Martin OM Style Acoustic Guitar

[george wilson]

The places where the neck meet the sides of the body on your neck are convex. They,at the least need to be straight lines. Better yet,and I would not settle for less,they should be concave.

I have never seen a guitar with convex surfaces where the neck meets the sides. It would be easy for you to fix the surfaces before you glue the neck on.

Many Spanish makers glue their necks on while hey are still square all over. Then,they rasp and carve the proper shapers into the neck. That is doing it the HARD way ! It also makes it all too easy to cut the side and ruin the whole guitar.

[Julie Moriarty]

You mean like this?

Where the bottom cap is a bit larger than immediately above it?

[michael langman]

Warren, ThankYou for posting that Tommy E. video. I like his approach to learning the guitar.

Julie, I have been watching your guitar build and think your guitar is coming out fantastic. Thank You for taking the time to post the build. It will be beneficial to many I'm sure.

[Julie Moriarty]

This thread deserves an ending...

I wasn't happy with what I did. My expectations far exceeded any realistic results. So the guitar sat and I came to view it with nothing but criticism.

In October of 2019, my neighbor came over and told me a friend of his was coming into town and needed a guitar to play at some family and friend function. "I know you made that beautiful guitar. Could Garrett borrow it for just one evening?"

Oh boy. What should I do with this? And then that fire within me started smouldering again.

"I certainly have no problem lending it out but can't he find a better guitar?" I was doing my best to keep this out of the hands of anyone who actually knows how to play.

"Oh. Well, unfortunately, I kinda gushed over you and told him what a great luthier you are."

At this point I was screaming inside my head, "NO! I'm NOT!" But outwardly, I remained calm.

"Ok," I said. "When is Garrett coming in?"

In the mean time I'm wondering how do I get out of this?

A couple of weeks later, Garrett knocks on the door. He's with my neighbor and the wife of another neighbor. She sings. Garrett plays. They have been doing this for over 30 years. And, I was told, they are pretty good.

I do my best to be cordial but immediately delve into apologies.

"I know Glen said the guitar is playable and all but it's really not and I'm perfectly okay if you need something better." And then I told him how I never set the nut or checked the relief in the neck or even smoothed the frets and on and on I went...

"That's okay, Julie. It's nice to meet you, by the way."

Of course we invited them into the house. And got to know them better. By that time, Garrett had a pretty good idea I felt he should look elsewhere.

"Can I play it?"

Sometimes you just have to hit them over the head with a brick.

"Sure." And I handed him the guitar. Ready for confirmation of all my criticism.

"Julie, this is pretty nice. The action is bit high but I love the feel of the neck and the sound is amazing."

Okay. I know he's being nice but I'm not an idiot. So I thank him and give him a way out.

"Thanks, Garrett. But I'm sure you need something better. I'm sure someone has a decent guitar they can lend you."

"I'm sorry Julie. I didn't mean to press you. But if you're willing, I'd like to use your guitar."

I have read countless articles about building an acoustic guitar. I've read about the masters. I've viewed numerous videos about everything from soundboard selection, tuning it, and so many other things. There's no way I could have gotten this right on the first round. No way.

Garrett was just being nice. That was pretty cool.

So Garrett left the house, with the guitar, and a couple hundred dollars in luthier tools that might hopefully make the guitar more playable.

A couple of months later my neighbor calls. "Did Garrett return your guitar?"

"No," I tell him. "He said he had some more gigs to play and would return it before he went back north."

Sure enough, Garrett shows up at the door. With the guitar. And the tools. And a smile.

"Julie. Thank you so much."

I looked at him, wondering why he hung onto the guitar for so long. Maybe he read my eyes.

"I got the action set perfectly. The relief is spot on. And it plays like a dream. Can I show you?"

With that he sat down and played for long enough for me to appreciate that maybe I got it wrong.

Since that time, this has been my go-to guitar. I'm beginning to enjoy playing again. Whatever Garrett did, it worked.

[Mel Fulks]

[quote]Whatever Garrett did, it worked.[/QUOTE)

He gave a talented friend some encouragement after finding the guitar well made and and beautifully voiced.

[John Redford]

This thread deserves an ending...

I wasn't happy with what I did. My expectations far exceeded any realistic results. So the guitar sat and I came to view it with nothing but criticism.

In October of 2019, my neighbor came over and told me a friend of his was coming into town and needed a guitar to play at some family and friend function. "I know you made that beautiful guitar. Could Garrett borrow it for just one evening?"

Oh boy. What should I do with this? And then that fire within me started smouldering again.

"I certainly have no problem lending it out but can't he find a better guitar?" I was doing my best to keep this out of the hands of anyone who actually knows how to play.

"Oh. Well, unfortunately, I kinda gushed over you and told him what a great luthier you are."

At this point I was screaming inside my head, "NO! I'm NOT!" But outwardly, I remained calm.

"Ok," I said. "When is Garrett coming in?"

In the mean time I'm wondering how do I get out of this?

A couple of weeks later, Garrett knocks on the door. He's with my neighbor and the wife of another neighbor. She sings. Garrett plays. They have been doing this for over 30 years. And, I was told, they are pretty good.

I do my best to be cordial but immediately delve into apologies.

"I know Glen said the guitar is playable and all but it's really not and I'm perfectly okay if you need something better." And then I told him how I never set the nut or checked the relief in the neck or even smoothed the frets and on and on I went...

"That's okay, Julie. It's nice to meet you, by the way."

Of course we invited them into the house. And got to know them better. By that time, Garrett had a pretty good idea I felt he should look elsewhere.

