ThreeQuartersLeft

Sycamore pair of guitars

2011-06-12T19:26:00.000-07:00

A pair of sycamore wood guitars in the style of a 19th Century Martin.

1858 Martin

2011-05-26T11:22:00.000-07:00

waxwing

2011-05-24T19:45:00.000-07:00

mahogany

2011-05-23T18:46:00.000-07:00

2011-04-20T17:06:00.000-07:00

Flaws

2011-04-14T19:17:00.000-07:00

Finishing

2011-04-12T18:27:00.000-07:00

Moby guitar Inlay

2011-04-05T17:57:00.001-07:00

Working on the headstock inlay for the Moby guitar.

This is cheater MOP, so thin you can cut it with a knife or scissors, but so thin it needs a backer so the background color does not show through.

French polish

2011-04-01T19:54:00.000-07:00

The covered pad used to apply shellac.

Inside the pad is a square of wool sewn up with cotton balls stuffed inside.

To apply, drops of shellac are injected inside the wool pad until it is slightly moist on the bottom. The cotton cover is wrapped around it. The shellac is applied by wiping the surface to be finished with long, fast strokes.

Terrawhistle Kermodie left handed cutaway on Ebay

2011-03-31T17:31:00.000-07:00

Sycamore

2011-03-24T18:18:00.000-07:00

A couple of classical guitars to be built from sycamore for the backs and sides. The sycamore lumber was part sapwood and part heartwood. I sawed the planks to make one set of sapwood and one set of heartwood.
The light colored set will have an Englemann spruce top and the dark colored set will have an Alpine Western red cedar top from Mario DaCosta.
From left to right, spruce brace wood, Spanish cedar for necks, Englemann, sycamore sapwood, sycamore heartwood, red cedar top.
I have a mahogany guitar in the works, but I can go ahead and resaw and thickness the sycamore and sticker it up so it has time to settle while the mahogany guitar is being finished up.
I also have a half dozen guitars to inlay and put a finish on.

Frets on

2011-02-06T13:14:00.001-08:00

truss rod

2011-02-01T18:08:00.000-08:00

Clamping down on the truss rod to make sure it bends.

truss rods

2011-01-31T19:42:00.000-08:00

Truss rods for acoustic guitar necks

2011-01-30T07:54:00.000-08:00

Acoustic guitar bridge

2011-01-27T16:05:00.000-08:00

The rough shaped bridge

And its placement on the body.

Neck and fretboard fitting and fretting

2011-01-18T19:57:00.000-08:00

A lot goes on that's not in the picture. The sides of the neck were straightened and the fretboard was sized down to fit the neck. Then the neck was attached to the body to make sure the fretboard is on the same plane as the body and aligned along the centerline of the top.
Frets are now being cut.

Fret slots

2011-01-17T19:24:00.000-08:00

Next to do is glue the fretboard to the neck.
There are index pins at the 1st & 12th fret slots to keep the fretboard from slipping when the clamps are applied.

Fretboard

2011-01-16T16:53:00.000-08:00

This fretboard is a piece of very old rosewood. Very dark, with a ring tone like a marimba key.

It has been trimmed and has a radius applied to it.
It's ready for fretting.

Working the neck

2011-01-06T18:24:00.000-08:00

fastener

2011-01-02T14:45:00.000-08:00

Neck attached to acoustic guitar

2010-12-31T12:26:00.000-08:00

The neck is attached using a single dovetail. A furniture bolt is also used to secure the neck to the body. The dovetail joint assures the neck stays aligned while the bolt keeps the neck tight to the neck block. The dovetail joint does not have to be glued since the bolt is holding the joint. This is great for future maintenance, since only the tongue of the fretboard will have glue on it. The neck can be easily removed for maintenance or replacement.

Neck

2010-12-20T19:57:00.000-08:00

completed acoustic guitar body

2010-12-12T17:44:00.000-08:00

Patching a gouge in the binding.

Back

Side

Front

Soundhole

Binding glue-up

2010-12-10T19:16:00.000-08:00