StewMac OM kit - Finished!

[Neil K Walk]

Looking good. When do you start the next?

[srick]

Originally Posted by Neil K Walk

Looking good. When do you start the next?

I did have an unexpected revelation tonight - I won’t know how its going to sound until the very end of the build and finish!

[Fathand]

Originally Posted by srick

I did have an unexpected revelation tonight - I won’t know how its going to sound until the very end of the build and finish!

On my first build, I determined the bridge position by temporarily attaching a trapeze tailpiece and "floating" the bridge until intonation was correct. As such, I was able to hear the guitar before finishing.

Chances are good you will like the sound.

[fardept]

That's a great idea.

[srick]

Originally Posted by fardept

That's a great idea.

Agree! That is a good idea. Of course the nitpickers will give you a hundred reasons why it doesn’t work. Bottom line, it worked for you.

[fardept]

Your build looks great. I'm following this thread closely, about to close the box on a 000 12 fret deep body kit I got from Blues Creek Guitars, my first. So many questions..

[srick]

Originally Posted by fardept

Your build looks great. I'm following this thread closely, about to close the box on a 000 12 fret deep body kit I got from Blues Creek Guitars, my first. So many questions..

Thanks, Far! I wonder how it will sound?

I may go with them (Blues Creek) for #2. (Hah! Already thinking ahead) John Hall is very supportive and from what I can tell, very giving when it comes to backing their products.

This has been far more of a learning experience than I had anticipated. Spruce can be funny to work with, depending on its grain, similarly, the rosewood back and sides. And of course, it has highlighted that my tools are never quite sharp enough.

The internet has been a blessing and a curse. There is so much supplemental information out there: but honestly, when push comes to shove, you have to dive in the water and get the job done. Plus, so many videos take ten minutes to describe a technique that only warrants two.

And I’ll add that when I took off the clamps and the interior mold, the box was square. Hallelujah!

Best,

Rick

PS - in the plans for this week, another trip to Woodcraft supply. Time to get a better sharpening station. Oooooohhhhh, my poor aching credit card!

[Fathand]

Originally Posted by srick

Agree! That is a good idea. Of course the nitpickers will give you a hundred reasons why it doesn’t work. Bottom line, it worked for you.

I've heard reasons why it might not work but on my first guitar build, I didn’t feel comfortable placing the bridge only by measurements, or trust it to my measurement skills. I place banjo bridges, similarly, all the time so it added a level of comfort.

Regardless, the bonus was being able to hear the guitar, it was a nice plateau to reach in the build.

[srick]

I have an opportunity here to do one of several things:

• Learn something that I’ve always wondered about
• Hit it out of the park
• Totally ruin the top

Which will it be?

IMG_0533.jpeg

[JonWint]

Originally Posted by Fathand

I've heard reasons why it might not work but on my first guitar build, I didn’t feel comfortable placing the bridge only by measurements, or trust it to my measurement skills. I place banjo bridges, similarly, all the time so it added a level of comfort.

Regardless, the bonus was being able to hear the guitar, it was a nice plateau to reach in the build.

StewMac has a tool you might like. Rout the saddle slot after bridge is located. The Intonator will give exact positions.

You need to decide which compromises to make or make a 3-piece saddle.

I just add the calculated compensation to e and E, it's quicker and just as accurate.

[IMG][/IMG]

[srick]

Originally Posted by JonWint

StewMac has a tool you might like.

LOL!!!! Ya think?

Good thing my wife hasn't seen my credit card bill over the last few months!

[Fathand]

Originally Posted by JonWint

StewMac has a tool you might like. Rout the saddle slot after bridge is located. The Intonator will give exact positions.

You need to decide which compromises to make or make a 3-piece saddle.

I just add the calculated compensation to e and E, it's quicker and just as accurate.

[IMG][/IMG]

I'm sure it works but I'm guessing it's over $100 and you could determine separate saddle positions with a piece of coat hanger, might take a little longer. Since my first build I am now comfortable simply measuring.

[srick]

IMG_4055.jpg

Top Before Voicing

IMG_4086.jpg

Top After Voicing

Here’s a parable that you may have heard:

The parable of the blind men and an elephant is a story of a group of blind men who have never come across an elephant before and who learn and imagine what the elephant is like by touching it. Each blind man feels a different part of the elephant's body, but only one part, such as the side or the tusk. They then describe the elephant based on their limited experience and their descriptions of the elephant are different from each other.

One thinks the tail is a rope, another thinks the trunk is a snake, and a third thinks the leg is a great tree trunk. - Wikipedia

I’ve come to the conclusion that so it is with voicing a guitar top. Everyone has their favorite technique, everyone is talking about the same thing , and yet their descriptions of the processs couldn’t be more different.

Continued in next reply-

[srick]

And here’s a warning to any builder… don’t read too much. No printed word, be it the Cumpiano book, Ervin Somogyi’s book, Roger Siminoff’s book, Giuliano Nicoletti’s book, or Trevor Gore’s book can teach you how to voice a guitar top. The more you read, the more confused you’ll get.

And you can watch Dana Bourgeois voicing a top - right there on YouTube, and get more and more confused.

Yesterday morning, my brain was too saturated with information, and I lost it. Fortunately, the incredible Alan Carruth came to my rescue. Sometimes all it takes is one phrase to get you back on the path. In this case, Alan reminded me that a guitar’s parts work together as a system.

Then, rewatching one of Dana’s videos, he answers a question from the audience about getting the bracing and interior of a guitar just right with another question: “Have you ever looked at the interior of those pre-war guitars?”

And I thought back to the 2018 WILS builders talk - no one on the panel mentioned tap tuning. My friend, Dale Fairbanks, has never mentioned tap tuning, etc., but they all noted that a guitar’s sound is based on the sum of its parts. Or as Roger Sadowsky said at WILS 2018, “It’s all about the build.”

Alan also rightly advised me that a good design probably provides 80% of a guitar’s sound. So today, I made a few attempts to do what Dana B. Was doing in his videos. I narrowed the braces, I tapped. I thinned them at the ends, I tapped. I tapped in between the braces, I tapped the braces, I tried to imagine where the nodes were. And somehow, I “think” it sounds more “musical.”

Now that I got that out of my system, it’s time to close the box and see how well I do cutting the binding channels. A new StewMac cutter with bearings awaits its first test.

[phavriluk]

Ditch the StewMac relationship, too. They never met a left-handed screwdriver they didn't like. And somebody named Goldberg has a job there.