StewMac Dreadnought kit

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donschanche
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Jul 01, 2013 1:40 am

StewMac Dreadnought kit

Post by donschanche »

I bought a dreadnought kit from Stewart-MacDonald back in 2007. Figured it would take me a couple of years to build, doing the work when I had time on my days off.
It ended up taking six, but it's finally finished.
There were long periods (entire seasons) when I did no work on it at all -- though I seldom stopped thinking about it.
And for two years I tried and failed over and over to get a proper fit on the dovetail neck joint. I think I may have skewed the joint while chiseling out some excess glue from when I fastened the top and bottom. In the end, I enlisted a luthier friend to fit the neck and then was finally able to put it all together.
In full disclosure, I also enlisted him to do the final setup.
But for the most part it's my work. (Just for fun, I contoured the top of the peghead and added some MOP inlay.)
I'm pleased with the results. It sounds like I hoped it would, and it feels good to play.
It's far from perfect, but I think I ended up with a good guitar.
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johnnparchem
Posts: 2354
Joined: Sat Apr 10, 2010 10:50 pm
Location: Seattle
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Re: StewMac Dreadnought kit

Post by johnnparchem »

No harm in getting help. The guitar looks great, are you going to try another?
tippie53
Posts: 7128
Joined: Fri Mar 03, 2006 7:09 pm
Location: Hegins, Pa
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Re: StewMac Dreadnought kit

Post by tippie53 »

the more you build the better you get
John Hall
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com
naccoachbob
Posts: 477
Joined: Thu Dec 03, 2009 9:25 am
Location: Nacogdoches, Tx

Re: StewMac Dreadnought kit

Post by naccoachbob »

Nice first time job on that. The guitar looks great.
donschanche
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Jul 01, 2013 1:40 am

Re: StewMac Dreadnought kit

Post by donschanche »

Thanks much.
Here's a link to an account of this six-year build.
http://donsguitar.tumblr.com/
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