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  #46  
Old 01-31-2018, 10:44 AM
printer2 printer2 is offline
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Time to glue on the neck. Before you do this step recheck the neck angle and bridge height. The frets are in so the straight edge should end up a little above the bridge height.



While the glue is drying let's plug up the hole with some cedar. In case of needing to pull the neck again the cedar would be drilled out and it is soft enough that you shouldn't damage the neck.



Just file away.



A little more.



Glued it in and filed it flat then sanded it.



Mark where the fretboard edges go on the masking tape.



Spaced the bridge equally over the lines.



Double checked the bridge location and then moved the masking tape up against the bridge, I drew a line at the ends of the bridge then scribed with a razor blade on the line and along the edge of the masking tap. Then I used a sharp blade and scraped the finish off where the bridge will go.



So much for my caul to put under the top. I could not get my hand in the hole far enough to place it. I was not happy about plan B but it worked once before. Took some film food wrap and taped it down in the back.



Got my masking tape ready as well as the bottom of the bridge. A grain or two of salt to keep the bridge from sliding around.



Placed the bridge, places some plastic tubing so it but up to the bridge, taped the whole arrangement air tight. Had the other end of the tubing taped to the hose of my vacuum cleaner. Turned it on and the food wrap got sucked tight. Yeah I know it is only a couple of inches pressure but it worked for me with a steel string guitar before, short scale so lower tension though.



Put a piece of wood over the plastic wrap to protect it and added some rods. Not enough to collapse the top, might not be enough pressure with them alone but with the vacuum it should be OK.



And now time to string it up.

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  #47  
Old 02-01-2018, 01:59 AM
Kieran Kieran is offline
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Brilliant project, good work indeed. I'm sure it will inspire many wanna-be builders to have a crack themselves. I applaud you for taking the time and effort to produce this instrument and thread which is essentially not for you but the benefit of others.
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  #48  
Old 02-01-2018, 02:02 AM
Kieran Kieran is offline
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Ps. How does it sound?
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  #49  
Old 02-01-2018, 07:31 AM
redir redir is offline
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Very cool indeed. I would love to see a video or soundlcip too.
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  #50  
Old 02-02-2018, 03:03 PM
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Took some of the burs off the tuners and all but one os working well enough. I have the fretboard radiused and the D and G frets out too easy. I have a saddle that isn't radiused, if I get on the frets to see which are high I could get the thing set up better. Yes it sounds like a guitar. It has a wolfy resonance at C, not a big surprise given the size of it. It does sound more nylon stringed guitar than a ukulele.

I used a Martin size 5 outline and cut took out an inch in the lower bout, think it would be a better guitar with the extra inch. Guys, spend the extra buck and go for a wider board. Otherwise the flat sawn wood does not seem to be a problem. The C resonance is the biggest issue soundwise, wonder what it would be like with a hardwood back. I need to make it a little more playable and then give it to a buddy to hang on his wall. I do have a actual size 5 width guitar built out of a good board that needs to be finished. It should satisfy my need for a little plaything.

So things to take away from this build. I think for a spruce neck it should have a dowel in the heel. I am sure a of a rod of some kind or a piece of hardwood town the center might be a good addition for humidity swings. The resonance on the C could be tamed a little, different back wood and bracing might be in order. Better tuners, but again I built this for a wall.
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  #51  
Old 02-02-2018, 07:31 PM
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You can add some side weight a la Gore/Gillet or shave the back braces in the lower bout to lower the resonant pitch.
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  #52  
Old 02-02-2018, 08:22 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by redir View Post
You can add some side weight a la Gore/Gillet or shave the back braces in the lower bout to lower the resonant pitch.
I was wondering about that. Now if the hole was a little bigger and I could get my hand in it. I am going to give it a few days to get used to the string tension ans see what shakes out. It might even become oval soundhole one of these days.
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  #53  
Old 02-05-2018, 03:43 PM
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I am impressed with the speed of your work.

It looks like a piece you can be pleased with for a long time.

Congrats!
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  #54  
Old 02-05-2018, 08:48 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mary View Post
I am impressed with the speed of your work.

It looks like a piece you can be pleased with for a long time.

