Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
BUILDING KIT
ACOUSTIC GUITARS
Bill Cory
Discover The Joy Of Creating
Your Own Quality Musical
Instrument
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CONTENTS
Introduction ............................................................................................................... 6
Why I Wrote This Book What's So Great About Kits?
What You'll Learn From This Book Kits and the Mystique of Luthery
Mistakes?
1
2
FAQs ............................................................................................................. 14
Tools ................................................................................................................. 64
Why Should I Trust The Info In This Book? ... and 30 more
What's Wrong With Tool Lists The Right Tool At The Right Time
Educate Yourself Air Quality A Tool Primer - List of Tools
and Devices Generic Woodworking Tools Other Miscellaneous
Items Steps in Building Kits, Tools Needed (Tables)
A Sample Tool List (Even Though I Don't Like Lists)
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7
8
10
11
12
13
14
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Acknowledgments
Many thanks to my loving wife and family for their
encouragement, and to the members ot the Kit Guitar
Forum for their encouragement, information, support, and
photos of their excellent guitars.
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Start to nish, in only about 150 steps. (Some of the highlights shown above.)
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INTRODUCTION
My friend, Carl,
works on a brace for
his Stewmac 000.
Its real woodworking; dont let anybody
tell you different.
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INTRODUCTION
several years, and I know what the beginning kit builder
needs to know.
The pro knows all of the tricks and understands the
entire craft of guitar building. If he or she built a kit, the instructions wouldnt even be used. Ask him how something
should be done, and youd get an explanation based not
on the kit instructions, but on his specific way of doing
things, using professional tools and techniques perfected
over years or decades of building. Furthermore, the pro
doesnt take kits seriously or know much about them; and,
theres no reason he should! He spends much more than
an entire kit costs on the wood for one of his guitars back
and sides. Why would he know much or care anything
about kits?
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INTRODUCTION
AAA Port Orford Cedar if we want to. Well pay extra for it,
but we can get it. And, if we want, LMI will join and thickness the back and bend the sides for a nominal fee. (You
can also get customized kits from independent luthiers
who supply kits: All of these are listed in the book.)
Quick reward: Working part time, you can get a kit
body together in two or three weeks, the neck done in one
more week, the finish done in another month, and easily
be playing the guitar ten weeks after the box lands on your
front porch. (The first kit might take longer: My first took
several months, but life sometimes happens, right?)
12
INTRODUCTION
instruments I most enjoy playing, and I hardly notice the
damaged spots anymore. Ive routed a binding channel
50% too deep and had to figure out how to cover the error acceptably. Ive glued a top on wrong, gotten it completely clamped before I realized it, and had to hurriedly,
but carefully, dismantle the whole mess. Ive cracked a top
on which I spent big money and time doing a really nice
green abalone rosette. Ive made other, smaller mistakes
lots of them. You will make mistakes, too. Im telling you
some of mine just so youll know Ive been there, and I
can relate to all those speed berms on the road to finishing the first kit. As one professional luthier told me, half
of learning this craft is learning how to fix your mistakes
so they have no impact. Another guy told me, It aint a
mistake less you caint fix it!
Colorado Springs, CO
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CHAPTER 1
FAQs
16
Fretting the fretboard is at rst intimidating, but the correct technique makes it easy.
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A: Very good to Excellent. The guitar you will build will have
several advantages over some factory-built instruments,
simply because you control the procedures of shaping,
sanding, trimming, finishing, etc. The kits described in
this book are all capable of producing a guitar that will
surprise you with its quality of sound.
If you know guitars, you know that every guitar has
a unique sound even two of the same model made
the same day in a factory with CNC cutters and tight
tolerances. Its the wood. Different pieces of wood have
different sound qualities. It varies widely, even within
the same tree. Strum five Martin D-28s or Taylor 714s
and youll hear variations in their sound that can only
be attributed to the wood.
To hear some kit guitars, go to www.KitGuitarBuilder.
com.
Q: ARE THE MATERIALS IN GUITAR KITS AS
GOOD AS IN FACTORY GUITARS?
A portion of one of the leading guitar factories in the country. It takes a big shop to
turn out hundreds of guitars daily. Are their
materials better than that in kits? Probably,
but not by much and it depends on which
kit, too. (A custom kit you put together on
LMI's Kit Wizard will certainly be as good!
Do they build the guitars "better?" Maybe ...
maybe not! It all just depends.
The instruction set provided by StewartMacDonald includes a video (DVD recently), full-size plan, book, and bracing
pattern. Others don't provide as much.
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See page 104 for a copy of the Guitar Builders Construction Journal. Also available on
the internet through www.KitGuitarManuals.com.
22
A: Very hard. If we define "building from scratch" as getting uncut wood and preparing it to become the parts
of the guitar, it's pretty complicated. The kit guitar starts
you out in the fifth grade, as mentioned above. Building from scratch is more like having to learn all about
the potty and dressing yourself years before you ever
go to school. It involves making scores of decisions,
based on time-consuming experience and knowledge,
that the kits all make for you. After youve built several
kits, building from scratch wont be as scary, because
you will have picked up the missing information as you
progressed. Even at that point, though, you will probably want to purchase tonewoods already basically cut,
instead of unprepared billets. The selection of wood,
itself, is a skill that can only be developed over many
years; I'll trust the known wood experts to get good
wood when I build from scratch.
Q: HOW HARD IS IT TO DESIGN A GUITAR
FROM SCRATCH?
A: Simple. Easy. Nothing to it. Just draw it and build it!
However, once its built, the design might be a total
failure. You wont know until its built. I'm being seri-
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A GUITAR? IN A KIT?
CHAPTER 2
A Guitar? In A Kit?
26
If the late 20th Century was the Golden Age of Luthery, the last ten years or so could be termed the Golden Age of Amateur Luthery. Thousands of individuals are
now building their own guitars. Most will build just one or
two instruments, but a few will find a fulfilling new career
or retirement vocation in the construction of acoustic guitars.
You might be one of them ...
Many professional luthiers recommend kits as the
best way for an individual to experience the difficulty
and fulfillment of building an acoustic guitar. Its much
like so many other pursuits: One cant understand the
craft until one has attempted to master it. Of course, understanding the basic concepts of it by building a kit is
only a beginning, and still a long way from being able to
successfully put all of those concepts into practice! But
still, a quality kit is the perfect way to start.
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A GUITAR? IN A KIT?
steel or nylon strings.
2) Trim choices: Binding, purfling, rosette, inlays, for beauty
and ease of installation.
3) Overall Design: How big? What shape? Scale Length?
Frets to the body? Body depth? Soundhole size? Contours?
4) Bracing: So many options, almost endless possibilities
... only a few good ones!
5) Details: Fret wire what size? Position markers ... tuners ... bridge pins ...
6) Cutting: Tops, backs, sides, neck shaping and truing,
neck joint, peghead, braces, fretboard radiusing, fretboard slots, binding, purfling ... They all start as chunks
of wood.
7) Bending: of sides.
8) Instruction: After you gather it, exactly what do you do
with this pile of expensive wood to make it into a guitar?
What steps? In what order?
9) Experience: For what reasons do you make the choices
you settle on?
10) Skill: Something you must take time to develop. Patience, too.
11) Assembling all the parts: Measuring, testing, aligning,
12) Finishing of the Guitar: This very difficult aspect has
been called the Achilles Heel of luthery by professionals. Although the supplies and materials arent included
in kits, some of the kit instructions do include minimal
guidance on finishing.
As you can see, building a kit helps you appreciate all
that has been done to create your store-bought guitars.
No doubt about it.
Another interesting thing is, professional luthiers will
realize this, too. When you have built a kit guitar of any
kind, and you mention this fact to professional luthiers,
you will notice that they take you slightly more seriously
than if you are someone who plays guitar but doesn't build
at all. They know that you understand at least a part of
what they do, and how difficult it is to do it as well as they
do. A sort of kinship is created, though you both know
who is the Master and who is the Grasshopper. It makes
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A GUITAR? IN A KIT?
sus our fingertips. But these differences that are familiar
to guitar players are matched by construction variations
known to all experienced luthiers: Bracing of the top, for
example. The differences between scalloped or straight
or parabolic braces, the wood used for them, its width,
length and height, and the exact placement of the braces:
Each has impact on the sound of the guitar. Just the effect
of rounding off peaks between scallops has a noticeable
effect. It has to do with the mass of the braces and how
that mass is distributed. The possible variations are practically endless.
And thats just the braces on the top of the guitar!
Granted, in conjunction with the top itself, they are arguably the most important sound-controlling devices in the
instruments construction. But every variation in a guitars
construction elements has the same kind of variables, and
they each have an additive effect with every other variation
in the body shape, the woods, the thicknesses of sides,
back, and top, and literally everything else that makes up
the guitar.
As Alan Carruth, a top pro luthier from New Hampshire, says in his pithy style: Its a system. Everything
effects everything.
So, theres a lot you dontcantlearn from building
kits. But, theres a lot you do learn, too!
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A GUITAR? IN A KIT?
examined or tried to understand the construction of the
instrument.
But, with enthusiasm fueled by what people laughingly call a mid-life crisis, and total boredom with what I
was doing in my working life, I started to look into it. I mentioned my desire to build an acoustic kit to a friend, and he
caught the bug, too. Shortly after that, we were both busily
ordering kits, buying tools, and getting started.
At first, I didnt have a place to work on a guitar, so we
used my friends nice big workshop. That wore out fast,
though. One hour once a week wasnt getting the guitar
built very quickly, and it took an hour of travel time just to
get there and back.
So, I took a week off and built a 6-by-8 foot shop in
the corner of my garage. By the time I added a countertop
at one end and a 24 x 28 workbench, the little room was
full. I covered the walls with pegboard, started hanging up
tools and doohickeys, and quickly had my own place to
work. Cozy, but adequate for my level. (And easy to heat
during some cold Colorado Springs days; my six 100-watt
light bulbs took care of it!)
Since most of the major cutting, shaping and bending
had already been done on my first kit (a Stewart-MacDonald 12-fret Triple-O Rosewood/Spruce), I didnt need many
tools. The braces were almost all cut and pre-shaped, the
East Indian rosewoood back was joined and sanded, the
supplied sitka spruce top was joined and sanded (though
I substituted a blank cedar top from Luthiers Mercantile),
the neck was carved, fretboard slotted, etc. The only big
tool I bought was an 8 band saw from Home Depot. And,
I bought lots and lots of clamps.
It took me from February 24 to August 12 to complete
that first kit. Most of the work was done after June, when I
built my little workshop. And the top of the guitar got four
complete finishes before I considered it okay. My second
guitar was completed in just under four months. (It would
have taken only nine weeks, but for my finishing problems.
Finishing is indeed the hardest part to master.)
Since then, there have been nine more: a Martin Jumbo, a Stewmac dreadnought, another Stewmac Triple-O,
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A GUITAR? IN A KIT?
Kits vs Parts (Stewmac).rtf
5/3/07 7:47 PM
Many of us have thought of just buying the parts instead of a kit, right? I did, at
the beginning. I did this survey first in back in 2004, and then again recently.
StewMac
LMII
Rosewood Mahogany
SM Kits
Dread Svc
Back and Sides
124.
62.
RW MAH RW kit
(#5294)(#5293) (#KLPD)
Kerng Strips
17.
17.
Neck Block & Tail Blck
20.
20.
Top (gr AAA Sitka)
39.
39.
Bracing & Bridge Plate
35.
35.
Bridge (Ebony)
16.
16.
Neck (bolt on 14fret)
116.
116.
Fingerboard (Pre-slotted, Ebony)
32.
32.
Inlays
15.
15.
Fretwire (med/med, 1 lb)
35.
35.
Truss Rod (Hot Rod#0986)
15.
15.
Rosette (3-ring with Herringbone)
10.
10.
Puring (Herringbone, prebent)
10.
10.
Binding (4-abs)
20.
20.
Trim (heelcap,etc.)
4.
4.
Nut (Bone)
5.
5.
Saddle (Bone, 1/8)
6.
6.
Bridge Pins (Plastic)
6.
6.
EndPin
3.
3.
Pick Guard
5.
5.
Total for Parts vs Kits... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
.
Tuners (Chrome Schaller)
56.
56.
56. 56. (tuners incl)
TOTAL for Parts/Kit w/tuners
Add other materials & Supplies:
Glues, etc.
Sandpapers
Finish, etc.
Misc. incl strings
20.
20.
50.
60.
20.
20.
50.
60.
20.
20.
20.
20.
50.
50.
60. 60.
RW Parts
Mah Parts
RW Kit
Page 1 of 1
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CHAPTER 3
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In the remaining floor area, I installed a second countertop made from a salvaged door, where I placed a GoBar
Deck, a large cardboard vacuum-cleaner box in which I
can store bodies, fretboards, etc., and a small set of plastic drawers with finishing materials. The walls are covered
with pegboard where my tools are mounted. A couple of
shelves are installed up high. Clamps hang over the workbench on clotheslines.
Its a tiny space, so small that in our Colorado winters,
just six 100-watt light bulbs warm it up nicely. The main
bench, atop the chest of drawers, is enough. There is literally just enough room to turn around (carefully), when the
door is closed. Many of the construction pictures in this
book were shot in this little room with just those lights.
Using a small space can be challenging, and causes one
to come up with ways to use the space efficiently. Items
like guitar-vises, removable heavy vises, and so forth,
make the small space do many jobs with just one small
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Finishing for guitars -- the kinds of finishes professionals use -- ranges all the way from the top end of UVcured nitrocellulose lacquer applied in spray booths with
explosion-proof fans and lighting, all the way down to the
corner of a room, where a shellac-based technique called
French Polish can be done by hand. There are also some
excellent waterborne finishes designed for instruments;
some can be applied by brush or spray. Some that Ive
used are described later in the book.
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Back and Top of the rst kit I built. TruOil was used because of its ease. Wipe on,
nice nish, and when completely cured, it's
plenty hard and thin.
TOOLS
Tool lists tend to be long and unfocused, so I am not
including one in this section. You will find more information
in Chapter 5. Ive included there a chart that is specific to
each kit. For scratch guitars or kits not from the suppliers
listed, you will be able to generalize.
You can easily spend more on tools than on the kit
for your first kit guitar.
38 Building Kit Acoustic Guitars
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TIME
How much time does a guitar kit take? Basically, until
its finished. Actually, this is an impossible question to answer, because it depends on too many variables.
The construction of the first kit, in particular, will be
accompanied by a lot of research. Though the kits all include some level of documentation, none of them are really adequate unless you get more info from somewhere.
Some of them are absolutely inadequate. (See Chapter 4,
"Where To Get The Kit.")
When you start out, you will use at least as much time
looking for information as you will building. If you progress from one kit to another, the time required for extra
research will become less and less.
How many actual construction hours? For your first
kit, if you are not an experienced woodworker experienced
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KNOWLEDGE
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CHAPTER 4:
here you get your first kit is important for several reasons. Your first kit needs to be a good
match for your woodworking and guitar knowledge. A little
research here will reveal to you which is your best personal
choice.
Look first among the kit purveyors listed in this chapter. There are a couple more I have not listed here. I can't
say they are not goodonly that they are not well-known.
Their quality is uncertain, as is their customer support.
44
LMII Kits
Luthiers Mercantile International, Inc.
7975 Cameron Drive, Bldg. 1600
Windsor CA 95492 ... USA
Phone: 707-687-2020, Toll Free: 800-477-4437,
Fax 707-687-2014
Website: www.lmii.com
email: service@lmii.com
Luthiers Mercantile International, Inc., known
simply as LMI, is a primary source of not just kits,
but also all grades and types of quality woods, tools,
parts, and services. The woods from LMI are all in line
with the CITES requirements. (CITES: Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna
and Flora, an international agreement between various
countries to control trade in endangered wood species,
such as Brazilian Rosewood, and endangered animal species.)
LMIs tool and parts offerings cover just about everything a luthier could need, whether novice or advanced.
And, the services department is unique. Suppose you
choose an l carte back and side set: You can have LMI
thickness and join the back, and thickness and bend the
sides for you, into one of many offered standard shapes.
Or, you can pick and choose among these services. The
services are offered as options for kits, too, and when
combined with the Kit Wizard, can create any unique kit
package of wood and trim level desired, even for a first
kit.
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Full-size Plan:
This is a detailed plan for the kit you order. It will assist with measurements, etc., but is only a plan. No construction tips or steps are given on the plan. Because of
the nature of printing, the measurements noted on the
plan might not exactly match the plans actual sizes; a
note in the LMI kit tells you to call them if the difference
is too great.
DVD
The DVD, by luthier Robert OBrien, is good excellent, in fact. OBrien is not connected with LMI, but is an
independent luthier and an instructor at Red Rocks City
College in Golden, Colorado. The DVD consists of still
photos of every step and procedure along with OBriens
narration. The kit used in the DVD is the Industry Standard kit, which is basically all the wood needed to build
the guitar, completely unserviced. Chapters of the DVD are
easy to navigate and cover each major stage of construction. Those who build from serviced kits can simply skip
some steps shown in the video.
Online Journal:
46 Building Kit Acoustic Guitars
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LMI KITS
The Unserviced Industry Standard LMI kit, as mentioned before, consists of wood, only roughly cut, and
not shaped, bent, or measured close to final specs. You
do it all from the raw wood. It is a kit only in the sense
that its all there, conveniently packaged for you in a few
boxes but you must create all of the parts. By buying it
this way, you get a discount on the whole thing. If you are
experienced in the wood shop and have the tools needed
to thickness, bend, measure, cut, join, slot, rout ... etc. ...,
then this may be a kit you can attempt to build. (If you live
near Golden Colorado, you can do it in a summertime college class with Robert OBrien: Contact him through his
website, www.obrienguitars.com.)
The Serviced LMI kit also contains everything needed to build the guitar, but many of the parts are basically
done or rough shaped. The binding and sides are bent
(but sides still must be measured and cut to the correct
length and back contour). The top and back are profiled
(cut to rough shape), thicknessed and joined. The rosette
and backstrip are inlaid, and the soundhole is cut. The
fretboard is slotted, and the neck is routed and carved.
Its heel joint is machine-cut and matched to the supplied
neck block (dovetail or mortise and tenon bolt-on). The
bridge is shaped. Bracewood is supplied as uncut billets.
Brace shaping is up to you, and figuring out what to do
with your braces is an enjoyable adventure in guitar re-
OVERALL IMPRESSION:
LMI kits are of the same quality of materials as Stew-
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Stewmac Kits
Stewart-MacDonald, Inc.
21 Shafer Street, Box 900
Athens, OH 45701 ... USA
Phone Toll Free: 800-848-2274,
Fax 740-593-7922.
Website: www.stewmac.com
email: support@stewmac.com
Stewart-MacDonald, Inc. ( Stewmac) is
known as a large tool and parts house that also
offers some woods. The tools and parts selection
in their catalog is as extensive as LMIs. (The two
are pretty much neck-and-neck on that score,
and we consumers should be glad theyre both
there.) The wood selection is not as extensive
as LMIs, but they do offer some woods, in raw
and prepared condition. They also offer a large selection
of pre-carved necks, blocks, fretboards, bindings, linings,
brace packages, etc. Their woods fully comply with the
CITES requirements.
Stewmac offers other kits (mandolins, violin, and
dulcimers) besides guitar kits, but the guitars only are
addressed here. Their kits are standardized. They offer
12-fret Triple-O and Dreadnought guitar kits in mahogany
or East Indian Rosewood, both with Sitka Spruce tops.
The standardization of the Stewmac guitar kits creates
a benefit for the builder that isnt found in kits from LMI,
Martin, or anyone else: Because of the standardization,
their documentation has been created as a detailed, indepth and complete construction guide for the kit.
50
The changes I made in that first kit certainly did modify the sound of the guitar, but none of them changed the
building procedures at all. I had the benefit of the kit as
well as the benefits of choosing and changing things.
DOCUMENTATION
The thing I like best about Stewmacs kits is that they
are well documented. The company, itself, created the
instructions and made them detailed and understandable
for a builder at any level.
Full Size Plan:
The Stewmac instructions still call for using spindle clamps. I got some for the rst
kit, and I've used them for several, but I've
now gone on to other types of clamps. The
adjustable VarioClippix Spring Clamps,
shown above sharing space with the spindle
clamps, have won my heart for their speed
and adjustability.
The plan included with Stewmac kits is highly detailed and explanatory. It is drawn by Don MacRostie, a
recognized pro and expert in the luthier community. It is
accurately printed; its size, when you measure it yourself,
will match the printed measurements. I mention this only
because LMI cautions that the printed full-size plan might
not be accurate and offers a replacement in that case, and
Martin doesn't include a full-size plan at all.
Vellum Brace Pattern:
My first kit didnt include this; without it, it was difficult
to transfer the bracing pattern to the wood. I let Stewmac
feel my pain by emailing them that this was not good. (I
had to cut the large plan apart and hold it and the wood
up to a window to tape them accurately so I could make
pinholes in the wood for marking the brace pattern.) Being a company highly responsive to their customers, they
came up with this separate translucent pattern for top and
back braces. It is easy to use.
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From the mess above emerges the beautiful instrument below. All it takes is a bit of
patience, some money, and desire.
