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Matt Rubendall Luthier

@mattrubendall

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Classical guitars, handmade in Brooklyn, NY.
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2025 Rubendall Jazz Nylon, elevated fingerboard, super stylish cutaway, soundport, modern aesthetics from the bridge, rosette, and choice of individual tuners. Such a beast. Ziricote for the back and sides, and Spruce on top. Whether you’re playing at home or in the concert hall, this guitar has a place in your stable Available Now! Call us at 828-658-9795 or visit our website for more information. * www.dreamguitars.com Dream Guitars 828-658-9795 Schedule a FREE Live Demo! 3 Day Trial on All In-Stock Instruments Anywhere in the US by @mattrubendall
4
2 months ago
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Very excited to have Sergio Assad stop by the shop and play one of my newly finished guitars. 640/630 multi scale, Cocobolo/ . Italian spruce. I’ll have this guitar to try at the LuthierCon here in brooklyn Sept. 12th . There will be several area luthiers plus performers for an all day event. https://www.bkcgs.org/luthiercon @sergioassad_ #guitar , #classicalmusic ,#luthier,#classicalguitar #madeinnyc by @mattrubendall
12
2 months ago
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Shelves and pockets and weight reduction oh my. #guitar #music #luthier #madeinnyc #classicalguitar by @mattrubendall
0
3 months ago
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LuthierCon 2026 Meet the Maker: Matt Rubendall This year, LuthierCon welcomes six exceptional luthiers, including Matt Rubendall. With nearly twenty years of experience, Matt builds French-polished guitars that combine traditional craftsmanship with modern refinement, producing instruments known for their balance, clarity, rich tonal color, and piano-like openness. (Read his full bio here: https://www.bkcgs.org/luthier-bios) LuthierCon brings classical guitar luthiers and players together to learn about, celebrate, and discuss the art of classical guitar building. Discover the ins and outs of the classical guitar with presentations, a luthier Q&A panel, demonstrations, and performances with special guest artists, and plenty of free time to play guitars, talk with the luthiers, and other players. Early Bird pricing ends July 31! Use code LC26-EarlyBird before it expires! Register: bkcgs.org/luthiercon LuthierCon 2026 September 12, 2026 Brooklyn Army Terminal #classicalguitar #guitarist #brooklyn #luthier #guitarmaker taken in Brooklyn Army Terminal by @mattrubendall
1
3 months ago
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Part 3 of the neck process. 1. I sand my headstock veneer flat, to about 400-600 grit, so it’s easier to etch and see the etched outlines. I mark my headstock and scribe lines for the sides all of this is based upon the center line. 2. I drill the top of the headstock for the profile. 3. I mark the heel, raised neck angle, fretboard, and headstock sides all over on the blank — basically cutting out the whole neck profile. 4. I cut outside all the lines by a bit; you can’t put wood back. 5. I plane the sides of the headstock to exact shape and make sure they’re 90 degrees to the top of the headstock. This process should go slowly, as you plane and sand right up to your line. 6. With the headstock exactly to shape, I drill and rout. 7. I drill pretty holes 8 & 9. I cut my fretboard exactly to shape ,again this is a plane-and-sand process right up to the etched line. Make sure the end of your board is parallel to the center line. I lightly etch the fretboard center line all the way around, then line it up, clamp, and drill pilot holes for the nail guides, then glue, nail, and clamp. I use epoxy for the fretboard and carbon fiber. Wood glue can add moisture to your glue-up and cause some distortion, but it’s all a matter of choice what glue you use. 10. I flush the neck to the fretboard, being careful not to gouge or scuff the board — it’s your guide to neck width. 11. I establish a neck depth at the 1st fret, slightly over so as to sand down to finish depth. 12. I rough carve the neck to within about 95% of finished dimension, then sand to 220 grit, and it’s done for now. Once the body cavity is routed, I have to fit the neck to it, and I keep the heel dimension a bit proud so I can sand into the mortise of the body. I also wait until I’m final-fitting the neck before I radius-sand and fret it, so it sits properly and can still be adjusted. When the neck is fitted, I add the heel adjustment and finish the neck separately from the body — I use an oil finish for that. There are only a thousand small steps I left out but it’s a basic workflow of neck construction, by @mattrubendall
2
4 months ago
