Wish
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Post by Wish on Aug 18, 2022 18:41:56 GMT -5
A local community college has a guitar building class and I built a couple of electric guitars a few years ago. This one is my favorite of the two guitars that I made - imgur.com/a/U3RdlHTThey are now offering an acoustic guitar building class…so I enrolled for that once it was available and my first class is next week. I went to the community college today and paid for the guitar kit and picked up the guitar parts. I met with the instructor…it’s the same guy…he is a great guy…. I am looking forward to the build and I will use this thread for updates and pics. The guitar build is a Big Baby Taylor. My instructor worked some sort of deal with Taylor reps he met at NAMM in L.A. a few years ago, and it’s all genuine Taylor wood and parts. Here is what I picked up today. imgur.com/gallery/kwvClzd |
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Post by oldnjplayer on Aug 19, 2022 8:08:25 GMT -5
Nice! Seems like a great way to get into building guitars. Keep us posted please.
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Wish
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Post by Wish on Aug 19, 2022 19:45:21 GMT -5
The bracing came in two sheets of thin wood….the parts are laser cut. I extracted all of the pieces and then did a test fitting….kind of like putting together Lincoln Logs. All of the longer bracing is doubled up for strength….the short ones are single ply. Here’s a few pics of the bracing. imgur.com/a/LpSpTbo |
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Wish
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Post by Wish on Aug 25, 2022 19:32:02 GMT -5
My first class was on Tuesday. It’s once a week and runs from 4 - 7:20 p.m. work stops at 7 to clean up the place from all the sawdust and stuff. I started glueing the double braces together and working on the blocks that the two sides will be glued to form the body. Next steps - finish building top and bottom bracing and install on top and back. Glue sides to form body. Here are a few pics from my class. Nothing too exciting, bracing glue drying with clothespins, and a couple of the classroom/shop. The last picture of the guitar is what we are building. This guitar was built by the instructor and has some upgrades that I won't be doing, such as those neck inlays. I ain’t got time for that…lol….but I will be putting in some nice abalone circle inlays, to match the electric guitars I built. That I got time for. imgur.com/a/20NyNCg |
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Wish
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Post by Wish on Aug 25, 2022 20:35:05 GMT -5
Here is the wood…
Solid spruce top
Sapele back and sides-laminate
Mahogany neck
Ebony fretboard
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Wish
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Post by Wish on Aug 31, 2022 18:43:33 GMT -5
8/30/22 Class number 2 I got the back bracing glued up….started gluing the top bracing together. Marked the back in pencil with a template for placement of the bracing, and glued the bracing to the back. You use these bendy rods to put tension on the parts while the glue dries. Next steps - finish top bracing and install on top - glue body together - install kerfing for top and bottom imgur.com/a/xZpDBho |
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Wish
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Post by Wish on Sept 2, 2022 20:58:49 GMT -5
I did a little bit of homework….finished gluing up the top bracing. I will glue the bracing to the top in class on Tuesday with the bendy rods. imgur.com/a/JVGKRJn |
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Post by Wish on Sept 3, 2022 20:53:27 GMT -5
I did a little more homework today. Glued the body halves together. Test fit of the back with braces. So far so good. imgur.com/a/M4wTC6h |
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Wish
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Post by Wish on Sept 3, 2022 21:12:13 GMT -5
You can see the laminate on the guitar body sides pretty good in picture four…
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Wish
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Post by Wish on Sept 8, 2022 21:22:10 GMT -5
Class 3 090622 I used the template to pencil in the brace placement for the top. I glued the braces on the top with the bendy rods providing tension….some test fitting with the body. And then some kerfing for the top. I like kerfing…..I could do that all day…lol….bendy wood, glue, and clothespins….it was fun. The gaps in the kerfing are for the braces on the top. Next Steps - I think I have to do some sanding on the body top/kerfing first, but I will be gluing the top to the body next week in class. Then route out the neck pocket the following class. - install kerfing on the bottom and glue back to body - route body to install top and bottom binding and glue in binding - start working on the neck…shaping, etc….it’s pretty much just a block of wood now. - abolone inlays for fretboard. That will keep me busy for the next few weeks, at least. I am having fun. That’s the most important part! pics of the week imgur.com/gallery/6QSsrZc |
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Wish
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Post by Wish on Sept 8, 2022 21:23:05 GMT -5
And please chime in with comments or questions or anything.
I feel like I am just droning on….
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Post by windmill on Sept 9, 2022 6:43:22 GMT -5
Please keep posting your progress.
it is interesting just how many steps there are to the build.
Glad you are enjoying the process.
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Bopper
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Post by Bopper on Sept 9, 2022 8:50:07 GMT -5
I didn't see the kerfing bits in the first pics of the parts. What is it/them? Kerf it yourself?
Do you have a template for the neck profile (and fingerboard)?
Thanks for running this - very interesting.
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Post by markfromhawaii on Sept 9, 2022 15:08:42 GMT -5
Thank you for sharing - please continue with the updates. Question: Will the guitar have a tail block? I didn't see one in your pictures. Thanks!
