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I made a new solera recently from which I received some input from here, so I thought I'd share it.
It's made for either building with an elevated fingerboard or standard fingerboard. I use a replaceable neck shim depending on which type of neck I'm using. It's currently set up for an elevated fingerboard. I'm using a bolt on neck (gasp!) so I have a piece that goes into the neck opening to aid in setting the neck block.
It also has sides that are pinned in place, the intention is to bolt them on, just havent needed the bolts yet. As the pin holes wear I'm sure I'll need to add the bolts. I cut a shallow rabbet between the side form and the solera to allow for some top over hang.
The solera has about 2mm scooped out in the lower bout.
Any way here are some pics. Let's hope all my geometry is right with the neck angle. I'll know soon enough, but I'm pretty confident it's all there though but (this is where I get into trouble).






using the solera to fit the finger board extension

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

it looks very nice, congratulations!
maybe i´ll still some ideas (that´s what you get for posting it on teh internetz )...

cheers,
Miguel.

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member of the guild of professional dilettantes

Seems a shame to use a traditional method and have a bolt on neck - is there any reason for your choice ?

If I ever built a classical and used a Solera I would be tempted to follow Cumpiano's methods

John

John, there is a reason, I wanted to dome the lower bout only and I also wanted to be able to build with a bolt on or spanish style neck. This provides control throughout the process of the neck angle and body joint.

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

looks very neat and clean.
Off topic: about that bracing pattern, is it wood only on those braces?
what are the results sound speaking, if i may ask?

The solera is almost as nice as your guitars!

Why do I see a lot of solera's using a "clamp" for lack of a better description through the sound hole? Is it simply to keep the top in position? I use dowels where the bridge and spanish heel are located, but if the clamp works, it might be better than drilling more holes in my top.

Like the others, I may borrow a few ideas.
Steve

That clamp holds the top to its proper dome while the sides are being glued to it. If you don't hold it down there is a bit of relaxation of the dome. Once the sides are glued in place, as well as the harmonic bars, it is well secured.

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Expectation is the source of all misery; comparison the thief of joy.
http://redrivercanoe.ca/

Thanks Steve
Doug summed up the clamp.

Bruno, it is only wood in the braces. Sound wise I can't yet answer. This guitar is following some computer modeling I did and is inspried by a Greg Byers design. I'll be building another design in a while that also follows some modeling I've done.

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

Beautifully clean and intriguing work there Jim. Bravo.

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John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

Nice, Jim. I like your ingenuity!

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Hi Jim

Nice and very neat work!
I noticed the neck actually fixed at a forward angle for the elevated neck.
But does that mean that the neck plane will not be perpendicular to the sides anymore?

What I noticed about Greg Byer's design is that he make the top goes up (in a smooth curve) at the upper bout region, while keeping the fingerboard plane about the same as the lower bout.
The sides will be slightly taper at the upper bout area to fit the top.

The advantages of your method I guess is that you can easily glue the solid linings side to the top without the need to compensate for the sloping angle.

Sen

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Sen CL Goh
http://senguitar.blogspot.com

Sen, yes the plane of the fingerboard will not be perpendicullar to the sides. The top is actually tipped forward by rotating about the saddle. I didn't want to get into bending by tops the way Byers does his. So I just rotated it to accomplish the same thing. I believe this is what Tom Humphrey did and others too.

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com