Build Thread: Brazilian Rosewood/Swiss Alpine Spruce Custom Design Crossover Acoustic

[Tom Doerr]

What a timely thread for me Joost as I'm also at this time embarking on my first crossover guitar. I look forward to seeing the rest of this thread and I like what I see so far. Also to echo what's already been said sweet tuners!

[Joost Assink]

Thanks for all the kind words everyone!

@jasonechoi yes I see what you mean! Cool!

@Tom Doerr, wow, I am honored that you are following the progress. If you have any tips or suggestions, I look forward to hearing them!

[Joost Assink]

This weekend I got my custom perfling and kerfing from Kevin at Ryan Guitars. The A4 lasered kerfing allows for movement of the kerfing along all 4 axes. Much easier to install than regular kerfing when using a radiused back and top as well as a bevel.



The purfling is green abalone, selected for its low color content to keep the look subtle.

I am really looking forward to using it!

[Joost Assink]

Well this is even cooler! I got a call from the local CNC company I teamed up with to develop methods for inlaying, radiusing and cutting of precise fret slots.

Our tests have gone very well. We are now able to cut a fretboard in an exact radius, cut the fret slots over the entire scale length with a precision of thousands of an inch. Another cool thing is that we can cut the fret slots in the same radius as the fretboard so there is no useless gap underneath the fret, like would normally happen when cutting with a fret slotting saw. Which means a much stiffer fretboard!




We are also able to cut shell. Encased in specially cut brass for a nice gold colored trim! The final design will be even more intricate!

[TimberlineGuy]

I love CNC (please don't shoot me). The precision of that inlay piece is extraordinary! Great looking build

[MBE]

This promises to be a truly spectacular guitar. I can't imagine a better way to put a positive spin on coping with chronic health challenges - even if you "must" play a crossover, picking up this guitar will surely never become a chore. May you enjoy it in good health.

[Richie H]

Kolere.. Tja.. nah... Heul very nice!

Beautiful wood, design and hardware, I'll be following this one! Some intriguing choices, Joost! Carry on, please!

[jaymarsch]

Joost,

What a beautiful guitar you are making! I love the design and all of the elements so far. I have a nylon crossover (Kenny Hill) and I love it. I am glad that you are making a guitar for yourself that can accomodate your wrist issues so you can enjoy playing again. I look forward to the continued process.

Best,
Jayne

[Neil K Walk]

Sorry to hear of your physical ailments, Joost. As one who was also inpsired to play fingerstyle by seeing Tommy Emmanuel I was cursed with stubby and crooked little fingers. I always admired your dexterity and envied those long fingers that God gave you.

Like you I also ventured into the building discipline but more out of a desire to appreciate the process and not truly build a dream guitar - though it was fun to start with a blank page instead of searching far and wide for a factory guitar that suited my tastes and budget. I see that you're already well into the process - and again I find myself envying you again for those nice glass templates, custom tuners and CNC. What I don't envy you is the daunting task of learning the ropes on such high grade tonewood. You look like you have help though!

Regardless, you're in for a very satisfying experience and when you're done you might just find that it can be as addicitve as GAS is to you was as a player and you'll want to do it all over again, if not for yourself then for those who are close to you. I for one truly enjoyed chiseling the braces and rough-shaping the neck. It's almost like scuplture, only you stop every so often to tap the wood to see how it sounds as you reduce the mass.

[Joost Assink]

Thanks Neil. No need to be jealous though, just befriend your local CNC company and ask them to run some programs off-hours. Price will come down dramatically.

[Joost Assink]

Hi guys, sorry it took a while to post this new update. Last weekend we started work on the build, but it took me until now to find the time to post about it. We have been working on the neck and made some nice progress.

We started off by taking the next profile measurements off my favorite nylon crossover neck, on my Taylor 812ceN





Now we needed to start working on preparing the neck for construction of the guitar. this is a very important part of the process. By making sure all the surfaces on the neck perfectly flat and perfectly perpendicular to each other, we can start construction of the guitar knowing that all angle relationships will be straight and perpendicular as well.


So we setup this planer to ensure a perfectly flat surface. Here you see the importance of having a perfectly perpendicular angle between all services, because now the side of the neck will determine how the knives in the planer hit the fretboard surface


Looks great so far, check out the flame on that maple.


Now it is time for the headstock. We start by sawing off some pieces of maple that are jutting out.


Then the headstock gets the same treatment on the planer.


And is then finished off on the belt sander.



Now we need to start measuring. The nut will be our zero point and we will work from there, determining all measurements.


Now that everything is perfectly perpendicular and flat, we can thickness the neck with this thickness sander.

[Joost Assink]

Again, we can make use of the perfect angles and flatness of the surfaces now as we run our neck through the special jig that is set up to cut the channel for the truss rod.



Then we can start working on the back of the neck, first by removing excess maple on the back of the headstock.



After that we can start roughly shaping the heel of the neck.


And here you have the shaped neck. Next step is shaping the neck profile and headstock.

[Fngrstyl]

Looks awesome, Joost. I cant wait for a video of it...

[rgregg48]

Joost,
next time i need a loan, im calling you!

I hope you enjoy your new guitar,,,

Rick

[Billy Boy]

Joost, This is really coming along nicely! Congratulations, and thanks for sharing your build pictures.