redwood 00

Take us through building your guitar step by step. Post pictures and tell us what you're doing.
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ruby@magpage.com
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Re: redwood 00

Post by ruby@magpage.com »

If you are doing a non-pyramid bridge, the first couple of jigs will still be handy. Here is a Brazilian Rosewood bridge I made for a 1933 Gibson L-00 that was shattered and that I rebuilt. The saddle wasn't cut to length in this picture, and I wish I had the pin hole and the saddle slot jig earlier for this one. There are many designs for both of these jigs and I did ones that made sense to me and the number of bridges I will ever make.
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Ed M
ruby@magpage.com
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Re: redwood 00

Post by ruby@magpage.com »

1) Time to locate the bridge. I made a fixture that lets me bump the installed saddle up against it, center and square it, and off you go. Here is the nut end - it just hooks over the nut slot

2) This is the business end - I made it for a 24.9" scale and am using the convention that is confirmed by the StewMac fret locator calcs. Confirm the scale by measuring nut to twelfth fret on the actual fretboard, double to get scale length, add .1 inch to compensate the high e, then angle the saddle 3°, or 1/8" from e to E. Then subtract 1/2 the thickness of the saddle blank - 1/16" for an 1'8" saddle - to put the point of string contact in the center of the saddle - make the fixture that long. Now when I bump the saddle against it, the bridge is in the right place

3) Except that this time I am using a 25.4" scale. I added a .44 (if I recall) extension to the fixture and now it works for my new scale
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Last edited by ruby@magpage.com on Tue Aug 11, 2020 12:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Ed M
ruby@magpage.com
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Re: redwood 00

Post by ruby@magpage.com »

1) Clamp it on and center it . . . .

2) Center the bridge side to side and begin to tape it down. . . .

3) Check for square against the center seam, tape the heck out of it. . . . .
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Ed M
ruby@magpage.com
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Re: redwood 00

Post by ruby@magpage.com »

1) and drill the outer two holes

2) Painful alert - we will never speak of this again. I positioned the bridge with the wrong side of the saddle against the jig. I found it when I shined a light down from the top and checked with a mirror inside to be sure I hit my bridge plate - I didn't

3) With a piece of sandpaper on the top, I arch the bottom of the bridge to match the top curvature. Ready for finish (except for patching 2 holes in the top!!!! GAHHH)
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Ed M
BEJ
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Re: redwood 00

Post by BEJ »

I have a top with 2 holes in almost the same place, for the life of me I don't know how it happened, needed 2 extra pegs for that guitar.
ruby@magpage.com
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Re: redwood 00

Post by ruby@magpage.com »

1) I couldn't find a 3/16" plug cutter, so I turned to my telescoping cork gasket cutter, graduate in 1/16th's. I used the 1/4" first in the scrap top wood to give some clearance, then just twisted the sharpened 3/16" tip down til I got a plug . A little big, but a touch to sandpaper made it fit well

2) Now sanding - you all know the drill. I finished with 220 like Martin does in these woods


So now for finishing. I don't have spray equipment, so I hand polish and am looking for the right finish for my "talents". I have used water based KT-9 (no longer made), water based EMT 6000, TruOil, Minwax Wipe on Poly, shellac, and I've had 2 professionally sprayed with Nitro and buffed. Nothing I am in love with - but that may have changed. I am trying Endurovar and so far I LOVE IT. We'll wait to see how it polishes.

3) No shots of brushing Endurovar. I put on 8 coats in 8 hours, each time brushing across the last coat to even things out a bit. Then I dragged some 220 over surface to get rid of the big stuff, and sanded with 320 until I had just a few shiny spots left. Only sanded through in 2 spots on the neck, so I am confident with the next round of 3 coats that I will be able to sand smooth and polish. You can see the unsanded area at the bottom of the shot
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Last edited by ruby@magpage.com on Tue Aug 11, 2020 12:51 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Ed M
ruby@magpage.com
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Re: redwood 00

Post by ruby@magpage.com »

1) Endurovar is easy to brush on and sands extremely easily. Sandpaper used dry lasts forever and it takes just a few minutes to level. As in the last shot, you can see how far I went, leaving just a few shiny spots

2) And you can see how the extra holes look with their plugs. One is almost completely gone, and the other will be fine once the distraction of the strings is in place

3) I managed to sand through along this edge and one small other area of the neck. A few coats and a more careful sanding, and ready for the last 4 coats - total of 12 feels good. #9 is coming along!!
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Last edited by ruby@magpage.com on Sat Aug 15, 2020 6:56 am, edited 1 time in total.
Ed M
ruby@magpage.com
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Re: redwood 00

Post by ruby@magpage.com »

1) Martin stamped the back of the head with their 19th c logo. I put on my decal logo after polishing up this area

2) Last round of 4 coats . . .

3) Time to hurry up and wait a few days for leveling and polishing. Others have done this after 4 days but I may just wait a little longer
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Ed M
ruby@magpage.com
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Re: redwood 00

Post by ruby@magpage.com »

Waited 5 days after the final coats of Endurovar. After about 15 minutes of leveling the back with careful 220 then 320, I spent about 4-5 minutes each with 400, 600, 1000, 1500, 2000 emory paper, then 6,000 and 8,000 micromesh, then Meguire's Glaze polish, and voila. Sometimes I envy those with power equipment for this. After less than an hour:
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Ed M
Kevin Sjostrand
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Re: redwood 00

Post by Kevin Sjostrand »

Ed that is what I call PURTY!
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