First Selmer Build

york · **Posted:** Sun Dec 25, 2011 7:50 pm

I am building this Selmer gypsy jazz guitar based on Michael Collins’ book, BUILDING A SELMER-MACCAFERRI GUITAR. I used the Charle plan for the original template and forms, and just received Collins’ plans to verify some things about the neck geometry.

york · **Posted:** Sun Dec 25, 2011 8:14 pm

Here's what I've done so far....

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010.jpg

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formlayout.jpg

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formpieces.jpg

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patternrout.jpg

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mold.jpg

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topmarked.jpg

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pliagebox.jpg

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benttop.jpg

york · **Posted:** Sun Dec 25, 2011 8:23 pm

...and some more...

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bocote.jpg

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kerfing.jpg

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backstrip.jpg

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cutawaybend.jpg

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bentsides.jpg

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tailblocktest.jpg

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neckblockglue.jpg

york · **Posted:** Sun Dec 25, 2011 8:27 pm

...and to finish progress up to this point....

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neckblockglue2.jpg

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tailblock.jpg

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kerfing (2).jpg

...And that's where I am right now....

mqbernardo · **Posted:** Sun Dec 25, 2011 8:48 pm

nice! keep´em coming!

munen · **Posted:** Sun Dec 25, 2011 10:14 pm

ill keep an eye on your progress.
im thinking of building one for my self.
so far very good

rdpdo · **Posted:** Mon Dec 26, 2011 8:15 am

Hello

Be careful with the rf charles plan, the action with the radius of the braces on the plan is 5mm with the 18mm height sadle !

You have to increase the angle of neck/side to decrese the action.

rdpdo · **Posted:** Mon Dec 26, 2011 8:18 am

Look here if you want http://www.benoit-de-bretagne.com/phpBB ... hp?t=10687

cphanna · **Posted:** Mon Dec 26, 2011 10:39 am

I'm glad you're documenting this project so thoroughly. I'll be watching it closely. I've never built one of these guitars but I do find them very interesting. Regarding your question on molds, yes, I think you'd be better off gluing the laminations as you stack them. You can still register everything with screws, cut the rough shapes and then glue up--re-inserting the screws to hold the lams in place while the glue is still slippery. Then route to clean up as you have done here. I don't know whether a lamination of plywood would stiffen your mold, but it seems to me your cross-clamping idea is an obvious and workable solution to that problem. You could also attach a "floor" to the mold, held with screws only. In that way, it could be removed as need for access to one side or the other. (Of course, several screws and a mold floor are probably more hassle than a bar clamp.)

Patrick

york · **Posted:** Mon Dec 26, 2011 10:55 am

Quote:

Be careful with the rf charles plan, the action with the radius of the braces on the plan is 5mm with the 18mm height sadle !

Michael Collins mentioned this and warned me about the high action in the Charle plan neck geometry. I have also found that the neck lengths on the Charle plan and Collins book differ by about 1/4". So, I am not doing any neck construction until I have finished the box and can measure the actual length to the bridge location. Thanks, rdpdo, for the link. I will take a good look -- good thing measurements aren't language sensitive. 8-)

Quote:

You could also attach a "floor" to the mold, held with screws only. In that way, it could be removed as need for access to one side or the other. (Of course, several screws and a mold floor are probably more hassle than a bar clamp.)

Thanks, Patrick. I did consider the floor but as you said the clamps were a lot quicker. I did glue as I went on previous molds and the results were better, but the whole mold was more substantial. Next time, glue as I go.

douglas ingram · **Posted:** Tue Dec 27, 2011 12:19 am

I found the action high, too. I though that maybe it was me...

My fix was to make a lower bridge.

Do you have a link for Shelly's video? or is it easy enough to find. (its late and I'm traveling...)

york · **Posted:** Tue Dec 27, 2011 12:33 am

Hi Douglas,
Check out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAlwzwAjpW0&feature=plcp&context=C35c533cUDOEgsToPDskK6hQONq53Zf8I0pUPbIAuG

That should be the side bending video episode. She has episodes that go through the whole process on her "Parkguitars" YouTube channel.

jfmckenna · **Posted:** Tue Dec 27, 2011 1:27 pm

This is great! I am building one of these too. Well actually i need to get started asap. I'd love to see a pic of you joining the top.

york · **Posted:** Tue Dec 27, 2011 9:30 pm

Got a little more done. Finished the rim. Have not sanded the edges to fit the top and back yet. Will do that when I am ready to glue them so there is a fresh surface for gluing.

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gluesidereinforcement.jpg

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rimdonetail.jpg

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rimdonehead.jpg

york · **Posted:** Tue Dec 27, 2011 9:39 pm

Quote:

I'd love to see a pic of you joining the top.

