New to the Musical Instruments Forum, 1st Guitar WIP

[JackG]

Hi all,
I am new to the MI forum but not new to WW Forums, I generally do some furniture as a hobby.
I saw Lynn Dodebusel (or something like that) making a guitar on Hand made music on the How To chanel I decided to have a go.

I red Cumpiano's book, gathered fair a bit of info from the net, had a good chat with Gerard Gillet, made some plans and just before christmas I have started my 1st guitar.

It is a hybrid classical loosely using Torres shape with a cutaway and 7 fan braces, bolt on neck, 20" rounded fingerboard, truss rod, cedar soundboard, wallnut sides and back, mahogany neck... not exactly a standard. :)

The construction is pretty standard with an outside mold, bent the sides on a hot pipe and hot air gun, I use a mixture of machine and hand tools, couldnt do without my small belt sander, Small drum sander was a wise investment and the bandsaw gets a workout, also a dremel for rosette and other jobs.

I really love woodworking, I generally do it in periods and I do 2 or 3 large projects per year but I must say building an accoustic guitar is something else. I have an incredible fun, I really enjoy my time in the shed.
I sort of went away from the hand work and used a lot of machinery (Working Jarrah on hand tools aint much fun) but building the guitar really makes me use the hand tools a lot, the work is very tactile, feeling the sides bend under your fingers is priceless and scalopping the braces is just divine :)
I must say in 6 days in the shed my skills and understanding of the wood have tremendously increased.

Anayway enought talk, here are some pics of WIP, if humidity is acceptable tomorrow I will finish the bracing of the soundboard and close the box.
Pls dont get too picky on the cleanliness, everything is to shape but all needs a final touch, cleanup and fine sanding.

[JackG]

More pics

[Shedhand]

lookin good so far. Unusual to see it being photographed without all the scaffolding usually associated with hollow body guitar construction. :2tsup:

[Malibu]

Hi all,
... I must say building an accoustic guitar is something else. I have an incredible fun, I really enjoy my time in the shed.


Gday Jack.. I'll second those comments!! :D
A nice bit of work there and it looks like we're up to about the same stage on our projects too. I'm curious though, why did you use the reverse kerfing for the top and the standard on the bottom?

[meansy_wood]

almost looks as good as me:;

[JackG]

Humidity was acceptable for my area and I went ahead with the bracing of the soundboard, little cleanup and glued the back and soundboard to the ribs.
15min to kill until I can take the clamps out. :)

I followed Gerard Gillet's advice with the Kerfing where the reverse kerfing is supposed to provide better rigidity between the sides and soundboard and normal kerfing for the back. I found the reverse kerfing lot harder to fit properly and in the future I will just use normal kerfing.

I'll try to get a pic or 2 when I unclamp

[JackG]

A few pics just before glueing the back and with the soundboard being glued.

Note the 4mm MDF shim that only allows the clamping pressure to go to the perimeter of the soundboard so the arching provided by the Lower cross cut brace is intact.

[JackG]

The last 2 days have been a real pain, the binding is definitely the hardest part, I had many problems bending the binding, perhaps plastic would have been easier, certanly less messy.

The cutaway was quite hard to make, I need to invest in a magnifying glass and some jewler tools... or perhaps I just need glasses :)

I just had enough binding and cant buy anymore of the same as I bought it on ebay from a private seller along with fair a bit of supplies, I had it delaminating and the thin strip and it waved a bit on the sharp curves until I learnt that the hot air gun was much more effective than the bending iron.
All in all it came up ok, I was expecting a bit better for 2 days work.

[JackG]

The binding is now completed, just scraped and light sanded, some glue remains here and there but I will wait a few days till the glue is completely dry for final sanding.

Just need to adjust the neck.

[Malibu]

The last 2 days have been a real pain, the binding is definitely the hardest part, I had many problems bending the binding, perhaps plastic would have been easier, certanly less messy.

