kwakatak

Why the sad face, DM? The guitar isn’t broken.

I completed my first build back in 2013 and honestly, but it hasn't gotten much play time. This is mostly because while it looks like a guitar, I had a lot to learn about setting it up. I'm setting out to fix that this year. This guitar is based off of plans I bought from Stewart MacDonald in 2009 and was drawn up by a luthier named Michael David Payne who was active at the Official Luthier's Forum at the time. It's essentially his take on the Gibson J-185, which is 16" across at the lower bout and 4+7/8" deep at the tail block. I did my own take on it by taking inspiration from a Taylor GS5 and visual styling from James Olson and Taylor's own boutique division. This guitar has a western red cedar top, Honduran mahogany back and sides, a 5 piece laminated neck (mahogany, maple and walnut) and rosewood fingerboard, bridge, head plate and trim. I'm actually really happy with the visual and tonal properties of the body. My main beef is that despite having a double action truss rod, there is an insane amount of upbow on the neck, even with 12-54 gauge strings. I'm trying to tackle that this week. Here's what I intend to try: - adjust the truss rod with more back bow. - trying even lighter strings. - resetting the neck. - as a last resort I have one last laminated neck blank to build a new neck for this. I actually enjoyed building the neck on this one but the threaded inserts gave me trouble. This last blank already has them installed and they're much better seated. I would also likely add carbon fiber rods to stabilize the neck against twisting (which is not an issue with this one.) That last thing is obviously the most intrusive and would likely require removing and repositioning the bridge but fortunately I made it with a bolt on neck and the finish is French polish which I actually enjoy doing, though I would just sand the entire top down to bare wood. I actually have crazier things in mind with this, such as upgrading the tuning machines to gold Gotoh 510s and eventually putting on gold fret wire. I've done a complete 180 on my feelings on gold, but this guitar's appearance is so "warm" I think it would work. Heck, I might even put something on the headstock! Has anyone even seen amber used on a guitar?

Again, I’m sorry to hear about your brother. I don’t know what mental health care is where you are but here in the States it’s abysmal. My 20 year old son is intellectually disabled, autistic, has limited verbal communication skills and is bipolar. It’s been hard for my family but this has been a better year than years past.