Overall Impression
If you are new to guitar building and not well-versed in
woodworking, the Stewmac kit is probably the best choice
for your first kit. However, that doesnt mean that it is "only
a beginners kit. The material quality is at least as high as
the other two big companies kits, and the documentation
is superior. The Stewmac kits I have built (two Triple-Os
and one Dreadnought) have all gone together without a
hitch. The one problem I had with one set of sides for a
Triple-O was resolved easily with a telephone call; Stewmac sent a new set of sides, no questions asked.
In the hands of a skilled builder, the guitars built from
these kits would be more than a match for most mid-range
guitar models from the best-known guitar companies.
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Martin Kits
C.F. Martin & Co., Inc.
510 Sycamore Street
PO Box 329
Nazareth, PA 18064 ... USA
Phone: 610-759-2837, Fax: 610-759-5757
Website: www.martinguitar.com
email: info@martinguitar.com
The Martin guitar company was founded in 1833
by Christian F. Martin. The Martin guitar is the oldest and best-known of all acoustic guitar brands. In
addition to guitars, Martin offers various parts and
tools, though not a large selection. They do not sell
body woods (except braces) to the public through
their regular website, but if you can get to Nazareth,
PA, they'll sell you some. Otherwise, body woods are
sold only to authorized shops.
Martins kit offerings change from time to time. Current kits available are shown on the website. They offer
OM/000, Dreadnought and Jumbo kits. Martin is one of
the very few companies to sell laminate kits, and they periodically offer them with veneers of East Indian Rosewood,
Mahogany, and more exotic woods. Tops are solid spruce.
Their solid-wood kits are also spruce-topped and are
available with sides and backs of East Indian Rosewood
and Mahogany. Martin is the only big company currently
DOCUMENTATION
Printed Instructions
The booklet provided with Martin kits was written by
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The Martin 000 kit includes the same minimal instructions as other body styles. It will
be necessary to get additional guidance.
All Martin kits include the same parts: The spruce top
is thicknessed and joined, and the soundhole is cut and
rosette already inlaid. The sides are bent, cut to the correct length, and their back edge is contoured. The back is
thicknessed, but not joined. Braces are pre-contoured and
pre-shaped. Lining, binding, purfling, etc., are all included.
The neck is shaped, routed and precisely cut for the dovetail or mortise-and-tenon bolt-on joint. (Their bolt-on fits
tightly, unlike the bolt-on joints from LMI and Stewmac.)
The fretboard, of rosewood, is pre-cut to the neck shape,
pin-indexed to the neck, slotted for frets, and drilled for
front fret markers. The bridge is pre-carved, and all small
parts are included, including bridge pins, tuners, strings,
etc. The quality of the materials is excellent, as one would
expect.
Overall Impression
The materials are goodthey are equal to those from
the other two big companies. But, the instructions are simply not adequate. Theres no doubt that if Martin wanted
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Grizzly
Tools
(http://www.grizzly.com/products/h3098)
If you want to build a kit that will teach you something about guitars, provide a challenging and enjoyable
woodworking project, and produce an excellent guitar,
then dont bother with the Grizzly kits: They are already
assembled! They may be cheap, at under $100, but as
the old saying goes ... You get what you pay for. This
is my overall subjective opinion when I compare it with
other kits.
But ... (he admitted reluctantly) ... I guess I should
provide more detail, since I bought and assembled one
of these just for this book. (And, to my surprise, it's not a
bad guitar!)
The Grizzly Western Steel String and Classical
kits come in the same size box as the other suppliers kits
described here, but thats the end of the similarity. The
body of the guitar is already put together, and is made of
basswood. (This is not a standard wood used for acoustic
guitars.) The neck is premade and slotted for the truss rod.
The fretboard is already fretted; they leave shallow holes
for you to glue in the supplied fret markers. The peghead
is predrilled and low-quality tuners are included, as is a set
of bulk no-name strings. The neck joint consists only of
four wooden dowels, with corresponding holes in the neck
heel and in the body. These dowels are inserted into the
holes and the two parts clamped together. On the Western
Steel String kit, I was surprised to find that when I put it
all together for the dry fit, it lined up well with no hump or
slump at the 14th fret. The action, however, would have
been extremely high since there was little radius to the top;
I shaved 3/32 off the bridge and deepened the saddle slot
to make the action workable. The bridge is included, and
measuring for its placement is the same as in all other kits.
The documentation booklet in the kit is adequate, since
not much assembly is required.
When completed (after some bridge trimming and intonation work), much to my surprise and amazement, this
kit produced an acceptable beginner, student or beater
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58
John Hall's website for Blues Creek Guitars has been recently expanded and now
includes a complete online store with many
products, tools, and kit selections. John's
tutorial pages are also excellent.
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Kovacik Guitars
Steven Kovacik, Owner
39 Albion Street
Scotia, NY 12302
Phone: 518-381-3958 (105 MF, Eastern Time)
www.guitar-repair.com
email: SKOVACIK@nycap.rr.com
Steve Kovacik supplies kits as a sideline to his full
time luthiery operation. A Martin Certified Guitar Tech,
and has repaired several collector guitars on display
in the Martin Guitar Museum in Nazareth, PA.
Steve's website offers a number of used guitars
as well as his own custom new guitars, and from time to
time interesting parts are also offered.
In the area of kits, Steve offers standard 14 fret D
and 000 kits in mahogany and Indian rosewood but his
specialty is in offering sizes and tonewood combinations
not commonly sold by other kit outlets, including 12-fret
sizes 0 through D.
