With some free time, energy, and good weather (it's been raining like mad in Northern California), I went back to my build project.
To learn how to use my Craigslist special bandsaw, I cut a birch side leftover from the ill-fated set I started with together with a rosewood headstock overlay, then joined them with some bw purfling, resulting in this:
I made another with the other halves, and glued it onto my neck:
Then I made a go bar deck with salvaged plywood, bars made from offcuts from some trim I installed a while back, and some hardware:
I'm hoping to join the top and back in the next couple of days, then make a radius dish so I can start bracing them.