First build... come laugh at my mistakes.

[charles Tauber]

Where do you buy your wood? Usually, quarter sawn rosewood is pretty stable and flat. Is yours quartered?

If you are new to bending, making the sides a little thinner makes the bending a little easier. Depending upon the wood, I usually go 2 to 2.2 mm thickness (.079 to .087). I'd suggest you aim for 2 mm (.079").


There are many methods for clamping the halves of a guitar back together while gluing. One that I like is the string and wedges approach. One of the reasons I like it is that it allows considerable ability to align the two halves to be flush with each other, which might be helpful with aligning the halves of your current back.

Here is one implementation of the method:



For something wider, like a guitar back, I use 1 x 2's above and below the back and the wedges slide along the upper 1 x 2's - rather than what is shown in the photo with a single slat and wedge on top. The 1 x 2's are stiffer on edge, rather than the orientation shown in the photo. Use a hammer or mallet to drive the wedges home. Put wax or packing tape on the portions of the slats that will come into contact with glue, preventing the slats from being glued to the guitar top or back.

[redir]

Bummer! What are you using for side bending? I don't recal Bubinga being difficult to bend. I'm going to guess taht you didn't get it hot enough. I typically bend sides at around .09in But you can certainly go down to .08 and even .07.

[warfrat73]

Hot pipe.

I don't have an IR thermometer, so I"m not sure the temp it was at, but it was hot enough that water sizzled when I sprayed it.

There are wildly differing reports on how bubinga bends. In the description on LMI they write, "Because of its interlocking grain, it can be like some of the more difficult Mahogany species to bend." And Steve Kinnaird commented elsewhere on this forum that he had one set of Bubinga that "bent like bulletproof glass."

[warfrat73]

The EIR set I bought from a guy on ebay (exoticwoodzone) he has like 15k transactions and really positive feedback.

I'm at work right now, but here's the pic from the listing. Looks pretty well quartered to me, but I'd have to take a better look at the end grain.

[charles Tauber]

Originally Posted by warfrat73

Looks pretty well quartered to me, but I'd have to take a better look at the end grain.

Looks like a nice piece.

Water dropped on a hot pipe should "dance" and bounce in droplets. I've never measured the temperature of my pipe either. The wood will tell you when it is hot enough, you'll feel it begin to give and plasticize. Generally, heat an area, rather than a spot.

[warfrat73]

Ok, we're back in business. EIR back joined, and I spent some time prepping the face side (not done yet). There is some definite waviness to it.

Noticably easier to work with the plane without getting major tear out.

[charles Tauber]

Pay attention to the smell of the Indian rosewood as you work it. That's part of your education in wood identification.

[warfrat73]

Originally Posted by charles Tauber

Pay attention to the smell of the Indian rosewood as you work it. That's part of your education in wood identification.

Like if cigarette butts and beef jerky had a baby?

[charles Tauber]

Originally Posted by warfrat73

Like if cigarette butts and beef jerky had a baby?

That’s funny, but quite possibly accurate.

By contrast, Brazilian rosewood smells heavenly. Some “Indonesian rosewood” I had smelled like burning dung. Each has its own smell.

[warfrat73]

Got a little more done... not as much as I'd hope. Got the back ready to go. Here it is with the top, sides and the Ziricote fingerboard and bridge blank (I bought a spare bridge blank, just in case) and the flamed black acacia headstock headplate.

[charles Tauber]

While the acacia is a very nice piece of wood, it doesn't work for my sense of aesthetics with the ziricote. I don't like the combination of colors: the acacia color is "warm" (brown), the ziricote is "cool" (grey). But then I wouldn't wear camel coloured pants with a navy jacket either, a standard in men's fashion.

I'd also want the grain of the head veneer parallel to the long axis of the head, unless the angled grain mirrors the head shape. I'm fussy about stuff like that: maybe too fussy.

[warfrat73]

Originally Posted by charles Tauber

While the acacia is a very nice piece of wood, it doesn't work for my sense of aesthetics with the ziricote. I don't like the combination of colors: the acacia color is "warm" (brown), the ziricote is "cool" (grey). But then I wouldn't wear camel coloured pants with a navy jacket either, a standard in men's fashion.

I'd also want the grain of the head veneer parallel to the long axis of the head, unless the angled grain mirrors the head shape. I'm fussy about stuff like that: maybe too fussy.

I actually completely agree. When I first wrote that post I commented that I'd prefer something darker and might go in a different direction. But ended up deleting it.

I might just buy a couple other options and see witch I like best.

And, one of my first reactions when I pulled it out of the box from LMI was, wait, what... the grain is skewed?

[kkrell]

I too think that the headstock acacia does not work. The back, top & fretboard go excellently together, & a look I would be happy with on a build for me. Bridge blank is maybe a little plain-looking in the raw (compared to the fretboard), but a fine color match.

What about a good black ebony for the bridge & headplate, or were you hoping for more decorative? The striping on the back & sides, clean front may call for an elegant simplicity, with the fretboard & perhaps rosette? as the standouts.

[warfrat73]

It came together better in my head. It's a bit tough ordering from different vendors and not being able to see what you're actually getting.

I actually really like the fingerboard, but it is a bit more figure than I expected. It was also less expensive than anything other than EIR or Pau Ferro, so that played into the thought process. Got that from Stew Mac (was NOT going to cut my own fret slots).

The Ziricote bridge blanks came from LMI, and they had less figure than I expected.

The black acacia headplate was quite a bit lighter than I expected (I know black acacia isn't actually black, but the example they showed was a fair bit darker). But also the figure on the headplate and the figure on the fingerboard are fighting a bit more than I imagined.

Was thinking just order an ebony headplate (black goes with everything). Also thought there might be enough offcut from the sides when I profile them to make a bookmatched EIR head plate (but that might be pushing it dimensionally).

But, I did buy Ziricote two bridge blanks. Was thinking I could cut the other one in half and join that which would give me a bookmatched piece of about 3" x 6 1/2" which would be about enough. But maybe too much Ziricote?

[warfrat73]

Upon further reflection, trying to evenly saw that spare bridge blank in half, join it, and thickness it to size is probably more aggravation than it's worth.

Especially since I can just order an ebony one from StewMac for $12 with free shipping, since I joined "StewMax" knowing that I was going to make a bunch of orders.