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I had started building a dreadnaught guitar a few years back, there's a build thread here somewhere, I don't even want to look at it. I messed up 2 tops and 2 backs and after finally getting them right, I messed up the sides. Then I decided to go ahead and finish it anyway using a wb product. I finally threw my hands up in disgust and found myself taking up my shop with HO trains.

Here's how it went. The first top I messed up trying to hand-plane it. I thought I was pretty good with a plane but guitar grad spruce just tore up so I guess I didn't have it down as well as I thought. So I bought a thickness sander and the next top came out beautiful.

The sides I thought were good so on to the backs. The first back, I managed to crack in a few places so I took it off and made another. I tried installing the back strap after the back was glued on to the sides, why, I have no idea. I ended up putting a wider piece of wood in to fix my router mess ups. Good enough. I moved on to assembling the top.

I then started sanding the sides which were way out of square and I managed to sand right through to a brace. Rather than burn it, I decided to try WB EM6000 again. This turned out to be another reason to burn the guitar.

The only part that came out pretty good is the neck. I'll install that on my next body attempt. I started that a year ago before tiring of building and wanting to do something else. I rebuilt some parts of my bench, made a saw sharpening vise and started playing with radial arm saws, they are gone now. Here I am, thinking of getting back to work on my guitar. I'm 5 months away from retirement so I'll finally have time to get a bunch of things done in a day and not forget where I left off. At least that is my hope.

Here we go again, howdy folks.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

I started my cello 10 years ago and just finished it. 2 backs. Spilt sides. I'm retired now, but still work fast in clumps of time, and not in long stretches.

Trains? I had tropical fish. I have oil paints to try. I still like the idea of making instruments. I started figuring out the entire bore of a clarinet using Benades book. All the bore perturbs and everything. It was all figured out. I had trouble making a smooth hole! Then went to violins. Guitars are a whole different thing. I'm not used to the super smooth finish thing. My eyes see the big picture, but details elude me. But I get better.

Go for it. We are here to cheer you on, and help if needed.

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Why be normal?

Richard, are you following a book? This can help with keeping the process in a logical order.

No book, just the internet. I don't know why. When I built mandolins, I followed Siminoffs book and I made 3 that came out pretty good. I guess I figured a guitar was going to be a breeze after that.

I have Stewmacs dreadnaught plan and that's all. I think it's enough and having gone through the entire process once and messing up enough times. I feel my next one will be a player at least. I learned an awful lot from that. I may take that first one apart some day and make a small body guitar out of it so as not to waste all that rosewood.

That said, do you still think I need a book, if so, which one?

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

Thanks, I need some cheering on!!!

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

A good book (there’s at least four good guides to building that I’m aware of) really cuts down on the “unforced errors” on your first build or two.

Guitars are deceptively complex objects and while most mistakes are fixable, there are still one or two steps where you can make an instrument-ruining error.

There is also the critical issue of instrument geometry, which needs to be considered as part of the process from the earliest stages if the axe is to turn out nicely playable.

Having a “known to work” process to follow is necessary- you can develop your own process but probably not until you’ve built several guitars and thought pretty deeply about it.

Based on your description of what went wrong first time around, I’d strongly recommend closely following the process in a book as it would likely have prevented the issues you encountered.

I repair guitars for a living and see lots of first guitar projects that otherwise skilled woodworkers have put together by looking at a plan alone. They look good but generally can’t be set up to play properly and it’s usually an issue of geometry that cannot be affordably solved so the guitar is junked and it’s back to the drawing board.

The books I know to be good guides are:

Contemporary Acoustic Guitar Design and Build - Gerard Gilet and Trevor Gore

Build Your Own Acoustic Guitar - Jonathan Kinkade

Guitarmaking: Tradition and Technology - W Cumpiano & J Natelson

Building The Steel String Acoustic Guitar - RM Mottola

Great instruments can be built by closely following any of these texts. I’m

You do have our sympathy but Josh is right. Follow a practised methodology and it will lead to good results. The internet is full of really bad info.

Josh leads with Gore and Gilet and this the best book available at the current time.

But don't stop building. It is still the most fascinating excercise!

Cheers Dave

Hang in there brother!

My suggestion will probably be booed by some, but…. Depending on the type of student you are, I would not start with a book at all, but with Robbie O’Brien’s acoustic guitar video course. For me that was money well spent and provided a level of success that encouraged me to move on to #2.

Technically I built a StewMac soprano uke kit first to get some of the basics down.


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The suggestions to follow classic books or a good video course like Robbie's are good advice. Whichever route you think would work better for you, either one is likely to help.

Like you, I don't like building in fits and starts. I think it increases the risk of mistakes, at least for me. I bet things will work better when you can get to do longer and more regular sessions in the shop.

