Cherry parlor guitar, project #2

[Kevin Sjostrand]

I had that happen once on a top. One thing I've learned is to get the top on as quickly as possible after bracing it. No humidity control in my shop either.

[MaineGeezer]

African blackwood cap glued on, headstock profiled, closed-bottom string slots cut, one tuner installed.

[Diane Kauffmds]

It looks really good. Love those tuners.

[MaineGeezer]

Gotoh tuners from LMI. They seem quite good. One thing I don't like is that replacement buttons are difficult to come by, and I'd prefer ebony. That's a minor detail though.

I'm trying to figure out what to do with the volute. When I cut the headstock to final thickness I was able to leave enough material for the volute, but I'm having trouble visualizing the final form. It will be Revealed at the proper time, I hope.

I inlaid the owl yesterday. There are a couple of serious gaps, but I hope when I finish filling them they won't be too obvious.

[Diane Kauffmds]

Is the volute the shape that's on the Bruno? If so, sit the Bruno beside you and look at it from the side, to get the height profile, then work from there. Keep the Bruno right there and shape a little at a time, from each 3D direction.

[MaineGeezer]

No, the Bruno (the guitar I'm sort-of copying) doesn't have a volute, and it has a sharp V neck whereas this one is going to be a lot flatter.
Given the neck profile I'm planning, a volute doesn't really make a lot of sense, but I like the look -- or, at least hope I'll like the look when I come up with something.

[MaineGeezer]

Here's a photo of the top glued to the sides. Carter's usual practice is to do the back first so the back and sides can be shellacked (to seal them) as a unit with no gaps that would show through the soundhole. The last thing to be glued on (either the top or the back) has to have a border left unshellacked around the perimeter for a gluing area, and of course that space has to be a bit oversize to allow for error. After the back is on I'll reach trough the soundhole and touch up any visible unshellaciked spots.

Because the back warped concave (see previous post about that lovely disaster), the back still needs work and the top was ready so we glued the top on first.

[Kevin Sjostrand]

That is interesting bracing. It looks good, I like the body shape

[MaineGeezer]

I've described the bracing in previous posts, but in case you missed them the bracing is an adaptation of the bracing in a Gibson L1 (the Robert Johnson guitar). We'll see how it works with this body shape. The tap-tones sound promising, but I'm not sure how reliable an indicator they are of the final result.

[MaineGeezer]

I've put the position markers on the fretboard. They're from Bruce Petros http://purflex.net

The hole at the 7th fret is for an alignment pin to locate the fingerboard on the neck.