Members EastCoastPlayah Posted January 28, 2007 Members Share Posted January 28, 2007 I posted this under DIY a couple of days ago, but they seem more intent on electrics. I ran into a few surprises during my first acoustic.....an exploding neck block, the neck joint, etc. Below is a pic of my most concerning mishap...... Anyone have any experience building these things? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hudman Posted January 28, 2007 Members Share Posted January 28, 2007 I posted this under DIY a couple of days ago, but they seem more intent on electrics. I ran into a few surprises during my first acoustic.....an exploding neck block, the neck joint, etc. Below is a pic of my most concerning mishap...... Anyone have any experience building these things? Freeman Keller is our in house luthier. Let me page him for you.... FREEMAN!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members knockwood Posted January 28, 2007 Members Share Posted January 28, 2007 There are a few guys in this forum who build, but you'll find a ton of 'em over on the APM forum:http://www.acousticplayermagazine.com/forum/ And then there's the ASIA (Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans) forum, run by Bill Moll:http://www.guitarmaker.org/ Hope you will also stick around here, though. Always good to have input from peeps who are actually making these things. Many of us who do not are chomping at the bit to give it a shot... Looks like you did some really nice work before the blowup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rhat Posted January 28, 2007 Members Share Posted January 28, 2007 I have two martin kit guitars... .both were assembled by a ex gibson custom shop guy. They sound better, play better than any off the shelf martin I ever played. This guy is very good ,, he was carving arch top backs and tops for a very respected guitar maker as a sub contractor. I dont know how much of that he does anymore....He does make some very nice jumbos ...and mandolins and arch tops. and thin lines.. etc ... rat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members darksun Posted January 28, 2007 Members Share Posted January 28, 2007 freeman keller is the man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EastCoastPlayah Posted January 29, 2007 Author Members Share Posted January 29, 2007 Thanks - I'll check out the other ones as well. I didn't mean to imply my first git was ruined, it broke fairly clean and needed to be repaired and reglued. I finished it by hand though, enough router mistakes for one day. I guess I'll have to ask Freeman about my neck wood posting as well.... Here is the finished product ..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted January 29, 2007 Members Share Posted January 29, 2007 EastCoast, the finished product looks darn good - looks like you recovered OK. It seems like the one thing that gives new builders fits is the neck joint - over at the kit guitar forum there is just one thread after another on this subject. I don't quite understand what is going on here - can you elaborate on what happened? Is the mortise already cut in the heel block and are you just routing the sides out? I would say that building a walnut cutaway for your first acoustic is a big project and you pulled it off nicely. BTW the forum you might want to check out is MIMF.com - the Musical Instrument Makers Forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EastCoastPlayah Posted January 29, 2007 Author Members Share Posted January 29, 2007 It was a scratch guitar, so the block was solid. I have thought about buying the premade ones, but I am worried about lining them up properly of the body isn't quite right. I found a couple of sites that suggest a regular square cutting bit in a router to cut the channel. Cumpiano didn't specify how to make the channel, it was just shown in the sketches and in the pictures as finished. My friend who built his own Taylor GS style acoustic cut his the week before and it worked perfectly. It worked fine at first, but suddenly shattered - cracking the top, the binding, losing pieces of the block and a small piece of the side. Now I know why they say to keep the scraps around. I chiseled the rest to finish it without more damage, glued the new pieces of wood and some touchup sanding. I must admit, it repaired nearly perfect. As for the neck joint, it seems easy enough, but I couldn't get it to sit flush on the body. The top of my sides are tilted in just a bit, also throwing things off. I will admit, the extra maple at the neck/body joint was to get the 14th gret back to the correct placement for intonation. I also like the way it looks. I'll check out MIMF. I have already talked with lutheris tonight on the APM forum, so I think I'll get alot of answers there. I'm hooked on building guitars and I have 7 more back & sides sets and tops to keep going...talk about bad GAS.... Laurie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members parrothd_mark Posted January 29, 2007 Members Share Posted January 29, 2007 Eastcoast -- That's a very nice looking guitar! Coming from one who has also built one (and is planning the second) who's first guitar wasn't nearly as pretty as that, you did good! Another great forum is the Luthier's Forum (http://www.luthiersforum.com). Great bunch of folks there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted January 29, 2007 Members Share Posted January 29, 2007 The only thing I'll add is that I've done dovetails on all of mine (except the classical, which was a Spanish heel) and I've used pre routed neck blocks. After the sides are on, the mortise and channel for the truss rod were routed and the top was relieved slightly to eliminate the 14 fret hump. As you know StewMac sells the jigs for routing both dovetail and MT necks. The whole operation of "setting" a dovetail neck seems to be the biggest hangup for most new builders. After doing my first I swore never again (and recommended that others do a bolt on for their first) but I've learned some tricks and the 2nd and 3rd went much smoother. Since you are (also) hooked it probably makes sense to buy or build the jigs, fixtures and tooling to make this accurated and easy. I assume you have seen Cumpiano's "new" neck joint - he has backed away from the dowled one shown in his book. Anyway, good job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members telelurker Posted January 29, 2007 Members Share Posted January 29, 2007 The finished product look good to me, how about some more photos? I hesitate to comment, as I'm not a luthier, but I've done a lot of routing. I assume you were using some kind of jig? Next time try cramping a substantial block (maybe 1" thick) of scrap timber firmly over the start of the rout. It's tricky to do this without the cramps getting in the way, and you may have to modify your jig. If your jig extends over the scrap it also helps you get lined up more easily at the start. You just rout through the scrap and proceed as normal. The added support given by the scrap wood prevents the wood of the guitar breaking out. The problem you had looks like a classic case of the cutter entering the wood cleanly on the left and breaking out while exiting on the right. (This breakout is known as 'spelching' by Brit woodworkers). The rotation of the cutter means that it any breakout will always occur in that orientation. My preference would be to use a cutter about half the diameter of the one you appear to be using. I would go round the cut clockwise in several passes, taking a shallow and light cut at each pass, gradually working to the full depth and width. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted January 29, 2007 Members Share Posted January 29, 2007 In addition, I use the router base on my Dremel for a lot of this little close stuff - clamp some guide bars on the workpiece and start makin' chips Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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