Hi, Misha, I'm sorry to hear about your brother. Most of us are trying not to think about the grim reaper but I'm beginning to understand that it's not so much the worry that life will end but that you face it with dignity and hope those we leave behind can at least choose to remember the good times they had with us. That being said, I learned a few years ago that a friend had committed suicide. I was away at the time and feel more badly that I wasn't there for those who were close to her at the time. Back to the topic at hand, here's a good reference: http://frets.com/FretsPages/Musician/Guitar/Maintenance/CrackedBridges/crackedbridges.html I have an idea of what I'd do but I frequently make mistakes and have to deal with consequences. Read on for what I'd do but be wary. I've ruined several guitars with my tinkerings. It's how I learn; I figure you can't make an omelet without breaking some eggs. First, there's a shopping list: 1: From the grocery store: tin foil wax paper optional: a meat thermometer 2: From the hardware store disposable latex or nitrile gloves. You can find them in the paint section. I like to use 7mil thick because they're more tear resistant) a couple clean rags of t-shirt material, also in the paint section. I've been known to sacrifice old t-shirts to the luthiery gods though. a small container of naptha (lighter fluid) to clean sawdust off gluing surfaces a small bottle of Titebond original (the red label) thin viscosity CA glue. They typically come in a bottle with a narrow opening or a pipette CA glue activator (this is typically a spray can with or without a nozzle. a paint scraper (2" wide is enough) a few razor blades. an Exacto knife a 1/4" chisel (it doesn't have to be scary sharp, it's just used for cleanup and not actual chiseling for this job.) at least 3 C-shaped clamps 3: miscellaneous disposable materials from home: a piece of cardboard big enough to cover the lower bout of the guitar. several pieces of scrap wood that are big enough to fit inside the sound hole and at least 1/4 inch thick. a small nail or a thumb tack. I use these to unclog bottles of glue. It happens. Then here's the procedure I'd follow: remove the saddle and the bridge pins. lay a piece of tin foil over the bridge, pushing it down so that there are no gaps underneath the foil use the exacto knife to cut around the outline of the bridge remove the foil, lay it flat on a piece of cardboard cut through the cardboard to match the hole in the foil you don't have to but it's probably wise to tape them together so that they don't slide apart. lay the mask you just created on the top over the bridge get a clothes iron, set it to medium-high and lay it directly on the bridge for a couple of minutes until it starts to get hot. DO NOT use steam. remove the iron every couple of minutes to feel if the bridge is heating up. I'd personally use a meat thermometer to get an accurate temperature but a lot of it is by feel lifting up the mask to see if the finish isn't being damaged. If it is, I'd quit at this point. You can pretty much do the same thing by leaving the guitar inside a car on a hot summer day! 😉 once the bridge feels hot, I'd set the iron aside (but don't turn it off) and get a metal paint scraper and carefully work it under the bridge in a side to side/pivoting motion. DO NOT pry up on the bridge. You're just working to cut the glue which should start breaking down into a gum-like substance. If you feel resistance: STOP, put the mask back on and go back to applying heat. do step 10 several times until the bridge pops off. turn off the iron and let everything cool down. you can fix the bridge with thin CA glue. I'd lay the bridge on a piece of wax paper (like you get at the grocery store) and use thin/watery CA glue that will trickle down into the crack. IMO it's better to not do this while the bridge is on the guitar because CA glue is heat resistant so its bond is more permanent. spray the once the bridge is glued back together, shift attention back to the top and give it a good inspection. With luck the top doesn't have any loose/broken fibers from working the paint scraper. It's not a game breaker, but the area needs as much structure as possible. if the bridge is free of major damage, then use a razor blade as a scraper and remove any remaining glue residue. do the same for the underside of the bridge. You want 100% contact between the two surfaces but this is just the first surface prep phase. lay a piece of 220 grit sandpaper flat on the guitar top in the "shadow" of the bridge. The guitar top has a radius and that needs to be matched on the underside of the saddle. I like to tape it down with masking tape so that it doesn't move in the next step. set the bridge on the sandpaper and with light pressure and making circular motions sand the underside of the bridge when the resulting sawdust turns from white to the same color as the wood of the bridge you're getting close to being done. Stop frequently to wipe the underside of the bridge clean with a rag to ensure that you're removing all of the old glue when that's done remove the sandpaper from the top, put a couple of bridge pins in the E string holes and lay the bridge on the top where it goes. The bridge pins act as position pins. Press down on the bridge, take a piece of paper and see if there are any gaps in what will be the glue joint. If there are, do steps 18-20 again until all the gaps are gone put on a pair of latex/nitrile gloves, dampen a clean white rag of t-shirt material with naptha and clean both the exposed section of the top and the underside of the bridge. It will dry in just a few minutes. spread some Titebond on the underside of the bridge. Don't be stingy with it but don't get sloppy either. Drizzle it on like you're baking a cake. Spread it with your finger so that everything is completely coated with glue. I've been known to glue both the bridge and the top in that area but I'm still figuring out what the proper amount is. I've had a couple of bridges pop off a couple of months later. That's why I give a disclaimer. reinstall the 2 outer bridge pins in the bridge and put it back down just like you did in step 20. The two surfaces will want to slide around at first. This is called "skating" but the bridge pins should keep everything aligned. After that you have about 15 minutes to do the next several steps. take the 3 C-clamps and put pressure on the middle of the bridge and the wings on either side. Like I said, the pins should prevent move of the "skating" but it's a good idea to work slowly and gradually increase the pressure. Since the wings are directly above the X brace it's a good idea to use a couple small pieces of plywood that are about 1/4" thick as cauls so that you don't crush the soundboard with the clamping force. once you've tightened the clamps, look for any glue squeeze out. This is actually a good sign. After a couple of minutes it will start to become like a gel so you can clean it up without just spreading it around more. Use a plastic card of some type - or if you're feeling confident CAREFULLY use a 1/4" chisel and try to avoid scratching the finish. It's a good idea to remove those 2 bridge pins at this point because the clamps are holding things in place. You don't want to install them permanently! Clean any glue off them and set them aside. leave it all sit for at least 12 hours. It will take that long for the glue to fully harden and cure. after that you can pull the clamps and wood blocks and just go ahead and restring the guitar. It should be ready. Like I said, this is what I'd do and I have the carcasses to illustrate my initial failures. OTOH I also have two guitars that I built. Once lasted 13 years after my first failure. The second one is presently getting reglued because I didn't use enough glue and I was fortunate that the bridge popped off all on its own and didn't tear any spruce up in the process. Sometimes I'm a lucky duck. Other times I pay a price with my incompetence and get a good nagging as a result.

That first link is it. I just need to buy a replacement blade. FWIW yes I do have a Dremel but I also need to rout off the maple binding with this: I need to at use this thing I made for the main cut but I need to use the little thing first to score a line so that the bit on this doesn't fling off any more than it's supposed to; it makes a sort of pilot cut.

I’m never using a palm sander on a guitar ever again. I didn’t stay true and sanded through the herringbone purfling. Now I need to go back and do it over. Does anybody know if they sell blades for whatever this thing is called so that I can make a notch so that the router doesn’t tear the top away?

Hello, Roomie! it’s good to hear from you. Como stai? When I first read your review I began humming Orinoco Flow. DM would probably poo poo political talk here, but I’m kinda sad to see you’re not going to be a tree hugger anymore! I’m still huffing the smell of cedar from my first build. It’s musical potpourri. Shoot me a DM here. We will be over there on a cruise this summer. Ciao, amico!

I'm not sure what the difference is. I always thought that way back in the day it regarded pricing and only later became a distinguishment between trim levels and tonewood usage.

OT: Hello, Freeman! I was looking for your old archtop build thread to reference. It's good to see you! How've you been?

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.

