Members gitnoob Posted August 4, 2011 Author Members Share Posted August 4, 2011 I know what you're asking yourselves. Did he do a slot-head or solid peghead? There's nothing that says "hand-made" like a hand-hewn slot-head. It's still in rough form, but I kind of like it that way. Maybe I'll leave the tool marks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members knockwood Posted August 5, 2011 Members Share Posted August 5, 2011 Nice-lookin' slot head! I'd never have guessed the method of its creation. I saw a YouTube vid where a guy cuts his slots by progressively passing a drill through the same line to get the rough channels. Will post it here in a sec if I can find it... Found! [video=youtube;yT--D88yxbs] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members poppytater Posted August 5, 2011 Members Share Posted August 5, 2011 What shall be the first tune played on your creation? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gitnoob Posted August 5, 2011 Author Members Share Posted August 5, 2011 What shall be the first tune played on your creation? [video=youtube;wlDmslyGmGI] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Samilyn Posted August 5, 2011 Members Share Posted August 5, 2011 The last one Ditto. I like that shape best, whether peg or slot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gitnoob Posted August 9, 2011 Author Members Share Posted August 9, 2011 The luthier routed the truss rod channel for me. He builds most of his with truss rod access through the headstock. I prefer sound hole access to the truss rod. The concern is drilling a hole through the upper transverse brace for truss access possibly weakening the brace. Charles Tauber modeled the brace with and without access hole: Essentially no difference in strength (as long as the wood is removed from within the brace, leaving some meat at both edges like an I-beam). Glued the top to the neck today creating an extra-large fly swatter. PM me if you have any extra-large flies you'd like dispatched. Sides should go on tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bluzboy Posted August 9, 2011 Members Share Posted August 9, 2011 Gotta say once again...that rosette is striking! It's looking great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted August 10, 2011 Members Share Posted August 10, 2011 I can't wait to see the next step. How are the sides looking? Is there any cupping or bowing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gitnoob Posted August 10, 2011 Author Members Share Posted August 10, 2011 I dry fit one of the sides today, and it seems to have held its shape very well. That little strip of maple purfling I used to reinforce the kerfed lining really seems to add a lot of rigidity and helps them keep their shape -- I plan to stick with that method if I do another build. (And I've already started collecting bits and pieces for my next build. ) (And thanks, Bluz!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gitnoob Posted August 10, 2011 Author Members Share Posted August 10, 2011 Minor setback today, so I didn't get my sides on. I was hacking away at the kerfing and side reinforcement strips so I could inlet the braces when I realized I forgot a step (and the luthier forgot to remind me). I was supposed to trim the sides to length at the head first so the waist of the sides would align better with the waist of the top. I ended up chiseling off one of the side reinforcement strips and replacing it after trimming the side to length, and that consumed all my class time today. Anyway, maybe tomorrow. In the meantime, enjoy this picture of my extra-beefy neck block. Typically Spanish heels only have the foot that sits on the back. Steel strings typical don't have the foot, but some of them have a block on the top to enclose the truss rod. So I did both. Why? Well, the only real downside of the Spanish heel is that a neck reset is impossible. So I'm overbuilding this thing with the hope that it'll never need a neck reset. It's a tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gitnoob Posted August 11, 2011 Author Members Share Posted August 11, 2011 Woohoo! I finally glued one side on! You guys have no idea how hard this is. All hand-tools. No skills. It took me an hour to turn a rough block of mahogany into a friggin' tail block. This little sucker involved a metric ton of planing to get it first squared up and then rounded and beveled: Once that block was in place and the glue set, I could finally put a side on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted August 11, 2011 Members Share Posted August 11, 2011 Yup. It's tougher than it looks. I made my second tail block out of birch plywood. You have to sand the gluing face so that it matches the curve of the sides or else there'll be a flat spot. I still don't understand how you get around cupping using the solara method, but from what I hear there's no play with EIR like there is with mahogany. Yet another reason why my next should be EIR I suppose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gitnoob Posted August 11, 2011 Author Members Share Posted August 11, 2011 This particular body style is flat at the tail, so that aspect of the tail block was relatively simple. I rounded the long edges to reduce the stress riser, and I beveled the short edges to allow more free plate area (the gluing surface area is the same as the kerfed lining). I still haven't learned how to deal with planing mahogany end grain. Seems to chip out no matter which direction you plane from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gitnoob Posted August 12, 2011 Author Members Share Posted August 12, 2011 Officially there was no class today. Unofficially, I couldn't resist sneaking in for a few minutes to glue on the other side. Houston, we have a guitar-shaped object! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted August 12, 2011 Members Share Posted August 12, 2011 It looks great! Did you give the top a thump to hear the tone? C'mon, I know ya did! