Okay, it's all your fault....lol

[wildbill1962]

Been throwing around the idea of trying my hand at building an acoustic guitar for years. I read everything that I can on the topic, and watch countless youtube vids. So I just finished ordering a dread kit from Stewmac. It has Sitka Spruce top and Khaya Mahogany back and sides. Mahogany neck.

I've been a custom gunstock builder for 40 years. Shaping, inletting, relief carvings, checkering, inlays etc. Also spent alot of years as a finish carpenter and custom cabinet builder.

I plan on making most of the tools needed to build the acoustic, and go fairly old school on the build. I know I will prob end up purchasing some items, but hope it will be minimal.

I'll try and post pics of the journey and keep count of how many curse words are involved.

Will prob be asking for some advice and wisdom along the way.

Bull

[Victory Pete]

Great fun, I started with a StewMac kit. Proceed with everything using ample care, caution, patience and a certain amount of healthy paranoia. Anything can and does go wrong sometimes.

[redir]

Good luck. I'm a big fan of the slogan, 'Just do it!' Don't overthink anything and don't get hung up on details that are outside of your experience in building guitars because after all this is your first one so you have none. Also don't expect to build a perfect guitar. Your first guitar is a lesson and nothing more, if you slip with a chisel and make a mark just move on and keep going. But you can build a decent guitar, even a really good one with a little luck and a lot of patience. Heck I'm still trying after 70 so....

[mirwa]

Originally Posted by wildbill1962

I've been a custom gunstock builder for 40 years. Shaping, inletting, relief carvings, checkering, inlays etc. Also spent alot of years as a finish carpenter and custom cabinet builder.

With that back ground, a kit guitar assembly will be a breeze for you. Its literally glue and clamp. Distributors like stewmac etc put a lot of work in making sure these things sound good when assembled.

You have the skill set that on your second guitar, ohh yes you will, you will be making one from scratch.

Steve

[Victory Pete]

Originally Posted by mirwa

With that back ground, a kit guitar assembly will be a breeze for you. Its literally glue and clamp. Distributors like stewmac etc put a lot of work in making sure these things sound good when assembled.

You have the skill set that on your second guitar, ohh yes you will, you will be making one from scratch.

Steve

When is the last time you put together a StewMac kit? It is definitely not "literally glue and clamp". Lots of careful measuring, fitting, trimming, drilling, reaming, cutting, routing, sanding and finishing along with clamping and gluing. Not to mention the skill and disciplines needed to make sure it comes out as a functional and playable guitar.

[Talldad]

I’ve made tables, cabinets and guitars, the main difference is time. Unless you were spending weeks inlaying your cabinets you may be surprised just how long building a guitar takes, mainly because to do it well you’ll need to build a jig for that stage of operations.

Enjoy your journey.

[mirwa]

Originally Posted by Victory Pete

When is the last time you put together a StewMac kit? It is definitely not "literally glue and clamp". Lots of careful measuring, fitting, trimming, drilling, reaming, cutting, routing, sanding and finishing along with clamping and gluing. Not to mention the skill and disciplines needed to make sure it comes out as a functional and playable guitar.

Happy to answer the question for you.

To understand the simplicity of a kit one needs to build the parts from raw.

Lets take one part for example or feel free to pick a part and I will describe how its actually made.

Hand made - Neck
Choose and find a good quarter cut piece of wood.
Take piece of raw wood and thickness to desired size
Pen mark out neck shape and design
Scarf cut headstock at desired angle, i like 14 degrees,
Cut blocks from opposite end to create stacked heel
Jig and clamp glue scarf headstock and stacked heel
Route slot to centre of neck to create trussrod cavity
Second round of routing to create access area for truss rod head
Bandsaw to rough neck shape on side profile and top profile
Fit neck to routing template for edge profiling, route edges
Hand Carve neck to shape
Hand Carve volutes and transition areas.
Jig neck in desired position and cut dovetail heel
Flat sand smooth top of neck for fretboard
Smooth sand finished product

Approx time taken 30 minutes to 5hrs (over a few days) dependant on skill set and machinery setup

Stewmac kit neck
Remove neck from box, job finished

Approx time taken, 30 seconds provided you dont get a paper cut unwrapping it

A kit guitar is possibly 1/40th of the actual work required to build a guitar from raw products

Hence why they are great for someone starting out in the field of building to give them the confidence and a good end result, regardless of their skill set.

