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Thanks to everyone who has helped me to this point.

My first build is a Martin rosewood dreadnought kit from GMC with mortise & tenon neck.

At this point, I have some questions:

As I understand it, the Martin m/t neck is not a true bolt on & needs to be glued. Is it worth while or a good or bad idea to attach with only the bolt & do an initial string up to see what happens under tension?

How do most of you taper the bridge pin holes - file, reamer? A reamer seems like the best but I'm not excited about buying a fairly expensive & very specialized tool.

I didn't realize that the end peg is also a tapered pin. Is there any reason why they don't use a threaded stud type arrangement, or is this just tradition. Any tips on tapering this hole? The pin that came with my kit is plastic. I'm ok with using plastic (the binding is plastic after all) but do you use regular wood glue or the binding cement to secure it?

Thanks,
Kevin Looker

Wow!!! It's beautiful and you have done a great job. Thanks for posting the picture.

Looks very good! And #2 is waiting in the background, I see. I didn't pore fill my first, which was IRW, as well. Doesn't bother me...

I use a rat-tail file for the bridge pin holes, but later bought an inexpensive reamer from grizzly, which improved the fit. (http://www.grizzly.com/products/3-Bridg ... amer/H5808)

yes you can string it up with just bolting on but that is designed to be glued . Work looks good. If you are going to so this more and make a hobby out of it . I found that grizzlies taper was low end. Yes Stew mac is more but you can get a good quality taper reamer at any machinist industrial supply. You need one for the strap pin also. The taper is tradition as it is a simple wedge . I will inlay plywood in the tail block so if the guitar gets dropped , you won' t split the sides. That happens and it can get ugly.
You can also use a screw in strap button .

Agree with John, grizzly's reamer is low end, but a step up from a rat-tail. :)

Thanks for the kind words.

Yes, that's no. 2 in the background - a mahogany 000 'practice kit' from Jim Hall. I think I'm over the initial excitement & impatience of the first build so I'm telling myself that I'll spend more time on the finish on that one.

Has anyone used the reamer that Martin's Guitar Maker's Connection lists on their site? The price is right but they don't list the angle. My kit came from Martin so I assume it has 5 degree pins?

Kevin Looker

that will work.