Symmetrical X-braced OM 12-string

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Stray Feathers
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Re: Symmetrical X-braced OM 12-string

Post by Stray Feathers »

It took me a long time to get this guitar together, mostly because I was pondering how to lay out the string spacing at saddle and nut, and I wanted to have all strings passing from nut to tuners without touching anything else. When I was drilling tuner holes (10 mm for Stew Mac Golden Age) I goofed (a combination of aging eyes, poor light at the drill press and sloppiness) and got some out of line. I had to plug the holes on one side but plug cutters don't work because they are tapered, so I ordered a 10 mm dowel cutter from Amana which worked well to cut dowels to go all the way through the walnut headstock. Then I remeasured (18 times . . .) and redrilled. I thought I might have to cut wenge plugs to match the headplate but only one was possibly visible so I didn't do that. In the end it may show a tiny bit so I stained it dark.
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Stray Feathers
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Joined: Sun Sep 08, 2013 11:39 pm
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Re: Symmetrical X-braced OM 12-string

Post by Stray Feathers »

With the guitar assembled and good weather I started the finishing. I described in the finishing section problems with pore filling, but for the record, here is the guitar after six coats of Mohawk lacquer, time for drop filling and so on. You can see the Wenge headplate still has grain issues after five coats of filler; not sure yet how much I can do but I'll see. Bruce W.
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Stray Feathers
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Re: Symmetrical X-braced OM 12-string

Post by Stray Feathers »

I am setting up this guitar and have discovered that the headstock is a little thick. I had bought Golden Age small button tuners from SM and I find the nuts sitting above the point where the post starts to curve inward where the strings wrap. I might gain a little height if I used the washers upside down and reamed out the holes a tad (where it would be hidden by the washer), but I don't know what harm that might do. I would be happier if the posts were longer. After a lot of searching I found almost nothing longer in any brand. Schaller makes a mini with an available longer post but it would only gain me a millimetre or less (and at great expense). Then I thought about Gotoh height adjustable tuners. I could find few comments about them, with some saying the extra adjustment made them sloppier. Has anyone used these height adjustable tuners? Bruce W.
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phavriluk
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Re: Symmetrical X-braced OM 12-string

Post by phavriluk »

A couple of thoughts....

(1) thin the back of the neck, Local refinishing needed, but considering the alternatives....
(2) and this is sporty: countersink the washers/nuts that fasten the tuners....

Left to me, I'd try #1 first. If it didn't work out cleanly, the back of the headstock could get a veneer.

Again if left to me, I wouldn't want to mess with the hardware.

Please keep us posted.

(My 12-string project worked out wonderfully. Little dreadnaught (same size as Martin Junior), 12 frets to the body, 24" scale length, fits in a 'classical' size gig bag. Fun part about making your own, they're just not commercially available.)
peter havriluk
Stray Feathers
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Re: Symmetrical X-braced OM 12-string

Post by Stray Feathers »

Peter - I should have mentioned that I have considered thinning the back of the headstock but it's something I am reluctant to do, partly because there is a sort of volute on the neck, and also because it is tricky to set up to use a Safe-T-Planer (as it happens I have both a Stew Mac copy and an original) while bracing or balancing the rest of the guitar. I would also rather not get back into finishing but I may have to. I could countersink the hardware but it would end up looking repaired I think. Unless I could find countersunk washers or something perhaps.

I also should have mentioned that I have not yet screwed the tuners in place, just fitted them to check alignment. So I could use any tuner that fits a 10mm hole, and save these for a future guitar (with a . . . ahem . . . thinner headstock . . . ) After sleeping on it I am inclined to take a chance on the Gotoh adjustable height tuners, but I'd appreciate comments from anyone with any experience with them.

