Fits and Frets

Fitting the fretboard (no frets yet)



Fitting the bridge



I was thinking about some of the terminology used in guitar making and how odd it can be:  One who makes guitars is called a luthier in spite of the fact that he/she may never have touched a lute; you thickness a top, back or side panel by making it thinner; we usually fret about the frets, because their placement is crucial to the intonation; you tune the instrument, although rarely by playing a tune.  Okay. I'm sure that there are lots of other jargon that could be added (in fact, if you're inclined, e.g., head up, feet down; add your ideas of strange terms associated with instruments and their music.

Anyway, I fitted the bridge, fretboard, armrest, back and back braces, bent the binding and purfling for the top and will add the fret slots, rout the channel for the bindings, put the final touches on the neck, add a head piece and drill the complex holes for the tuning pegs, make a nut, align everything and get ready for a glue-fest, all except the back and back binding.. there are probably several other steps that I've left out, but you get the idea.  We're on the backstretch, headed for the last turn. 

Finishing is a bit up in the air, but it will be finished in fine shape.  This should be a very responsive guitar and some testing in the final stages and tweaking, if necessary, will assure that it will sound really terrific (as always, there is a bit of uncertainty here, but it should be minimized by the methods I'm using.

I fret about how Dmitry is doing on the Rosettes for C's guitar.

Civil War stuff:  I was pondering my great grandfather's role during the Civil War and know that, except for a period of illness in Corinth, MS, he served throughout the entire war.  This included Sherman's march to the sea and the incredible distances these troops put under thier boots, assuming they had boots.  Which led me to thinking of Morgan's assignment.  He was part of the - what I think now would be the Quartermaster Corps attached to the 10th Michigan Infantry.  What a herculean task it must have been to provide food and equipment, weapons and ammo to the massive number of troops under Sherman's command.  From what I've read, there are mixed reviews as to the behavior of the troops responsible for commandeering supplies from the local populations on the periphery of the main contingent of troops marching across the South.  I looked up what was designated as standard equipment and rations that the troops were officially entitled to, and it is enormous.  I doubt very seriously if anything near that was actually provided.  I'll find the reference again and plug it in here.  Logistics must have been next to impossible.  More research is in order here. 

Here is a list of official rations and supplies:

According to army regulations for camp rations, a Union soldier was entitled to receive daily
12 oz of pork or bacon or 1 lb. 4 oz of fresh or salt beef; 1 lb. 6 oz of soft bread or flour, 1 lb. of hard bread, or 1 lb. 4 oz of cornmeal. Per every 100 rations there was issued 1 peck of beans or peas; 10 lb. of rice or hominy; 10 lb. of green coffee, 8 lb. of roasted and ground coffee, or 1 lb. 8 oz of tea; 15 lb. of sugar; 1 lb. 4 oz of candles, 4 lb. of soap; 1 qt of molasses. In addition to or as substitutes for other items, desiccated vegetables, dried fruit, pickles, or pickled cabbage might be issued.The marching ration consisted of 1 lb. of hard bread, 3/4 lb. of salt pork or 1 1/4 lb. of fresh meat, plus the sugar, coffee, and salt.

Thinking about this would surely cause one to fret and would give you fits!!!!

Here's a list of some of the actions the 10th MI Infantry was part of:



I know there were more early in the war, in Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi.

The regiment suffered 7 officers and 95 enlisted men who were killed in action or motally wounded and 2 officers and 223 enlisted men who died of disease, for a total of 327 fatalities.
[1]Battle of Missionary Ridge
Battle of Kennesaw Mountain
Siege of Atlanta
Battle of Jonesboro
March to the Sea
Battle of Bentonville

Braces in places, back on back

Back on back (where else?)

braces in place (orthodontia?)

inside center strip (a stripper?)



