Rosewood and Engelmann 00

[Stray Feathers]

A couple of years ago I came across a set of East Indian Rosewood at one of the suppliers I use, that said it was for a 00. The price was very reasonable, so I bought it. I had some hope that I might squeeze an OM out of it, but it was not to be; the sides were too short. But I was interested to try my first 00 anyway. So, using the Grellier plans, I made a 00 mould, and also a 00 bending form, which took some time. My first two guitars were OM bodies with 12 fret necks, modified from Jonathan Kinkead plans. There were precedents out there, including Martin's Norman Blake model from their custom shop. I wanted to do a similar thing with this 00. I really like the physically shorter overall length of a 12 fret neck on a normal body, and I like the idea that the bridge gets repositioned deeper into the lower bout. I wanted to see if there were any out there, to "justify" what I was contemplating. It took a while, but then I found Dana Bourgeois' 00 with 12 fret neck, dubbed the 00-12, and also the Deuce, and Deuce Coupe. Bingo! So I modified the Grellier plan to shift the soundhole, bracing and bridge lower. The back strip is flame maple (or fiddleback maple? Are they the same thing?) and the bindings will be the same. Mahogany slot head neck is planned, with some elegant Schaller tuners. Bruce W.

[Stray Feathers]

After finishing (mostly) the top and back, it was time to bend the sides - always a bit harrowing for me. The rosewood sides were very oily, but they bent well on my Fox bender. And, in an effort to reduce springback, I made the waist on the bending form just a tad deeper than the waist on the mould. The sides fit in that mould better than any other guitar I've made, I think. So maybe the old dog is learning new tricks . . . Bruce W.

[Stray Feathers]

The blocks and kerfing are in - side struts are next, and make sure the top and back are sanded to correct radii. Bruce W.

[Stray Feathers]

I've closed the box on this 00. Although the sides seemed to be a good fit in the mould, I still seem to have a little trouble keeping the sides perpendicular, and find it helps to leave spreaders in while I glue the back and top - provided I have done a dry test to see if I can remove the spreader bits when I'm done! I was given a 2x10 mahogany short, cut face grain, by my brother-in-law, and decided to use it for necks, cutting 1"+ pieces off it, and gluing them side by side to get closer to vertical grain. I was not completely happy about laminating the neck, until I realized it is done all the time when builders laminate necks with Fancy Desirable Centre Strips, so what's the difference? You can see the neck pieces glued together in the background of one photo. I have now also thicknessed the blank and cut the scarf joint, and will glue it in the next day or so - grandkids' soccer permitting . . . Bruce W.

[BlindBo]

Nice work! I almost always use my spreaders in the box when closing it up. I made my lower bout spreader using 2 turnbuckles so that I can disassemble it in the box. It makes removal very easy.
Please keep showing us your progress.

[Stray Feathers]

After the requisite issues with bindings, I got the body of this 00 finished. The bindings get better each time but I've still had to do some repairs, fortunately on the back on this one. The mahogany neck is thicker to allow for a triangular volute. In my haste I made the headstock a little thin for the slot head I planned but I will see how it ends up with a head veneer. I have some Schaller tuners for it and they are actually 1.6 mm (1/16") narrower in the body than Grovers I have used, so might work if it is a little thin. And I don't mind if I end up doing a solid head as I bought some of the Grover open back tuners John Hall has available. The body needs more finish sanding but I will put this aside for a bit while I wait for some Martin 12-fret truss rods to arrive. Bruce W.

[Stray Feathers]

The Martin 12-fret truss rods from my Canadian source have been delayed considerably, so I decided to use a truss rod I have had for some time. It's sold as a 12-fret truss rod, but is a little long, especially for a short scale 12-fret, but it fits. I was fussing about it being too close to the nut, and then of course figured out that truss rods that are adjustable at the nut run all the way through the neck. So I will try it and see.

I roughed out the neck blank, and then roughed out the volute.

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I did the rough carving on the neck, and then refined it to the point it is almost done. It's a short-scale 12-fret neck, and it looks kinda small! Yesterday I tried to remember how I had cut slots in the peghead on my first two builds, revisiting the crude jigs and templates I made some years ago. So I did a test "headstock" and it went okay, so today I slotted the real headstock. I had a minor issue with the router bit moving off centre in the brass template ring, I think because I had not tightened the router properly between subsequent passes. I did adjust the width of both slots slightly to match, and it looks fine to my eye. I need to file the string ramps and do some final sanding everywhere. Next I need an ebony fretboard, and it's time to inlay my MOP logo on the peghead. Bruce W.