Steve

[Victory Pete]

Originally Posted by mirwa

Happy to answer the question for you.

To understand the simplicity of a kit one needs to build the parts from raw.

Lets take one part for example or feel free to pick a part and I will describe how its actually made.

Hand made - Neck
Choose and find a good quarter cut piece of wood.
Take piece of raw wood and thickness to desired size
Pen mark out neck shape and design
Scarf cut headstock at desired angle, i like 14 degrees,
Cut blocks from opposite end to create stacked heel
Jig and clamp glue scarf headstock and stacked heel
Route slot to centre of neck to create trussrod cavity
Second round of routing to create access area for truss rod head
Bandsaw to rough neck shape on side profile and top profile
Fit neck to routing template for edge profiling, route edges
Hand Carve neck to shape
Hand Carve volutes and transition areas.
Jig neck in desired position and cut dovetail heel
Flat sand smooth top of neck for fretboard
Smooth sand finished product

Approx time taken 30 minutes to 5hrs (over a few days) dependant on skill set and machinery setup

Stewmac kit neck
Remove neck from box, job finished

Approx time taken, 30 seconds provided you dont get a paper cut unwrapping it

A kit guitar is possibly 1/40th of the actual work required to build a guitar from raw products

Hence why they are great for someone starting out in the field of building to give them the confidence and a good end result, regardless of their skill set.

Steve

Have you actually built a StewMac Kit?

[mirwa]

Sure have, I never comment on anything I have never done.

I highly recommend a kit to anyone starting out as per my original post, most people then step into building guitars rather than assembling them from kits

Steve

[Victory Pete]

Originally Posted by mirwa

Sure have

Steve

Well your description of the neck is inaccurate. Apparently your kit came with a preformed neck.

[mirwa]

Originally Posted by Victory Pete

Well your description of the neck is inaccurate. Apparently your kit came with a preformed neck.

One stewmac kit guitar.

Look pretty spot on to my desciption, cant picture any more work needed to that neck other than unwarpping it, for some reason you feel the need to try and make the assembly of these guitar kits seem difficult, do not know why

https://www.stewmac.com/kits-and-pro...uitar-kit.html

[Victory Pete]

Originally Posted by mirwa

Look pretty spot on to my desciption, cant picture any more work needed pther than unwarpping it

https://www.stewmac.com/kits-and-pro...uitar-kit.html

Maybe you should look closely or actually get one. I am done commenting on this. The OP doesn't need to see me defending the kit he will soon get and see for himself.

[mirwa]

Originally Posted by Victory Pete

Maybe you should look closely or actually get one. I am done commenting on this. The OP doesn't need to see me defending the kit he will soon get and see for himself.

Unusual comment, you may be reading more into this than the face value it is.

My first post I recommended just like everyone else the kit, all subsequent responses have been addressing your questions to me. Have a good one

Steve

[JonWint]

Originally Posted by mirwa

Look pretty spot on to my description, cant picture any more work needed to that neck other than unwrapping it, for some reason you feel the need to try and make the assembly of these guitar kits seem difficult, do not know why

The Stew-Mac necks need shaping at the nut area, width-matching to the chosen fretboard, and the only one I bought needed major shaping and sanding to remove coarse milling tool marks.

[IMG][/IMG]

I'm fine with buying a 95% pre-shaped neck from Martin (when they resume selling them), Stew-Mac, or Birkonium when they cost $75 to $150. A 12/4 neck blank from LMII is now $154. Assembling a guitar from parts does not make the final product any less satisfying to me. Assembling from bent sides does not give me more joy than thicknessing and bending my own.

Building the first guitar from a fairly complete kit gives the builder the greatest chance for successful completion. If they want to build the next one from the tree forward, go for it.

[redir]

Curious I was so I looked at the SM kit linked above and it says 'accurately bent sides' but according to the image they provide they don't looks accurately bent at all?