In this article I will present to you a very broad overview of the steps necessary for guitar building.
The Search for Wood Sources:
Wood that is used in guitar building to make backs, sides and tops is called tonewood. Normally the wood of choice for top plates are softwoods such as Cedar or Spruce. From time to time hardwoods such as Mahogany and Koa are used as well.
Backs and sides are constructed of hardwoods. Hardwood species that is used in the backs and sides plays a important role in the tone and intensity characteristics an instrument will possess. Mahogany, Maple, and Walnut will give your instrument a nice warm tone. If you are after brighter tone and more intensity, such woods as Rosewood, Ebony, and Koa would be a better alternative.
Another tip you can use to define your tone, balance and intensity is to vary the thickness of the top wood. Thinner plates (tops and backs), typically produce louder instruments.
Another place where tonewood is used is for the bracing of the tops plates, to structurally support the thin woods. Usually, the top braces are constructed from the same wood family as the top plate. Again the way the bracing is designed can shape the tone and volume of the instrument.
Specialized Tools and Jigs:
Because the guitar is rather difficult to construct and it requires an extreme amount of precision (repeatedly down to 1/1000" precision), it is very helpful to have special molds, forms side benders, and other attachments to aid the luither (guitar builder) in constructing the instrument with greater ease and precision. Consider making these jigs, forms and specialized tools:
Work board Plate Joiner Jig Fret Slot Cutting Jig Inside Form Heated Side Bender Go-Board Gluing Jig.
Beneficial Hand Tools:
Prior to staring building tasks, purchase a fundamental set of hand tools. Good quality tools cannot be emphasized enough here as they cut better, hold an edge better, and are much safer to work with.
Japanese Pull Saws Low Angle Brass Block Plane Plastic Tipped Hammer Dovetail Saw Fret Saws Hand Scrapers Violin Finger Planes Orbital Sander Wood Chisel Set Dremel Moto Tool and Attachments.
Recommended Stationary Tools:
If you are serious about this endeavor, investigate obtaining a few stationary tools to save a tremendous amount of time. Some basic tools to consider are:
6" x 48" Stationary Belt Sander 12" Band Saw Drill Press
Workshop Conditions:
Space is required for glue-up operations, assembly and general workbench space. Since you are implementing extensive work, you need superior lighting. It is always desirable to have natural lighting streaming into your workshop as well.
Building Documents:
Be sure to purchase a fine set of guitar plans for the type of guitar you wish to build. Plans ought to be full scale.
Neck Assembly:
Cut the neck blank to size, and glue halves together. Sand the blank, cut the scarf joint, prepare the scarf joint and glue this joint. Cut in truss rod channel and install truss rod. Now cut the heel blocks to size, stack them and glue them in position. Allow glue to dry. Shape the heel, the headpiece, and the neck. Next cut your headpiece to shape and glue in place. Fit dovetail or mortise and tenon joint of neck to head block.
Next you need to cut the correct sized holes for the tuning machine hardware. Shape the fretboard to appropriate length, width and thickness, cut the fret slots.
The Sides, Back and Top:
Prior to gluing and bending you need to cut the sides, back and top plates to appropriate thickness. General guidelines indicated 1/8" thickness for steel string guitars and 3/32" thickness for nylon string guitars. To thin the guitar backs, sides and top, you can use a wide variety of techniques from hand held jack planes, stationary planer, stationary belt sander, hand held scrapers and drum sanders.
Join the back and top plates and cut the guitar forms out. After cutting and rough shaping the top and back bracing, glue into place using the go-board gluing jig. After glue is dry, shape the braces and smooth out with fine sandpaper. Cut Rosette channels, glue rosette into place and cut soundhole. Reinforce the soundhole.
Bend the guitar sides by use of a heated or unheated side bender. Let the sides cool for a few days, take them from the bender and position in the inside form. Trim the ends with a band saw. Glue the head and tail blocks into place. Next fabricate the kerfings and glue the kerfing into position around the top and bottom edges of the sides. Fit the top and back to the sides with the sides in the inside form. Mark out brace locations and cut into the kerfings.
Glue the top to the sides by using 1" elastic upholstery tape. Glue back in the same manner. Take the Dremel router with the binding cutter attachment and set it to the appropriate depth and width for your bindings and purfling. Cut the channel for the peghead binding as well.
The Bindings and Purfling:
You can either purchase your binding and purfling trims or you can design and fabricate your own. If you intend to use wood binding you will have to pre-bend them on the Heated Side Bender. Glue into place using 1" upholstery tape.
How to Fit the Neck:
Fit the neck to the body very precisely and glue in position, unless you will be using a bolt-on neck option. Glue fretboard onto neck and top. If using a bolt on neck, do not glue to top plate. Shape the neck and heel with wood rasps and sandpaper. Tap the frets into the fret channels and dress the frets.
Finishing the Instrument:
Prior to finishing operations, sand the entire instrument with 120 and 220 grit sandpaper. Scrape bindings and colored purfling to cleanup. Place masking tape on bridge footprint to prevent finish from sticking to the top.
Spray several vinyl sealer coats on instrument. Let dry, sand, and apply toned wood filler and let dry. Clean up and spray finish coats of lacquer. Up to 6 to 10 coats will be needed with sanding between each 2 coats.
Next you will need patience and let the instrument stand for at least one week. Do a final sanding with silicone carbide paper and buff to a mirror finish.
Final Detail Items:
Glue the bridge to the top plate and use the saddle channel routing jig to cut in the saddle slot. Install nut and saddle. Assemble the tuning machines on the peg head. String up the instrument with either light or medium light strings and test the action and fretting. Make any adjustments as required. Your Guitar Building will now be complete.
If you have an interest in building a guitar, this article will give you a very broad overview of the processes compulsory to make your own fine instrument.
The Search for Wood Sources:
Wood that is used in guitar building to make backs, sides and tops is called tonewood. Normally the wood of choice for top plates are softwoods such as Cedar or Spruce. From time to time hardwoods such as Mahogany and Koa are used as well.
Backs and sides are constructed of hardwoods. Hardwood species that is used in the backs and sides plays a important role in the tone and intensity characteristics an instrument will possess. Mahogany, Maple, and Walnut will give your instrument a nice warm tone. If you are after brighter tone and more intensity, such woods as Rosewood, Ebony, and Koa would be a better alternative.
Another tip you can use to define your tone, balance and intensity is to vary the thickness of the top wood. Thinner plates (tops and backs), typically produce louder instruments.
Another place where tonewood is used is for the bracing of the tops plates, to structurally support the thin woods. Usually, the top braces are constructed from the same wood family as the top plate. Again the way the bracing is designed can shape the tone and volume of the instrument.
Specialized Tools and Jigs:
Typically the trade of lutherie requires an extreme amount of precision that will govern the end result of a great sounding and playing instrument. It is exceedingly useful for the luthier to precisely accomplish many operations and be able to repeat these operations consistently. This can be achieved by the use of specialized jigs and forms. Some of the specialized jigs to consider:
Work board Plate Joiner Jig Fret Slot Cutting Jig Inside Form Heated Side Bender Go-Board Gluing Jig.
Woodworking Tools Required:
In order to start your building tasks you will need a fundamental set of hand tools. When purchasing hand tools, purchase the best quality tools you can afford as they hold and edge better, are easier to sharpen, cut better, and are safer to use.
Orbital Sander Hand Scrapers Dremel Moto Tool and Attachments Japanese Pull Saws Wood Chisel Set Low Angle Brass Block Plane Violin Finger Planes Fret Saws Dovetail Saw Plastic Tipped Hammer.
Recommended Stationary Tools:
If you are serious about this endeavor, investigate obtaining a few stationary tools to save a tremendous amount of time. Some basic tools to consider are:
12" Band Saw 6" x 48" Stationary Belt Sander Drill Press
The Workshop Setup:
Space is required for glue-up operations, assembly and general workbench space. Since you are implementing extensive work, you need superior lighting. It is always desirable to have natural lighting streaming into your workshop as well.
Building Documents:
To guarantee success of your guitar making endeavors, purchase a good set of guitar plans. Your plans will need to be full scale.
Assembly of the Neck:
Cut the neck blank to size, and glue halves together. First sand the neck blank square. Cut the scarf joint for the headpiece. Reverse the headpiece, sand the joint and glue the headpiece on the neck. Next, you will need to rout a channel down the center of the neck for the truss rod and install the truss rod. Stack the heel blocks on the neck and glue in place. After the heel blocks are dry, shape the heel, the neck and the headpiece. After cutting the headpiece veneer, glue in position. Detail the neck dovetail joint, or mortise and tenon joint to precisely fit into the head block.
Next you need to cut the correct sized holes for the tuning machine hardware. Shape the fretboard to appropriate length, width and thickness, cut the fret slots.
The Sides, Back and Top:
Prior to gluing and bending you need to cut the sides, back and top plates to appropriate thickness. General guidelines indicated 1/8" thickness for steel string guitars and 3/32" thickness for nylon string guitars. To thin the guitar backs, sides and top, you can use a wide variety of techniques from hand held jack planes, stationary planer, stationary belt sander, hand held scrapers and drum sanders.
Next glue the top plates and the back plates together with a plate joining jig. Rough shape the bracing for the back and top. Glue into locate with the go board gluing jig. Set the plates aside to dry. Now shape all braces and finish sand them. Install sound-hole rosette material and cut out sound-hole. Glue in sound-hole reinforcing.
Bend the guitar sides by use of a heated or unheated side bender. Let the sides cool for a few days, take them from the bender and position in the inside form. Trim the ends with a band saw. Glue the head and tail blocks into place. Next fabricate the kerfings and glue the kerfing into position around the top and bottom edges of the sides. Fit the top and back to the sides with the sides in the inside form. Mark out brace locations and cut into the kerfings.
Using 1" elastic upholstery tape, glue the top to the top of the kerfing on the sides. Glue the back to the kerfing and sides in a similar manner. Take the Dremel router with the binding cutter attachment and set it to the proper depth and width for your bindings and purfling. Cut the channel for the peg head binding as well.
The Purfling and Bindings:
You can either purchase your binding and purfling trims or you can design and fabricate your own. If you intend to use wood binding you will have to pre-bend them on the Heated Side Bender. Glue into place using 1" upholstery tape.
How to Fit the Neck:
Align the neck carefully and then glue in place to the body and head-block. Do not glue a bolt-on neck. Carefully align the fretboard and glue to the guitar neck and the top, unless you are utilizing a bolt-on neck. Finish shaping neck and heel. Tap in the frets into place and dress them.
Finishing Operations:
Finish sand all wood parts of the instrument with 120 and 220 grit sandpaper. It may be required to cleanup the rosette, purfling and bindings with a hand scraper. Apply masking tape on the guitar top on for the bridge footprint.
Spray several vinyl sealer coats on instrument. Let dry, sand, and apply toned wood filler and let dry. Clean up and spray finish coats of lacquer. Up to 6 to 10 coats will be needed with sanding between each 2 coats.
You now need to let the lacquer coats dry for at least a week or more. Sand the finish coats one last time with silicone carbide sandpaper and buff to a mirror finish with a buffing wheel.
Final Fit and Finish:
Glue the bridge to the top and use the saddle channel routing jig to cut in the saddle slot. Install nut and saddle. Attach the tuning machines to the headpiece. Put on a set of light or medium gauge string and perform your final testing. Adjust as necessary. This is the final Guitar Building step and your instrument will now be complete.
