Members KHsmith Posted January 12 Members Share Posted January 12 I'm wanting to build an acoustic 6 string with conventional top and back bracing. I don't the technology or tools to make normal bent sides. My plan is to take a 2" thick hond mahog or sapele body blank, cut out the body shape and then take out the middle of that to leave 1/4" or so "wall' all around and neck pocket. Regular top and back added on with bracing and kerfed things. Am I stupid and/or misguided? thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members panhandler Posted January 14 Members Share Posted January 14 A first time builder should purchase a kit. Learn the basics and learn how much one can spend at stewmac. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted January 15 Moderators Share Posted January 15 On 1/11/2024 at 5:49 PM, KHsmith said: I'm wanting to build an acoustic 6 string with conventional top and back bracing. I don't the technology or tools to make normal bent sides. My plan is to take a 2" thick hond mahog or sapele body blank, cut out the body shape and then take out the middle of that to leave 1/4" or so "wall' all around and neck pocket. Regular top and back added on with bracing and kerfed things. Am I stupid and/or misguided? thanks We never say people are stupid if they come to get advice before they try something! I will say, though, you are going to be throwing away a lot of money 'hogging out' the body like that. Better to make the two sides separately from smaller pieces of wood. If you have never built or repaired acoustic instruments, it might be better to follow Panhandler's suggestion and learn on a kit build first. Tooling and material costs will typically out-price just buying a good acoustic...but if you are determined, feel free to come here and bounce ideas. BTW, we have a number of luthiers/builders here, and several active build threads from which you may garner some advantageous insight, tricks and tooling shortcuts. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted January 16 Members Share Posted January 16 You should definitely start with a serviced kit from Stew Mac or Martin. They will have presanded the top, back and sides to specs and bent the sides for you. Otherwise, what you envision sounds more like a chambered guitar or an arch top which will not sound good acoustically. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted January 24 Members Share Posted January 24 (edited) Chambered bodies are done fairly frequently on electric guitars and you could certainly make it an acoustic. It is very wasteful of wood, particularly if you go the full depth of an acoustic (2 inches is pretty shallow). Basically most of your sides will be very thin end grain which is pretty weak, particularly in the neck block area. End grain will look kind of funky and is harder to finish, it wants to absorb more of whatever you put on it. You'll probably want to make some pretty good templates for both the outer and inner routs. If you do them in two parts joined at a center seam (like two bent sides) you can cut them on a band saw - still dealing with end grain but might be easier than routing. Bending does involve several steps that are tricky for a new builder, you need to thickness the sides to 0.060 or 0.070, put together some sort of hot pipe and molds and then do the actual bending. Buying a kit or having someone bend the sides is a very good option - I built a couple of kits when I was first getting started and still play them. So bottom line, its certainly doable but not the way I would choose. Edited January 24 by Freeman Keller 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted January 25 Members Share Posted January 25 OT: Hello, Freeman! I was looking for your old archtop build thread to reference. It's good to see you! How've you been? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted January 25 Members Share Posted January 25 (edited) 44 minutes ago, kwakatak said: OT: Hello, Freeman! I was looking for your old archtop build thread to reference. It's good to see you! How've you been? Neil, I'm good, a whole lot older but still crazy after all these years. All of my old HC threads used Photobucket links which have gone bad and I've pretty much switched allegiance to a different forum, if you are interested in my latest archtop build Lets build something that looks like an L5 archtop | Telecaster Guitar Forum (tdpri.com) And to the original poster, if you are curious about building your acoustic with the minimum tools I might be able to help. Edited January 25 by Freeman Keller Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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