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DIY: Acoustic 7 string build "Gloria" (lots of pics)

38K views 180 replies 53 participants last post by  James 
#1 ·
Well, this will be a bit different from my usual build pic-stories. Aside from it being my first acoustic build, I'm going to post the pictures more closely to real-time rather than all at once at the end when it's finished. I've barely gotten into the build and already have over 60 pictures. Posting the entire build at one time would probably be way too much (and a lot of writing for me as well). So, why is it named Gloria? Glad you asked…

A co-worker friend, who is also a woodworker and musician, said he was cleaning shop and found some Cherry that had been cut from a tree that came down in hurricane Gloria. He said, "It's yours if you want it. I've had it this long and not done anything with it. You'll put it to better use than me." I was quite flattered, but wasn't sure what I could build that would have some meaning. He had been holding these boards for so long; waiting for a cool project. Then, while looking through some boxes of books I found the Cumpiano/Natelson book "Guitarmaking: Tradition and Technology" I got for Christmas the other year. That was it! I'll build an acoustic from the Cherry! So, I acquired some spruce for the top and bracing, and ebony for the fingerboard and got started…


It's not the clearest board, but I think there's enough to work with…



The board was a little warped so I used a hand plane to flatten one side and found this hole.


Maybe the other side is better…


Whew! Looks ok. I finished flattening with a #7 jointer plane and finished up with a smoothing plane.


Cut the board as wide as possible and squared up the edges…


…used a marking gauge to define the cut line…


…and started cutting,


and kept cutting.


I don't remember the last time my arms hurt so much! It took about 45-60 minutes to do that single cut. At least I stayed right on the line. Woo hoo! One down, one to go. Although, it does feel a bit thin in the middle…


FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF……

Ok, maybe that wasn't the right saw for the job. I'll make a frame saw, yeah, that's the right tool for the job…


Ugh…it works, kinda. It's the right type blade, but not so fast. So I used both saws and eventually cut two pieces for the back.


I told myself that would be the last time I re-saw a hardwood board that wide using a hand saw. It's hellish hard, sweaty work.


Time to do something other than sawing, like make the template and work board from the book. First, draw the template, then cut it out of pressed hardboard (masonite).


The work board is two 3/4" thick pieces of plywood glued together, cut to a little bit larger than the template and with extensions for better work holding.


Then a cork edging is made and attached to a piece of construction paper (not the work board itself). This is used to raise the edge of the plates to create the arch…if I remember correctly.


Time to start the neck.


I made a quick neck template to try and best utilize the board.



Glued and clamped, clamped, clamped!


Out of the clamps…


How about a wax-coated block of ebony to start the fingerboard?


I used a metal card scraper to remove the wax (sorry, no picture of that mess) then used the band saw to cut off the fingerboard slice.


Block plane to square it up…



…and a jack plane to level it.


This isn't the way I usually cut fret slots, but I thought it would be easier with a flat top. I was wrong. Regardless, here is how I did (and will not do again). Double stick tape is great, and if you can deal with the smell, so is spray glue.


Fret slots are cut to depth and an alignment block keeps the blade on track.


Fingerboard cut to width with a handsaw because I was concerned the band saw would have been too rough on the brittle ebony edge.


Edge is fine tuned with a jack plane on the shooting board.


Then I spent about 30 minutes trying to peel off the damn paper before trying naptha; done two minutes later.


Fingerboard radiused with sandpaper and block…


Fret slots are re-cut using the radius block as a guide and a depth stop made from piece of wood attached to the saw blade with double sided tape. This is how I prefer to cut fret slots and should have done in the first place.



Alright, time to try re-sawing by hand again. This time it's Spruce, which is way softer than Cherry, so it should be a lot easier.


The board only needed a little flattening, and then smoothing. I was really excited to watch this board clean up.


Ok, time to re-saw, mark the lines, start the cut, going well, much easier than the Cherry…


WTF!?!?!?!? !!#$%%@#%%^#$^%&($%!@! The hell with this!!!

(One week later)




Holy shit is this thing awesome! I was so excited that I forgot to take pictures of the boards after re-sawing. So, here the back and front plates are being glued up…(yay…more pictures of watching glue dry)




While the glue cured, I went back to work on the neck. Cutting it to length…


…and squaring it up with a block plane. A sharp blade is mandatory for getting clean end grain shavings.