Congrats!
It actually turned out not too bad given the few setbacks. I need to swap out the tuners, even with dressing them up they are not even good enough for this guitar. A few frets need attention and then the saddle and nut then I will be closing the book on this one. I thought I would be giving it to a buddy that wants a guitar by me to hang on the wall. He also saw a guitar made of hockey sticks (electric) but I just had a thought. If I got enough broken sticks I bet I could laminate them together and make an acoustic. I just have to get enough sticks. Nah, I could do it but it would take too much time. Mind you it would be an interesting project to do for our Children's Hospital, raffle it off. This is a hockey town it might go for a few bucks. Get it autographed but a bunch of players. Why do I keep thinking up work for myself?

As far as little all spruce guitars I am building, I am back on a Martin size 5 guitar I started about a year ago. I just got the dovetail neck done on it and need to slot the fretboard. What the heck, I have the pictures online so why not. I found this piece of wood in the better pine rack in Home Depot although it does not seem like pine to me. It is not too unusual in that it is well quartered but the grain count is crazy. The one end is three grains per inch. I just had to make a guitar out of it.



Looked like it was enough to do the top, back and sides.



The neck is from a 2" x 6".



This one I can get my hand in the soundhole. No need to though, it is lightly built. And another project in the picture. I just noticed I must have taken this picture with the box sitting on one of the amps I built. The chassis is sticking its nose out reminding me I wanted to rebuild it. I want to try a different circuit configuration.



A better shot of the grain. Bound in maple.



It has a piece of 1/8" aluminum which I think was around 1/2" deep as a truss rod.



A baked Jatoba fretboard, I am going to cheat a little and use a bought bridge. I have too many projects to finish, not doing the bridge will not bother me. Actually I could not find a piece of wood that matches the baked Jatoba and I would have to wait weeks for the wood to regain its moisture content. Mind you by the time I finish building and doing the finish it will be weeks, I'll have to mull that over.
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  #55  
Old 02-10-2018, 11:08 PM
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I managed to get the neck fitting in the dovetail slot. I screwed it up and fought with it back and forth and for a time I thought it would win but in the end everything seems to line up. I have a fretboard and a bridge bank that seems to match each other well enough. I slotted the board and glued it onto the neck.



Started shaping the neck and decided to do a volute on this one.



A couple of hours carving. This baby needs a tan. I have the feeling it might be Engelmann spruce by the white color.

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  #56  
Old 02-11-2018, 03:28 PM
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You asked, "Why do I keep thinking up work for myself?"

It's an addiction, but at least you are thinking up work for yourself and it's not your family saying, "Oh, by the way ..."

I tend to be the one here who comes up with unpopular projects.
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  #57  
Old 02-11-2018, 08:04 PM
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I have a sister a block away who is an artist. At times she needs something done that requires some ingenuity. She had a great big piece of styrofoam that she was going to mosaic bits of mirror that was to look like a mirror ball coming out of a wall. So I have this four foot by four foot styrofoam that needs to be turned into a part sphere. I did not want to cut or grind away, little beads of foam everywhere.

I drilled a hole in some plywood and made a sort of lazy susan with a bolt through a 2" x 6". To hold the foam to it I put some long nails in the plywood and stuck the foam on it. I had some nichrome wire and made a bow out of some conduit, insulated one end, stuck a battery charger on it, made a big foam cutter. Clamped that to the door opening of my garage, lit it up, moved the foam against the hot wire and started spinning it. After a revolution I changed the angle and spun it again. Slowly but surely I carved it into a sphere.



Do not feel like doing any more tonight, maybe read a book. I kind of knew it but doing a rosette after the fact is a little harder. Measure the hole size and cut the diameter part way though then flip it over and cut the diameter just a bit wider so the disc does not go all the way down the hole. Then glue a block to the disc and when dry drill all the way through. Stick the drill bit in the hole and this will be my centering pin for the router jig to rotate around.



Beside the router base is the bit. It stuck out too much, the jig is adjustable and the centering hole being a little to the left or the right would cause the jig to tilt. The drill bit just happened to fit through at a good diameter for the rosette. I got lucky otherwise I would have to grind the drill bit down.



The lower bout area was a little deep for the herringbone so I cut up sections of the purfling and built up the bottom. The wood started to swell as I was putting the purling in the inside and outside of the herringbone. I had to work with a razor blade and small screwdriver to force the purfling in. I hope it turns out alright. Much less stress putting a rosette in before the top is on a guitar. Used fish glue to give me a little more working time, the down side is now I have to wait a day to scrape it flush.





