Official Luthiers Forum!

Hello everyone! A little about me...

I am new to the forum, although I have been lurking for a while now. I have just finished my first build. It was a steel string dread which was loosely based upon Cumpianos book. Sitka top, walnut B&S, bloodwood binding, FB, and bridge. Overall, I am happy (and surprised) that it produces sound but am rather disappointed with the finish. I will attempt to post some pics in a bit.

So... naturally, I am planning my next build. I already ordered the material from LMI a while back. I want to build a smaller (parlor, size five, 00, or whatever they are called) steel string. I have E. spruce for the top and Sapele for the back and sides. I have been searching for a plan and stumbled upon this one. I am just wondering what you guys think of it. Right off the bat I am questioning the height of the finger braces and sound hole bracing and also the number of tone bars. I am also thinking that the x braces and tone bar(s) should be scalloped a bit? Let me know what you guys think.


BTW, the website with the plans is http://www.grellier.fr/plans.php?lang=en to my knowledge, they are free. Please let me know if I have violated any rules by posting them here.

Eric-
Welcome to the OLF!
Thanks for that link, and for the plan as well.
Grellier has pictures of that Gibson guitar (with neck off), so I think it's pretty safe to assume that the plans are accurate, or at least a very good starting point for your project.
Those are actually quite good-looking plans with good detail-unlike some commercial offerings.

About parlour guitars- I built a couple and wasn't too happy with the results. My advice would be to err on the 'larger' side when choosing a model to build. A lot of parlours are surprisingly deep-bodied, so not so 'compact' as one might expect, in spite of the small soundboard.
If you are going to copy that Gibson, getting an Adi spruce (or similar) top might be worthwhile. The smaller tops are more easily available, and sometimes available at a relative 'bargain' price.

Cheers
John

Thank you for the prompt response. I already purchased an engelman spruce top which is only large enough for a 14" lower bout. Come to think of it (and after converting the mm to inches), that will not work with this plan which has a 14.5" lower bout.

I might just have to wing it. I do remember seeing a build on Kathy Matshushita's site a while back. http://home.comcast.net/~kathymatsushit ... five1.html I think this was a bit smaller than I wanted to go (11-1/4" lower bour). Anyone know of any decent plans for a smaller guitar with a LB of around 13" or 14."

Would it be a big deal to just use the plan and shrink everything down to fit?

In desperation you can always glue "wings" to the lower bout, matching the grain lines, with cut-offs from the upper bout outside the pattern. It is easy to make it absolutely invisible and the binding/purfling width will take some of the slack. Just pay attention to grain direction and runout.

_________________
Laurent Brondel
West Paris, Maine - USA
http://www.laurentbrondel.com/

haha, although that is not what I meant by "I might just have to wing it," that's a great idea! Thank you.

I am putting a finish on an LOO made from the Grellier plans as we speak. The plans are excellent but metric. I had to think in metric and found that I like it better than inches.

_________________
"Try to be the person your dog thinks you are."

http://sites.google.com/site/bertsguitarshop/

I love small body guitars.. They can have a totally amazing full, rich sound to them... Balanced, loud, and wonderful. They will never have the "Whomp" of a well built Big body guitar... but that's not what they are usually for...

1st thing -- Watch out for the term "Parlor" -- which in various circles means anything smaller than a Dread!

You mentioned a giant range of instrument sizes... A Size 5 is almost a big Ukelele... where an L-OO is only a little smaller than a Dread.... There are a zillion sizes in between...

I have built 2 Martin Ditson 11 small body guitars.... It is approximately the size of an O size, but with a wide waist. Sound wise -- Amazing.

My own experience on small body instruments is:
If going thin worries you ... small body instruments may not be your friend....
They reward you when you build them on the light side... The smaller they are, the thinner the tops, backs, and bracing need to be to support the string tension... Remember it's not a dread.... You don't have to support a giant, wide top...

Smaller tops deflect less at the same thickness than a wider top... so if you end up erring on the stiff side -- they just can't "Breathe" and don't sound as good to my ear..

Thanks

John

I have built two from those plans, I think they make a wonderful instrument. I will keep one for myself if I can build one that doesn't get purchased right out of my hands. Go ahead, you won't regret it..............
Mikey

_________________
The Biggest Little City, Nevada
www.hammondguitars.com
I love building guitars!

Sorry to resurrect this thread. I am ready to start finishing the guitar I mentioned earlier in this thread and I am looking for a hardshell case. I found one but it is a little off in the waist and upper bout.

Here are the specs of my guitar:

lower bout = 14.6"
upper bout = 10.1"
waist = 8.3"
body length = 19.3"


and here is the closest one I could find.

http://accessories.musiciansfriend.com/ ... sku=542041


btw, price is a real concern. I am not too worried about the strength of the case. It is a personal guitar and I am just looking for a case to house it when I am not playing it. Mostly for humidity control.

So, anyone who has used this plan or has built a similar sized geetar. What case? thanks.

-Eric