Startin' to look like a guitar



OK , so I'm just too corny.  Progress on L's guitar proceeds apace.  The back braces were fitted and glued in, the center strip inside the guitar was glued in place and the size of the back was trimmed to near the final size.  The back can now be taped on for sound testing, but the bridge and fretboard need to be in place, as well as the head piece needs to be installed and the tuning pegs installed.  So there's still a bit to do before the binding goes on.  The binding will go on the top perimeter along with some purfling, but the back doesn't go on until the final testing and adjustment of the back.  I did a spectrum on the top as it is now, with the back taped on .  There seem to be peaks in the right region, but there's a way to go before we can tell how well it matches up with Brian Burns's guitars.  There's also some more carving to do on the neck to prepare for the fretboard and I need L to provide me with the width at the nut and the 12th fret as well as an approximate profile of the neck that's most comfortable for her.

Meanwhile, I'll be continuing the preparation of the back for joining the two halves and at least a couple of tops as candidates for C's guitar.  I'll be testing these for stiffness in the next day or so and preparing them for joining the book matched halves.  I will then thickness the plates to near thier final thickness.  A neck scarf joint will need to be prepared and the neck joined along with a heel stack.  Sides will be bent as soon as they can be sanded to final thickness.  I don't want to start running any rosewood through the sander until after the tops have been sanded and this can't happen until we get the rosettes.

That's the short version of where we are.  Looks like a lot to do, but things will move pretty fast because now what I've practiced on one guitar, the next one will go smoother.  That was the whole idea of a campaign.  I'm getting things in order so that things go where they belong and I can find what I need when I need it.



Off to be a curtain.  No, really, apparently it was quite dramatic.



Here's a pic of my handsome grandson ready to be a curtain in a program at church.  Apparently, he made a very good curtain

Got some pictures

L's guitar.  Tentellones glued in

L's guitar from top.  Bridge is just sitting.

Here are some pictures I think you'll find interesting:

L's guitar, armrest prototype

A lot of prep work and then a long day on my feet planting tentellones, one-by-one around the perimeter of the top and sides joint.  Tentellones are the little individual lining pieces you see in the shot of the inside.  This is the traditional way of attaching the top to the sides.  I use hot animal hide glue to attach each one, holding it in place for about 10 seconds while the glue gels.  The neck was also glued onto the top and will be trimmed and sanded to shape later,  The armrest prototype is made of brazilian rosewood, as is the bridge.  I spoke with Richard (the guy to measured and drew the plan for this guitar ) about the armrest and he said the best way to make and attach this is to shape it to the curve of the lower bout where the arm normally rests on the edge of the guitar.  After shaping and smoothing it to produce a more comfortable rest for the forearm, it is attached ( believe it or not) with double sided tape.  Now, this is guy who gets $20,000 for one of his guitars, so who am I to argue?  He said that it has the least affect on the sound of the guitar and is removable (very carefully) and modifiable.  He cautioned me not to try to build it in because it would most likely be difficult and would affect the sound and put unwanted stress on the top.  Remember, this is a flamenco guitar.  I brought it home and everyone was amazed at how light it is.

Next steps (in no particular order, mostly):

Make and fit the fretboard ( I must decide on the width of the neck at the nut and the bridge to make it the most comfortable to play.  I'll discuss this off-line.

Cut fret slots, install frets.  I haven't decided whether to put the frets on before gluing on the fretboard or after.  I've seen people do both ways.  Dress and polish frets.

Install head plate and perhaps a back plate.  TBD

Install lining for back.  Fit back and braces in place.  Sand with braces in place without back to produce spherical back shape (very subtle).  Glue back to braces, but not to linings.  Once this is done, the back will be trimmed to size and can be taped in place to allow testing and voicing of the top.  This is what I've been working up to with all of the sound testing of tops etc.  This will be done with the back taped on, and after it is glued on to assure that the sound does not change.

The tuning pegs, which look like regular cello pegs, are actually geared.  These will be installed very carefully.
In addition to a bunch of sanding and prep work,  the guitar will be ready for finish.  This will be discussed with my new acquaintance from Indy Craft and we'll decide on the best finish for each the top and the rest of the guitar.  It is possible that I will french polish the top.  This is TBD. 

Embellishments may be added beyond the usual binding and purfling TBD  As a flamenco guitar, el golpeador is tradicional, do we install one?  (secret:  this is the tap plate that flamencos use to protect the top).

