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Our first solo build after our class
http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=18446		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  Paul Burner [ Mon Aug 18, 2008 10:37 pm ]
Post subject:  Our first solo build after our class
In May my son and I spent a week with Kevin Gallagher of Omega Guitars and "got the bug". We had a great time building two guitars and spent the entire flight home making plans to keep going.

Tonight we got started after receiving a custom "kit" for a guitar I designed.

Here are some photos of what we did tonight.

1. The kit contents:
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2. Measuring for the 1/8" wide back strap (flame maple), and realizing all the coolers were empty - what a shame!
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3. The maiden voyage with the new Dremel tool, StewMac router base and downcut bits. We learned about wood swell from glue during this process
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4. A little too much humidity in the garage had us moving to my home office for some "clean" steps
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5. It is a small guitar - about the size of a Gibson CJ-165. 15" lower bout
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6. Finally getting to use the gobar deck we built a couple months ago! Thanks Hesh for a post about not gluing the strip where the wood will be cut away for the braces.
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7. Dang - not enough clips. Digging through drawers gave us a conglomeration of items that worked.
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Now.... time for a beer and wait for glue to dry!!!
Author:  Robbie O'Brien [ Mon Aug 18, 2008 10:40 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Our first solo build after our class
Looking good so far. Keep us posted on your progress.
Author:  James Orr [ Mon Aug 18, 2008 10:47 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Our first solo build after our class
Paul, that was all done tonight?!

Fantastic start!
Author:  Kevin Gallagher [ Tue Aug 19, 2008 9:05 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Our first solo build after our class
Paul and Kyle,

Nice go bar deck and a great start on your first build. It'll be exciting to watch
your progress.

Hey....your office is as clean as Hesh's shop!

Have fun and keep us posted,
Kevin Gallagher/Omega Guitars
Author:  George L [ Tue Aug 19, 2008 11:03 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Our first solo build after our class
That looks like nice, clean work. Love the shape of those little Gibsons. I'm dreaming up something outside the standard offerings for my next build as well. Would you mind sharing where you bought your kit? Can't wait to see how your guitar progresses.

George :-)
Author:  Kevin Gallagher [ Thu Aug 21, 2008 4:50 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Our first solo build after our class
OK....How about an update on the Burner build. Looking forward to the next step in the process.

All the best,
Kevin Gallagher/Omega Guitars
Author:  Paul Burner [ Thu Aug 21, 2008 9:15 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Our first solo build after our class
Unfortunately I don't have any new photos to post yet. The same night as the first post we actually got the braces put on the back and that's where we still stand.

My son and I are building this guitar together as much as possible - and he's in Colorado on a backpacking trip until Sunday night.

We plan on getting back to wood again over labor-day weekend tackling our first rosette and sound hole - and then on to bracing the top. I hope to have the box closed sometime in the next couple weeks.

Too bad life gets in the way of all my guitar-building fun.

Thanks for watching.
Author:  Hesh [ Thu Aug 21, 2008 9:21 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Our first solo build after our class
Hi Paul and Kyle- You guys are doing GREAT! [:Y:] [clap] [clap] [clap] [clap]

Your work looks excellent, very clean and organized and that will pay off for you in a huge way.

I wondered what the coolers in the first picture were for but you answered that question at the end of your post. :D

Keep up the great work my friends.
Author:  Paul Burner [ Thu Aug 21, 2008 11:12 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Our first solo build after our class
Ok - I just flipped the guitar over and did the kerfing on the back side - and decided to shoot some additional photos.

Here's where things stand now.
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A close-up of my flame maple backstrap - too bad you can't see the flam - it's nice.
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And some brace photos
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Author:  ClintB [ Fri Aug 22, 2008 9:44 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Our first solo build after our class
I'm also curious where you got the kit from. The woods look really nice.

-Clint
Author:  Paul Burner [ Fri Aug 22, 2008 9:49 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Our first solo build after our class
To those who have asked about the kit.