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gitnoob Posted August 12, 2011 Author Members Share Posted August 12, 2011 Yeah, I've been playing it like a drum since I brought it home. The tap sounds strong and musical to me. The main top resonance is at 215Hz (A3), which is a bit high in my limited experience. It'll be interesting to see how much lower I can shift that peak with the final voicing (mostly by thinning the edge of the top). BTW, I've seen one builder who uses a temporary tailpiece so he can string up the guitar before the finish and bridge goes on. I may try that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members knockwood Posted August 12, 2011 Members Share Posted August 12, 2011 Looking good, noob! Had to laugh - definitely a lot more of a bitch to do some "simple" things than most people realize. My first stab at "woodworking" was back in late April/early May just before I started on kit #1. Figured I would initiate myself a little bit with the "simple" task of making spreader blocks... Throwing an accurate, even radius onto a solid block of wood when you've never used a plane before is a real {censored}er. The stuff gets easier very quickly with not much exposure, but I was seriously daunted by that introduction and thought right away that maybe I'd better pack it in. And as it turned out, I only needed one spreader for git #1... That is one hell of an attractive end block you've got there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted August 13, 2011 Members Share Posted August 13, 2011 Yeah, I've been playing it like a drum since I brought it home. The tap sounds strong and musical to me. The main top resonance is at 215Hz (A3), which is a bit high in my limited experience. It'll be interesting to see how much lower I can shift that peak with the final voicing (mostly by thinning the edge of the top). BTW, I've seen one builder who uses a temporary tailpiece so he can string up the guitar before the finish and bridge goes on. I may try that. Have you designed your bridge yet? I'm surprised that you're able to get such accurate readings. I'm just happy that mine doesn't sound like a piece of cardboard. Oh - and knockwood, don't sell yourself short. You're just putting the finishing touches on a guitar you started four months ago. My friend and mentor took over a year to do his and made some pretty big mistakes that took Tim McKnight to talk him out of scrapping it. You should also know by now that you didn't need to be so exact with the radius on the spreaders but I for one understand that when you're new to woodworking you can't help but try and stretch yourself - and play with the new toys too! Good thing you didn't cut your pecker off with the saw doing it though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gitnoob Posted August 13, 2011 Author Members Share Posted August 13, 2011 Have you designed your bridge yet? I'm surprised that you're able to get such accurate readings. I'm just happy that mine doesn't sound like a piece of cardboard. I think it's pretty hard to make a bad-sounding guitar. A bad-playing guitar is much easier. Yeah, the tap tone was very consistent. Having the sides on takes away the "where you hold the plate" variable, so this is likely to be pretty close to the actual tap tone of the completed guitar (assuming I left the top alone). I assume you're asking about the bridge because you want me to dress the guitar up like a Barbie doll. Your wish is my command. Hmm, that's a LONGGGG fretboard, eh? I think I can put like 30 frets on there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted August 13, 2011 Members Share Posted August 13, 2011 I think Barbie's winking at me. I can't tell for sure though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gitnoob Posted August 16, 2011 Author Members Share Posted August 16, 2011 All of us noob builders are now living in the shadow of the giant Knockwood and his finished build. But we persevere. Planed down the sides to a profile that puts an arch in the back. Glued on the kerfed lining for the back. Planed some more to shape the foot of the Spanish heel. Signed the top. Stuck a label on the back. And closed up the friggin' box! Edit: took it home and trimmed the back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members knockwood Posted August 17, 2011 Members Share Posted August 17, 2011 Great-lookin' box! I really, really like the body shape. Reminds me a little bit of David Webber's roundbody design, which I have always liked (but have never played). The way the bridge and rosette work together is pretty awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted August 17, 2011 Members Share Posted August 17, 2011 All of us noob builders are now living in the shadow of the giant Knockwood and his finished build. But we persevere. Planed down the sides to a profile that puts an arch in the back. Glued on the kerfed lining for the back. Planed some more to shape the foot of the Spanish heel. Signed the top. Stuck a label on the back. And closed up the friggin' box! Edit: took it home and trimmed the back. Uh oh. You closed the box. You sure you were ready? Nah - just kidding. I don't envy you the task of doing the binding though it looks like you've got the neck angle covered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gitnoob Posted August 17, 2011 Author Members Share Posted August 17, 2011 Uh oh. You closed the box. You sure you were ready? Seriously, I think I did forget something. This class is both unstructured and you're under a bit of time pressure to finish, so missteps are fairly frequent. I caught one just before I closed up (I had planed the sides to profile, but I almost forgot to sand them using the radiused sanding block). I'll check with the luthier tomorrow, but I think I should have drilled the truss rod access hole in the UTB before closing up the box. Maybe not, though. I suppose there's some way to do it either from the sound hole or from the truss rod channel. It's probably going to mean extra effort, though. This luthier is sort of an absent-minded professor type. Makes it more interesting that way. Edit: I almost forgot to update the tap tone stuff. Top got a little tighter with the back on: 229Hz. The back taps at 245Hz. And the main air resonance is at 100Hz. The top tap is kind of interesting -- nice sustain and it seems like projection is strong. It sets off other near-by guitars in sympathy. I'm pretty sure that I didn't hit the magical Somogyi-like "actively coupled back" with this build. The back seems normally reflective. Maybe I'll figure that one out next time.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted August 17, 2011 Members Share Posted August 17, 2011 Looks good so far. Keep us posted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.