Sounds like a lot?  It is, but it will prodeed apace.  No predictions on completion yet, but it will be a box pretty soon.

And, Oh Yeah, Strings...imagine that.  I'm gonna ask a friend to play and record a few pieces on it.

Meanwhile, back at the bench, the BRW for C's guitar was cut to the appropriate size for jointing, which is going on now.  I'll glue the two bookmatched halves together soon, install a back strip and cut to approximate size for thinning.  Thinning to be done by hand and by Grizzley.  Same with the sides, which when thinned, will be bent to shape.  The neck scarf joint and heel stack is being prepared for glue-up...almost as painstaking as joining the two halves of the top and back.

Being as opposite from a neatnik as is humanly possible, every horizontal surface in the shop is covered with tools, gadgets, stuff and more stuff.  Next on the agenda:  CLEAN THE BLOODY PLACE UP.  Any volunteers?

All for tonite,

G'day

VIP visit

"C" came to the shop and was excited about what I showed her.  Very positive about the raw elements of what will become her guitar.  The constraining factor remains the rosette.  In the meantime, I tested and compared tops, mainly to get the techniques down pat;  I was able to produce some response curves that at least show the major resonances.  The two photos I've included illustrate two resonance responses that are very close to the frequencies that the response curves showed.  These are just blank tops excited using a small speaker. 

Actual assembly of L's guitar will begin this week  I pretty much know what the arm rest will look like.  It's just a matter of choosing which wood makes the nicer contrast with the cyprus and spruce of the guitar.

I also began the joining process for the BR of C's guitar.  I cut the blanks for the back to rough size and began jointing the edges that will go together at the center seam of the back.  This is a bit of a painstaking process:  plane and check, plane and check... until the center seam is so true that there is no light showing through when the halves are put together and held up to the light.  This will result in an invisible center seam, which may or may not have a center seam inlay.  This will be decided once the halves are joined.

I got the "beast", that is the Grizzley sander, going today.  I made an extension cord to reach the nearest 220 V outlet.  I will sand tops and other light wood elements first before using the sander for the darker woods like rosewood and ebony. 

I thought I had some philosophical comments to make, but now can't think of anything very interesting to say.

That's all for now,

g'day

A bridge too far, but then

OK, I screwed up again...well actually not me, but my router.  The locking mechanism slipped slightly causing the bit to rise and take a bigger bite out of the edge I was trying to round over.  But finally, third time's a charm and I successfully created the nearly finished bridge for L's guitar.  See photos.  Finishing touches will likely include a frame around the inlay on the bridge tieblock, which matches the pattern of the rosette as you will notice.  This is a BR bridge.  I will produce two more in the next few days, now that I have the hang of it.  Again, that's the benefit of doing a multi-guitar campaign.  I saw Kevin from Indy Craft and he is waiting for some wood filler to arrive before proceeding with the test pieces.  I'm sooooo looking forward to seeing these.

Did some re-arranging in the shop today and I'm determined to get the place looking like a professional worked there as it should. 

I will start the testing and thinning of tops that I have in stock to see if any of them qualify for C's guitar.  I have a couple that I think may prove to be outstanding, which is certainly what this guitar deserves.  Next will be the rough-out of the back BR for C's guitar.  The two halves will then be jointed and joined.  I do the jointing (e.g. preparation of the matching edges that will be glued together to make the book-matched back panel.  This is going to be awsome...looking and sounding...is my bet.  The jointing process takes place on a "shooting board" which allows the two joining edges to be planed to absolute 0 tolerance matching edges, which when butted together allow no light to penetrate.  This a painstaking process employing my best, freshly sharpened block plane.  It is possible to sand to two edges, but one of my friends and the guitarmaking community agree that edges planed with an extremely sharp plane iron, can actually result in an invisible, extremely strong glue joint using hot animal hide glue.  This is what Dobbin becomes when he goes to horsey heaven.  And, like the trees, which make up the instrument, the loss of a living thing becomes a beautiful, almost living instrument capable of producing great joy, and a beautiful and lasting source of sound capable of melting the hardest heart...in the right hands, of course.  The right hands are those of anyone who truly loves the guitar and its potential:

