Official Luthiers Forum!

Hey new guys thinking about building a guitar.

We know you are out there lurking and reading. Come on in!

Now is the time to get going.
Look at your plans and decide what to build.
Order your kit/wood.
Figure out where you will work.
Look over your tools and will you need anything?

Get ready for heating season to dry out your work area.
Your prime building season is starting soon and will run through winter's heating season.

And.. Come on in and ask us your questions... All of us started from the same place you are at. Everybody has to start by building your first.

My goal is to finish my second build in the next couple of months. I’m nearly ready to close the box.

On the back burner are several repairs...

First, I wanted to re top my old college beater. Second, I have an old Epiphone 12 string that has a bad neck angle due to a loose neck block. Lastly, I have plans to build a Martin 00 after I complete #2. This one will be closer to being a kit though.

Great thread, John. It's always good to see what members are up to, even those just starting out.

_________________
George :-)

Neil,

Sounds like you are having a ton of fun with this whole guitar building hobby.

I got into it retopping a beater that I couldn't get the local guitar repair guys to work on.. Something about bottomless pits and $1,300 worth of work to turn a wreck into a $45 guitar.. Whats the problem? . The rest is history...

I completed my last guitar about 2 years ago and planning on getting back to the hobby this fall. Been stocking up on tools I wanted to buy and have all my materials in order to build a couple 000 12 frets off the Stewmac plans, 1 mahogany and 1 rosewood. Can't wait to get started!

I know the feeling... I had an almost 6 year gap between completed guitars.. My kids are now 6... I will let you do the math there...

But getting back into building last year was fantastic!

I've been in only a year....... kicking around the "I love doing this, but can I afford to get serious about it" question as it pertains to both time and financial investment.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

That really is a good observation. I think its worth considering... There's "hobby builder" and then there is "professional/day job".... If you already have a day job - you don't need to tool up like Taylor or Martin.....

Since its a hobby... Do it on your terms... Don't let it rule you or demand how you are going to spend your time or money.... Let it be your fun and relaxation at the end of the day... Its Ok to buy a little here and there if you want to... Its perfectly OK to "Make do" with something till you prove the actual need...

On the expense of components.... Figure out ways to have fun on the cheap... Steal necks and fretboards off junkers.. Use A grade wood instead of AAAA/master... An A grade top runs ~$10.. An AAAA top can run $200+.... Buy stuff out of the classifieds here to save some cash.. Etc...

I built the first guitar body about 4 years ago after ruining the first one, made the first neck and didn't notice the plans called for it to be thicker on the end near the guitar so now I get to start a new neck. Maybe I need to work on it again after a couple of night stands.

" made the first neck and didn't notice the plans called for it to be thicker on the end near the guitar so now I get to start a new neck."

How thick is the neck you made?
Some makers make necks that are close to the same thickness the whole way through. Possibly you could taper the neck a little and make up the difference with a thicker fingerboard.

Today I took the plunge into my first experience with hot hide glue. I glued the bridge on my Serial #1.

It’s a plain-Jane, mahogany/Sitka OM built to the OLF plans. The only part I think I really botched up so far is the binding & purfling. I need a lot more practice on that. I think I managed to patch it up well enough that I won’t have to hide it in a closet but it’s not great. But ... I haven’t had strings on it yet so who knows what still may happen. [FLUSHED FACE]

I used a bridge clamping caul that was shown to me by my guitar teacher who is also a builder. His was mahogany but mine is cheap 1/4” plywood. Doesn’t seem to have affected it’s function. It’s very simple and seems to have worked great. The PW has a bit of flex and there are pads glued to the corners of the caul to press the wings down when you crank down the wing it’s until glue squeezes out from the center. I stuck a little wedge under the caul at the back where the bridge is thinner. I think my teacher’s caul was shaped to contact the whole bridge better. That caul and the one inside are covered with plastic packing tape to prevent sticking. A little wax on the screw threads. Used a heat gun to warm the bridge and a light bulb on the guitar top. Followed Hesh’s great advice to lightly scrape a fresh surface before gluing. (That guy - and you all here - have a lot of good advice for we newbies. Many thanks!)










Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I like the color of the top. Very warm. Is that the natural color with clear finish or did you tint the finish? The rosette looks interesting, do you have a photo of it? It'll be good to see it when it's finished.

_________________
Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right - Robert Hunter

That’s a clear finish. The only tint is from a couple coats of garnet shellac (french polish). The top is from a nice guy on this forum - Alan Edie. (Thanks Alan!)

The rosette is not too fancy. Just a ring of elm burl veneer that I’ve had hanging around for a bunch of years. Plus a couple rings of BWB purfling.



Thanks very much for the kind words!



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

"I think my teacher’s caul was shaped to contact the whole bridge better."

One way to make a good fitting caul is to lay a piece of plastic wrap over the bridge, lay on some bondo and press the caul into the bondo in place over the bridge. When the bondo hardens you will have a caul that conforms to the bridge with a wooden backing strong enough to clamp against.
Make sure you don't forget the plastic wrap!

Thermoplastic pellets also work with this technique, and can be reformed for every bridge if you don't use the same shape every time.

Thanks guys. I'll give that a try for the next one. This morning I went out to the shop to remove the clamp and ... gulp ... the inside caul and the 2 bolts are stuck. I can unscrew the bolts slowly so they're not glued in, just kind of tight. But I don't know about the caul. It doesn't want to move. Maybe after I get the bolts out I can rock it a bit and it'll break loose. Gotta go out now for a while but I'll get back to it later this morning. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Everywhere the glue gets (Yoda).
Parcel tape is a friend for cauls, glue doesn't seem to stick to it. A light wax on the bolts and the nuts would help.

_________________
The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

I used to do the bolt through method, too. It works pretty well, but the problem of the glue going down the two holes (particularly with hide glue, which can run faster than Titebond) is something to wrestle with.

I have moved to a different method: No holes that go through the top (yet). Just starter holes in the bridge for each pin, but not all the way through the thickness of the bridge. Three cam clamps are applied: One in the middle of the bridge, and one on each wing. I feel like this applies the pressure where it needs to be applied, and in a variable enough way (three different cams) that adequate wood to wood contact is not an issue.

I used the parcel tape and wax on the bolts but I wonder if the glue ran right down inside the holes, creating a bridge (pun intended) between the top wood and the inside caul wood. Maybe next time I'll make a UHMW caul or switch to the clamping method.

Yikes!

One thing that can work is to fill a ziploc baggie with super hot water and put it on your caul. Let the heat soak into the caul - then gently work a spatula between the caul and bridge plate to pop it off...

Turned out to be not bad. Nothing really glued in. Just the bolt holes were too tight and with a little goop in the threads they wouldn’t come out. After about 20 minutes tediously backing the bolts out from the inside the caul just popped out.

I didn’t manage to wipe up all of the squeeze out so I have a little cleanup to do. It looks like a sort of fat fillet around the edges of the bridge. I might just leave it alone because I’m wary of water seeping under the edge.

Now, on to truing the fretboard, fretting, and setup. For this part I feel confident, having taken the class with Hesh and David and practiced on a few beaters.

Oh yeah... I have to route the saddle slot. I made a copy of the Stew Mac jig for that. Another 1st time pucker operation for me.

I can’t wait to get strings on this thing. Kind of late in life I guess I’m learning patience.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk