For this guitar, I decided to go with a classic combination of Indian Rosewood and Sitka Spruce. Known as the new standard, Indian Rosewood is a very balanced tone wood, suitable for all sorts of musical styles.
Day 1
I came home to a nice surprise! The materials arrived earlier than expected. Not much to update today, as I just did a quick inventory of the parts. The real fun should begin soon.
Day 2 - Neck and Tail Block
Today was all about making the neck and tail block. These are the crucial components for a guitar and a much needed step to complete in the early phases of a build. It's important to get them glued in place to the the guitar sides before the sides have time to straighten back out from their bend.
For the neck block, I cut a piece of mahogany roughly to size of the finished piece. I then used a router to route out the slot that the neck will eventually fit into. The tail block has to be slightly radiused on the glue edge so I hand sand it to fit the guitar mold. This has to be just right or else there won't be a good glue joint.
Mahogany block used to make a neck block.
Finished neck and tail block.
Routing out the channel for the neck to fit into.
View of inside guitar prior to gluing neck and tail block.
Day 3 - Kerfing
Today was a pretty productive day. I brought the guitar sides down to finished depth, gave the sides a radius, installed the kerfing, and applied the radius to the kerfing.
Most acoustic guitars are not flat and mine are no exception. I add a slight radius to the top and back of the guitar, making it almost dome shaped. This provides stability to the instrument. I radius my backs to 15 degrees. This allows me to make the soundbox slightly deeper, while keeping the guitar sides narrower so the instrument is more comfortable to play.
To apply this radius to the guitar sides, I have 2 radiused sanding dishes (one for the top and back). I take the guitar sides, still in the mold, and sand them down in this dish until they are perfectly radiused to match the curve of the dish.
Once the sides have been properly radiused, I install the kerfing (pictured right). The kerfing provides some stability to the guitar sides, as well as add more of a gluing surface for when I glue the sides to the top and back. I chose Spanish cedar for the wood for my kerfing. This is a pretty popular wood choice for this piece and it smells amazing! If you’ve ever smelled cedar before, you know what I mean. I love the way Spanish cedar makes the inside of my guitars smell.
Day 4 - The Sound hole
Today I cut out the sound hole, inlayed the rosette, and layered the rosette with a piece of Cocobolo rosewood for some added depth.
Cutting the sound hole is pretty straightforward. I use a circle cutter on a drill press. Find the center, set the circle cutter to the radius of the sound hole, and CAREFULLY, cut it out.
I then use the same circle cutter to route the channel for the rosette. I do this by first cutting the inner dimension of the channel, then cutting the outer dimension, and finally, using a chisel to carve out the remaining wood in the channel.
Day 5 - The Back Plate
This day was all about getting the back plate ready. There's a lot of steps involved in this process. I first have to cut the back braces from a solid piece of spruce. I cut these pieces only roughly to size. The exact size and shape is accomplished from carving and sanding.
Since a guitar is not completely flat, these braces then need to be radiused before gluing. I use a radiused dish and sand the braces in this dish until they have a nice even curve (pictured right).
I then glue the back strip in place. The back strip provides extra support at the seam where the two back plates were joined together.
Once the back strip is glued to the back, I cut and chisel out the slots where the rest of the back braces will go. On this particular guitar, I've chosen to incorporate an angled back bracing structure.
Once the back braces are glued in place, it's time to start the carve. I carve these by hand using a chisel. I then finish sand them up to 320 grit sand paper.
Here, you can see the nearly finished back braces. They've been carved, but need some more sanding.
Day 6 - The Sound Board
The soundboard is a very important component in an acoustic guitar. This is where the magic happens. Hidden beneath the soundboard lays an intricate brace pattern that not only provides support for the top, but also helps to create the beautiful sound.
Carving the braces on the soundboard is my favorite part of building a guitar. This is the step that creates the instrument's unique sound. Each brace is tuned to a note to help make the finished soundboard sing like a bird. Not only are these braces carved a certain way to achieve a specific sound, in my humble opinion, the finished product is absolutely breathtaking.
I have a few pictures of the process shown below.
Day 7 - Closing the Box and Applying the Binding
With the back and soundboard both fully carved and sanded, it's time to close the box. Before proceeding, the braces have to be marked on the guitar sides where the will join the sides. The sides are then filed down to allow for the braces to fit snugly, without too much wiggle room. See below pictures.
After the sides are filed down for the braces, it's time to glue the top and back plates. I glue the soundboard first, although it doesn't really matter which plate is done first.
