Building an Acoustic Guitar Progress Report

[L07 Shooting Star]

In my recent electric build topic, I mentioned I was going to attempt an acoustic guitar next.

Well, I actually started the guitar last spring, but I am just now getting around to creating this topic to track my progress.

To bring you up to speed:
- I bought an 8/4 X 7 3/4 X 60" Khaya board from a fellow who makes stairs and handrails that I met where I work (Lee Valley Tools).
-  I re-sawed the plank into enough boards to make 3 book-matched guitar back and side sets.  (and maybe a mandolin or ukulele).
- A co-worker thickness-planed them all down to about 1/8" as I don't have a thickness planer or drum sander. (anyone have a good drum-sander for sale?)
-  I chose one of the 3 sets and hand-planed the boards down to almost final thickness of approx. 1/10" (2.5mm).

By this time I had decided my 1st build would be a 14-fret 000 guitar.  By good luck, I met a customer who had bought StewMac's triple 0 guitar kit and was in the process of building it. We struck up a friendship and discussed how we might share tools, clamps, ideas, etc.  He ended up borrowing my sound-hole clamps to glue on his bridge, and he offered to lend me his spool clamps, for example.  I came up with the idea that I could borrow the instructions and video that came with his kit to guide me since that kit uses the exact same blueprint.  My method would be to make all the parts, based on the blueprint, and then use the kit instructions to guide me in putting it together.  Sounds like a good plan until you consider the blueprint and plan is for a 12-fret neck with a slotted peg head, and I wanted a 14-fret neck with a paddle peg head.

Once I decided on all this, I ordered a Sipo mahogany neck blank, a AAA sitka top set, an ebony slotted fingerboard (25.4" martin scale), and ebony pyramid bridge from Stewmac.  I also ordered their plan which is based on a classic 000 12-fret guitar with the martin scale length, and some of their sitka brace-wood blanks.

I modified the blueprint to make it work for my 14-fret (basically, just shortening the upper bout of the body to meet the neck at fret 14).  The sound hole and braces and their location remain the same.  The body is just shorter in total length.  I also had to modify the neck diagram in the plan since the heel had to be moved accordingly (and precisely).  This took a lot of contemplation, analysis, measuring, and general mental gymnastics before I got the plan modified and drawn correctly (I hope).  At least now I have a blue print for both the 12-fret slotted neck and the 14-fret neck that I can use in the future.

So now that I had the final blue print, I started cutting out and manufacturing all the parts.  The next posts chronicle my progress in pictures.

[L07 Shooting Star]

Hand-planeing and checking measurements of the back.  Since these pics, the two back boards have been jointed and ready for glueing, but not yet glued.

[Danny]

      Very interesting, I have plans and a step by step book for a 000.
But I'll stick to rebuilds for now.
       Someday I'd like to build a 000 Kit guitar. You have an access to so many tools and supplies, that I don't have.

        Keep us posted

[Mikeymac]

      Very interesting, I have plans and a step by step book for a 000.
But I'll stick to rebuilds for now.
       Someday I'd like to build a 000 Kit guitar. You have an access to so many tools and supplies, that I don't have.

        Keep us posted

Danny, I hope to do the same someday...but if not in this life, it's on my list for life in "the new heaven and new earth". I'm pretty sure we'll have access to the best woods and materials...and we won't have to be in a hurry!