Build Thread: Tahoe Guitars Madi RW/BC Lutz 00-14 - Page 4

OddManOut · #46 02-26-2015, 07:39 AM

I just received a load of pics from Larry. There will be several posts.

In this sequence Larry is setting the neck. The angles are dialed in via very fine sanding of the cheeks on the heel. These angles will be double checked at later stages of the build.

"Flossing" the cheeks with sandpaper

Lateral adjustment

OddManOut · #47 02-26-2015, 08:03 AM

Here Larry is installing the truss rod.

The fretboard position is set

Now the truss rod, with the mahogany glue shield attached, is glued into place. Larry is using a gasket maker along with white instrument glue. I've asked Larry for an explanation. Will post when I receive it.
Larry Replies: "The red is silicone rubber to bed the end blocks and pad the middle of the rod. Insurance against truss rod rattle. The white is to anchor the wood liner to the top of the slot."

OddManOut · #48 02-26-2015, 08:19 AM

In this sequence Larry is squaring and leveling the fretboard binding and the neck surface prior to gluing the two together.

The top edges of the binding are taken down

The binding edge is checked for square and the FB marked

Now the neck surface is leveled

And voila! The fretboard and neck are flush

OddManOut · #49 02-26-2015, 08:30 AM

Now Larry attaches the fretboard to the neck. He also attaches the headplate.

The nails ensure correct positioning. Then a spot of glue and a few feet of rubberband.

The headplate is positioned and glued. A nut blank is used for proper positioning.

OddManOut · #50 03-02-2015, 10:59 PM

Here Larry is installing the tail graft and finishing routing the binding channels.

The tail graft is a straight piece of binding offset with some BWB purfling.

The slot is routed.

The binding strip, some purfling and glue

Cleaning her up...

Here the fur from the top edge of purfle channel is being cleaned up

The dual-level channel for the top purfle and binding.

The back is routed for binding.

OddManOut · #51 03-02-2015, 11:12 PM

Now the binding and top purfling are glued into the slots.

First things first...protect the guitar from rabid luthiers with implements of destruction.

Yellow paper to protect the surface

Plus some blue tape

And a bit more blue tape

Oh, holy blue tape

Binding a herringbone purfling, with binding tape and glue (see it in the background?)

Here is a test fit with some dummy binding and purfling, with Larry demoing the real thing next to it. Note the difference in the herringbone patterns.

The ends are set in position with clamps

Binding tape is deployed

OddManOut · #52 03-02-2015, 11:28 PM

Now many feet of industrial grade rubberbands are put at the ready

A few s-hooks for good measure

A bead of glue is laid down in the channels

The binding and purfling are placed and fixed with tape

Then the guitar body takes on a gang of rubberbands and s-hooks...and loses

The body binding and purfling are glued up, ready for sanding...

OddManOut · #53 03-05-2015, 11:04 PM

Larry is now carving the neck and head. There are several posts.

First, Larry brings the head near its final shape. The top edge will be trimmed down a bit more.

OddManOut · #54 03-05-2015, 11:10 PM

Larry now shapes the volute and heel.

First the full width volute

Now for the heel...

OddManOut · #55 03-06-2015, 06:38 AM

Larry then brings the center of the neck into rough profile. The neck will be honed to the final profile in the near future.

The Dragon Rasp...that will remove some serious wood. For skilled hands only...

OddManOut · #56 03-06-2015, 06:43 AM

Just a couple of pics of the guitar thus far. She's comin' together!

OddManOut · #57 03-07-2015, 12:53 PM

Larry does the fine shaping on the neck profile and hones the bottom and top of the head. Larry interpolated the profile from the 12-fret neck on my guitar "Curly" (see my sig), a C profile based on a Larrivee neck. There's not a lot of visual change since this is pretty fine sanding.

I will be visiting Larry tomorrow morning to wrap my hands around the neck for a final check.

Here Larry used a flat line to ensure the corners of the rounding top line are square, and the apex is at the midpoint.

Marcus Wong · #58 03-08-2015, 04:42 AM

It's amazing how luthiers can hand carve necks, bridges etc. so precisely! While I can't even cut a cake in equal slices...

Looking gorgeous by the way. You're one lucky fella as you get to be physically there during the process. Makes it that tad bit more personal and refined.

OddManOut · #59 03-08-2015, 05:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marcus Wong

It's amazing how luthiers can hand carve necks, bridges etc. so precisely! While I can't even cut a cake in equal slices...

Agreed...both on luthier's skill and on the slicing of cake (and that's how the cookie crumbles).

Quote:

Looking gorgeous by the way. You're one lucky fella as you get to be physically there during the process. Makes it that tad bit more personal and refined.

Thanks much! Yes, I feel very fortunate to be given the opportunity to have these experiences. It does make the process much more personal. Many, many thanks to Larry for his kindness and generosity! He really has a heart of gold.

A few more pics and a video...

An interesting day today. I went to Larry's to give him some feedback on the neck profile. The neck was feeling a bit on the large side. The depth and width were very close to the specs on the model neck being used. The curvature above and below the center line were a bit larger than the model, so Larry concentrated his efforts there. He also worked on the hollowing the heel a bit more.

I also got to choose the pearl logo, the bridge pins and decide on a heel cap.

The neck after which the current neck profile is being modeled.

For the heel cap, we dug up the bookmatched offcut from the back. A great match if I do say so...

A brief video of Larry shaping the neck, plus assorted silliness. To clarify what I did not articulate well in the video, the material being removed from the neck is visually subtle, but significant to the feel of the neck in the hand. Also, this is the 2nd neck taken from the maple neck in the video, the first being my 12-fret dread.

OddManOut · #60 03-08-2015, 05:53 PM

A choosy guitarist choosing a pearl logo...

Two generations of the Tahoe logo. The one on top is the one I chose, and is the latest version. The lower logo is the older version. Both nice, the top one being a little finer. I chose it to have something a bit different.