Cherry parlor guitar, project #2

[ColestineGuitar]

Hey, those tuners look nice! I would never have ordered Gotoh's 3-on-a-plate machine heads based on their catalog pics, because to me they looked sort of tacky... too shiny or something, like you'd see on a cheap guitar. All Gotoh's tuners I've used are very nice, but it was the appearance of some that put me off. Based on you picture I will reconsider! Thanks for posting that.

[MaineGeezer]

I got them here: http://www.lmii.com/products/mostly-not ... ge-noimage

I would have liked to get these Waverlys, which are certainly nicer: http://www.stewmac.com/Hardware_and_Par ... heads.html

but the Gotohs were about $82 and the Waverlys are over $200. I decided the Gotohs were nice enough. Now that I have them in hand, I don't regret the choice. Waverlys come in a much nicer box, which no doubt adds to the cost...but the box gets thrown away. The plain brown pasteboard box the Gotohs came in serves the purpose.

[Diane Kauffmds]

Gotoh makes fine tuners. I'm sure you'll be happy with them.

[MaineGeezer]

I've glued the top plates together. It's Adirondack spruce I got on eBay. It's exceptionally stiff and has a nice ring. It should be quite a top for a small parlor guitar. Next step is to sand to thickness. I'll use Carter's thickness sander for that.

I'm also getting ready to glue the back together. If I get that done, perhaps on Monday when I see Carter I can get all thickness sanding done in one swell foop. (Rhetorical question for the Universe: What the heck is a "fell swoop," anyway?)

As a project for extra credit -- or something -- I'm trying to figure out how to make some replacement tuner buttons out of African blackwoood so they will match the fingerboard, head cap, and bridge. I think the secret is lots of holding fixtures, probably a different fixture for each step in the process...which I still need to work out.

[Diane Kauffmds]

That set looks nice Steve!

[MaineGeezer]

I got the back glued together over the weekend, and this morning Carter and I sanded the top and back to thickness. The top is a bit stiffer than the usual Adirondack spruce, and that plus the fact that it's going to be a small guitar encouraged us to make the top a bit thinner than one might for a larger guitar with average stiffness wood.

Carter has a theory that cherry will respond well to thinning the edges. We're going to try that and see what happens. The top is getting a curved H bracing pattern, so it's already unconventional.

I also got the dimensions for the bending mold I need to make. That will be my project for this week. I stopped and bought a piece of 3/4" void-free plywood and some 6" bolts. I'm all set to start.

[MaineGeezer]

This morning I finished up the bending mold for the sides. It will fit Carter's bending machine. I used 3/4" (I think it's actually 18 mm or something, which is just under 3/4") Baltic birch with slices of dowel as spacers. Total width is just shy of 6". It is just a bit smaller overall than the body mold, which should allow for the wood thickness. Carter and I briefly debated making the mold so it would overbend the curves a bit to compensate for spring-back, but decided it wasn't necessary. I still need to make the pressure plate to press in the waist.

[MaineGeezer]

The reinforcing strip was made from the scrap left when I rough-cut the top to shape.

The sides have been sanded to thickness. Next step with those is to get the profile off the prototype guitar and transfer it to the sides. I've taped a strip of paper to the side of the prototype and traced the profile. I'll have to deduct for the top and bottom thickness ((0.1' will do), make sure the curve is fair, and make an acrylic template. Then use the template to mark the sides for cutting.

[Diane Kauffmds]

Nice.

[MaineGeezer]

This possible bracing scheme is based on the Gibson L1 bracing, although the L1 had straight braces, not curved. It's still very tentative and will likely change.