On my first guitar, I did the classic move of measuring twice and cutting wrong anyway when I cut the sides for length. I then did the classic move of making it a feature by installing a wide tail block and a wide end graft which ended up looking intentional.

On my second guitar, I did something like what you mentioned on yours and sanded through the side into the lining. Many bad words were said but the guitar came out pretty decent in the end.

Stick with it and you will build a nice instrument sooner than you may think.

If you decide you want to give EM6000 another go, I could send you the finish schedule I used to put it on twelve guitars with good results.

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

Hey Sarge welcome back my friend.

Excellent resources already listed above - I think I've read all of them, lol.

I'll add another resource that helped me in the beginning - StewMac has their dreadnought kit instructions available online for free.

https://www.stewmac.com/video-and-ideas ... tructions/

It's for a kit, but another look at the process & steps.

I've always found more information is better. However, whatever resource you decide to use/follow, stick with it through the whole build.

FWIW I just finished up 3 OM-45 guitars. Two of them needed to be retopped. In all fairness one was retopped b/c the client didn't like the look of it (he paid me well to do it) the other was b/c I screwed up. This is my 70th guitar so you'd think I would have it down by now but nope. Routers sometimes slip, chisels slip, something seems to always happen.

I think the suggestion to follow a book is a good one. Can't go wrong with the Cumpiano and Natleson one, with the updated neck joint, imho.

What Brad said. Robbie Obriens course is great for a beginner.

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The Cumpiano book is where I started. My friend, Charlie Moore was an apprentice of Cumpiano’s - guess who gave me the book. The Cumpiano book gives you just enough, step by step information to be successful. From there I’d go with the Gore books - be prepared for brain overload!

M

I built my first guitar with the Cumpiano/Natelson book as my guide, including the pinned neck joint. The only thing I did differently from the book was buy a truss rod instead of making one. The guitar is no beauty, but it plays and sounds good 25 years later. I do many things differently now, but I still feel that the Cumpiano/Natelson book is a great way to build a first guitar, if you are going to use a book.

I have purchased/watched most of Robbie O’Brien’s guitar making videos, and for those who would benefit from videos over books, I think they are wonderful. Well worth the money.

Gore/Gilet is superb for getting better, once you have built a few. I hesitate to recommend it for a first guitar.

Much praise for Cumpiano. I encourage caution. Cumpiano sends the unsuspecting on quests to learn techniques that were out of date before our parents were born, and an unsuspecting beginner won't know what to ignore.

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Peter Havriluk

I completely agree! I’d hope that folks are able to embrace a different reality - it’s still a good starting point for the beginner.

If it's any consolation, I'm just pore filling after my 3rd attempt at binding and purfling my current build.
Router slip first requiring wider purflings, then burnt a set of flamed maple bindings, then slipped a binding end leaving with poor clamping, damaged a binding testing a new router jig (duh!) so complete replacement again, now hopefully nothing else!

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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.

The pinned neck joint might be considered 'out of date' but it's still a fine joint. I don't know what else would be considered out of date in that method of building though? Most classical guitar builders today still build on open 'solera' work boards. Even steel string makers. Froggy Bottom and Bruce Sexauer to name two at the top of the class. The first book I used was Sloane's which is way more elementary than the C/N books but is actually still pretty good for a first time builder, especially one who only plans on building one guitar. He doesn't use a lot of specialty tools. After building a few I build molds for my guitar models and quickly went back to building on an open work board. There's just something about that style of building that I like and now after 20 years or more I'll probably not change. Using the cork shim as outlined in C/N is a bit 'hobbyist.' One should build a proper solera if they choose to stick with that method. But it still works none the less.

Great posts here but, I'm not sure I want to follow 1 persons method from one end of the guitar to the other. I nailed the majority of it by following the plan and I liked some of the methods I used. I now know the importance of getting the sides right before moving ahead. I know how to do that now. Adding the back strip is still up in the air whether to build it in or add it after the back is joined using a router. Building a binding jig is high on my list, I always mess that up some. I don't think I need much more to complete a guitar.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

I'm definitely interested in your EM6000 schedule. I want it to work, I like spraying in my basement with no worries about fires and other hazards.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

I got this just now. Cant hurt to have at least 1 book.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

The challenge with that book is they intersperse building a classical with a steel string. It probably wouldn't hurt to go through the book and highlight one or the other so it is more readily searchable.

Also, keep in mind that the book was written before radius dishes so that is another series of procedures that you might want to replace.

I only have one radius dish, 18' radius I think. I don't like using it, plus I am reluctant to a 40' for the top. I just shaped the radius on the braces before installing them. My hope is the braces would put the curve in the top when glued in. I still might buy a 40' when I get there.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

I think that there's no upside to building truss rods ala Cumpiano, or pinning necks on, either.

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Peter Havriluk