Official Luthiers Forum!

Thanks for letting me in on the challenge at this late date. I stumbled here when ordering up some neck jig plans from the marketplace and thought it was cool that you guys were building my kind of guitar!

My guitar will be a 12 fret Chestnut parlor, Martin short scale length (24.8?), with a cutaway. Dimensions are 12 for the lower bout, about 7 at the waist and approx 9 at the top. Almost all wood is reclaimed. The sides and neck ($10) were a brace from an old timberframe barn, the back is wormy chestnut from an old church pew and the top and braces are from a length of 2x12 I picked up at a architectural salvage yard for $10. Still searching for a cheap re-claimed alternative to rosewood for the fingerboard & open to any suggestions you may have.

Something old - I've got an old set of Gibson 3 on a plate tuners that got no place better to be.

Something new - This is my second build, so it's almost all new, but here's a few things.

1.Neck tenon. I did a butt joint on my first build and wasn't happy with the big fat heel I ended up with. So this time I'm hoping to get it right and get some better access to the upper frets.

2. Laminated neck block

3. Thinking about laminated solid linings, let's see if I can pull it off...

You pick two - Parlor and I think the budget battle is a lock.

Thanks again for letting me join in and I'll get some pictures posted up of my progress soon.

Thanks for giving us a head start!
Solid laminated linings are the way to go. Oak at about 3/8" tall x 0.10" thick(3 layers) is about optimal. I used 1/8" thick on this challenge build and bending was not easy. Easy bending is one of the attractions of solid laminated linings, so there's no reason to go so thick that it becomes difficult to bend. The big attraction is how rigid the sides are once the linings are in.
Welcome.

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A man hears what he wants to hear, and disreguards the rest. Paul Simon

Welcome aboard, glad to have you! These things are a lot of fun.

The fretboard doesn't necessarily have to be rosewood; there are other alternatives. For this one (and the last challenge I did) I'll be using some jatoba from some leftover hardwood flooring. Oak works. I am using Osage orange on another project. Just keep your eyes out for something hard enough.

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

Thanks Guys,

Roger - I'm taking my second shot at the linings now. We'll see how that goes...

Bryan - Osage Orange looks to be super hard - nice find. I do have a piece of really old oak - maybe I will give that a second look.

Trying to post some pics - looks like I need to pare them down to meet size limit.

Got one!
Here's the basic plan: 18 inch body length, 12 inch lower bout, 7 3/8 at the waist, and 9 3/8 upper bout. It's close, although shorter than a Size #2 Martin. The x angle as shown will have to be tightened up to meet the bridge.

I think I have the pics cut down to right size.

Not sure whether to fill worm holes, or not. Top swirls seems to emanate from old bolt holes.

Nice, I like wood with character. I always fill the holes with sawdust and CA or epoxy, depending on how large they are. I thought if they were left open it would look like a flaw in the finish.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Thanks Steve, I'm still up in the air on filling the holes. I need to think about what to fill them with.... Noticed after glue up that the worm holes don't bookmatch.

Still playing catch up with my build pics... Sides bent - wood got really grainy (raised) not sure if it was too hot or too wet? Neck/tail blocks are in. Neck is glued up and roughed out - slot cut for maple tenon.

Still need to figure out placement for tenon hardware and drill neckblock. Wasn't too sure about the strength of the chestnut so I'm using a glued in maple tenon. Almost done bending up solid linings - Used chestnut and went just 2 layers just under an inch tall. That should make for some stout sides.

Hoping the two layers is deep enough to cut in for some herringbone purflings. Purfs are a new one for me...

You could fill the holes with pearl or bone dust and CA, it would be a different look. I'd probably fill with ebony dust and CA.

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A man hears what he wants to hear, and disreguards the rest. Paul Simon

Chestnut is one of my favorite woods... glad to see someone using some for a guitar. Watching this one closely!

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Roger ebony or rosewood dust may be the way to go.
Thanks!

The chestnut is really nice to work with. I have been looking at the piece for the back, for at least a year...too scared to cut in to it.

Not much to report here. Got most of the linings installed, but still working on the cutaway. I used the husk of an old router for a bending form for the cutaways tight curves.

Progress is a good thing, even slow progress

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Thanks Steve. I have to keep telling myself that. Hoping to get somewhere this week.

Don't feel bad. Mine sat idle for 8 weeks. . .

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

Small steps...There's been some progress this week.

Got the linings sanded and the back taper set.

Spent a while trying to get my sanding rig squared to the form...Once that was done, things have gone pretty quick.
Rosette is done and also spent some time today gluing up the x brace. I wasn't sure the herringbone would bend, but with a little moisture it laid down and stayed put without much issues.

On the braces I'm using 1/4 inch material from the same 2x12 board as the top. The x brace will probably just get a straight taper.

Long overdue update. Got the box closed up and managed to square the neckblock. When gluing up the sides/lining, I had to force the cutaway into the form. This pushed the neckblock a little out of square, sending the neck off kilter. When gluing up the top, it squared up with just some light clamping at the cutaway. So we press on.

I found some rosewood for my fingerboard/bridge material, right in my very own woodpile....
I got it a while back, up in Owen Sound, from a retired luthier's stash. He said it was from an old piece of furniture, so it goes right along with the reclaimed theme of this build. I had been scouring the globe for the perfect piece of wood and it was right under my nose the whole time...

Tail graft is in, and on to binding next. I have resawn some maple binding and will try my luck with herringbone purfling.

Looking good, Chuck!

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

Nice work Chuck - it's coming right along.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Thanks guys.
Not much progress today. Spent most of my time squaring up binding channels & trying to get my router setup dialed in. I'm pretty nervous about making the big cut on the top, for the herringbone...Measure twice, cut tomorrow.

Binding is getting close, but progress is slow... Using fish glue to glue it up and the 12hr wait time is killing me.
Sorry for the crappy pic it looked better on my phone.

Starting on a jig next to do the rough carve on the neck with a pin router.

Binding looks good so far. Fish glue does take a long time to set up but I have gotten more patient over time and just move to another task or close up the shop and go back up to the house.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Binding is lookin' good. I really like that body shape!

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

Thanks guys. The binding is finally done.

I got the body shape for this build from an old Chicago made Excelsior parlor. Here's a pic.



I got the jig done for the neck carve today and it worked out pretty well. I'll be sure to post some pics.