60
KennethMichaelGuitars
Ken Cierpilowski, owner
211 W. Birch Street.
Litchfield MI 49252
Phone: 517-542-2515
www.KennethMichaelGuitars.com
email: kencierp@yahoo.com
Ken Cierpilowski is attempting to forge new
ground in the business of kit acoustic guitars.
Scrolling down on KMG's front page leads
to a list of procedure guides, tool descriptions, and much helpful information.
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www.BeardGuitars.com
Hagerstown MD, USA
Takes a few clicks, but in Parts and Accessories
you find a list including Kits. Traditional squareneck and roundneck reso kits are offered, and
include all you need, including hardware and
cones. Traditional tools are needed, too.
www.music-marketing.de
Frankfurt, Germany
Click the "HOSCO_Bausatze" link to see kits including dreads, classical, mandolins and electrics. The website is in German, so get some
teutonic friends online to help out.
www.siminoff.net
Arroyo Grande, CA, USA
Offering Mandolin and Banjo kits, Roger Siminoff
draws on his years of experience and a great
reputation as an instrument expert. He's written
many books. His kits are undoubtedly excellent
in workmanship and value.
MUSICMAKER'S KITS
MIDWEST GUITAR
www.musikit.com
Stillwater, MN, USA
Offering a variety of kits of all kinds, this company
has been in business along time. Their dreadnought kits (spruce top with European sycamore
or African mahogany body) come with the back
and sides assembled and braced; you go from
there. Eliminates the need of a mold.
www.midwestguitar.com
Webster Groves, MO, USA
In addition to offering a luthery school, repair and
new guitar sales, the company provides solid
wood dread, jumbo and classical kits in various
stages of pre-assembly or prep. If you want the
rim done, for example, they'll just do that.
MADINTER TRADE
www.aiguitars.com
Mesa, AZ, USA
Al Inteso builds custom guitars and offers highly
serviced kits for dreads and jumbos with spruce
and various back and side woods. Mahogany,
Indian rosewood and maple are the standards.
Cutaway kits also available.
www.madinter.com
Madrid, Spain
Dreadnought and Classical well serviced kits as
well as raw wood kits offer a European source.
A builder working on one reports the kit is well
made, though no instructions are included.
ROGER SIMINOFF
AL INTESO GUITARS
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TOOLS
Everyone who works with
wood knows: You can never
have too many clamps. Every
type of clamp has a specic
use in guitarmaking, and
many also do double duty.
They say you can never have
enough.
... They're right.
CHAPTER 5:
TOOLS
hat tools are needed to build a kit acoustic guitar? Youd think this is a difficult question, but
it really is not. At least, not for most kits. (Now, if youre
talking about building scratch guitars, it might be a difficult
question!)
With acoustic guitar kits, most of the major procedures are done for you. The things done in advance are
basic steps that would be no different if you did them correctly yourself, so they dont take away from your personalization of the guitar: You still have many opportunities to
make it your own.
You might be an experienced woodworker, familiar
with wood shops and the machinery in them, but the tools
you need to build most kit guitars are pretty basic. Of
course, a drill press can be used more precisely than a
hand drill, and a band saw is faster and smoother than a
coping saw, but the hand tools will get the job done. They
present less opportunity for error or injury, too, and they
take up less space (and money).
66
You'll need some tools and supplies at the very beginning; others won't become necessary until the end. Here
are the five main stages as I see them:
1) Rim and plate preparation, up to and including
brace shaping and gluing of lining.
2) Body assembly up to and including routing for and
gluing of binding and purfling.
3) Neck and Fretboard assembly, including tuner installation.
4) Finishing of body and neck
5) Assembly and Setup
Starting on page 73 is a chart with a list organized by
these stages, and by guitar kits from the major suppliers
and luthiers. (It doesn't differ much, as you'll see.)
EDUCATE YOURSELF
Fretting is best done with the right kind of
hammer.
TOOLS
Read up on what you will need to do and why you will
need various tools. Major websites and forums will offer
guidance, as will the many excellent books available on
guitar building. Just reading through the print catalogs of
the big instrument tool makers will provide a good start;
they illustrate and explain many basic tools. (LMIs print
catalog is incredibly rich with detailed information on specialized tools, as is Stewart-MacDonalds. Their websites
are both great in the same way. Get on their websites and
request a catalog; itll be one of the smartest moves you
can make, and its free.)
AIR QUALITY
Included in the Appendix is a list of common guitar woods and some of the problems they are known to
cause. Some are serious. All woods can cause respiratory
and eye problems.
Most professional luthiers, as one of the standard
shop machines, install a dust filtering system to keep wood
dust out of the air and out of their lungs. Its a good investment. I don't have one, but I started using a painter's mask
and eye protection for sanding, drilling and routing. (Not
that the mask is all you need; its just a good start.)
TOOL PRIMER:
A LIST OF TOOLS AND DEVICES
(NOT IN ANY PARTICULAR ORDER)
Hygrometer (Relative Humidity Meter): If you dont have
one of these, get one. It tells you the Relative Humidity
of its environment. You can find these at Radio Shack
or online for about twenty dollars. To protect your guitars (kit components and finished instruments) you
need to know the relative humidity (RH) of your work
and instrument storage area: That RH should ideally be
about 40% to 50%, and the kit components should be
exposed in that environment for a week or two before
building. If you are building inside a house with forcedair heat in a winter climate, be aware that the air in your
house can get as dry as only 10% relative humidity.
