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Thanks John! Glad you like it. I'm really surprised by the bass. I haven't given it to her yet, gonna wait till the strings have fully stretched and then compensate the saddle fully. Maybe even a little on the nut, not sure yet. Then I'm going to buff it free of fingerprints, put it in its case, wrap that in purple, tie it up in a bow with black satin ribbon (I remember being a kid and expecting presents to look like they do in cartoons), and catch the train over to theirs with it in cardboard box and a binbag. Probably next Tuesday - Friday, not sure.

Also got to polish the frets a bit, the bass strings are a little scratchy during bending. And round the corners of the frets off a bit more, though they're already feeling smooth with no jagged bits sticking out. Also got to fiddle with he action a bit. I've got plenty of room for that. I'll do it before compensating the saddle. I wonder how low I can go without buzzing.

I've got to work out what to do about the strap, too. I'll definitely put a strap pin on the tail end of the guitar, but I'm in two mind about putting one on the heel. Got to think it through. I may just attach the strap to the headstock. The only place it can really go on the heel is "behind" it, as it were, in the modern style... But I'm not sure the guitar, the pin, and the strap will go into the case in that position. it would be a pain to have to remove the strap every time it goes in the case.

Just posting pics and the sample here again so people don't have to go back to the previous page...

Much better sound clip: http://picosong.com/eKRE/

For the top strap, I use a black or brown shoe string and tie the strap to the head stock right behind the nut under the stings on their way up to the tuners.

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Nick,
Well done.
Patrick

Cheers John, I think I'll do it that way.
Thanks Patrick! For the compliments and for the support after "the great deluge"!

Main air resonance seems to be 1hz off D# - exactly what the first and sixth strings are tuned to. Hmmm... Open 6th certainly isn't wolfy, it sounds good. The 1st string though is not exactly as it good as it could be so I wonder... I'll have to record something else for people to hear.

I can't believe the main air resonance changed by only about 1hz post bridge-gluing and finishing!

Other than that, I don't really know what to look for and where on the response curve. Any help would be most welcome!

(In other news: The G string is definitely at least a bit dead and dull, I may have to put a wound one on instead. Oh, and the plan for a live back doesn't seem to have worked, I don't think it's contributing much. Why didn't I scallop the third back bracebrace!?!?!? )

Just for fun, here's a size comparison...



Rosie's, Baby Taylor, "Royle 00"
(And 8 year old played it yesterday and it seemed fine for her, and I couldn't have made it any smaller... so I think I've got the balance about right! Could do 4 years as a guitar before becoming a uke.)

Nicely done, Nick! That is a very special gift, and you should be very proud of your work.
As you know now, wood doesn't like water very much. Next time, mix the aniline dye with alcohol, and you'll get much better results!

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

Thanks Alex! Nice of you to say!

And yeah, I won't be giving any of my future guitars a wash down with water!
Can't believe I was so stupid.

I've had hours more to think about it and I still can't really make head nor tail of that frequency response curve. I've not got time to do chladni patterns! I don't think. Maybe I should.

Made a bit of progress with the response curve I think.

157 hz is Main Air Resonance
290 hz is the Top (?)
400hz is the Back and it barely exists! Back bracing definitely too stiff!!!

I don't think I'll know what the others are without doing chladni patterns.

This is me tapping the back without dampening the top. You can see the top and the back quite clearly.



I think it's behaving a bit like a lattice braced guitar due to the thin top. I.e. Suppression of the higher orders.

I also think the bridge is too wide for the top. It'd be worth altering the bracing to enable a narrower bridge if I were to build it again.

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Anyway, I've got a few more days before I give it to her so I'm ordering some low tension strings and a wound G. I can save over 5kg of tension and hopefully sort out the dull G string!

Much better sound clip: http://picosong.com/eKRE/

I bought a set of light tension strings with rectified nylon trebles, an even lighter D string, and a wound G string. The dull G is no more!

I've also tuned it up to F# - F#

Would love to hear any thoughts! I think the trebles are drastically better...

(still hard for me to play!)

Thanks for sharing. Good and bad all the knowledge is good to share with everyone.

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美智え

Don't ask about the delay, but Rosie finally has her guitar!

Here it is wrapped up....


and ready for the train journey....


Here's the card I put in the case compartment...