Thoughts on that...the guitar, that is:  I was in the drug store the other day and looking through the magazine rack.  The only magazine that had anything to do with the "guitar" was a magazine entitled "Guitar".  It was almost entirely devoted to the electric, solid body instrument played by rockers and rollers and a few jazz and blues, etc.  Now, I have nothing against those folks and I admire the skill of a Clapton, BB King or any number of players of this instrument.  But I take issue with the terminology defining this instrument as THE guitar.  It bears little resemblance to the instruments of Torres, Hauser and Ramirez.  First, the sound of a solid body guitar is only possible with a plethora of electronic stuff, which massages a magneto-electric signal created by the vibration of wires (strings?) over a magnetic pickup.  This signal is then processed into sounds, which may or may not resemble anything like the sound of a Hauser or Ramirez classical guitar.  Somehow, I think that the pure instrument of historical importance, created by Torres, etc. should bear the title "GUITAR".  Although derived from the basic idea of the guitar, block o' two-by-four, solid body instruments should bear their own moniker, identifying them as "Guit-planks" or "electro-tars" or some such thing.  They need to have their own identity separate from the guitar.  Acoustic, steel string guitars, I really take no issue with, because the technology, although it can include electronics, is still really an acoustic box, capable of producing beautiful, albeit somewhat harsher, sounds than the classical guitar.  Just saying.

That's all for now,

g'day

Does anybody read this stuff?

Don't burn your bridges

Worked on Bridges today: result - one bridge and one very pretty chunk of rosewood that'll probably become something else.  All the result of cutting on the wrong side of the saw blade.  Oh well, that's why it is best to work in campaigns, so that you learn by your mistakes, or preferably not by mistakes but experience, so that each subsequent operation leads to a better result than the previous one.  Such was the case today.  This rosewood is awesome...rings like a bell and will make tremendous bridges. 

Set-up is the key.  Once your tool, jig, or fixture is properly set up, the operation is usually relatively simple.  Right tool, right procedure = desired result.  I will rough out the next few bridge blanks while I have the saw set up to do so.   Bridges may only be highly polished with no finish applied.  Finish could dampen the efficiency of the sound transfer.  Why do I go to the trouble of making my own bridges?  1. you can't buy BR ready made ones as far as I know; 2. the ones you buy are usually finished..shiny and pretty, but finished...and they are EIR mostly.

That's all for today...I'll post some photos soon

G'day

Back from FL

We made it to and from Florida without mishap.  Saw my brother and his wife, got sunburned, ate shrimp, pretty much did the obligitory stuff, including some relaxation.  Back in the shop today, I cut out the BR* blanks for the trio of guitars in the works.  The blanks, when suspended properly, ring like marimba keys.  Bridges from this wood should transmit sound from the strings to the tops very efficiently, and the wood is beautiful.  I'll be shaping these blanks into bridges in the next few days.  It is likely that the armrest on L's guitar will also be made from this BR. I'll add some photos of guitars with armrests as examples.  Next on the agenda:  the joining of the two halves of C's guitar.  This will be a step toward getting the back and sides ready for thicknessing.  I will do a good part of that by hand with planes and scrapers and put the finishing touches on with the sander to near the final thickness and then again by hand to final surface.  I gave some samples of the BR from the rib cutoffs to Kevin Kinder of Indy Craft and can't wait to see what he did with them.  Choosing the top for C's guitar will be undertaken next and bracing it in the fashion of Brian Burns's classical guitar plan will follow once the rosettes arrive..  Then the choice of a neck blank and, unless I already have one joined that I like, I'll do the scarf joint and heel, also in the style of Burns.. 

*BR = Brazilian Rosewood
EIR = East Indian Rosewood

:PS.  Just a note on the organization of the chronicles for each of the guitars:  I will break out the notes for each and provide a chronicle  for each  of the three guitars and for future ones as well.  BTW, if you know of someone interested in a classical or flamenco guitar, let them know how to reach me via this blog or my email.  Prices depend on many factors, and so will be discussed individually with anyone wishing to get on the list for a custome made guitar.

Thats all for now, g'day