Routed the truss rod…


…and cleaned out the end to allow the truss rod to pass through.


Laid out and cut the tenon cheeks.



Then glued thin strips of maple, with its grain perpendicular to the neck grain, on the sides of the tenon to provide some reinforcement against the barrel bolt pulling through the end grain. Glue bear looks on with approval.


Bolt holes are drilled in the tenon.


Neck side profile is drawn…


…then cut using the band saw.


The head is flattened and squared with a block plane.


To cut the neck and head to width/shape, it is attached to the cut away part with double sided tape…



…then cut out at the band saw. Tuner holes were also drilled.



The heel profile is drawn using the band saw throat plate (it was handy).


On of the heel side "ramps" is cut using a chisel and plane…


…but I found it quicker, and more accurate to use a saw.


I made a template for the heel curve out of this maple…


…and traced it on to both sides of the heel face.


Then used a rasp and mini-spoke shave to shape it.


The neck profile is rough-shaped with a spoke shave.



And finally, I got back to the working on the plates. Here they are cut to shape…



…and planed to thickness.



That's where it is as of last night. Lots of pictures, and it didn't start looking like a guitar until way at the end! Hopefully you've found it interesting! The pics will be posted in real time (within a day or two) from here on out.
 
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#124 ·
This is such a great place! You all crack me up! Thanks everyone for the support and encouragement. It's been a lot of fun sharing the journey.

I did string it up tonight and it didn't implode so I spent the rest of the night playing it, so, I'll post the latest pics tomorrow. I'm posting from my phone at the moment and typing that much with my thumbs would not be fun.
 
#126 ·
The bridge installation always worries me because it's one of the last things to do and it can make or break the guitar. With an electric guitar bridge, the saddles can be moved forward and backward to accommodate intonation. Not so much with an acoustic. I measured the saddle distances on my electric and then transferred those to the acoustic bridge to get the saddle angle. There will still be a little adjustment to be made by sloping the cut on the saddle where the string passes over. But first, the whole thing needs to be located. Using a long metal ruler, the bridge is located my measuring the distance from the zero fret to the high e and low b string locations on the saddle.


And here is where I screwed up. I should have placed tape onto the top before locating the bridge, traced the bridge with a pencil, then cut inside that line. Instead, I located the bridge, scored a line around it with a knife….


…then realized I couldn't see the line!


So, the bridge outline was cut out from a couple pieces of tape…


…and the tape was placed on the guitar.


Clamping, clampy, clamp, clamp.


While the glue dried, the nut was rough shaped. First, the fingerboard edges and the approximate height of the zero fret were traced.


The radius was shaped using a belt sander.


The string spacings were located using a handy paper template.


String slots cut using an assortment of saws and files…



Fast forward to the next day…the clamps are removed…


The metal ruler is used to confirm there is about a 1/16" space to the bridge.



Tuners are installed.


Strings are installed and it is tuned up for the first time!


The nut and saddle need to be shaped to the final dimensions, but that can wait. It makes sound!!! Hmmm…yeah…not quite the glorious tone I was hoping for, but, so what, it's my first acoustic and it makes sound!!! After playing it for a couple of hours, the tone has already started to change for the better. It was a bit...boxy...but it is starting to round out. I'll try to do some recording (after I learn how to play again).

Thank you all so very much for sharing in the build!
 
#131 ·
The nut and saddle need to be shaped to the final dimensions, but that can wait. It makes sound!!! Hmmm…yeah…not quite the glorious tone I was hoping for, but, so what, it's my first acoustic and it makes sound!!! After playing it for a couple of hours, the tone has already started to change for the better. It was a bit...boxy...but it is starting to round out. I'll try to do some recording (after I learn how to play again).

Thank you all so very much for sharing in the build!
That's fucking amazing, dude.

I've always thought a guitar needs a bit of time to get used to being a guitar and not just a couple chunks of wood before it comes into its own - I don't really get how or why this is the case - maybe joints just need to settle in, maybe there is something to that mumbo jumbo about gadgets that are supposed to electronically vibrate a guitar for hours and hours to "age" it, who knows. All I know is that when I pick up a brand new guitar, it's going to sound better to me (placebo or otherwise) six months after I first picked it up. My Suhr is starting to really kick ass, and I'd forgotten how awesome my Warmoth is until I played it up at Quigs' the other day.
 
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