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  #16  
Old 12-02-2021, 08:19 PM
selmer selmer is offline
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redir, thx for your reply.
i wanted to get the plans from djangobooks, but, they charged me 80 dollars for posting, and the plans were just 50 bucks.

i would not be happy with a cd set, but i will chase the other plans you recomanded.

i love playing my selmer replica, i love the sound and the action is fantasic.

i seem to remember, you said you had the sides laminated by somebody else, maybe thats what i should do as well, problem is, i would have to cut the venner, myselfe, because i want to use australian sented rosewood dysoxylum fraseranum, for the outside.

i have researched (selmer) guitar building for quite a while, and picked quite a few gems here and there, so i know a selmer replica with solid sides and back is not a selmer...

i would try to use, sented rosewood, poplar (upright grain) and inside mahogony.
i suspect tho soft poplar venner aids to produce a special sound.
this might be to a similar effect as some builders believe the binding (i mean the bended strip inside the guitar, which helps to connect the sides to the top and bottom, should be made out of a soft spongy wood (like poplar).
like this, it will aid as well the sound.
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  #17  
Old 12-03-2021, 07:50 AM
redir redir is offline
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Those are called linings (the inside strips that help glue top and back). There's all kinds of theories on linings. Solid versus kerfed verses reverse kerfed. Triangle shape, tentalones etc... etc...

Solid (laminated) is traditional on a Selmer as was with classical guitars and since Maccaferri was a classical guitarist that is probably why he stuck with that tradition.

I bought my laminated sides from Michael Collins and he provided the linings as well. It was a very convenient service and the price was very reasonable. I don't think however that he does that any more and of course it would cost you a fortune in postal fee.

Bogdanovich wrote a book on classical guitar building and shows how to laminate sides. It's not terribly hard to do but takes special jigs and time. Bending solid sides is probably easier. But basically you make a solid mold of the sides and a clamping caul that is flexible and you clamp up the ply's to the mold to make the sides.

The side wood I used was mahogany and rosewood. The inside of the guitar is mahogany and the outside rosewood. And that was for back and sides. But you can use anything you want. Popular is well suited for the job imo.
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  #18  
Old 12-03-2021, 09:16 AM
nickv6 nickv6 is offline
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It's really interesting that to make one of these is clearly very demanding and requires expertise. And yet, Mr. Maccaferri designed the guitar so that it could be made by ordinary men at the factory, men who had never made guitars. Mr. M is quoted as saying he made the whole thing very simple. But that's clearly not the case. Or his idea of simple was.....!!
Nick
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  #19  
Old 12-03-2021, 01:57 PM
redir redir is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nickv6 View Post
It's really interesting that to make one of these is clearly very demanding and requires expertise. And yet, Mr. Maccaferri designed the guitar so that it could be made by ordinary men at the factory, men who had never made guitars. Mr. M is quoted as saying he made the whole thing very simple. But that's clearly not the case. Or his idea of simple was.....!!
Nick
My understanding of it is that they changed his design a bit probably to make them more easy to build. For example Maccafferi wanted the canted top build into the sides but Selmer just mounted the canted top to flat rims.
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  #20  
Old 12-03-2021, 06:35 PM
surveyor surveyor is offline
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Ok , I've always "lurked" when the discussion came up to bend the top for a "pilage" and this seems to be a sound and reasonable way to go about it. So that said, I might just try it but one thing, didn't the original Macaferris (spelling?) have a "sound box" ? What goes with that? Is there a plan for one of these showing dimensions and how it is attached to the top (or bottom)? Whether it's a good thing or not, I would like to try and build one like that, soon as I finish the archtop and the Weissenborn.
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  #21  
Old 12-04-2021, 06:01 AM
Fathand Fathand is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by surveyor View Post
Ok , didn't the original Macaferris (spelling?) have a "sound box" ? What goes with that? Is there a plan for one of these showing dimensions and how it is attached to the top (or bottom)n.
My understanding is the "baffle" was only used on the earlier D Hole guitars and some think it does not improve the sound.
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  #22  
Old 12-04-2021, 10:21 AM
redir redir is offline
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Check out this article on the resonators. Most of those guitars built with them have had them taken out.