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rt 2 of neck process. 1. I use a mahogany block equal width to the neck blank and ply a game called make a perfect square. My grain orientation runs contrary to tradition because the heel carries no load bearing and I want the heel sides to be end grain so I have maximum hardness to fit tin the body joint. 2. I rout a 5x5mm ledge, this is the mortise that will pair with a 5mm carbon fiber tenon in the body. 3. I mark the 12 fret 10mm from the edge and the neck depth. The neck fits 10 mm into the slot binding the mortise. 4. Make sure everything is 90 and square and glue 5. I mark points either side of the rough center line for slots for carbon fiber reinforcement. In these routed slots I drill down at the 12th fret location and glue in carbon rods under the slots for heel reinforcement. 6. Slots routed and carbon fiber glued in, I glue them just shy of the surface. 7. At this point I sand the neck surface flat and 90 I also make sure the headstock surface is dead flat and 90 to the line. This is where the nut starts and the headstock overlay or veneer begins. 8. Creative time, I pick headstock overlays and underlays for the top and bottom surface of the headstock. 9. I square up the headstock veneer and put an angle sanded into it so it lays 90 degrees to the neck surface. 10. Using a square off the right side I place my headstock veneer so it’s parallel to the nut slot and end of fretboard and clamp drill holes in the 4 corners for registration nails for glueing add glue tap in nails and clamp both front and back veneers together. 12 & 13. After glue drys clean up the side surfaces and re sand the right edge flat and 90. It’s at this point I add my center line. I scribe it all the way around the entire blank using the right side as the reference. I add the center line last after the glue ups to ensure everything is parallel to this line . by @mattrubendall
0
4 months ago
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I thought I’d go thru how I make a neck in several posts, this is not a how to but simply steps I take. My neck design is such that it’s not glued to the body it floats on a pivot point allowing adjustment from 2 set screws for neck angle which lets me make fret and finish it separate from the guitar. 1. I take some mahogany blanks I’ve cut and have been curing for a few years, I make sure they’re the same width and enough material to be bigger than the finished neck. 2. This shows grain direction for maximum stiffness and stability 3. I choose one side to plane flat and 90 degrees to the top or fretboard side of the blank. 4 and 5. I always chose the right side of the neck blank, this is the side I reference all points. Everything is squared and measured from this side so I don’t have to keep the neck blank parallel to be true. 6. I measure a distance from the end of the blank and using a square mark the headstock. This distance is about 7.5” or 200mm. 7. I measure 80mm from the headstock line to the top of the head and mark a line and draw a diagonal line to mark the cut area for the lap joint on the headstock, I mark this on the left side of the blank so that I use the right side facing down on the saw to give a parallel and 90 degree cut 8. I take a block sanded to 90 degrees and clamp it on to the blank and cut the joint 9. Next I lay a backing board under the blank, the blank and the cut headstock and clamp them all flat, I then plane the slope to insure they’re both the same , sand andmake sure they’re dead flat all ways. 10. This is what the scarf joint looks like and make sure to sand dead flat the bottom of the blank as the mating surface. 11. This is how I glue up the joint. Make sure the top of the blank is 90 to the surface of your table, use flat front and back cauls and some wax paper for squeeze out. If the amount of clamps and steel seems overkill it is because you can never underestimate the amount of movement a lap joint will try to exert under glue and pressure. 12. Next using the fretboard as a guide I mark the 12th fret on the top of the blank ( there is 2 line here because this blank is a multiscale and I’m splitting the difference.) by @mattrubendall
0
4 months ago
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Matt Rubendall multiscale crossover with an entire suite of modern features. Adjustable neck? Yep. Soundport? More me in the monitor, coming right up. Cutaway and elevated fingerboard? Easy access to every fret. Italian Spruce on top with Mun Ebony back and sides, French Polished body and an oil-finished neck. Matt’s aesthetic is crisp, sharp, and a refreshing response to the traditional classical mold, and smooth playability is always within reach thanks to the adjustable neck system. Available Now! Call us at 828-658-9795 or visit our website for more information. * www.dreamguitars.com Dream Guitars 828-658-9795 Schedule a FREE Live Demo! 3 Day Trial on All In-Stock Instruments Anywhere in the US taken in Dream Guitars by @mattrubendall
3
4 months ago
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Two new instruments leaving this week. 640mm cutaway ziricote/italian spruce & 630/640mm Mun ebony / Italian spruce. The multiscale guitar will be at Dream guitars f you want to have a go at it. #luthier #guitar#jazz #handmade#madeinnyc by @mattrubendall
6
5 months ago
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Cutaways and bindings. #luthier #guitar #music #classicalguitar #madeinnyc by @mattrubendall
2
6 months ago
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So many clamps but never enough. #guitar #luthiery #classicalguitar #madeinnyc #music by @mattrubendall
1
8 months ago
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Headstocks and circles #guitar #music #luthier #classicalguitar #madeinnyc by @mattrubendall
2
8 months ago
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