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my first guitar build
http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=22578		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  P@uL [ Sun May 31, 2009 9:35 pm ]
Post subject:  my first guitar build
so i recently decided i wanted to become a luthier as my career. started looking for a school in canada and found timeless instruments in tugaske saskatchewan. David freeman has been teaching courses there for 30 years almost and building for even longer.

anyway heres what i built during that 7 week course:

Its and Engleman spruce top, with koa back and sides. OM size body 25 1/4 scalelength. 1 11/16 nut width to fit my big hands.

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engleman top

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koa back

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walnut neck cut and headstock glued on
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heelblock rough shaped with bandsaw

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unworked heel
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chizeled roughwork
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innitials on the foot (visible through the soundhole)
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glueing headstock veneer
Author:  P@uL [ Sun May 31, 2009 9:36 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: my first guitar build
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koa veneer on top of walnut neck
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dry fitting rosette
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outter ring bwb,bwb inner ring bwb,paua,bwb inner ring is same as outer
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lol dno what to say about this one. like the photo though

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goboard setup. gluing in back strip
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laying out bracing on template
sides, binding and purfling bent
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side bending press
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getting into the fun stuff. the bracing and tantalones etc.

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good shot of the scalloping i did to the bracing
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already wanted to put strings on her
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little early for strings
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roping up the back
Author:  P@uL [ Sun May 31, 2009 9:38 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: my first guitar build
working on the butt strip
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rosewood letters inside the koa strip with chevron purfling on the sides to match the back strip and purf.
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drilled and inlayed
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fine herringbone purfling on top of the engleman top
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fingerboard soundhole decoration. taken up to 12k grit micro mesh, oiled and fretted
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first cut shaping the neck
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finished neck shape
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french polishing stuff. shellac mix, methyl bottle and tampon
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body before any finishing
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first couple coats(of 15 total) looking shiny already
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bridge template and ebony blank
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finished bridge
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cleaning off finish to glue bridge
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glueing bridge
Author:  P@uL [ Sun May 31, 2009 9:41 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: my first guitar build
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bridge glued
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saddle shaped but not compensated. setting action and intonating was the next step
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gohto tuners installed
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back of headstock
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ready for the trip back to ontario
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class picture. im the big guy in white shirt with a beard.
Author:  David Newton [ Sun May 31, 2009 10:21 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: my first guitar build
Paul.
That was a most cool build photo story! Congratulation on your first build, which actually looks like a completed guitar.
Did the Rasta-guy build a brush?
Author:  P@uL [ Sun May 31, 2009 10:51 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: my first guitar build
oh dont get me started on alani. and no that was just his clean up broom. he did make a protruding flower from his headstock about 3 inches around. he was this crazy homeless hippy guy who had gotten a government grant to take the course. he used to build harps back in the day. but man could that guy play guitar :shock:

and i cant believe when i strung it up it didnt break in half! lol
Author:  George L [ Mon Jun 01, 2009 12:13 am ]
Post subject:  Re: my first guitar build
Nice job. Looks like a fun course. Congrats!
Author:  WaddyThomson [ Mon Jun 01, 2009 9:09 am ]
Post subject: 
Nice build thread! Good looking guitar too! [clap] [clap] [clap] [clap] [clap]
Author:  Christian Schmid [ Mon Jun 01, 2009 9:26 am ]
Post subject:  Re: my first guitar build
Looks like a nice guitar [:Y:]

I find it interesting that David Freeman taught you to build a steel-string guitar with a spanish heel. Did he give any reasons why he uses the spanish heel as compared to a bolt-on or a dovetail neck joint?

Christian
Author:  P@uL [ Mon Jun 01, 2009 9:33 am ]
Post subject:  Re: my first guitar build
its more simplistic? not too sure as to why. the entire build was in a spanish style with all the roping used to glue top, back, binding purflings into place. i was surprised that was just about the only thing we didn't have a choice on was style of neck joint. it is a really simple way and seems like it would be really strong and have good sound conductivity through that big foot from the back. plus with a dovetail don't you have to have more of a block on the inside to route out the female part of the dovetail joint? so i guess its keeping the guitar lighter too. but i am new at this ill have to look into that more now you got me thinking why didnt we get a choice. that was just about the only thing we didnt have a choice on.
Author:  Christian Schmid [ Mon Jun 01, 2009 12:00 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: my first guitar build
I think the main argument for using a bolt-on neck is the ease of doing future repair work, especially if it's a neck joint similar to the Taylor NT neck (see here:
http://www.frets.com/FretsPages/Luthier/Data/Guitar/Taylor/99NeckJoint/99joint.html)

If the neck breaks, gets warped over time because of the string tension,... and you have to replace or re-set the neck, it's just super easy with the bolt-on neck.

In terms of structural integrity or sound transmission, a well-executed bolt-on neck should be no worse than a dovetail neck or spanish heel (though you can get in some heated discussions about that).
Author:  Dave_E [ Mon Jun 01, 2009 5:34 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: my first guitar build
Beautifull Paul, really is! [:Y:] What kind of wood did you use for the back/sides and headstock?

Dave
Author:  P@uL [ Mon Jun 01, 2009 7:10 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: my first guitar build
koa back and sides. and thats a koa veneer leftover from the back on top of a walnut neck/headstock

and schmid im sure that is a good bottle of wine discussion as to which has the best sound transer. and don't scare me i never wanna have to reset this neck haha. thats one downfall i can see that being very hard to do, not to mention i would have to remove the back as well. guess ill have to look into doing some dovetails see how that goes on the next project
Author:  Bill Hodge [ Tue Jun 02, 2009 8:09 am ]
Post subject:  Re: my first guitar build
Nice work Paul.
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