The Search for Wood Sources:
Wood that is used in guitar building to make backs, sides and tops is called tonewood. Normally the wood of choice for top plates are softwoods such as Cedar or Spruce. From time to time hardwoods such as Mahogany and Koa are used as well.
Backs and sides are constructed of hardwoods. Hardwood species that is used in the backs and sides plays a important role in the tone and intensity characteristics an instrument will possess. Mahogany, Maple, and Walnut will give your instrument a nice warm tone. If you are after brighter tone and more intensity, such woods as Rosewood, Ebony, and Koa would be a better alternative.
Another tip you can use to define your tone, balance and intensity is to vary the thickness of the top wood. Thinner plates (tops and backs), typically produce louder instruments.
Another place where tonewood is used is for the bracing of the tops plates, to structurally support the thin woods. Usually, the top braces are constructed from the same wood family as the top plate. Again the way the bracing is designed can shape the tone and volume of the instrument.
Specialized Tools and Jigs:
Because the guitar is rather difficult to construct and it requires an extreme amount of precision (repeatedly down to 1/1000" precision), it is very helpful to have special molds, forms side benders, and other attachments to aid the luither (guitar builder) in constructing the instrument with greater ease and precision. Consider making these jigs, forms and specialized tools:
Work board Plate Joiner Jig Fret Slot Cutting Jig Inside Form Heated Side Bender Go-Board Gluing Jig.
Beneficial Hand Tools:
Prior to staring building tasks, purchase a fundamental set of hand tools. Good quality tools cannot be emphasized enough here as they cut better, hold an edge better, and are much safer to work with.
Japanese Pull Saws Low Angle Brass Block Plane Plastic Tipped Hammer Dovetail Saw Fret Saws Hand Scrapers Violin Finger Planes Orbital Sander Wood Chisel Set Dremel Moto Tool and Attachments.
Recommended Stationary Tools:
If you are serious about this endeavor, investigate obtaining a few stationary tools to save a tremendous amount of time. Some basic tools to consider are:
6" x 48" Stationary Belt Sander 12" Band Saw Drill Press
Workshop Conditions:
Space is required for glue-up operations, assembly and general workbench space. Since you are implementing extensive work, you need superior lighting. It is always desirable to have natural lighting streaming into your workshop as well.
Building Documents:
Be sure to purchase a fine set of guitar plans for the type of guitar you wish to build. Plans ought to be full scale.
Neck Assembly:
Cut the neck blank to size, and glue halves together. Sand the blank, cut the scarf joint, prepare the scarf joint and glue this joint. Cut in truss rod channel and install truss rod. Now cut the heel blocks to size, stack them and glue them in position. Allow glue to dry. Shape the heel, the headpiece, and the neck. Next cut your headpiece to shape and glue in place. Fit dovetail or mortise and tenon joint of neck to head block.
Next you need to cut the correct sized holes for the tuning machine hardware. Shape the fretboard to appropriate length, width and thickness, cut the fret slots.
The Sides, Back and Top:
Prior to gluing and bending you need to cut the sides, back and top plates to appropriate thickness. General guidelines indicated 1/8" thickness for steel string guitars and 3/32" thickness for nylon string guitars. To thin the guitar backs, sides and top, you can use a wide variety of techniques from hand held jack planes, stationary planer, stationary belt sander, hand held scrapers and drum sanders.
Join the back and top plates and cut the guitar forms out. After cutting and rough shaping the top and back bracing, glue into place using the go-board gluing jig. After glue is dry, shape the braces and smooth out with fine sandpaper. Cut Rosette channels, glue rosette into place and cut soundhole. Reinforce the soundhole.
Bend the guitar sides by use of a heated or unheated side bender. Let the sides cool for a few days, take them from the bender and position in the inside form. Trim the ends with a band saw. Glue the head and tail blocks into place. Next fabricate the kerfings and glue the kerfing into position around the top and bottom edges of the sides. Fit the top and back to the sides with the sides in the inside form. Mark out brace locations and cut into the kerfings.
