Acoustic guitar build

[Jason Scott]

As a guitar player (I play lead in a band currently) and a woodworker, I find this project particularly amazing! I have a hard enough time building furniture but seeing this project really makes me want to give my own custom guitar a shot! Thanks for posting all the detail!

[Cary Falk]

You can still use the fretboard, just convert the markers to a different shape like ovals or squares, it's still salvagable.

Also, when attaching binding, instead of having to mess with clamps, take a few new innertubes cut into strips(1/2"), connected together, and wrap it around the guitar while it is clamped down... form fitting.

Ted

I thought about changing the shape of the markers. Bigger circles would have been the easiest but 8mm was the biggest I could find and would have not been big enough. I haven't seen ovals but think that would be a nightmare to inlay. I thought about diamonds also but the neighbor want circles so I figured I would stick with circles. I will save the messed up one if I ever decide to make another.

I agree rubberbands/innertubes would have been easire for the bindings but I went with what I had on hand.
Cary

[Cary Falk]

As a guitar player (I play lead in a band currently) and a woodworker, I find this project particularly amazing! I have a hard enough time building furniture but seeing this project really makes me want to give my own custom guitar a shot! Thanks for posting all the detail!

Jason, Give it a shot. It is really not as difficult as I thought. It does take precision to a whole different level that I haven't ever been to. My fractional dial caliper is my best friend. I spend as much time making jigs as I do making the guitar. That is something I am not used to doing.

[Don Eddard]

Great progress so far. Thanks for the pics, and keep 'em coming.

[Jason Tuinstra]

Perhaps the guitar will be used for country or folk, but I personally think it rocks! Great job! I'm really enjoying watching the progress and development of this project. Keep it up!

[James Phillips]

I have built 4 and that look way better than my first. Kudos my friend. Building guitars is not hard per se, but you have to be patient and go slow. For the ones that think they may like to try it, you can get kits with some of the really hard work done. I have some quilted maple and brazilian rosewood that I plan to make some baritone ukuleles out of next summer

[Cary Falk]

Well here is a sneak peek at the peghead inlay. It took me a little over 10 hours and multiple tries on the mother pearl to get what I wanted. I had a small diamond rasp in a dremel that I had inverted upside donw mounted to a board and used it as a small spindle sander but what ended up in the end that worked best was some small hobby files and the scroll saw. I had to make about every one of the letters twice. There are some gaps around the letters. I filled the gaps with epoxy mixed with walnut dust. Will see tomorrow after I send through the drum sander. The letters are suppose to be JR 44 although the font he selected looks like JRR 44

Stay tuned.

[Cary Falk]

Well, IT turned out better than I thought, but not perfect.

[Jim Becker]

Man, that looks pretty darn nice to me!

[Cary Falk]

The fret board is on and the peg head veneer is being clamped on as I type. It's starting to look like a guitar.

[Cary Falk]

One last picture to end out the weekend.

[dan mosheim]

Hi Cary,
Nice job on the guitar post with all the pics. Very inspiring ... I'm impressed that you just headed into it with plans from a book. My younger son wanted to build a resonator guitar and we bought a kit from Stewart MacDonald that worked out slick and it was still a LOT of work ... He's about to head into the finishing this weekend and there are pictures of his guitar and a bunch of other woodworking stuff posted here http://dorsetcustomfurniture.blogspo...or-guitar.html
I would post the photos here but can't figure out the url thing that comes up when I click on the picture icon...

[Cary Falk]

I'm glad everybody has enjoyed the journey so far. I am really glad we decided to go full bore and do everything from scratch. All in all, it has not been as bad as I thought. My weakest area seems to be the inlay on the peg head. There will not be much to see this weekend. I started the sanding sealer and grain fill. I hope to get all of the lacquer put on this weekend and then it will sit a week to cure. After that it is buff,nut, saddle and strings. Hopefully in a little over a week I will have something new to post. See ya in about week.

Dan, Nice looking guitar btw.

[Cary Falk]

Ok, I guess I lied about not having any pictures to post this weekend. I finished up the pick plate off the same piece of wood I cut the peg head veneer out of while waiting for lacquer to dry

[Glenn Howard]

Just out of curiosity, where did you find the information for spec'ing out the measurements, etc? As a player, I know that this type of work has to be extremely precise as far as locating the frets and bridge, length and pitch of neck, etc. Otherwise, the guitar won't intonate correctly and you end up with a beautiful instrument that is unplayable.

It looks like you've certainly done your homework, so I'm curious as to where you found this information. I may be interested in this type of venture myself someday, although I may take a stab at an electric instead.