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Wish
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Post by Wish on Sept 9, 2022 18:12:09 GMT -5
Please keep posting your progress. it is interesting just how many steps there are to the build. Glad you are enjoying the process. Will do…thanks. |
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Wish
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Post by Wish on Sept 9, 2022 18:26:27 GMT -5
I didn't see the kerfing bits in the first pics of the parts. What is it/them? Kerf it yourself? Do you have a template for the neck profile (and fingerboard)? Thanks for running this - very interesting. In the first pic of the parts ( imgur.com/gallery/kwvClzd )on the left side in front of the sheet of bracing, is the package with the kerfing…it's wrapped up in brown paper with some writing on the top. So you really didn’t miss it, it was hidden. No template for the neck, I don’t believe. I will hand shave/carve it down to hopefully something I like….this will be the first time for me with the neck shaping. For the fretboard, the slots have been pre-cut for the frets. I will be installing abalone circle inlays on the usual frets (3,5,7, 9, 2 on 12, 15, 17, 19), and the class has radiusing sanding blocks for the fretboard. I will install frets, and level, crown, etc…and also install side fret marker dots on the neck. Edit Forgot headstock - headstock will need to be shaped…we were explicitly told by the instructor that we cannot do the Taylor headstock shape…lol. But he has some templates available for other traditional acoustic guitar headstock shapes. Will need to drill holes for the tuners and install those. |
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Wish
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Post by Wish on Sept 9, 2022 18:30:08 GMT -5
Thank you for sharing - please continue with the updates. Question: Will the guitar have a tail block? I didn't see one in your pictures. Thanks! Hey…yes, there is a small tail block…you can see it in the pics below of when I glued the body together last weekend. imgur.com/a/M4wTC6h |
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Post by funkykikuchiyo on Sept 10, 2022 10:01:07 GMT -5
Whoever came up with the idea of getting these factory kits to use for a class is a genius. Also, neck joints can get so weird that they could suck up all of the instruction time, and using a Big Baby joint means you shouldn't have to spend more time than teaching just the basic geometry of a neck angle.
The trick of learning/teaching this stuff is that the natural progression of a lot of it tends to be that you start with the hardest or most finicky parts and work your way down to the easiest stuff.
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woody
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Post by woody on Sept 10, 2022 10:28:26 GMT -5
Wish, as we say in the trades, ya got good hands.
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Bopper
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Post by Bopper on Sept 10, 2022 10:55:22 GMT -5
it's wrapped up in brown paper with some writing on the top And I believe it says "something kerfing"
Thanks!
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Wish
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Post by Wish on Sept 10, 2022 16:38:50 GMT -5
it's wrapped up in brown paper with some writing on the top And I believe it says "something kerfing"
Thanks!
You’ve got good eyes…it says: 10 pcs. Kerfing SEG 9/18/19 My kerfing has been well aged for 3 years, it seems. |
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Wish
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Post by Wish on Sept 10, 2022 16:43:20 GMT -5
Whoever came up with the idea of getting these factory kits to use for a class is a genius. Also, neck joints can get so weird that they could suck up all of the instruction time, and using a Big Baby joint means you shouldn't have to spend more time than teaching just the basic geometry of a neck angle. The trick of learning/teaching this stuff is that the natural progression of a lot of it tends to be that you start with the hardest or most finicky parts and work your way down to the easiest stuff. yeah, the neck is pretty much a bolt on. It comes with a bunch of different sized shims to get the angle correct….it definitely simplifies things compared to a set neck. And much easier to adjust in the future, if needed. |
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Wish
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Post by Wish on Sept 10, 2022 18:09:47 GMT -5
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Bopper
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Post by Bopper on Sept 11, 2022 10:03:20 GMT -5
Pretty well equipped community college - they have one of those almost-$800 Go-Bars for eveybody.
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Wish
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Post by Wish on Sept 16, 2022 21:51:03 GMT -5
Class 4 9/13/22 Not a lot of big things this week. I didn’t get the top attached to the body this week, but next week for sure. I did kerfing for the back in the class and needed to make some adjustments to the bracing and kerfing slots for the top. Gaps were too big, so needed to fill in some space by sanding down individual pieces to fill in the space better….A lot of that was homework. Also in the second picture, you can see that the neck block and the tail block are a little short, and don’t match the heighth of the sides. One of those was my fault. haha. I used some of the extra wood from the bracing….and made some crude braces to bridge the gap, glued those in, and sanded down flush. There are also some pics on how the top bracing fits into the kerfing better now. Next Steps - Glue top to body - Route out neck pocket - Stsrt working on neck Pics of the week…not too exciting. imgur.com/gallery/ctgmHgj |
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Bopper
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Post by Bopper on Sept 17, 2022 9:13:53 GMT -5
It never occurred to me that you'd have to trim the top and back to fit.
Seems sort of obvious, though, thinking about it a little.
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Wish
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Post by Wish on Sept 17, 2022 9:52:37 GMT -5
Yep…the top and bottom come a little large….will need fit them to the body.
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sirWheat
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Post by sirWheat on Sept 19, 2022 12:39:14 GMT -5
Were the sides already shaped to match the radius of the top and bottom?
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Wish
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Post by Wish on Sept 19, 2022 15:12:51 GMT -5
No, they are not. The Go-bar clamping base has a concave sanding area for radiusing the sides for the top and bottom.
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Post by Leftee on Sept 19, 2022 16:45:48 GMT -5
I’ve not commented, but I’m following along. Please keep posting. 😎
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