Glue the top to the sides by using 1" elastic upholstery tape. Glue back in the same manner. Take the Dremel router with the binding cutter attachment and set it to the appropriate depth and width for your bindings and purfling. Cut the channel for the peghead binding as well.
The Bindings and Purfling:
You can either purchase your binding and purfling trims or you can design and fabricate your own. If you intend to use wood binding you will have to pre-bend them on the Heated Side Bender. Glue into place using 1" upholstery tape.
How to Fit the Neck:
Fit the neck to the body very precisely and glue in position, unless you will be using a bolt-on neck option. Glue fretboard onto neck and top. If using a bolt on neck, do not glue to top plate. Shape the neck and heel with wood rasps and sandpaper. Tap the frets into the fret channels and dress the frets.
Finishing the Instrument:
Prior to finishing operations, sand the entire instrument with 120 and 220 grit sandpaper. Scrape bindings and colored purfling to cleanup. Place masking tape on bridge footprint to prevent finish from sticking to the top.
Spray several vinyl sealer coats on instrument. Let dry, sand, and apply toned wood filler and let dry. Clean up and spray finish coats of lacquer. Up to 6 to 10 coats will be needed with sanding between each 2 coats.
Next you will need patience and let the instrument stand for at least one week. Do a final sanding with silicone carbide paper and buff to a mirror finish.
Final Detail Items:
Glue the bridge to the top plate and use the saddle channel routing jig to cut in the saddle slot. Install nut and saddle. Assemble the tuning machines on the peg head. String up the instrument with either light or medium light strings and test the action and fretting. Make any adjustments as required. Your Guitar Building will now be complete.
If you have an interest in building a guitar, this article will give you a very broad overview of the processes compulsory to make your own fine instrument.
The Search for Wood Sources:
Wood that is used in guitar building to make backs, sides and tops is called tonewood. Normally the wood of choice for top plates are softwoods such as Cedar or Spruce. From time to time hardwoods such as Mahogany and Koa are used as well.
Backs and sides are constructed of hardwoods. Hardwood species that is used in the backs and sides plays a important role in the tone and intensity characteristics an instrument will possess. Mahogany, Maple, and Walnut will give your instrument a nice warm tone. If you are after brighter tone and more intensity, such woods as Rosewood, Ebony, and Koa would be a better alternative.
Another tip you can use to define your tone, balance and intensity is to vary the thickness of the top wood. Thinner plates (tops and backs), typically produce louder instruments.
Another place where tonewood is used is for the bracing of the tops plates, to structurally support the thin woods. Usually, the top braces are constructed from the same wood family as the top plate. Again the way the bracing is designed can shape the tone and volume of the instrument.
Specialized Tools and Jigs:
Typically the trade of lutherie requires an extreme amount of precision that will govern the end result of a great sounding and playing instrument. It is exceedingly useful for the luthier to precisely accomplish many operations and be able to repeat these operations consistently. This can be achieved by the use of specialized jigs and forms. Some of the specialized jigs to consider:
Work board Plate Joiner Jig Fret Slot Cutting Jig Inside Form Heated Side Bender Go-Board Gluing Jig.
Woodworking Tools Required:
In order to start your building tasks you will need a fundamental set of hand tools. When purchasing hand tools, purchase the best quality tools you can afford as they hold and edge better, are easier to sharpen, cut better, and are safer to use.
Orbital Sander Hand Scrapers Dremel Moto Tool and Attachments Japanese Pull Saws Wood Chisel Set Low Angle Brass Block Plane Violin Finger Planes Fret Saws Dovetail Saw Plastic Tipped Hammer.
Recommended Stationary Tools:
If you are serious about this endeavor, investigate obtaining a few stationary tools to save a tremendous amount of time. Some basic tools to consider are:
12" Band Saw 6" x 48" Stationary Belt Sander Drill Press
The Workshop Setup:
Space is required for glue-up operations, assembly and general workbench space. Since you are implementing extensive work, you need superior lighting. It is always desirable to have natural lighting streaming into your workshop as well.
