Acoustic Guitar Building Course

[Zandit75]

Don't stop there, I'm dribbling all over my desk and want to see the photos all of the way to the end TONIGHT !!! :-)

Well, unless you've got a crystal ball, I can't help you much there!!

How about a photo of Greg's guitar, he'll be applying Finish tomorrow if all goes well for him!
He's a builder of other stringed instruments like cigar box guitars and bazooki's (I think that's how you spell it) who wanted to have a crack at building a full sized guitar.


It's also an OM sized guitar with spalted blackwood back and sides, Silver Quandong top, but he's gone with hairy oak for the fretboard and bridge, and I believe he's used either Cooba or East Indian Rosewood for the headstock.

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[cork sniffer]

Would have to see it in real life to decide if I like or dislike the "hairy oak for the fretboard and bridge", strange look from the photo.
The dark headstock looks out of place with the other lighter woods.

[Zandit75]

Would have to see it in real life to decide if I like or dislike the "hairy oak for the fretboard and bridge", strange look from the photo.
The dark headstock looks out of place with the other lighter woods.

Hairy oak is certainly one of the more different timbers out there.
It's an unusual taste, but it suits Greg's personality!

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[Zandit75]

Day 9: Part 1
Big day, lots of little things coming together.

Shaped the tail of the Fret board. Keeping it simple. Matches the Headstock shape


Inserting the truss rod


A little sikaflex to hold it in place and prevent vibrations


Fret board glued on


Taped down some sandpaper in the approximate area of the bridge location and started sanding the bottom of the bridge to match the radius of the top

You can see the slightly darker patches at the tips is where it hasn't touched the sandpaper yet. Almost there

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[Zandit75]

Day 9: Part 2
Jumped over to the bobbin sander and roughed out the bridge shape. Maybe a little chunky, but I'm happy with it

Hand sanded through 80, 120, 240, 320, 400 and finally 1200grit. No polish involved, or even wet sanded, this shine is purely from the dry sandpaper!


More sanding!




Yep, happy with how that's looking!


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[Zandit75]

Day 9: Part 3
Heel cap sanded flush. Didn't actually intend it, but it's so thin at the front edge, the grain lines almost match up perfectly with the neck heel grain


More detailed sanding now


Routing the bridge saddle slot


Getting ready to place it


The tape acts as a dam for the glue, and helps locate it.


Done!


Tomorrow will be final sanding, maybe a couple of areas to fill with some sawdust before applying the first coats of lacquer!!
Bring on the glamour shots!!


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[Dedman]

This is looking so good Zand, what was your level of wood working skills before you started?

[Zandit75]

This is looking so good Zand, what was your level of wood working skills before you started?

Apart from the small amount of work I did on the LP kit first last year, I haven't really done much wood working since leaving high school in 1990! I'm confident with wood, just don't let me anywhere near a welder!!
Aaron has such a great attitude, and his teaching style is tailored to what you want to learn. You want to know specific stuff, he's your man, he'll share pretty much any detail.

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[wazkelly]

Also wondering if they use Titebond for all the gluing too?

[Zandit75]

Also wondering if they use Titebond for all the gluing too?

Yep, titebond original for everything except when using plastic binding which it won't work with. Then he uses super glue. I decided to use the super glue on my wooden binding as well. Super thin super glue is also used in the rosettes occasionally.

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