner!

This one is truly a unique piece, and I absolutely love how it turned out.

Specifications:

Back and sides: Monkeypod (more information below)
Soundboard: silver quandong , falcate braced.
Neck: laminated Tasmanian blackwood
Fingerboard: Ringed gidgee
Fretmarkers and truss rod cover inlay - Australian mother of pearl
Rosette: Indian rosewood
Binding: Indian ebony
Bridge: Ringed gidgee
Nut and saddle: Ox bone
Tuners: Gotoh
Frets: stainless steel
Electronics: K&K Pure Mini

Some interesting information about the tonewoods used:

Monkeypod (Samanea saman) is a tonewood native to Central and South America. It is known for its warm, balanced tone, similar to walnut or mahogany, with prominent mids and a clear, resonant fundamental.

Silver quandong (Elaeocarpus kirtonii/grandis) is an Australian hardwood, with clear highs, balanced mids, and a tight low end.

Tasmanian blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon) - is an excellent tonewood for necks, often considered a superior alternative to traditional Mahogany or Maple.

Ringed Gidgee (Acacia cambagei) - considered a world-class alternative to Ebony for fingerboards, often surpassing it in both durability and appeal. Due to its extreme hardness (way higher than Gaboon ebony), ringed gidgee fingerboards are virtually wear-proof.

Some progress on a Renaissance lute build with my son. This is how they used to make bridges. Padouk, laminated with bla...
22/03/2026

Some progress on a Renaissance lute build with my son.

This is how they used to make bridges.

Padouk, laminated with black veneer.

Finished this beauty yesterday. Long time in working, but finally ready to ship to its new owner!Body: - Tassie blackwoo...
28/12/2025

Finished this beauty yesterday. Long time in working, but finally ready to ship to its new owner!

Body:
- Tassie blackwood back & sides
- Cedar soundboard
- Aprican padauk and wenge rosette inlays
- Indian rosewood binding
- African padauk tail wedge
- Indian rosewood bridge

Neck:
- New Guinea rosewood
- Indian rosewood fretboard
- Tassie blackwood headstock veneer with dragon head epoxy inlay
- Bone saddle & nut

Finish: Mohawk semi gloss nitro lacquer

Strings - D'Addario bronze 0.11
Tuners - Gotoh

Before you wonder which armadillo lost his shell... ;) My son & I have taken a challenge of building a lute, medieval an...
19/12/2025

Before you wonder which armadillo lost his shell... ;)

My son & I have taken a challenge of building a lute, medieval and Renaissance instrument, very close relative of oud and great grandmother of a modern guitar.

Finally the bowl is assembled! 9 strips of veneer, quite a tricky glue up.

Watch this space! ;)

Can't stop admiring it....
13/12/2025

Can't stop admiring it....

Acoustic bridge tool paths finalized. Master grade ringed gidgee. Beautiful!
26/11/2025

Acoustic bridge tool paths finalized.

Master grade ringed gidgee. Beautiful!

A little progress on the acoustic build... It's looking like a guitar indeed! 😉
04/11/2025

A little progress on the acoustic build... It's looking like a guitar indeed! 😉

I love when the plan comes together! I wonder who will remember this phrase from the original A-team series 😉Had this ne...
16/09/2025

I love when the plan comes together!

I wonder who will remember this phrase from the original A-team series 😉

Had this neck shaping jig design in work for quite a time, based on Kappi plans with some of my tweaks... And finally the main part is cut and assembled.

Just waiting for some hardware to finish and start testing!

Address

Sydney, NSW

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