Second amateur build

[Neil K Walk]

Skipping ahead a bunch of steps I have something resembling the finished neck. There will still be some final carving once the fretboard has been installed but first I need to finish the body in order to set the neck.







Close up views of the heel to follow. I was not able to bring it to a sharp point, opting for a more semi-oval shape to the heel cap.

[KingCavalier]

Looks great Neil, thanks for posting the pics

[Neil K Walk]

The polar vortex is here and the furnace is running frequently. Woodworking is suspended until either spring comes or Santa brings me an Aprilaire 600. In the meantime, all I can do is play with the pieces:



BTW, the bracing next to the mockup are from Martin's Luthier's connection and are for another project: I'm retopping my old Takamine that had a bridge pull away, de-laminate the plywood soundboard and cracked an X brace.

The rims still don't have either the top or back glued on. I want to put some spruce side braces on first and abut them to the ladder braces on the back. I don't want to make a boat this time so the top will be glued on first so that I can voice it.



The top is borderline on stiffness and I added a secondary X brace to shore up the area but I haven't decided what exactly to do with the bridge plate yet.

[Neil K Walk]

7 months later, I made a couple of backward steps but after a winter of home renovations (still underway) spring has come and the McJam is right around the corner so I am feeling inspired again. Here's a couple of pics of what I've been up to:

I completely renovated a bedroom and moved my youngest into it:





I also tore out the old sink and counter in the powder room downstairs, took out the wallpaper, put on a fresh coat of paint and bought something a little fancier. The toilet was last year's project and I hired somebody to hang a new door. With the new floors I am no longer disgusted by it:



I've also repaired a lot of drywall throughout the house and painted about half the rooms (including a two story foyer which allowed me to overcome my fear of heights) in anticipation of new flooring being put in. Now I'm building wainscoting with recessed MDF backing to be both functional and decorative:





I also got up on the ladder and repainted the walls in our bedroom which has vaulted ceiling. With the new furniture my wife is now happier. The color was a compromise.

[Neil K Walk]

Moving along to the guitar build, I have taken to hijacking the kitchen table. I like to think I'm justified since I've had to repair it several times already. I'm just careful not to scuff the floors.

As for the build I am hoping to make a boat soon. I've also been refining the neck. I felt like I got a little too aggressive with carving the braces on the back so I removed a couple and have some replacements ready to be installed. I have to split another spruce billet to make the other two. The sides only need to have side braces put in. I want to be neat about things and have them match up with the ladder bracing on the back. I'm making the side braces at the waist a little beefier.



Meanwhile, I decided to remove the volute on the neck using my little block plane and whittle away at the transition to the headstock and the heel using a combination of a rounded file and a cabinet scraper.



The headstock is a tad thin already so I'm also planning on putting on a back plate to compliment the headstock face plate. I have two bookmatched sets am am debating on which one to use. I'm leaning toward using the one with the heart wood but the other is also nicely figured. Which do you guys think I should use?

[SnowManSnow]

Let old really pretty may I ask what neck profile you're employing ?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Albert D]

It's sure a great looking guitar so far. My favorite back plate of the 2 is the one with heartwood but I would save that for the face of your next build if it were me. They are both really nice.

I'm on build number 1 right now and flip flopping on a 2nd build. Yours tilts me to the build side.

[charles Tauber]

The light-colored wood is sapwood, not heartwood. I'm not a fan of sapwood in nearly any circumstance, so my choice is easy.

Looks like you are doing a nice job.

[redir]

Looking good. Why remove the volute?

Just goes to show you that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I'm a fan of sapwood strips but I am not at all a fan of neck back straps

Having said that, since there is no sapwood on the top plate I'd personally opt out of it on the back.

[Neil K Walk]

Originally Posted by SnowManSnow

Let old really pretty may I ask what neck profile you're employing ?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I'm trying to emulate my Larrivee's neck profile but the neck is a laminate with maple and I'm not able work it at the same rate as the outer mahogany. It's getting thinner but my first's similar neck is similarly "clunky" feeling. I feel like I'm making progress but won't be able to get there until after mounting the fingerboard - which I'm holding off on until after I have the neck angle set.

[Neil K Walk]

Originally Posted by redir

Looking good. Why remove the volute?

Just goes to show you that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I'm a fan of sapwood strips but I am not at all a fan of neck back straps

Having said that, since there is no sapwood on the top plate I'd personally opt out of it on the back.

I removed the volute because I didn't like it. My first has the volute and it feels clumsy. The neck is laminated because I wanted to use locally acquired woods and frankly, I enjoyed the process. The downside is that it's heavy. On my first guitar the mahogany body was lighter than the neck, causing it to dip.

[Neil K Walk]

Originally Posted by Albert D

It's sure a great looking guitar so far. My favorite back plate of the 2 is the one with heartwood but I would save that for the face of your next build if it were me. They are both really nice.

I'm on build number 1 right now and flip flopping on a 2nd build. Yours tilts me to the build side.

Good point. My next build will be using a Martin neck. The shape of the pattern resembles the shape of the headstock.

[Neil K Walk]

Bump to insert pics of where I've left off:



No, the back is not on. I want to add some side braces and a rosewood patch on the inside of the upper bout in order to add a sound port without splitting the side.

[CabinetMan]

Great looking build Neil. I'll have to follow along with this thread.
See what you mean by you saying getting to the point where you got stalled. LOL

[Neil K Walk]

Originally Posted by CabinetMan

Great looking build Neil. I'll have to follow along with this thread.
See what you mean by you saying getting to the point where you got stalled. LOL

Thanks. I was really tempted to put a thicker set of side braces in the waist and run a carbon fiber through each into the neck block but think it's too ambitious. Meanwhile, I've got similar projects that I'm DIYing. My boys have been hard on the house and I've replaced a LOT of drywall and am in the process of adding recessed panel wainscoting in the common areas:



I just need to find the right pieces for the chair rails.