"Can I play it?"

Sometimes you just have to hit them over the head with a brick.

"Sure." And I handed him the guitar. Ready for confirmation of all my criticism.

"Julie, this is pretty nice. The action is bit high but I love the feel of the neck and the sound is amazing."

Okay. I know he's being nice but I'm not an idiot. So I thank him and give him a way out.

"Thanks, Garrett. But I'm sure you need something better. I'm sure someone has a decent guitar they can lend you."

"I'm sorry Julie. I didn't mean to press you. But if you're willing, I'd like to use your guitar."

I have read countless articles about building an acoustic guitar. I've read about the masters. I've viewed numerous videos about everything from soundboard selection, tuning it, and so many other things. There's no way I could have gotten this right on the first round. No way.

Garrett was just being nice. That was pretty cool.

So Garrett left the house, with the guitar, and a couple hundred dollars in luthier tools that might hopefully make the guitar more playable.

A couple of months later my neighbor calls. "Did Garrett return your guitar?"

"No," I tell him. "He said he had some more gigs to play and would return it before he went back north."

Sure enough, Garrett shows up at the door. With the guitar. And the tools. And a smile.

"Julie. Thank you so much."

I looked at him, wondering why he hung onto the guitar for so long. Maybe he read my eyes.

"I got the action set perfectly. The relief is spot on. And it plays like a dream. Can I show you?"

With that he sat down and played for long enough for me to appreciate that maybe I got it wrong.

Since that time, this has been my go-to guitar. I'm beginning to enjoy playing again. Whatever Garrett did, it worked.

That was an awesome post Julie, made my day. I built a dovetail hinged box last year and was not satisfied with it. It was my first attempt at hand cut dovetails. The more I look at it and use it the more I have grown to really appreciate the job I did, in spite of knowing all the imperfections.

The fit and finish is as good as anything I have seen ... my passion in building this box is now more obvious to me with time.

Bravo on. Great outcome.

[Zachary Hoyt]

It looks good. I use a propane torch with the tip stuck inside a piece of copper pipe to bend sides. It gets hot in under a minute, and I have had to learn to regulate the flame size for the temperature I want, but with a bit of experimentation it's not hard, and very cheap compared to anything electrical. I make it a bit hotter for guitar and mandolin sides and a bit less hot for violin ribs which are a bit thinner. I personally like the Hot Rod quite well and have installed about 100 of them over the last several years, but if you're making a neck with a very shallow profile they would be too close to the back of the neck since they're 7/16" deep. The welded double action rods use a shallower trench, but I had one that the weld broke after the customer got the banjo neck and was adjusting it, and I ended up making a whole new neck since that was easier than taking off the fretboard and replacing the rod.
Zach

[John Redford]

Looking good Julie.

[Matt Lau]

Looks nice overall.

About voicing/bracing, my understanding (from talking to different luthiers) is that the top is shaved until the tone is gone and the top is "neutral."
At this point, the top won't have a noticable tap tone of "bong" but more of an empty "thud" as alluded to on the Cumpiano book.
After the bracing is done, braces are carved to the desired tone.

After the box is closed, final shaping can be done by sanding the top (particularly around the rims).

As for purfling, I don't think it affects tone as much as the voicing, top, liners, side thicknesses, etc.
However, I'm an arm-chair guitar builder...

[Julie Moriarty]

Thank you, guys. I'm closing in on the finish but another project has taken precedent (orders from headquarters) so I'm not sure when I'll get back to the fine details of making the nut and setting the bridge.

Not really having any experience with carving the heel of the neck, I sort of inched away at it and measured along the way.


With a coat of shellac, sanded smooth, this is what I ended up with




Grover tuners with exposed gears

[Chuck Raudonis]

This is just awesome! I really like the look of it. I can't wait to hear how it sounds. (We WILL get recordings, right? )

[Mike Baker 2]

Lovely looking neck!

[Julie Moriarty]

I can't wait to hear how it sounds. (We WILL get recordings, right? )

Only if I can record someone who knows how to actually play. 55 years after first picking up a guitar, I still only know three chords, the chords to Gloria... G-L-O-R-I-A. Oh wait! There's another cord I learned from my brother but I can't remember what it's called.

[Jim Becker]

Julie, you don't need to know a whole lot of "chords" to be able to enjoy the guitar. I'm a keyboard player, but have had some fun "just playing around" with my guitars. It's more of a feel thing as you get into it and you'll be surprised at what you start to hear.

[george wilson]

Hi,Julie. I haven't been here for months,so just now saw your guitar making thread. You have been doing some nice work. Very fine craftsmanship. However,I am concerned that the ends of several of the top's struts are not inlet under the liner . Many years ago,Gibson made some low end guitars that were like that. They were problematic because the un end tucked struts would come loose.

I always tuck the ends of all my struts,and have also been cutting little pieces of linen (not cotton as it rots!) I saturate these pieces with glue and fit them over the X that the 2 longest top struts have. I also fit the linen where the short struts are tucked under the long X braces. I make longer strips of linen about 3/8" wide,and glue them at the edges of the bridge plate on both sides. Half way on the plate and half way on the top. I also glue the linen down the center line where the halves of the top are glued together. I do this because over the years I have seen several guitars where the top seam has opened.

Does all this "insurance" hurt the tone? No. The last guitar I made and posted pictures here was a real "cannon". That's what they call loud violins.I can apply it to guitars too.

Having reinforced the weak areas of the strut ends,I can be assured that they will not come loose and buzz,or cause other trouble. BTW,I was appointed a factory authorized Gibson repair man back in the 60's.