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Mike, good post!

Yeah, good post Mike and Bob,

If building a guitar is like eating an elephant, the OLF must be the ketchup

Cheers

Kim

I personally like Cumpiano and Natelson's method. If I have a wacky question in my own mind about doing things slightly differently or on a budget, I turn the page, and they've already addressed it!

I agree with the reading though, you need to be near the process they write about, or otherwise it doesn't make sense.

I read the book in parts, even at work during quiet spells. (heavy carrying the book in my rucksack as I run to work!!)

Somehow it's learnt through thinking through and visualising the methods, thinking about potential pit falls (fed up with falling down em!!), eventually clicking when I try out the techniques.

It's a completely different one from the Stewmac instructions. But then I like to try different methods.

Any internet research is merely complimentary and I draw inspiration from the internet and the people therein.

Sam Price39084.5786921296

[QUOTE=Bob Long]

Here's my advice;

1, Determine what has to be done next

2, See how Kathy does it, see how C&N did it, ask the forum how we do it

3, And then , Do it the way Lillian does it!   (repeat)

[/QUOTE]

This is pretty much my approach, although I would add many other sources to step #2. In my build journals, every few pages there is a list of "next steps", and for every step, somewhere I'll write a detailed list of sub-steps to complete that step before tackling it. The way I end up doing things is rarely if ever exactly like they way any of my sources has done it. If it doesn't work out as smoothly as I'd like or give me results as good as I'd like, I make notes of that with ideas of how to modify the method next time around (or I simply note where more practice performing a given task with a given tool will yield better results in the future).   

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

Thank you, all of you. You have all offered some very sound advice. I have read and reread this thread. There is a lot of suggestions I intend to follow.

I am committed to building this guitar this year. I see it as an opportunity for me to get some quality time with myself and maybe interest my son in something that isn't a video game.

I will/am going to approach this as a long list of projects. And to that, this weekend I'm going to start on the jigs, radius dishes, a master template and start on a bending form. I even scored an older tablesaw this weekend, for all of $20, to use as the base of my thickness sander.

Your encouragement means a lot to me. I give my permission/ask you to poke at me if I seemed to have gone underground.


Thanks again.

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Aoibeann

We'll be there for you Lillian, all the way!

C&N is a good basis for understanding how a guitar can go together, and well worth reading. With that, I was able to peruse the mimf.com library, extensively, which convinced me to do a number of things differently, and particularly:

1) Neck joint (went with a 'mario style' butt joint)
2) Build with molds and radius dishes
3) a-frame bracing/no popsicle brace (viz. Al Carruth)
4) Build a side bender/use a heat blanket.

None of these discussions/this info really 'clicked' with me until C&N gave me a basis to help me understand the instrument, but I'm very happy I made the above changes.