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Here's my first -- a Stewmac mahogany dread. After three arduous months spending every free minute I could find to work on it (which wasn't much because I have two young kids), I finally was able to call my guitar "done." Done is a subjective term as I can see a few things I can fix even now. I put the strings on it the other night, half expecting the thing to collapse or fold in half, but it turns out I was overly pessimistic. It was MUCH more work than I ever imagined, and I was challenged every step of the way. I will probably do another one, but the honey-do list is so long I'd be committing suicide it I started another one right away.

Look close and you can see the finishing job leaves a LOT to be desired, and there are more than a few warts and "oops's", but overall I'm very happy. I'm even happier because it sounds pretty darned good considering. I can live with the warts if the sound is decent, which it is. I definitely need to go to school to learn how to finish, and I wish there were courses or workshops in my area, I could benefit from an experienced guiding hand.

I replaced the black plastic binding with rosewood and w/b/w purfling. I changed the headstock overlay and fretboard to rosewood (instead of ebony). I used a tortoise pickguard instead of the black one that came with the kit. I ditched the herringbone purfling on the top, and I swapped the ebony fretboard for a rosewood one as well. Finish is lacquer back and sides, Tru-oil top and neck. I tried to buff to a gloss, but wasn't very successful.

Anyways, here are a few photos. Thankfully, the macro feature on my camera is broken :).

Cheers,
Mark

Hey Mark,

Congrats! Looks a durn sight better than my first guitar. You should be proud, justifiably so.

Best,

Michael

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Live to Play, Play to Live

Congrats Mark!
Great looking guitar! You might want to shave the top of the nut a tad to expose a little of the low E and A strings. They should be sitting a little proud of the top of the nut.
Other wise Super NICE!

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

Mark,

A very good first effort!! Betcha can't build just one!
Over time, the warts seem to become easier to ignore, especially after the next one.

Great job!

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now known around here as Pat Foster
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

Well done Mark. Congratulations. And let me be the first to point out that to you they are warts and they are huge, but to someone who doesn't know they should be seeing something probably won't even notice. You should be please with yourself and with the guitar. While it might not be wise to begin another one, you might want to think about squirreling away the wood, so it can season while you whittle down that Honey Do list.

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Aoibeann

Mark,

That's looking really nice to me - simple and elegant. Stringing up and listening to your first build is just one of those life defining moments. And then as the sound changes over the hours, days and months that follow. I'm sure there will be many more to come in between the "to do" domestic chores.

As for buffing up the tru-oil top, if you wait for a month fo it to fully harden and then start polishing using micromesh (starting at 2400 and going up to 12,000) you can get a pretty decent shine. I did this on my first one.

Well done Dave White38968.4157060185

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Dave White
De Faoite Stringed Instruments
". . . the one thing a machine just can't do is give you character and personalities and sometimes that comes with flaws, but it always comes with humanity" Monty Don talking about hand weaving, "Mastercrafts", Weaving, BBC March 2010

An excellent first effort! How does this beauty sound?

Well done! Let us know how it sounds.

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53% of all statistics are made up on the spot
http://driftwoodguitars.blogspot.com/

Forget the honeydo list. Now it's time to build a bigger shop, buy a semitrailer full of tools and wood, and build to your hearts content .

Al

Thanks for all your very kind compliments! I am happy, and proud, but eager to make another one to learn from my mistakes. Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to talk about my next one yet

Lance -- yep, the nut needs a little work still. Hoping to do some final tweaks this weekend.

Soundwise...hmmm, hard to describe. Full, nice amount of bass, and doesn't sound like the cardboard box I expected. I did notice that the high-E string is very bright, and overall the sound is a little course (not quite as fluid as my Martin). I guess that's function of the bracing?

Cheers,
Mark

Nice work, Mark. I agree with Dave, simple and elegant.

Maybe when your family is young and you have many obligations it can seem like a little self indulgent to want to spend so much time in the shop. I have two thoughts. First, you have to be happy, too, within the obvious practical limits. Second, shop time comes easier as the family grows. My kids are in High School, and sometimes I have to hunt them down just to confirm that they haven't already flown the coup.

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"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

Very tight and clean looking guitar Mark. An excellent first effort, well done.

Cheers

Kim

Nice job Mark! Welcome to the addiction. You'll find that once you start talking about your second, the third and fourth are just around the corner.

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Joe Breault
Merrimack, NH
Perpetual novice

Mark,
Congrats on getting through your first!
It looks like you have one fine instrument to show for your efforts!
Don't judge the sound quite yet. I'm sure it will even out as it warms in.
I find about half way through the second set of strings the true colors of an instrument starts to come through.

Wade

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Wade
Nashua, NH
http://www.wadefx.com

I put the strings on it the other night, half expecting the thing to collapse or fold in half,

Funny you should say that. My first one recently got strung up and I thought about putting on a face shield when stringing up the first time in case the bridge flies off and thwacks me in the face! Was a little anticlimactic when it didn't!

Hey, good job on the guitar!   

Don't listen to the sound much for a week or two. Actually, I take that back, listen a LOT ... I was very surprised at the extent that the tone changes in the first few hours and days. Mine literally went from unbelievably bright, sustaining, and prone to harmonics to being like cotton in your ears a couple of days (or the next day) later, before finally settling in on a happy medium after about a week. Now I just have to wait a year for the midrange to open up a little more for that more mature sound!   Tick tock, tick tock ...

I bet you're hooked! Have fun with it - that's what it's all about.Pete Licis38968.4913310185

Thats a very good 1st build mark.As the others have said
Give it a little time and it should open up nicely for you. I think all of us had that feeling of impending doom as we strung up our first guitar! I was squinting and leaning away from it waiting on the bridge to fly off through the window at 90 mph!

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Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755

Nice job, Mark.

Ron

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OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

Hey Mark,

Looks good...nothing feels as great as finishing your first one...good job. It is all part of the life long learning process that we are all participating in so you are in good company.

I notice you are in Fairfax, VA. There are a few of us from Virginia that are here...Don Atwood is in Arlington, Sylvan is out toward Front Royal...I am in Western Loudoun County (past Purcellville) and there may be a few others from the DC area...

[QUOTE=Shawn]
I notice you are in Fairfax, VA. There are a few of us from Virginia that are here...Don Atwood is in Arlington, Sylvan is out toward Front Royal...I am in Western Loudoun County (past Purcellville) and there may be a few others from the DC area...[/QUOTE]
I didn't know there were a few of us in the Northern VA area. You shouldn't have told me that...I might come knocking on your door next time .

Very nice first guitar Mark, Congratulations!

Got bitten hard haven't you?

Can't wait to see no 2!

Serge

   Very nice work Mark! Very clean! I've never heard of luthiery induced suicide before!

    Try this for the warts! I've never seen it used on guitars before, but, Hey, warts are warts!

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Billy Dean Thomas
Covina, CA

"Multi famam, conscientiam, pauci verentur."
(Many fear their reputation, few their conscience)

Are you kidding me...this is an awesome looking guitar. Major accomplishment there...congrats, and I look forward to seeing your second.

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Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

nice work, I like it.
(I'm thining of getting into electric guitarr building, so doing some research atm)

*Personally*, I would have done the headstock diferently, but it still looks top notch

Hi Michael, welcome to the OLF!

Dunno if you've been lurking for a while, if not, you'll find out soon enough that we have the greatest folks on this forum to help you out with all your questions.

Have fun!

Serge