This a pictorial essay of a build. The guitar will be an all Koa12 fret W body when it's finished. I've got a new video camcorder. I'll try to make a video or 2 also. Click on the images for a bigger view.
Disclaimer: The internet is full of bad information on guitar building. Some people build 1 or 2 guitars(or less), then start posting information, and videos on how to build them. This is my 25th. I'm not pretending to be an expert, and this isn't intended to be a "how to build a guitar" page. It's just the way I do it. Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments.
This is the top, already joined. It's wet with naptha to show the figure
This is the unjoined back. I joint my tops and backs on a power jointer. No fancy pictures there.
This is my state of the art plate joining jig. Feel free to copy it if you'd like LOL. I use Hot Hide glue for all of the joints in the "box".
Unprofiled sides. No explanation needed
Marking the side for profiling. I build a slight (1/4") taper into my bodies to make the feel more comfortable. The bass and treble sides are different.
Here's the profiled, bookmatched sides ready for bending. I bet some of you didn't know that sides are bookmatched.
Here's the side cutoffs. I'll make binding out of them for a future build.
A side in the bender. It takes alot of heat.
1 bent side
Click below for a video of side bending.
Time for some more hide glue. I mix in small batches. Hide glue spoils when it's old. It can be mixed in bigger batches and frozen but I just mix enough for a a week or 2. After is soaks a while it has to be cooked. Hide glue dries hard as glass, and it's super strong too.
To cut the sides the right length I put a piece of tape inside the mold. I mark the waist, and each end. The I stick it on the side and mark the correct length.
I thought I took pictures while I was making the neck and tail block, but I can't find them. The neck block is Mahogany and the tail block is birch plywood. A plywood tail block isn't prone to splitting with a big preamp and cable hanging from it.
I recently starting using cloth side reinforcements. I believe they may help prevent side crack. If a side crack they keep it from spreading. I used to use wood reinforcements, but cloth is lighter and does the same job.
Here's the top, back, neck blank, and Bloodwood binding. Remember, you can click on the picture for a full sized view. Next, the fingerboard.
I've already prepared an Ebony fingerboard blank. I slot it on my table saw with a blade made specially for fret slots. There's a pin to locate the template. The fingerboard is attached to the template with 2 sided tape. I've got templates for several different scale lenght. I made some, and bought some.
Here's the slotted fingerboard. The scale length is 24 5/8" This guitar will be a 12 fret with a slotted headstock. Forgive me for the messy workbench. I didn't know I was going to have company.
Remember to click on the small pictures for a full sized view.
Every guitar is a custom, so I don't have a standard fingerboard taper. I use this jig, with careful measurements to taper fingerboards on my table saw.
I sand the sides to the desired radius before installing the kerfing. I carefully profile my sides before bending so it doesn't take much sanding.
No explanation needed here. I'll sand the sides again to get the kerfing to the correct radius. I use a variety of radii. This guitar has a 15' radius on the back and 65' on the top.
The fingerboard is going to have Ebony binding, with a thinner Bloodwood purfling line inside. No high tech complicated procedure here, but some care is needed to keep from filling the fret slots with glue.
Continued on page 2
Brackett Instruments
Handmade acoustic guitars
Grover NC
