Thread: Acousic guitar plans

Originally Posted by RichardL

Hi folks

I have been wondering about making a guitar for my daughter. Since I have no experience with bending wood or guitar making I thought that it would probably be easier to tackle it using plans (plus reading a few books in the library or looking on web sites etc).

Can anyone recommend a relatively straightforward design that I can have a go at and where I might obtain the plans?

If there are any Kiwi guitar builders out there, where do you get spruce, or laminated spruce from? I have made a couple of harps in the past and have used 6-ply birch so haven't really tried to track down the materials needed for a guitar.

Musicmakers in the US have some good plans but their acoustic is a steel-stringed 'Dreadnaught' so a bit big and complicated for a first attempt. I noted though that they use a laminated spruce to prevent splitting which sounds good to me.

Thanks.

Just checked our large city library...not a single book on guitar making. Can anyone recommend good on-line resourses please?

There's a book on acoustic guitar making by an Australian fellow called Jim Williams, which is probably still in print - worth getting hold of, if possible.

However, you would also be advised to start playing the guitar a little if you don't already - and looking at them more "inquisitively" if you do - to get a feel for what's actually done, and why.

There's a lot of making jigs and holding fixtures, even for one guitar, and a couple of specialised tools that help out. Consider planning to make three consecutively. If one is a write-off, that's not great but you will have learned something and the "infrastructure" has been created to move on and keep progress at other fronts. The second one should be much more tolerable, and you could even keep it for yourself, while the third one (daughter's) will see most skills greatly refined.

Economical material choices will make this not as dear as you may imagine at first...

Regards, Adam.

a few places to start.....

books

guitarmaking tradition and technology - cumpiano & natelson ...fantastic resource
the johnathon kinkead book
the jim williams book
irving sloane has numerous books
the GAL big red books

places to read online

http://www.mimf.com/index.htm

http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/default.asp

https://www.woodworkforums.com/

http://www.mcguitars.com.au/forum/

from these you will find links to all sorts of other sites and info from tutorials to supplies houses.

good luck ,Grant

Richard,

Wlliams book is one of the best as he takes you through building a steel string using the spanish method. This methods means you dont have to worry about a neck/body joint. This is the method that Paddy Burgin and dave Freeman follow during their guitar building courses in Wellington. The courses run every few years with last course running earlier this year.

For wood try some of the Australian tonewood suppliers...you might find freight a bit cheaper than from the US. I use Tim Spittle at Australian Tonewoods, Geradr Gilet in Sydney and occasionally I buy from Scott Wise in WA. There are a few suppliers on ebay but be careful, quality and reliability of these suppliers varies.

Another option for you is a kit from Stewmac, LMI or some of the Australian luthiery suppliers.

Cheers Martin

Thanks all

I'll start looking around those those links and try to obtain the recommended books.

I came accross this site http://www.luthierssupplies.com.au/ which looks very good but the wood is quite expensive so I'll check out the others you recommend. I wish there was somewhere in NZ that I could visit though.

I'll bear in mind the idea of making several guitars rather than one. As mentioned, I've never attempted to bend wood before but have always been keen to have a go as it can be applied to to many other areas like chair making etc. Lots to learn!!

I'll view this as a long-term project with the aim of producing something vaguely decent for my daughter within a year or two. I suspect I'll be back to pick brains in the future.

I'm getting another bee in the bonnet, I can tell - how I felt when I started on my first harp. That took quite a bit of research but the result is very playable and hasn't pulled itself to bits after 2 years, so I must have got it more-or-less right. I can't play that properly either, but have made some progress learning.

Thanks again.

Try asking these people. They've supplied some stuff I wanted in the past, mostly electric gear but they probably know the lay of the land in NZ.

http://www.guitarparts.co.nz/cart/index.cfm

Richard,

Tim Spittle at Australian Tonewoods is in the process of putting together some guitar kits. Tim is a very trustworthy and reliable supplier and also a luthier.

The kit route is a good one for a beginner as some of the work like bending and neck joints has been done for you.