Thanks. DM I do have a humidifier attached to my furnace but we’ve got hard water in which calcium builds up so I think the supply line is blocked because it hasn’t been kicking on. I wired it up myself though so it’s probably shorted out too. The way the bridge came off couldn’t have happened any better. There are loose fibers off the top so it would just be a matter of sanding off the glue residue and regluing it down.

Update and confession. I’ve been tweaking the neck angle on this and need to cut the fret slots a little deeper. The action on the low E is very high: close to 1/4” and down by the nut it could also stand to come down a couple of 1/32”. It’s not solely the neck angle but the neck itself. There’s a slight twist and relief issues that only present themselves when the neck is under full tension; the angle is good when the strings are off. The other tipoff is that the intonation is off a couple of ticks. Meanwhile, the day before yesterday I was singing and playing along a bit aggressively (as I am wont to do when the moment strikes me just right) and decided to take a break. That’s when I noticed that there was a little light reflecting in the gloss finish under the bass side wing of the bridge. To confirm this I grabbed a random business card and found that it wasn’t just a visual illusion, the bridge was indeed lifting. With haste I slackened all the strings then pulled the bridge pins. To my surprise the entire bridge came free of the body! Fortunately, no fibers came up off the top. It was simply a glue failure. In fact, it looks like I may have not used enough. I guess that not 100% a bad thing. I’m waiting until spring to address it though. I’m thinking changes in weather conditions might be another culprit.

Nothing new to report other than me playing with the dovetail joint and trying to figure out how to get the neck set properly. I understand the geometry needs but never really appreciated how elegant and simple the dovetail neck joint actually is. With just a little pressure I was able to get a nice tight fit, though I'm struggling to understand where exactly I need to chisel and sand in order to properly set the neck angle.

That's the Enterprise, no bloody A, B, C, or D. I put that kit together when I was 15. I can't bear to throw it away even though it's fallen apart. I'm a second generation pack rat. As for the Kay, it's got one of those adjustable bridges that I hate. This one is going to be more Martin-esque. I'm splitting the billets for bracing myself and making sure that the lap joint on the main X brace is tighter than it was on the 000 build - and still only be 1/4" thick (as opposed to 5/16" if it were a dreadnought. It's going to be about an inch smaller at the lower bout than that too. FWIW I haven't stuck a pick guard on either of my finished builds. I don't want there to be a tan line.

Don’t worry, DM. This one will be fine. There are bound to be visual warts but the structure is good and that’s all that matters.

Lol. Nope. I’ll be keeping the other one alive and watching to see if this wood doesn’t warp over the winter. I don’t dare work it when it’s too dry. I’m just posting this to challenge myself to remember. The tools stand ready.

I know: "but you're not done with build number 3 yet. To that I answer: I don't want to forget the lessons I've learned and repeat the mistakes. I've already completed the molds and bending form and purchased the tone woods. Only a few things are left to purchase such as the fingerboard, the bridge and the tuning machines. The plan is to let them acclimate in my workshop over the winter and begin work in May.

Yup. I'm looking for the 1000 grit pad. The 100 done me wrong.

Ok. The binding and herringbone purfling is in. Note to self: never use the orbital sander on purfling ever again. I sanded through a 3” segment of the herringbone and need to splice some scrap sections in. No pictures. The next step is to set the neck with a dovetail on a machined next it’s just a matter of setting the depth so that the fingerboard doesn’t sit above the upper bout. After that on to the fingerboard.

Thanks. This is actually the first build I’ve done with a ready made neck, but the first two were with laminated necks that weigh a lot and I haven’t figured out how to get a good neck angle. It is fun carving them though, though the maple parts were a pain. This next one is all mahogany which works like butter. I’m weighing on whether I want to do a bird’s beak volute or just an ordinary scarf joint.

I’m BTW I’m hoping that this relatively quick progress builds momentum. In hindsight a big part of that was me making my own shooting board, side bending apparatus, drum sander and binding channel cutting guide. I’ve been collecting materials, acquiring plans and building templates for the next one, keeping an inventory and documenting the process so that the the process goes even more smoothly. The big difference for the next one is that I actually have to build and carve the neck.

Don't worry. I have a Martin style ebony bridge. It goes on after I apply finish, but I'll be using it to make mask before that point. I just don't have a saddle for it yet! I figure I can either order it from Martin or buy a blank from StewMac.

The channels are looking good. The purfling could sit a little lower so I'm going to just deepen the purfling stair step with a file but the bindings and purfling are trimmed to length.

I was .1mm shallow on the binding channels but I went back yesterday did another pass. Now everything is flush. I still have to fine sand everything but at least now I don't have to worry about chipping out curly maple. Now I'm on to mitering the purfling at the end wedge and dry fitting the binding so that I know how short to cut each binding so that there are no gaps. It's anal retentive work and I am no tightass.

I bought prebent herringbone purfling from Stewmac and bent the bindings the other day. The day before yesterday I spent measuring and a good hour carefully routing out the channels. Things came out okay (not a lot of tear out) but I have to give it another pass because I'm .1" off. Such is the way of things.