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First a HUGE shout-out to John and Diane Kauffmds. Thank you so much.
I wanted to rebuild a 12 string guitar into a Travel Guitar and a 12 String I could put in my lap, in my recliner, and practice on. My Seagull is a tad too big. So I got some parts.

On another forum the advice was:
There's another forum where people do a lot of this..... maybe you can find a kindred soul or two there.
we deduce that you need to take a few steps back.
What you are proposing is not realistic.
One doesn't "straighten the side boards
connecting the pieces WILL have to be done right
Learn how guitars are built and THEN figure out how to do what you want to do.
I think it is time for some tough love.
This project is a mistake, and you don't know what you are doing.

Well, I went ahead and did it anyway.
It could be called, “Ugly.” I’m going to call it, “Battle Scarred.”
After all it is 50 years old and my rebuild put plenty of scars on it. Concerning the straightening of the side boards, a very kind young woman, (YAAAY Diane) who is an experienced guitar builder, on another guitar builder’s forum said, “Also, to flatten your sides, just use a clothes iron set on the cotton setting. Sit it on the top of the curve of wood with just the weight of the iron. You'll see and feel the wood relax as it "unbends". Just go with the wood, with gentle pressure. It happens pretty quickly after the wood is hot.” I didn’t straighten them out super flat, but they did straighten out using her advice.

I am very proud of how I built this. Measure twice then measure again. Draw it out. Go slow, take your time, patience. Let the glue dry. Let the lacquer dry. Look at the mistake, think about it, then fix it. I made some mistakes, let’s say 10 and the finish is not great but then it’s the first time I did this. I’m proud of this guitar and can’t wait to make another one, it will be better, learning from mistakes.

be proud of what you did. I always say that even if you make a mistake , if you learned from that it no longer is a mistake but a learning opportunity
Keep posting

Cool!

Turtle wrote:First a HUGE shout-out to John and Diane Kauffmds. Thank you so much.
I wanted to rebuild a 12 string guitar into a Travel Guitar and a 12 String I could put in my lap, in my recliner, and practice on. My Seagull is a tad too big. So I got some parts.

On another forum the advice was:
There's another forum where people do a lot of this..... maybe you can find a kindred soul or two there.
we deduce that you need to take a few steps back.
What you are proposing is not realistic.
One doesn't "straighten the side boards
connecting the pieces WILL have to be done right
Learn how guitars are built and THEN figure out how to do what you want to do.
I think it is time for some tough love.
This project is a mistake, and you don't know what you are doing.

Well, I went ahead and did it anyway.
It could be called, “Ugly.” I’m going to call it, “Battle Scarred.”
After all it is 50 years old and my rebuild put plenty of scars on it.

battlescarred.png

Concerning the straightening of the side boards, a very kind young woman, (YAAAY Diane) who is an experienced guitar builder, on another guitar builder’s forum said, “Also, to flatten your sides, just use a clothes iron set on the cotton setting. Sit it on the top of the curve of wood with just the weight of the iron. You'll see and feel the wood relax as it "unbends". Just go with the wood, with gentle pressure. It happens pretty quickly after the wood is hot.” I didn’t straighten them out super flat, but they did straighten out using her advice.

I am very proud of how I built this. Measure twice then measure again. Draw it out. Go slow, take your time, patience. Let the glue dry. Let the lacquer dry. Look at the mistake, think about it, then fix it. I made some mistakes, let’s say 10 and the finish is not great but then it’s the first time I did this. I’m proud of this guitar and can’t wait to make another one, it will be better, learning from mistakes.

Nope. I helped you in a PM. This forum! I'm glad you got your photos posted okay and that you straightened the wood okay. Mistakes aren't mistakes; they're our great teachers. You learn more from a goof than when things go as planned. Besides, where's the fun if you dont have to rethink a few things?

You done good.

Diane

This is great, thanks for posting! Congrats for following your curiosity and instincts to create something you envisioned. "Those who say it can't be done are usually interrupted by others doing it."

I'm sure there's a better way of saying this, but until I've learned by doing I haven't learned the "why" of something - maybe that's one distinction between knowledge and wisdom. You can know a lot and still be unable to fight your way out of a wet paper bag. Its great to acquire knowledge and it can save a tremendous amount of time, but nothing changes unless we take chances, which usually means going beyond what we're sure of. For me knowledge is like a map, but wisdom is like a treasure hunt. This is one of the things I find so fascinating about guitar building, there are as many ways to do it as there are builders.

So back to your creation, how does it sound?!?