Building Documents:
To guarantee success of your guitar making endeavors, purchase a good set of guitar plans. Your plans will need to be full scale.
Assembly of the Neck:
Cut the neck blank to size, and glue halves together. First sand the neck blank square. Cut the scarf joint for the headpiece. Reverse the headpiece, sand the joint and glue the headpiece on the neck. Next, you will need to rout a channel down the center of the neck for the truss rod and install the truss rod. Stack the heel blocks on the neck and glue in place. After the heel blocks are dry, shape the heel, the neck and the headpiece. After cutting the headpiece veneer, glue in position. Detail the neck dovetail joint, or mortise and tenon joint to precisely fit into the head block.
Next you need to cut the correct sized holes for the tuning machine hardware. Shape the fretboard to appropriate length, width and thickness, cut the fret slots.
The Sides, Back and Top:
Prior to gluing and bending you need to cut the sides, back and top plates to appropriate thickness. General guidelines indicated 1/8" thickness for steel string guitars and 3/32" thickness for nylon string guitars. To thin the guitar backs, sides and top, you can use a wide variety of techniques from hand held jack planes, stationary planer, stationary belt sander, hand held scrapers and drum sanders.
Next glue the top plates and the back plates together with a plate joining jig. Rough shape the bracing for the back and top. Glue into locate with the go board gluing jig. Set the plates aside to dry. Now shape all braces and finish sand them. Install sound-hole rosette material and cut out sound-hole. Glue in sound-hole reinforcing.
Bend the guitar sides by use of a heated or unheated side bender. Let the sides cool for a few days, take them from the bender and position in the inside form. Trim the ends with a band saw. Glue the head and tail blocks into place. Next fabricate the kerfings and glue the kerfing into position around the top and bottom edges of the sides. Fit the top and back to the sides with the sides in the inside form. Mark out brace locations and cut into the kerfings.
Using 1" elastic upholstery tape, glue the top to the top of the kerfing on the sides. Glue the back to the kerfing and sides in a similar manner. Take the Dremel router with the binding cutter attachment and set it to the proper depth and width for your bindings and purfling. Cut the channel for the peg head binding as well.
The Purfling and Bindings:
You can either purchase your binding and purfling trims or you can design and fabricate your own. If you intend to use wood binding you will have to pre-bend them on the Heated Side Bender. Glue into place using 1" upholstery tape.
How to Fit the Neck:
Align the neck carefully and then glue in place to the body and head-block. Do not glue a bolt-on neck. Carefully align the fretboard and glue to the guitar neck and the top, unless you are utilizing a bolt-on neck. Finish shaping neck and heel. Tap in the frets into place and dress them.
Finishing Operations:
Finish sand all wood parts of the instrument with 120 and 220 grit sandpaper. It may be required to cleanup the rosette, purfling and bindings with a hand scraper. Apply masking tape on the guitar top on for the bridge footprint.
Spray several vinyl sealer coats on instrument. Let dry, sand, and apply toned wood filler and let dry. Clean up and spray finish coats of lacquer. Up to 6 to 10 coats will be needed with sanding between each 2 coats.
You now need to let the lacquer coats dry for at least a week or more. Sand the finish coats one last time with silicone carbide sandpaper and buff to a mirror finish with a buffing wheel.
Final Fit and Finish:
Glue the bridge to the top and use the saddle channel routing jig to cut in the saddle slot. Install nut and saddle. Attach the tuning machines to the headpiece. Put on a set of light or medium gauge string and perform your final testing. Adjust as necessary. This is the final Guitar Building step and your instrument will now be complete.
About the Author:
If you would like additional information regarding guitar construction, be sure to visit Guitar Building. Also if you wish to learn more about your guitar such as, repairs, care, free tab and a lot more, be sure to visit: Ultimate GuitarOnLine.
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