(Note: To modify the humidity, you will need either a
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68
Hand plane: The plane is a great tool, for those experienced in using it. Depending on what youre doing,
alternatives can include scraping, sanding, or sawing.
Caliper: Get a good digital one that measures in inch and
metric values.
Laminate trimmer (router): This is used for routing the
binding and purfling channels. It is necessary. I bought
a Dremel tool set but discovered it wasnt hardy enough
for bindings and purflings. I like the cordless laminate
trimmer/router more than the corded trimmer.
TOOLS
be .072. They work beautifully.)
Drill/Drill Press: This doesnt have to be a drill press, but
if you have one, youre way ahead. I built my first three
guitars using a 9.6v DeWalt cordless drill; worked fine.
Then, I bought a small (8-inch) drill press from Harbor
Freight for $40; its adequate for some things, but Ive
recently run into situations where its size is a limitation.
Planing with a Wagner Saf-T-Planer is not possible,
and drilling holes or rosette channels is another problem area. (There isnt enough room on the stage for the
wood.) If you can afford it, get a full-size drill press to
start out; itll save money in the long run.
Brad point drill bit set: These are not essential, but drilling on center is much easier with the brad points.
Curved Brace-shaping Chisel: This chisel, available at
Stewmac and LMI, has a long curved shaft so you easily can cut scallops and tapers into braces. This is nice
to have, but if youre careful, its function can be carried
out using files, sandpaper, and straight chisels. Also
shown is a spokeshave; handy for shaping a neck.
File Set: I finally bought a set of files from Stewmac. They
are very good, but before I had them, I did the same
work with 40- and 60-grit sandpaper glued to sticks
and metal rulers. A good set of shaped files is a good
investment.
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Fret Leveling Tool: This is a straight or radiused rectangular sanding tool that is used to leveling all of the frets
to each other. Sandpaper is attached to it for this purpose. I prefer the radiused; many people use a straight
piece. (After ths step,, the fret crowning file is used to
individually round them.)
Fret Crowning file: After frets are leveled, they each need
to be crowned to provide an accurate point of contact;
good intonation depends on it. This file has curved filing surfaces only on its two edges. One edge file is for
large frets; one for medium. Used properly, it will do
the job without scarring the fretboard. Its one of those
specialized tools you probably need. Some people
have used sandpaper and regular files, but its risky. If
you scar your fretboard, youll remember it every time
you look at it and youll kick yourself.
Fret Tang Nippers: If you are going to build a guitar with
a bound fretboard, youll need this tool that takes off
just the end of the tang and leaves the surface of the
fret intact so it can lay over the binding. Of course, you
can file them if you want to save the money.
Fret cutters; End-cut Nippers: These are handy since
they cut on the end instead of on the side. This tool is
used for cutting frets nearly flush to the fretboard edge
after installing them. However, you can find a substitute at the hardware store, or you can use a good pair
of medium-duty side-cut wire cutters. Cut carefully so
you dont scar the fretboard. (Masking tape or plastic electrical tape on the nippers will help protect the
wood.) After cutting, you will still need to level the fret
end down to the fretboard edge.
Fret Hammer: This hammer is used to tap fret wire into
the slots of the fretboard. At the hardware store, these
plastic and brass hammers are less expensive than at
Stewmac or LMI. You can also make one by attaching
a plastic cap to a regular hammer head. Practice before
you use it.
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TOOLS
Large Cam clamps (aka "Klemmsia Clamps"): Instrument makers have used these for centuries; they simply
stress a piece of wood to apply pressure. You can make
them if you already have a wood shop. If not, buy them.
Youll need them for various procedures. Minimum of
four, but eight is better.
Spool (or Spindle) Clamps: These can be used to clamp
down the top plate and back plate to the rim when gluing, if you are using an inside mold as Stewmacs
instructions prescribe. (StewMacs instructions tell how
to make these yourself. It is very time consuming to
make them since you need about 24. The internal-mold
method used in Stewmacs kits is the only one with
which you can use them with the guitar rim in its body
mold.) However, if you build a Stewmac kit, you can still
use other methods of clamping the top and back to the
sides for gluing. (There are many other methods are
shown for gluing top and back to the sides.)
Expandable Squeeze Clamps "VarioClippix": These are
as handy as anything Ive ever used. Ive even used
them to clamp the top/back when gluing. Their adjustable-width jaws allow them to clamp objects from zero
to five inches in width. You can find them for $4.50 to
$5.00 apiece. With enough of them, you could easily
dispense with the spindle clamps mentioned above.
That's exactly what I did on a recent glue-up.
Cam Clamps.
Spindle clamps.
72
----------------------------GENERIC WOODWORKING TOOLS
Good Chisel(s): 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, 1. Learn how to
sharpen them correctly.
Dremel tool or Laminate Router/Trimmer: Youll
need this; check eBay and local pawn shops.)
For the bindings, use the laminate trimmer if
you want to do it in one pass. Look for major
companies' refurbished tools on ebay, such as
this: http://stores.ebay.com/CPO-Bosch-Reconditioned.
Razor knife: Any kind will do.
Centerpunch: File a heavy nail to the right kind
of point.
Small razor saw: A hacksaw blade can be substituted if used carefully, but wont be as thin.
Cabinet Scrapers: They come in nice 3-shape
sets; all are handy to have. My very favorite
tool of all I have newly discovered! Tiny, precise
scraper blades can be made from standard
single-edge razor blades.
Fret Hammer: plastic/lexan-tipped hammer. Or
attach something to your regular hammer.