The cutaway was quite hard to make, I need to invest in a magnifying glass and some jewler tools... or perhaps I just need glasses :)



That's looking good Jack and you're making some pretty quick progress with it too!
I had a chuckle at your above comments... It's the same thoughts I've been having myself over the last couple of days (escpecially the bit about the glasses!) :D

[contrebasse]

yeah thats looking nice - I like the handsome dark binding and the purfling strips. On a guitar it always looks to me as if the binding channel is cut all the way the rib through to the kerfing. Is this the case? If so, why doesn't that weaken the edge joint? Does anyone make a model of guitar with overlapping edges like a cello?

[JackG]

Contrebasse,
The kerfing was not apparent anywhere at the time of binding, The binding is Brazilian rosewood with white brown white strip, about 1.5-1.8 mm thick ( I didnt measure) and the sides are 2.4 mm will probably go down to 2.2mm when sanded. The top strip (I think purfling is the correct term) is black white black, unsure of the timber, but the black looked dyed about 2.5mm wide and 1.2-1.5 mm deep, the top is ranging from 2.2-2.5mm now and will go down to 2.1-2.4 when sanded.

To be really honest I think plastic binding is probably a more efficient way to do the things, it has a much better plasticity than the wood to absorb dings and come back to initial state but there are the problems glueing and also aestetic issues.

Regarding the strength I believe it does weaken the guitar, even on the long grain parts (sides) the glue is definitely stronger than the wood itself but the bindings/purflings can delaminate easily so we introduce a weaker element in.

I work pretty fast and I have about 8 full days work on the guitar, considering that the binding alone took 2 days to make for something that really is more cosmetic than anything, I am really considering my options for future guitars.... but I hate plastic !

I am really interested in the technical side of the guitar, what converts and alters the sound but it seems that there is not always agreement among luthiers and definitely no written quantified rules so really it is experimentation, the ideal case would be to make nu fuss plain playable prototypes sold at cost, but I can always dream :)

I want to experiment with the bracing and I am thinking of building a sort of guitar where I can easily change the soundboard but first I need to find a way to measure the changes, I have been toying with samplers and spectrum analysers but so far it is not conclusive.

[contrebasse]

I often thought that if one made soundboards where the kerfing was somehow attached to the soundboard instead of the ribs, one could just slide it into position and let the strings keep the top on. For experimentation, of course.

[kiwigeo]

Nice work on the classical Jack.

I have only one question...why did you opt for a truss rod? Some makers put them in more to improve the sound of the instrument rather than to deal with bowing of the neck due to string tension (not really an issue on a classical). The theory is that a neck under tension from a tightened up truss rod sounds better.

Actually I have two questions..Ive just noticed you're using a bolt on neck. Is there a reason for this? Theyre used on steel strings to make neck rake adjustment easier but on a classical the latter isn't really an issue.

Altogether an interesting mixture of classical and steel string construction features.

Cheers Martin

[kiwigeo]

considering that the binding alone took 2 days to make for something that really is more cosmetic than anything, I am really considering my options for future guitars.... but I hate plastic !

.

Binding more than cosmetic. It serves a number of functions:

1. Providing protection to side/top/back edges from physical damage.
2. Inhibiting passage of moisture into/out of top and back end grain.
3. It makes a boring looking guitar look great....ok ok thats cosmetic but its still important.

I hate plastic too..its why I use wood binding on both my classicals and steel strings.

Cheers Martin

[JackG]

Sorry about the delay replying, I have been quite busy (not on the guitar unfortunately)

I opted for the combination bolt on neck and truss rod for ease of construction, adjustment and eventualy future maintenance.

I am not attached to traditional building methods at all, in fact unless you are trying to make a replica I recon they are a hinderance. I am a strong beliver of the best method and best tools for the job, no matter if new old traditional or not.

Talking with luthiers and reading on the net it appeared that the combination I chose was going to be the most appropriate for my goal, only draw back is the added weight.

I dont have much experience guitar making but I really doubt the truss rod would change and even less improve the sound.

There is a certainly a lot of myths, hype and mysteries in guitar making, some call it black magic ? :)

Cheers