This is the only photo I have of the top joining. I thought I had posted it. oops_sign

What you don't see is the tape on the back. The plates are "clamped" with masking tape. Even the tape accross the joint on top is hard to make out in this photo. I used the same caul, shaped like the top of the pliage box to shoot the joint and under the top as it is being glued seen here. All of this was done as described in Collins' book. Except that I did mark out brace locations and run the plates over the jointer before bending the pliage to get them close. Had I been able to glue the plates together immediately after bending the pliage, I may have gotten away without even shooting the joint with the hand plane. Gluing is a little tricky with the pliage but not too difficult. On the inside I taped the part of the top above the pliage tightly together. Then, folded the joint open to apply glue. The bottom part of the pliage "butterflied" open. Applied glue, carefully put the joint together, laid the below pliage section flat on the bench and tape-clamped it together. Flipped it and tape-clamped the above- and below- pliage joint portions. Then the caul on the bench (packing tape to avoid sticking) laid the top down, flexible caul over joint and the gobars to keep the joint frmm "popping" and keep it aligned. The flexible caul is a piece of 1/8" plexiglass - one side with packing tape, the other with PSA 220 grit sandpaper. With the tape it doesn't stick to the top, and the sandpaper gives the gobars something to hold onto.
Like so many things, it was easier to do than it sounds. Did feel a bit harry though doing all this while the glue is setting. The joint came out pretty good.

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joiningtop.jpg

york · **Posted:** Sun Jan 15, 2012 5:09 pm

***ERROR ALERT***

Unless I missed something in the reading and diagrams, the Collins book has an error in the diagram on p95.

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bookpage.jpg

I made the donut as in the diagram but as finishing it noticed that is seemed small. It turns out that it is 1/2" wide, the same width as the rosette, so if you use it, you will rout the soundhole right up to the rosette. Here is the jig with both donuts.

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rosetteroutjig.jpg

Using the full scale diagram on p93 showing all the soundhole/rosette elements to make the donut comes out right. X marks the wrong donut.

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donuts.jpg

That being said, having these full size diagrams in the Collins book makes it easy to copy and make the jigs that do the job.

york · **Posted:** Mon Jan 16, 2012 1:12 pm

Progress update....

Routed the top for the rosette. Used center to test depth since it will be soundhole.

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toprout.jpg

Cutting purfling strips from veneer for rosette and later body purfling.

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cuttingpurfling.jpg

Assembling the rosette in practice channel.

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rosetteassembly.jpg

Bending the tighter upper and lower curves. How lucky is it that my bending pipe fits those curves almost perfectly?

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bendingrosette.jpg

Rosette ready for gluing. These dental type probes were great for pushing the purfling down tightly into the channel. I over flooded with CA so had a bit more mess to clean up than I should have, but it turned out OK (darker area is shellac to protect top).

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rosetteready.jpg

Rosette clamped.

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rosetteclamped.jpg

Planing (scraping too) to level the rosette.

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planingrose.jpg

york · **Posted:** Mon Jan 16, 2012 1:23 pm

Finishing the rosette, fitting the ebony insert.

The roughed out ebony inset with the top fitted.

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rouhginset.jpg

The inset fitted and ready for gluing. Scraping the rosette "dirtied" the top - glad I gave it some protection with shellac.

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insetready.jpg

The finished rose and the tools I used for fitting the inset.

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insetglued.jpg

The rose is now leveled and the top sanded to clean it up. A little more sanding needed on the top -- for later.
I cut the soundhole after completing the rosette. Collins' book cuts the channel and soundhole at the same time without taking the jig off inbetween cuts to insure proper alignment. I was concerned about the area between the rose and the soundhole being thin and weak so decided to leave the soundhole cutting for after completing the rose. In retrospect, I think that with ample care either way would work fine. If/when I do it again I would do it the same way I did it this time. It was no trouble to realign the routing jig and waiting to cut the soundhole avoided any possible slips that might have damaged the delicate edge.

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cleantop.jpg

A closeup of the rose. I like these Selmer style rosettes, simple, classy (IMHO).

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roseclose.jpg

york · **Posted:** Mon Jan 16, 2012 1:45 pm

Bracing the back.

I varied from Collins' book on the back arching. He arches the back into a 12 foot cylindrical shape. I am using my 15 foot radius dish and making the back just as I would a regular steelstring with a 15' radius. The difference in the amount of doming of the back is negligible though I realize the shape might be slightly different. Here are a few pics....

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centerstrip.jpg

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fittingbackbrace.jpg

The completed back and the top yet to be final thicknessed and braced.

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back-top.jpg

Corky Long · **Posted:** Mon Jan 16, 2012 3:16 pm

Really nice work. I'm not at all familiar with these guitars, but I'm intrigued.

Alexandru Marian · **Posted:** Mon Jan 16, 2012 4:27 pm

They have a very particular tone. I like them a lot, dreaming of building one too. Here is an example:

munen · **Posted:** Mon Jan 16, 2012 6:53 pm

looking great
I´ll find this thread very useful on the short future.
thanks

york · **Posted:** Fri Mar 16, 2012 6:55 am

Haven't updated in a while, so here's the recent progress.....

Gluing the back to the rim....

Sanding the angle on the neckblock before using the radius dish on linings. I built the back on a standard 15' radius dish rather than the 12' cylindrical radius called for by Collins. The difference in overall arch is negligible.

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sandneckblock.jpg

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york · **Posted:** Fri Mar 16, 2012 7:06 am

Putting on the soundboard....

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jfmckenna · **Posted:** Fri Mar 16, 2012 7:22 am

Looking real good York!!!

I can't remember if Collins book said so or if I got it on the net somewhere but did you lacquer the inside back and sides?

BTW I love that sanding paddle I'll have to steal that idea for my build

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