So I went to get a drink from the fridge, 'I wonder how the rosette is doing?' Went down and poked it with my fingernail, it feels hard enough. Gave it a quick scrape, popped on the neck,

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Last edited by printer2; 02-11-2018 at 08:48 PM. Reason: I couldn't help it, it is like baking cookies. Are they done yet?
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  #58  
Old 02-12-2018, 09:09 PM
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Back to the fence material guitar.

So I made a saddle out of Jatoba with the right arc and the middle strings do not buzz anymore so I can hear what this thing sounds like better. The arc reduced the height of the E strings making it easier to play also. But I hardly could get the D string tuned up the tuner just froze and I could not turn it any more without the possibility of breaking it. I did say these were bottom of the barrel tuners, I just did not know what lurked at the bottom before this. I took the tuner apart and lapped the surface that contacts the plate on a cheap diamond stone. I then gave that surface and the other sliding surfaces just a touch of molly lube. The change was night and day. There is a horrid amount of backlash but tuning up is as uneventful as it should be. I then proceed to do the rest of them. Even though it was meant to be a wall hanger I did want it to at least be playable.

So next was the nut. I didn't want to waste a bone nut on it especially if the saddle was not bone, Jatoba to the rescue again. Now the nut was at a tolerable height. Actually other than the low E I don't I would want the strings any lower on a nylon string guitar. I was excited to try it out but I subdued my enthusiasm and decided to take care of the frets. I knew I had one that was a little high, might as well just get it done and out of the way.

Tuned it up and did a couple of exercises up and down the fretboard. Wow, that was fun. It is actually quite playable. Except for the tubbyness centered about the C it did not sound too bad for the size of instrument. And then I did something that I do not do much if the guitar has a live back, I rested it on my, I paid for it I am keeping it, belly. Darn it if the guitar does not sound even up and down the fretboard. You loose some of the engulfing surround sound effect of a live back but the guitar actually sounds listenable. No I would not spend $100 for it but if I wanted a little beater travel guitar I would not be disappointing in it.

Except for the holding it next to my belly. I could loose a few pounds but not all that much. So what do I do with it now? I can't stick my whole hand in the sound hole, I am not sure what I would do to the back to dampen it down anyway. A bunch of oak glued to the back, maybe an oak plate with a bunch of white glue between which might help dampen it down? I am sure the other guitar in the works will nudge this one aside but I still would like to make this the best it could be given what it started from. Although it has exceeded expectations already.


Well it doesn't look like I will be getting that bridge done tonight.
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  #59  
Old 02-13-2018, 08:55 PM
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Default And a quick recording as promised

I did not like the resonance from the back so I took some double sided tape and saw what some mass to the back would do. Dropped the soundhole resonance and it is less present.



Now how am I going to clamp the blocks about where the bridge is? With the length of the rods I have I had the reach to get in. I used a section of oak that was used to transport machinery on a truck.





Stopped in at work and caught one of the guys in the lunchroom. Stuck it in his lap, put my tablet on record and said play something. Not really fair to him but he did not seem to mind too much. I think I will leave it as is, maybe better tuners but I think it sounds fine for what it is also considering it is tuned like a regular guitar.

https://1drv.ms/u/s!Av1OkLMNLzpEizsGeoeB--18jbGF
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Old 03-12-2018, 08:56 AM
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It gets confusing, which thread did I put that other guitar in? The joys of not being able to finish something before starting another. The wide grained spruce guitar has finish on it as well as my 2"x4" guitar. Need to glue on the bridges, do the tuners and frets.



But since the little one is probably going to my brother I started a different one for me. I am getting around Taylor's Class V patent by putting a brace in the center. Kidding, a builder of classical guitars uses an inverted fan brace, thought I would try it. The top is a real guitar top this time.



The back and sides are out of a board from HD . The fence board guitar had too much of a peak from the back resonance so I am trying something different with this one. The back is about 0.15" thick and with some stiff braces. So about as dead a back as I can get. It will be interesting what it will do to the bass response.



Rosette in this one, nothing fancy though. But it would have been better if I tightened enough the wingnut on the circle jig.





Amazing that just small patch would take an hour of time to do. Well if I was to make the mistake on any guitar this would be the one to do it on. Continuing on, the back ready to be glued.

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