One of the perks of taking the class from Kevin was that he agreed to make us a kit to get us started on a solo project. I paid extra to have a custom mold made to fit my design.

Kevin is not in the business of selling kits - as he's too busy building guitars - but agreed to do this for us.

Not sure you or I will be able to convince him to do it again.

Guess that's up to him.

Have a great weekend!
Author:  Don Williams [ Fri Aug 22, 2008 9:56 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Our first solo build after our class
That's looking terrific! And what a great office space!
Author:  Don Williams [ Fri Aug 22, 2008 9:57 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Our first solo build after our class
That's looking terrific! And what a great office space!
Author:  Paul Burner [ Fri Aug 22, 2008 10:09 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Our first solo build after our class
Don - I don't mean to hijack my own thread - but thanks for the comments on the office.

I am a one-person graphic design company (I've had employees in the past - but never more than one additional person at a time).

Paying rent in a downtown office for 18 years... and the fact that my wife was looking at being able to retire in a few years - got us considering options. We looked at buying a new home with a better office space - we looked at adding an addition on our home - and both of these proved too expensive. We're trying to have less debt - not more. We decided we were on a mission to be debt free by the time my wife can retire (which is in 4 years now)

In the end we decided to build the office in our basement as long as I could put in a large egress window (almost 4' x 5') so it didn't feel like a dungeon.

We hired the work done - and I've been in my home office for almost 3.5 years now (wow, that went fast). I love the space - and my clients like it too. I actually got busier after the move. The best part was that I paid for it with one check.

The best news is that we have taken all the money I paid for rent, gas, parking, etc and have put it towards paying off our home loan. In about 6 months we will be totally debt freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!

Now.... back to guitars..... LOL
Author:  Paul Burner [ Tue Aug 26, 2008 8:26 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Our first solo build after our class
Sunday we got the kerfing glued in - and moved on to practicing rosettes. Hesh was a BIG help as usual! (THANKS!)

Last night we worked on another practice rosette, the butt wedge (my favorite guitar term) and the crack-stop lining strips. I sure like the Martin-style ribbon better than using wood pieces! (We used the ribbon in our classes with Kevin G)

Here's a couple photos from last night. (My son scored big on the pony clamps - 50 cents each!!!!

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Author:  micheal [ Tue Aug 26, 2008 9:06 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Our first solo build after our class
Love the Maple/Koa "butt" wedge, haha :) Your guitar is looking awesome!
Author:  Paul Burner [ Tue Aug 26, 2008 9:13 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Our first solo build after our class
Actually, the "butt wedge" is maple/myrtle/maple. I may be wrong - but I think the myrtle was called a burl myrtle. (doesn't matter - I just like the way it looks)

The maple is actually just binding with perfling attached that I ordered from StewMac. I had an extra piece and thought it would be easy and look good.

I'm happy with the results.

The rosette will be made from the same myrtle.
Author:  kburner1 [ Tue Aug 26, 2008 9:17 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Our first solo build after our class
So far this has been enormous amounts of fun. I think our biggest issue right now is that we both get so excited that we are actually building on our own that we start to get ahead of ourselves. SO MUCH FUN!!
Author:  cmacksam [ Tue Aug 26, 2008 1:57 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Our first solo build after our class
That END GRAFT (preferred term for those of us who don't like our butts wedged) is a really nice touch. A guitar that's being built so cleanly can't help but sound good. Nice work!
Author:  Paul Burner [ Sun Aug 31, 2008 9:21 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Our first solo build after our class
3-day weekends are GREAT.

Kyle and I got some time on the guitar today and had a BLAST!!!!

We made our first rosette - thanks a ton to the advice from Hesh and Kevin Gallagher. I actually didn't even swear. (well almost not hahahahaha)

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Author:  Paul Burner [ Sun Sep 14, 2008 6:45 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Our first solo build after our class
We've made some progress on the guitar. Got the box closed after taking down the braces quite a bit - and put on map-a-lam purfling and maple binding on the top today. Still need to do the back binding and purfling - maybe this week sometime.

Here's the newest photos:

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