Acoustic build w/my son *Update 5/13/24*

[thepezident]

Man, there is a lot of work that goes into one of these babies. I wish I had those kind of skills.

It really is manageable. Everything is broken down into small skills/tasks.
The pre-made templates and jigs really help.

[thepezident]

Big night last night.....Glued on the top and got fretwire in the board. THIS WEEKS UPDATE IS IN 2 POSTS.

Glued in bracing around the soundhole.

Added blocking.

Place bottle on top for weight.

While that dries, we moved to sanding the top kerfing of the guitar.

Now we do some final carving, sanding and cutting of the bracing so it fits within the body.

[thepezident]

THIS WEEKS UPDATE IS IN 2 POSTS. - Check the post above if you missed it.

Here we lay the top on the body and mark the overhanging bracing to be cut off.

Apply the glue.

Place the top and start clamping.


All clamped down.

Next we drill hole to place fretboard in template. then place fretboard in jig.

Here's the fretwire and my kid.

Getting the rough length of wire.


Tapping in the fretwire


Here we use a press to actually and finally press the wire in.


And finally we trim off the excess wire.

[tonebender]

I am dying to hear that guitar!

[thepezident]

Routed the body to shape and routed for binding. Had a major oopsie....
the router depth slipped....

Here we router out the excess material to get the final shape of the guitar body.


Then we sand.


Next, we set up a jig for the back keystone piece.

Next, we cut off the excess.

Now we router out for the binding.

I went first and the router depth gauge slipped and it totally went through my top and dug out the kerfing.
I was &^^%&*!## pissed that my piece had been ruined.

This is what it's supposed to look like.

Here is the router jig setup and some video of the process.

Routing Spencers back for binding.


Here we tape the binding in.

[uwmcscott]

Just having access to all those tools/equipment is well worth the cost, plus being able to make a mess at someone else's place So what is the prognosis for your project - will you have to replace the whole top or can it be fixed?

[thepezident]

So what is the prognosis for your project - will you have to replace the whole top or can it be fixed?

We doubled up the decorative binding. And then the tan colored binding will hide the 2 layers. You can see in the very last pic how it looks..
I do intermingle my build and my sons.....but that last pic is my build.
My heart sunk when I saw what happened....

I might go down to the classroom after work and take some tape off to see how it turned out...Its about 15 min away...

[uwmcscott]

We doubled up the decorative binding. And then the tan colored binding will hide the 2 layers. You can see in the very last pic how it looks..
I do intermingle my build and my sons.....but that last pic is my build.
My heart sunk when I saw what happened....

I might go down to the classroom after work and take some tape off to see how it turned out...Its about 15 min away...

Looks just fine in that last pic to me - but I would have been very bummed too, knowing what's hiding behind the curtain But at the end of the day it's all mostly wood so it should sound, play and look perfectly normal. I can't even count the number of times I've done something similar on construction/remodeling/mechanical projects.

Once I had to cut a hole all the way through the interior and exterior wall of my house to install a stovepipe for a pellet stove. I measured dozens of times, mocked up the whole assembly, etc - but of course I forgot to factor in the tile that I would later install over the concrete floor - so my 4 inch hole ended up about an inch too low. So now there's a huge gap that I had to patch back in and fill with spray foam/etc, and I found a larger flange that covers up the whole mess...but I stlll think about it 10 years later every time I start a fire

I do really like that herringbone binding though and I think it will look really nice when its done.

[tonebender]

It won't be long now until we have a sound clip!

[thepezident]

It won't be long now until we have a sound clip!

About 3 more weeks.
Next week is cutting out for the neck, gluing the fretboard on.

The class does not include a finish...But we can schedule some time to come in and apply an oil finish...
I'd like to do that before we install the tuners and string it up.
The last class date is April 30.

[thepezident]

Very late posted this.
This is last weeks update. I was busy with work...

Last week was very tedious. We sanded and filed the binding.
Thankfully my router booboo came out ok.

This is just the dust from the back!

Here is Spencer filing the binding. We put some tape over the edge so the wood wouldn't get scraped.


Then, the instructor had us use a blade to scrape the side of the binding.
He said he's seen too many people sand through it...
This was also rough on the hands.


I think tomorrow (the23rd) we are gluing on the fretboard and finishing the binding work.

[thepezident]

Did some fretwork last night and glued the fretboard onto the neck.
Here is Spencer using a file to get the fret tangs even with the wood.


Then we use this one to put an angle on the frets.

Next, we use a small file to round over the ends.


After that, we used a template to mark and drill holes for the tuners.

Then we set up a jig and changed the - I'll call it the dovetail - that will seat into the guitar.

With the tuner holes drilled, we laid in a bead of glue for the truss rod.

Apply a slathering of Titebond and attach the fretboard to the neck.

And finally we clamp it...

[solteroblues]

that is really awesome, cudos to you and your son! I'm building some solid body guitars, and I want one of my kids to want to build one too... my oldest is starting to want to do some woodworking, so maybe I can corral him in sometime.

[thepezident]

Thought we were gonna install the neck but not this week.
Here we line up where the jig goes to cut the slot for the neck.

Here is the routing process. We stepped it down 5x.

Then we had to use another jig for the front.

It's messy work.

Soon, they will be joined...

The teacher had us scallop out the neck joint. I'm unclear why this had to be done.


Next, we used a jig/template to see how much wood had to be cut out to fit the nut.

Then we mark the height and sand the nut.

[tonebender]

Coming along nicely!!

[uwmcscott]

Looking good, I love the grain/color variation on the top. I understand most people prefer a well matched/consistent top and that's why all the a-stock guitars get them...but I'd much rather have something with personality like that.

[thepezident]

Almost finished.
On Tuesday, we glued on the bridge, cut and shaped the bone bridge nut? and temporarily attached the neck.
Here we mark the location of the bridge.

Then we tape it into place.

We just loosely set then in place and use a straight edge to see how high/low everything is.

Get the final location.

Drill out the 2 E strings.

Glue it on.

Sneak Peak

We go back in on Saturday for the final fit and finish.
The instructor attached and set the necks for us...Bummer I couldnt do that but I understand.
It's a time thing....

[thepezident]

Final build day.
We all went in Saturday morning to finish up.

Taped off the neck.

Marked frets with blue sharpie.

Leveled frets.


Used 3 different sandpaper grits to get the file marks out.

Cut the nut slots. Spencers G string is cut too low. He needs to go back and make another one.

Ream out the string holes and create a nice break point.

Install the tuners.

Finished product

[thepezident]

Still need to sand some more and put a seal coat on the wood of some sort.
Also, need to install strap pins and Spencer needs a new nut. And he noticed his binding is coming loose at one spot.

So minor things left to do. But all in all - they're built.

Action is 4/64ths at the 12th fret low E.... The top is myrtle wood. It projects very nicely.
I would say it's very balanced - tonaly.... Maybe just ever so slightly leaning toward the bassy side.

Sound clips to follow....

[tonebender]

Beautiful guitar! I think I have said it before but Breedlove uses a myrtle wood quite a bit. I have played quite a few and they do have a nice tone. I would love to have one but so far none have spoken to me as far as playability goes.

[tonebender]

Any clips? I would like to hear it.

[Tiga]

What an awesome project! Looks like a ton of fun!

[thepezident]

Any clips? I would like to hear it.

standby....I will get you something....

[thepezident]

@tonebender
my embarrassingly bad playing...
Might be slightly out of tune also....

[tonebender]

Sounds great! Beautiful guitar too. It reminds me of Breedlove offerings. I have joyed this since the beginning. I would love to give that thing a go.