Finally, congratulations on finishing your twelve-string; did you post images here that I missed?
Bruce W.
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Stray Feathers
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Re: Symmetrical X-braced OM 12-string

Post by Stray Feathers »

I hemmed and hawed about tuner choices for some time. I enquired about ordering the Gotoh height-adjustable-post tuners (the 6-in-line HAP tuners are fairly widely available but I could find none of the 3L+3R tuner sets anywhere). With supply chain issues it looked uncertain. So I ordered two sets of Schaller's longer-post M6 Mini tuners from Germany (none available anywhere in North America). They finally arrived (delayed by Covid perhaps but also recent heavy rain that flooded much of southwestern BC and closed all highways leading to Vancouver). They will work well. Schaller specifies ( a lot of tuners don't) that they can be used on headstocks up to 18 mm thick (mine is just over 17.5; normal 5/8" is about 16mm). What's interesting to me is that my first two builds were slot-heads with Grover Sta-tite tuners, and the mounting plates are 17.3 mm at the widest, so the headstock has to be that thick at least. For solid heads, that doesn't work. In the photo, the original Golden Age tuner is on the left, and the Schaller longer-post is on the right. So if you should ever find yourself with a too-thick headstock, this is one solution, up to a point. The model number for these is 10040223.01.37; it is the .37 that designates the longer post, whichever model you choose. As it turns out, the Gotoh HAP tuner order also went through, so they are coming as well (sheesh . . .) At least I'll have them to compare. So I will soon get back to setting up this 12-string - and I guess I may have to think about making some others, since I will have lots of tuners . . . Bruce W.
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Stray Feathers
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Re: Symmetrical X-braced OM 12-string

Post by Stray Feathers »

This guitar is finally off the bench. I installed the Schaller tuners; although they are 10 mm they are a tad thicker than the Golden Age so I had to ream out the holes a little. Lots of time spent on the nut and saddle, and I did compensate the saddle on all 12 strings, though it is a little less than elegant. I see now the bridge pins for the 6th string pair are a little off; the spacing is okay, so I think they are just a little too close to the saddle. The radius I used for the bridge pin holes is also smaller than I have used before; I don't know how that happened but I won't do it again. I'm not going to try to fix either of those things, but I will do a little more work on the finish to try for a little more gloss. The guitar sounds great. I wanted a full boomy 12-string, but not as boomy as a jumbo, say. The deeper body helps, but the OM format is still comfortable to hold. I guess I will never know how it would have been with Martin-style bracing rather than symmetrical X-bracing. I'm very happy with it, though I do not have another 12 handy to compare. I am also fighting with hearing aids, which makes it difficult to know what "normal" even sounds like. Now I just have to work on my hand strength! Bruce W.
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phavriluk
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Re: Symmetrical X-braced OM 12-string

Post by phavriluk »

Wonderful! Another can't-buy-one-like-it 12-string. Mine's been on loan to my instructor, I wasn't playing it and Jeff is, so good.

Your pictures are a treat. Thanks.
peter havriluk
Stray Feathers
Posts: 677
Joined: Sun Sep 08, 2013 11:39 pm
Location: Ladysmith, BC

Re: Symmetrical X-braced OM 12-string

Post by Stray Feathers »

A final word on longer-post tuners: The Gotoh height-adjustable post (HAP) tuners I thought I had not ordered, but had, arrived today. The twelve-string I considered them for is finished, but I put a couple on an unfinished 6-string headstock just to see how they work. The tuner on the right in the photo is a normal Gotoh tuner. The one on the left is an HAP tuner, adjusted so the top of the post is lower than the height of the normal one. (They will also adjust quite a bit lower). The one in the middle is an HAP tuner adjusted to the maximum usable height. There is not a lot of height gained in the post height in the HAP tuner, but what I did not realize is that the string hole is quite a bit higher, and the narrow waist where the string wraps is shorter and positioned higher on the post. So you can use them on a thicker headstock (my original goal). But the shorter wrap portion of the post might be a bit skimpy for large wrapped strings. One other note: I had read that the HAP tuners might be wobbly because of the adjustability, but the locking mechanism seems well designed and tight. On the 3L + 3R sets I bought, the adjustment is clockwise on one side and counterclockwise on the other. I think these are meant for electrics like the Les Paul (which I know nothing about) but they may be useful for a thicker headstock. For anyone (like me) not familiar with these things, maybe this will be useful some day. Bruce W.
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