Mark Kubiak Guitars and Lutherie

Mark Kubiak Guitars and Lutherie In 1973, I began building my first boat under the tutelage of a Native Kodiak Island craftsman launching what would become a career spanning nearly 35 years.

The transition from traditional boatbuilding practice to lutherie was a natural one.

03/14/2026

This violin was made in Dresden, Germany, and imported by Lyon and Healy in the 1920's or 30's. Those tuners are plastic friction pegs. It deserves better.

03/14/2026

When I built Vixen, I was making my labels out of curly maple.

03/14/2026

The Vixen guitar features big leaf maple back and sides, complimented by a curly rock maple binding.

03/14/2026

Iv installed tap plates to both sides of the Kubiak jumbo, that should give plenty of protection from pick scratches. I drop filled the scratches and sanded them smooth all the way to 800 grit, and the polished the top on the buffing wheel. Three of the scratches went through the finish and into the wood. The next step would require refinishing the top in order to remove the deeper scars. It's difficult, but it can be done with the right technique.

03/14/2026

This 1954 Kay 3/4 bass needs a new bridge.

03/14/2026

If you set your double bass on its side you'll need to protect its edges with a set of feet, or bumpers. These are glued to the external lining and are fashioned of curly maple.

03/14/2026

I fit ebony inserts into this German cellos bridge in order to raise the strings. There will be no settling of the string into the bridge now.

03/14/2026

This 3/4 bass gets a new bridge. Iv carved this one somewhat thicker at the strings, or 4.5mm, which is about what it should be.

03/14/2026

The new dobro guitar gets its satin finish brushed on.

03/14/2026

A fingerboard clamping bar is used to clamp the fingerboard back in place, it concentrates the clamp pressure at the edge. Sharpened locator pins are fitted into the underside of the fingerboard which prevents it from sliding out of alignment when the clamps are tightened. I want a perfect fit and that's what I got.

03/14/2026

I mask off the neck surface before gluing in the 6mm x 12mm carbon fiber bar to protect it from epoxy spill over. Once Iv placed the epoxy coated bar into its freshly epoxied channel, I fit a thin spruce cap over it that fits the channel snugly and tape over its top. Next I place a spruce clamping bar over the cap and begin applying the clamp pressure evenly. Slowly applying clamp pressure forces the cap down and allows any extra epoxy to spill out harmlessly on to the masked surface, where I will wipe it off with a cotton cloth. When you work with epoxy you need to have a plan and pay attention to details. That's what works.

Address

12 Elgin Way
Oroville, WA
98844

Telephone

+15094762179

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Mark Kubiak Guitars and Lutherie posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Establishment

Send a message to Mark Kubiak Guitars and Lutherie:

Shortcuts

Share

Category