http://www.lutherie.net/resonate.html

Since Maccaferri was a classical guitar guy he probably got this idea from the classical guitar tornavoz which Torres used on many of his guitars.
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  #23  
Old 12-04-2021, 01:57 PM
nickv6 nickv6 is offline
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I've always been led to understand that the internal box worked very well with his classical guitars but not so much with the steel. I believe they used to quickly become a rattle source and so were mostly removed. The d soundhole was absolutely related to the soundbox arrangement.
Nick
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  #24  
Old 12-04-2021, 02:01 PM
nickv6 nickv6 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by redir View Post
My understanding of it is that they changed his design a bit probably to make them more easy to build. For example Maccafferi wanted the canted top build into the sides but Selmer just mounted the canted top to flat rims.
That's really interesting. I've not heard that before. Actually I am kicking myself as I have owned a real Maccy in the past and never thought to look at how the archtop worked. Perhaps having the sides parallel forced an archtop whereas angled sides might have produced an essentially flat top with pliage.?
What do you think?
Maccaferri certainly went for a flatter top when he was involved in those early Japanese ones in the seventies...one of which I owned and it was nothing like an original despite the advertised claims at the time. Great thick wadges of varnish for a start...
Nick
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  #25  
Old 12-05-2021, 06:43 AM
Fathand Fathand is offline
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Default Selmer side length

Does any with a plan or guitar or good replica know the length of wood required for the sides? I am thinking on a project here.
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  #26  
Old 12-05-2021, 09:45 AM
redir redir is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nickv6 View Post
That's really interesting. I've not heard that before. Actually I am kicking myself as I have owned a real Maccy in the past and never thought to look at how the archtop worked. Perhaps having the sides parallel forced an archtop whereas angled sides might have produced an essentially flat top with pliage.?
What do you think?
Maccaferri certainly went for a flatter top when he was involved in those early Japanese ones in the seventies...one of which I owned and it was nothing like an original despite the advertised claims at the time. Great thick wadges of varnish for a start...
Nick
Yeah IDK. I had given it a lot of thought but in the end who knows. IF you cant the sides to accept the top then perhaps the top, not under stress, is more free to vibrate. But then looking at a Larson guitar for example, they purposely put their tops under stress thinking this is better for tone. So in the end it's just one design philosophy over the other. I chose to go with Maccaferii's original intent.
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  #27  
Old 12-05-2021, 09:47 AM
redir redir is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fathand View Post
Does any with a plan or guitar or good replica know the length of wood required for the sides? I am thinking on a project here.
I'll try to remember to measure later but they are not that much bigger than a dred so I'd say if you have 34 inches you are good to go.
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  #28  
Old 12-05-2021, 11:07 AM
nickv6 nickv6 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by redir View Post
Yeah IDK. I had given it a lot of thought but in the end who knows. IF you cant the sides to accept the top then perhaps the top, not under stress, is more free to vibrate. But then looking at a Larson guitar for example, they purposely put their tops under stress thinking this is better for tone. So in the end it's just one design philosophy over the other. I chose to go with Maccaferii's original intent.
I can't see all your pics but did you put the back on last?
Such a sensible idea, I don't know why more aren't buit that way.
Nick
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  #29  
Old 12-05-2021, 04:16 PM
Fathand Fathand is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by redir View Post
I'll try to remember to measure later but they are not that much bigger than a dred so I'd say if you have 34 inches you are good to go.
Well I was hoping for 30" or less but it's not a deal breaker.
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  #30  
Old 12-07-2021, 02:53 PM
redir redir is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fathand View Post
Well I was hoping for 30" or less but it's not a deal breaker.
I measured the long side, top side, with a string wrapped from tip to tip and it came out to 31 inches. Since the heel is wide then you might be able to just glue it to as far as you can on the head block and shim up the rest under the heel which is not visible anyway. But 30in is pushing it and you would have absolutely no room for mistakes in bending length.
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