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I hate you. OK I'll do it.



Forgot a entry, was suppose to be before the tuners.


Enough of a finish to protect the wood. One of the things that I would like is a buffing wheel. Well I guess a palm sander will do for now. Put some cotton on the pad and went to town. I had a small run that I scraped off with a razor blade but it left a rough surface. Part of the reason for getting out the sander. It buffed it out but should not have left it in on the same area for so long. The right upper right is a little yellowed. If you are going to learn that lesson this is the guitar to do it on, may fix it at some point. The neck turned out nice.

I'll try to earn my way back into your good graces

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

It was suggested that I put a dowel down the heel, I won't say who but it is a good idea. I did not consider it before because it required a drill press, well maybe not if you have a good eye and a steady hand.



Looks like it might fit, now drill the rest of the way.



Trimmed the dowel and put a walnut heel cap on to pretty it up.



Filing the fret ends along the neck to get them all flat and next to the wood.



Had one slot that got away on me when I was cutting it. The fret barbs did not want to hold it down.



I use a fretboard guard to protect it from the file even though I ground down the bottom edge. I filed the edge of the fret starting at the base of the fret and as I stroked I rolled the file over to the crown of the fret. I had to do this two strokes per corner of the fret, not very good files. The luthier I got this one just does one swipe and he is done.



Clamped down the fret and wicked some thin CA into the slot.



I used a black marker and drew a line over the tops of all the frets. Then I ran the file over the tops lengthwise. You can see the high spots with no marker on them, keep going till the marker is gone.



Then I use a piece of man made stone that is used for counter tops and some 400 grit and sanded across the frets with the stone lengthwise. Normally the fretboard is taped off so it does not get dirty or marked up but, well this is not that kind of guitar.



I tried one of the cheap radiused crowning files you can buy. It sort of works, sort of. I then went over the frets with a fiber nail board to smooth and round off the crowns. These things are great for building and are cheap.



Took some 400 grit then 600 and then crocus cloth, not sure if it is called that other places. I have some 2000 grit cloth and this stuff seems finer. Really polishes metal up.

Time to glue on the neck. Before you do this step recheck the neck angle and bridge height. The frets are in so the straight edge should end up a little above the bridge height.



While the glue is drying let's plug up the hole with some cedar. In case of needing to pull the neck again the cedar would be drilled out and it is soft enough that you shouldn't damage the neck.



Just file away.



A little more.



Glued it in and filed it flat then sanded it.



Mark where the fretboard edges go on the masking tape.



Spaced the bridge equally over the lines.



Double checked the bridge location and then moved the masking tape up against the bridge, I drew a line at the ends of the bridge then scribed with a razor blade on the line and along the edge of the masking tap. Then I used a sharp blade and scraped the finish off where the bridge will go.



So much for my caul to put under the top. I could not get my hand in the hole far enough to place it. I was not happy about plan B but it worked once before. Took some film food wrap and taped it down in the back.



Got my masking tape ready as well as the bottom of the bridge. A grain or two of salt to keep the bridge from sliding around.



Placed the bridge, places some plastic tubing so it but up to the bridge, taped the whole arrangement air tight. Had the other end of the tubing taped to the hose of my vacuum cleaner. Turned it on and the food wrap got sucked tight. Yeah I know it is only a couple of inches pressure but it worked for me with a steel string guitar before, short scale so lower tension though.



Put a piece of wood over the plastic wrap to protect it and added some rods. Not enough to collapse the top, might not be enough pressure with them alone but with the vacuum it should be OK.



And now time to string it up.

And she is alive!!

Great thread!

You forgot the humbuckers though:(

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If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason. - Jack Handey

I want to hear it!

How’s it sound?

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

Took some of the burs off the tuners and all but one os working well enough. I have the fretboard radiused and the D and G frets out too easy. I have a saddle that isn't radiused, if I get on the frets to see which are high I could get the thing set up better. Yes it sounds like a guitar. It has a wolfy resonance at C, not a big surprise given the size of it. It does sound more nylon stringed guitar than a ukulele.

I used a Martin size 5 outline and cut took out an inch in the lower bout, think it would be a better guitar with the extra inch. Guys, spend the extra buck and go for a wider board. Otherwise the flat sawn wood does not seem to be a problem. The C resonance is the biggest issue soundwise, wonder what it would be like with a hardwood back. I need to make it a little more playable and then give it to a buddy to hang on his wall. I do have a actual size 5 width guitar built out of a good board that needs to be finished. It should satisfy my need for a little plaything.

So things to take away from this build. I think for a spruce neck it should have a dowel in the heel. I am sure a of a rod of some kind or a piece of hardwood town the center might be a good addition for humidity swings. The resonance on the C could be tamed a little, different back wood and bracing might be in order. Better tuners, but again I built this for a wall.

I did not like the resonance from the back so I took some double sided tape and saw what some mass to the back would do. Dropped the soundhole resonance and it is less present.



Now how am I going to clamp the blocks about where the bridge is? With the length of the rods I have I had the reach to get in. I used a section of oak that was used to transport machinery on a truck.





Stopped in at work and caught one of the guys in the lunchroom. Stuck it in his lap, put my tablet on record and said play something. Not really fair to him but he did not seem to mind too much. I think I will leave it as is, maybe better tuners but I think it sounds fine for what it is also considering it is tuned like a regular guitar.

https://1drv.ms/u/s!Av1OkLMNLzpEizsGeoeB--18jbGF

Sounds good for what it is (a fun little guitar). It needs a couple of Hula girls and palm trees painted on it somewhere.

I wonder if I can get my sister to draw one on it? For what it is it actually doesn't sound too bad but what really stood out for some of the people that played it yesterday was how easy it was to play. One person offered to buy it and another who gave up learning how to play because his fingers were too cramped in the steel strings he played now realized that when I offered to make him one with a wider fretboard that it would make a difference with him enjoying playing. He does have a big pair of mits. They first guy I told no he can't have it but I will make him a better one and the second guy I am starting on his tonight. Both I'll just be covering my costs but at least I am getting more experience and I break even. Now my pain doctor that played it and it put a big smile on his face, we will see what comes of him. So it was a lot of work along with the documenting and I won't be doing another like it but I feel it has been a useful stepping stone. I will be doing a few more Martin size 5's with decent wood.