Got that Martin OOO kit...

[dgarrett]

Well it finally arrived and it looks pretty much intact. The kit is a Martin OOO Rosewood, 14 fret-25.4 scale. At first glance it looks to all be there and the wood grain looks really nice. The top is a solid piece of Spruce ( no visible seam ). It has the hole and rosette slots cut, but not installed. And the pick guard is not on like many kits I've read about from Martin. The fingerboard and bridge are not Ebony as I hoped, they look like the rosewood B&S, still nice. There is no large plan sheet like in the parts foto, just the booklet, with a head piece layout for drilling the tuner holes. Guess I'd better get that Martin book from Bill Cory ordered. Also I had made a mold form a couple of years ago, and the sides slide right in like they were made for it.

I intend to start this when the weather in in No Cal gets warmer as I need to work in my garage. So I'll let this box of goodies acclimate for a short while, and get my work area back in shape for the start up.

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Hey D, it sounds like you got yourself a project there.
Remember don't call it a "build".
Get Bill's Martin book, you will be glad you did for your first guitar.
Take your time, have fun, and show us pics along the way if you have time. Where in N. Cal are you? I'm in Visalia.

Kevin

[David L]

Someone might be able to help identify the woods that you have if you would post some pictures. Good luck, have fun.

David L

[deadedith]

Yeah, where in N. Cal? I'm in Medford, so we cannot be too far apart.

Just don't say you live in the Sonora, Twain Harte, Angel's Camp area; I had to move from there some years ago and I still miss the place.

DaveB

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Dave,
I use to live in Ceres/Modesto and spent a bit of time up the Sonora way. I use to deer hunt in them there hills above Twaine Hart.

Kevin

[dgarrett]

I live in Davis, near Sacramento. Been here almost 30 yrs.
Just retired recently, and my wife said I had to find a hobby or something to do other than watch TV. I started out to build a guitar about 4 yrs ago with a luthier teacher in Sac but he moved away. And there's a guitar shop in Winters where they teach building, but I never pursued that either. I tore apart and rebuilt an old folk guitar I had many years. It was unplayable, bad neck and high strings. I reset the neck, added some reinfocement and put on a new fingerboard. Did a rebinding on the upper side, trimmed the hole and put in a rosette. All for practice to get a little experience working with wood. The guitar is playable but doesn't look all that good. I Also built a mold for a OOO from the Kinkade book and a few other jigs to help along the way plus collecting tools to have on hand. Now I've got to get serious, just ordered Bill Cory's Martin build book, looking at his site on building a Martin Jumbo. And looking at LMI pix. Getting alot of good info to prepare for the work ahead...Dennis

[dgarrett]

Well I got the sides into the mold finally, will let them set there a while. The head side overlaps a little and the tail side has about a quarter inch gap. Bill says this is okay in his book since the tail end gets cut out for the tail wedge piece. The kit has a white plastic wedge, I think I'll try to use something better looking. More later...dennis

[David L]

Hey Dennis, mine came with a black plastic wedge for the end graft but I found a nice little piece of ebony that matches my fingerboard, headstock veneer, and bridge that I'm going to use instead. Plastic is ok for binding and purfling but I don't care to have as big of a piece as a tail wedge on my guitar. But hey, that's just me (I can't speak for anyone else).

David L

[dgarrett]

Well I'm really moving slow here. I have the sides in the mold and have now trimmed the overlap at the head of the body, and dry fitted the head block. I'm a little scared to do the gluing yet, it all seems okay but there are little things that worry me about getting this just right. I also trimmed the tail block height all according to Bill Cory's book. I may also bevel the corners like I see in most other kit pictures. Not sure if there is any benefit to this. The tail block isn't really an issue for me, but the head block is important and I want to be sure I get it right...Dennis

[Ken Hundley]

Good luck on your project! My first was a Martin Jumbo. Quality parts, short on documentation. Take your time, and I am sure it will come out just right!