L-00 Rosewood Build

Take us through building your guitar step by step. Post pictures and tell us what you're doing.
Post Reply
Snaglpuss
Posts: 44
Joined: Sun Jul 05, 2015 3:46 pm

Re: L-00 Rosewood Build

Post by Snaglpuss »

I did get it finished for xmas.

I got a case for it from Elderly, this size was not cheap compared to more common Dread sized cases you can get dirt cheap.

In the two photos I fuzzed out my initials that I have inlayed in the
headstock(s) in case you are wondering.

I have played this for a while now and I can't really get my head wrapped around the sound of this guitar yet after playing big guitars up till now.
This thing has a whole different sound from the Jumbo shown next to it.

The intonation of this guitar is off a little, on the Jumbo I made I got lucky and it is very good. I think the bridge on the LOO should have been back a hair more even though mathematically it is good. I have the break on the saddle back as far as I can but it is a little off at the 12th fret although not more than some commercial guitars.

I think once the guitar settles in I will work on the bridge and saddle.

Thanks for looking at this and being patient for the time lag between posts.

I am not guitar making expert but if any of these photos can help someone then it will have been worth the time I spent. I am thankful to all the people that spend time posting stuff on guitar sites all over the net. No one site or person has all the info but I have learned stuff from almost all the sites I have visited.

Edit- I forgot to mention I have 106 hours into this guitar in case anyone is curious. I don't know if that's good time or a bad time but I kept track on this one because when I was done with the last one I wished I had known.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Diane Kauffmds
Posts: 3246
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2014 8:13 pm

Re: L-00 Rosewood Build

Post by Diane Kauffmds »

It took me over 50 hours for inlaying alone on the cherry 00-12, including designing, routing, inlaying, filling, and leveling. I spent more than 35 hours finishing, so it took me almost as long to inlay and finish as it did for you to do your entire build. I'm sure that I'll have more than 100 hours invested in the repair/rebuild that I'm working on at the moment with the classical guitar. I don't know what the average time is for building a guitar, but 106 hours seems fast. Your guitar looks great.

Bridge and fret placement are just the beginning of intonation; there are many things that affect it.

I had a similar problem with intonation, even with the frets/bridge being in correct positions. First, I checked to make sure that all of the frets were completely seated, second I checked the fret crowns, which was my problem. The crowns weren't absolutely center of the frets. Once corrected, the guitar's intonation is spot on, fret to fret.

The good thing about this goof was that I learned that you can change the intonation by quite a bit. Intonation will change depending on the nut height, depth of each string, and break angle of the nut, as well as the fret stuff that I mentioned. All of these things give you quite a bit of leeway to correct the intonation.
Diane Kauffmann
Country Roads Guitars
countryroadsguitars@gmail.com
Diane Kauffmds
Posts: 3246
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2014 8:13 pm

Re: L-00 Rosewood Build

Post by Diane Kauffmds »

BTW, I don't install pickguards, but I play fingerstyle and without a pick. I have a restraining order against picks; I don't allow picks within 500 feet of my guitars. Hahaha.
Diane Kauffmann
Country Roads Guitars
countryroadsguitars@gmail.com
Snaglpuss
Posts: 44
Joined: Sun Jul 05, 2015 3:46 pm

Re: L-00 Rosewood Build

Post by Snaglpuss »

Thank you for your comments.
What you did on your inlay neck is quite a piece of work,
and trying to restore that classical guitar is like doing remodeling on an
old house, you have to tear stuff down, clean up and asses before you can even start to put back together. It is much easier to build new from scratch most times.
I was lucky with building these guitars as I have access to CAD and a CNC router at work. We also have a Timesaver sander.
Having the CNC makes easy work of making the forms, jigs and templates you need. You can do it by hand but with CAD and CNC it is fast and accurate if you draw it correctly.
As far as your comments on checking the frets for centered crowning, at quick glance they seem fine. I'm guessing the solution will lie with the nut and or saddle.
Part of what is bothering me is also the difference in sound / voice with this compared to the Jumbo.
Kind of like driving around in a big car all the time and then driving a subcompact.

Edit- I looked at your comments about the fret crowning kit from Thomas Ginex, so I ordered one , looks simple, fast, and cheap. Very little to loose in trying this. Thanks
Diane Kauffmds
Posts: 3246
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2014 8:13 pm

Re: L-00 Rosewood Build

Post by Diane Kauffmds »

I've only had dreads, so my OM took some getting used to. I actually think the 00 sounds better than the OM, but it's probably due to the old wood that I used. Thank you for your comments on the inlay. I'm already starting to design (in my head) ideas for my next guitar inlay.

I can imagine trying to get used to a smaller guitar after playing a jumbo. Let me know your thoughts on the crowning tool.
Diane Kauffmann
Country Roads Guitars
countryroadsguitars@gmail.com
Post Reply