Here's a pic of it next to her old [toy] guitar...






She was really excited! Really enjoyed unwrapping it! Got some nice photos. She said it was like pass the parcel! Just what I was aiming for! She was a little nervous once it was out of the case. Her parents had explained to her before I got there that it is very special and has to be looked after carefully. Her dad thinks she was a bit surprised at how... "real" it is. He thinks she was expecting something a little more toy like. (I like to talk up to kids, so I figured I could make a guitar that would appeal to her but that also wasn't garish in a childish way.) I think she'll be able to enjoy it a lot more tomorrow and onwards. Being extra careful with it is better than swinging it around!

Stayed for a couple of drinks with her parents when she went to bed and we all said how nice it would be if it lasts to become a uke (for those who haven't followed the thread, the bridge is predrilled to be strung as a 4 and 6 string uke, so it can live on even when her fingers outgrow the narrow 6 string guitar spacing.) If it gets that far without catastrophe, it could last for a very long time.

So glad she finally has it!

Nice Nick, really really nice! You have something that we all need. Talent guided by heart.

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

I'll resist the temptation to dispute the talent part and gladly accept the lovely comment! Cheers, mate!

Wonderful, Nick.

I need to come to this section of the forum more often.
Sorry to have missed this build from the start.
Nick, it looks fantastic.
What does Rosie think of her guitar?

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We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at guitars.

Hey, Nick,

I'm glad to see this whole project come to fruition. You did an excellent job. Good on ya'!

Patrick

Thanks for the compliments, Patrick and Joe! And, belatedly, to Johnny!

I'm really pleased with it. I learned a lot along the way and, most importantly, managed to avoid dashing the hopes and dreams of a little girl! I must say there was a little extra pressure (quite a lot actually) knowing that I'd promised her a guitar, a purple one at that! Thankfully, I made it just the right size. It wouldn't make a radical difference but maybe I'd go for a 36mm nut rather than 38mm, her hands are tiny. But then if I'd have done that, I'd never have been able to record a sample! And she wouldn't have had the enjoyment of her uncle being able to play it last month when she took her guitar to a big family gathering and it became, according to her dad, the star of the show! She has proudly shown her guitar to just about everyone she knows and I've managed to get over there a couple of times for "lessons". I haven't seen the guitar for a few weeks now though (and I've been planning others), so I'm looking forward to seeing it with fresh eyes.

She's absolutely beaming in the photos of her unwrapping it and playing it and she gives her mum and dad performances with it most every night. She seems to have developed a pretty advanced sense of careful ownership, too. SHE tells her mum and dad to be careful with it! And whenever she shows it to another child, she explains to them that they have to be very careful with it (I have to mention her incredible patience while it was being built, too! She must assume this is how everyone gets their first guitar! ). Still, I'm glad it has a good hard case. Total fluke that it turned out to be baritone ukulele sized! (Though I did have to strip the padding and re-line the case with faux fur so it would fit properly.)



Yeah, this part of the forum seems to get overlooked. I've thought a few times I should post a thread in the main forum suggesting people bookmark the "Active Topics" page (http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/search.php?search_id=active_topics). Just didn't want to seem like I was instructing people on how to use the forum!

Peace to all!
Nick



Here https://www.dropbox.com/s/d7okbxhvcrzw2d2/Rosie%27s%20book%20080614_opt4.pdf is a pdf of the book I'm putting together for her. It's basically a book version of this thread. That one is quite an old draft now, I've made lots of changes since. Still need to design a good front cover. I was going to get it printed ASAP but I'm waiting till I go round there again to get a decent photo of her with the guitar for the last page, rather than the iPhone ones her dad sends me.

Sweet!
Purple is what every girl and boy wants!
I made a purple Explorer for myself and a purple Flying V for my daughter.
Great looking guitar!

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Wah-wah-wah-wah
Wah

Cheers, dude! She and her best friend both love purple, so I knew before I even asked her what she'd want! The dye was never going to produce the colour I wanted. Should have gone for the nitro to begin with. Anyway, all's well that ends well!

Bet your girl loved having a littler, funkier version of her dad's guitar! Out of interest, what scale length/nut width did you go with and how old was she? Actually, it would be good to start a thread for everyone who has built children's guitars to share their experience with others.