Thanks deepsouth and kiwigeo

I'll have a chat with guitarparts, as you say, they'll know where to start over here. The kit approach is a possibility but I like a challenge and would really like to learn some of the techniques myself. The joint side of things shouldn't pose too much of a problem but bending the wood is the bit I have no understanding of at this point. I've been on Amazon and have tracked down some of the books suggested so I think I''ll start there anyway.

If it all turns to custard, then I'll give Tim a call.

Williams book is ok but it is old and uses some outdated methods. This is not to knock Jim Williams as his book got me started and lots of others. The building board method is more of a classical style and the geometry of steel string guitars has evolved much in the last 20 years.
There are books out there by Kinkaide Cupiano Bennedetto and so many I can't begin to name them all. If you are interested in building these chat areas are very good but your advice is worth what you pay. I teach people to build here in the states and have been for a number of years.
As a beginner you don't know what you don't know. You will pay the teacher or you pay for the mistakes . The important thing is to have a desire and go from there. If you are building classicals or steel they do have different approaches.
Check out the different builder guilds ASIA and GAL. There is no one book that can tell you everything. If there are no builders in your area it may be best to do the first one from a kit so you can compare the parts and see what they should look like.
I wish you well in your endeavor
john hall
blues creek guitars

Hi RichardL and mates. I found this forum when I got the guitar itch. www.luthierforum.com Many of the people on this forum are happy to help with any guitar questions you have. Unlike some of the other forums that post pics of finished builds, folks here post pics of the process from start to finish, warts and all. A great resource for luthier info. Not to mention that Mario (Kermodie Bear One), who is the founder of the forum, is harvesting some of the finest spruce available for instrument making. He has wood auctions on Fridays and Saturdays where good deals are had by everyone.

By the way, you aussies sure know how to do things right. I was blown away when I found this vast source of knowledge on woodworking. I haven't found anything close to this in the U.S. Thanks for having me.

G'day

Vinman

Just joined today to leanr more on woodworking as i have been at the beginning of my guitar building adventure.
The only peice of advice i think i could give is (if u find the tonewood suppliers expensive or not accessible) is look for alternative and woods indigenous to your area as they would be the best to aclimatize to where u live which is important for guitar bodies. I live in india and after looking around for ages cause i couldnt afford to get wood from The us or Europe decided on readin up a bit more and finding it myself. So i did come across some very decent quality Kashmir Spruce which a local woodmill owner used to supply to a local Guitar company and he offeres to give me a few rough sawn peices for aguitar top for free. You basically Have to Have good quarter sawn wood with a close grain fiber to build guitars.
Look throguh local available options for wood and im sure ull come up with something But definately do some reading up before you do. A lof of luthiers and guitar builders have experimented with alternative wood species.
Hope you build takes on soon as i hope mine does to and hope i can leanr some more about woodworkin in genral from all the experienced hands out here.

Cheers
Ankit

heres a link to some free Vintage guitar plans

http://www.crane.gr.jp/MakingGuitarZero/e_index.html

Originally Posted by Ganeshaa

The only peice of advice i think i could give is (if u find the tonewood suppliers expensive or not accessible) is look for alternative and woods indigenous to your area as they would be the best to aclimatize to where u live which is important for guitar bodies.

Cheers
Ankit

I don't really agree with this.....the wood you use in your workshop is going to be roughly the same moisture content by the time you get to use it regardless of where it comes from. I have Australian Tonewood in my shop that is just as prone to cracking and other problems as tonewood I get in from the US and Canada and also India.


The important thing is to not let the wood be exposed to rapid fluctuations in humidity....when wood takes on or loses moisture at a rapid rate it will move and this is when you get cracks and warping and other problems.

Once received in your workshop the wood should be stacked and stickered so there is free air circulation around the stock. I also paint some water based undercoat on the end grain of my tops to slow down the moisture movement in and out of the top. I keep my shop at about 35% humidity and any wood I receive doesn't get used for at least 6 months to give it time to acclimatise to shop conditions.

Welcome to the forums Ganeshaa. Good link, I like the fret calculator.