File Sets: Good, small files.
Drill Bits: Pay slightly more and get a good set of
brad-point bits.
Clamps: Lots, all kinds! Find them at swap meets
and garage sales, or borrow.
AROUND THE HOUSE TOOLS AND DEVICES
(Things You Already Have)
Tape measure
Wooden Spring-type Clothespins (at least 150)
Rubber bands for the Clothespins.
Small artist brush
Old credit cards/gift cards (I used a new unused
deck of plastic coated playing cards. Flexible
and disposable.)
OTHER MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS
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X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Stewmac
X
X
Kits From
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
(?)
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
(?)
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
TOOLS
74
BUILDING KIT ACOUSTIC GUITARS
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TOOLS
Glue, Clamps
File, Razor saw, Fine sandpaper
Glue, Clamps
Glue, Clamps
Coping Saw, File, Sandpaper
Drill, Glue, Small Screwdriver
76
BUILDING KIT ACOUSTIC GUITARS
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X
X
X
X
X
X
Stewmac
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
TOOLS
Stewmac
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Glue, Clamps
Glue, Clamps
Small Screwdriver, Glue
Fret Leveling File
Steel Wool
File, Razor Knife, Sandpaper, Fret Slot rule
Drill, 3 or 5 degree reamer or Rattail file
Sandpaper, file
Congratulations make final adjustments.
78
BUILDING KIT ACOUSTIC GUITARS
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TOOLS
A SAMPLE MINIMAL TOOL LIST
Tools and Devices:
Clamps: This is a minimal set
Four large Cam (Klemmsia) Clamps,
six or eight medium spring clamps
spindle clamps for gluing tops and backs (or a press,
go-bar deck, or other method).
Vise
Files: A good set that includes several shapes.
Razor Saw
Coping Saw
Chisels: 1/8", 1/2", and curved shaft for braces
Hand Drill and brad-point bits (or drill press)
Laminate Router, bits and binding guide.
Nut-slotting Files.
Fret Leveling bar/file
Fret Crowning File
Small Fret Dressing File
Fret Hammer
Fretwire cutters.
Bridge-Pin Reamer (rat tail file)
24" straightedge.
Caliper
1/64" ruler
Tape Measure
Clothespins (150)
Heat Gun or Hair dryer
Feeler Gauges
Capo
Various Cauls, etc.
Rubber bands: Large and small
Supplies:
Plain vanilla masking tape
Blue painter's masking tape
Green masking tape or brown binding tape from LMI
Double-sided tape
Glues: LMI or Titebond, Binding glue, CA medium)
Rags and Paper Towels
Sand Papers (60, 150, 180, 220, 320, 400, 600)
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CHAPTER 6:
Start To Finish,
Step By Step
82
DRY-FITTING
STARTING OUT
Order The Kit: Simple enough. Decide what you
want, and order it. If you need glue and some clamps,
you can order them at the same time as the kit. I favor
LMI White Instrument Makers Glue; others use Titebond
as recommended in the Stewmac video and manual, and
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84
Above, keeping
the rim in shape
by clamping
blocks and sides
together. It's a
temporary measure to use only
until you get the rims into a mold. Do it any
way that works
... just do it!
If you you
leave the rims
unshaped, they
will "relax"
and spring
back. This can result in some problems.
THE RIM/SIDES:
Locate the Neck Block and the Tail Block, and
clamp the sides roughly in the correct positions on the
blocks. Clamp the sides to the end and neck blocks. If
you have a mold, put them in the mold. (If you dont have a
mold yet, get a couple of 24 clamps, or something similar
to what's shown in the photo at left.: Fix one at the ends
of the guitar and another at the waist until you get your
sides into or onto a mold.) If you have ordered a Stewmac
kit, instructions and materials will be in the kit for making
the internal mold. Go ahead and make it, along with the
Waist Clamp.
Guitar sides are bent from wood longer than necessary, then trimmed. (Sometimes trimmed, then bent.)
Which is first isnt important, except in cases where sides
are bent and left untrimmed, as in LMI kits. (With Stewmac
and Martin kits, they are usually accurately trimmed and
ready to glue to the blocks, but not always. Measure!) In
order to trim the length of each side accurately, you will
need to align the sides to the full-size plan, carefully measure, dry fit to the blocks, and cut. Do this carefully.
Keeping the Sides in Shape; Gluing the Neck and
Tail Blocks: The first major step, gluing of neck and tail
blocks, requires cauls or a complete mold. (Also, you
might want to make your mold and use it for this: See the
next paragraph.) Depending on the kit you are building,
the tail block might need to be given a very slight concave
curve before gluing to the sides; check the instructions
on making a caul and then using it for sanding the block.
If you have your mold and cauls, go ahead and glue the
sides immediately; be sure the sides arrived already cut to
the correct length; they aren't, always! The sides can accliwww.KitGuitarManuals.com
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Make the cauls before the body is glued together; they must t your particular braces.
90
Sanding the
rims to the
proper radius.
Here, I'm using a 15' radius stick with
80-grit paper
on it to create
a radius that
ts the back
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94
To help cut the fretboard accurately, measure and mark it fretside down on the neck
(showin in above photo), so that you can cut
it with the at side down.
Measure and Shape Neck to Your Liking: Not everyone likes the same neck shape or has the same size
hands. Although necks in kits are shaped, you might
want something different. Ive found that, for my personal
needs, Martin necks are closer to right than the others,
and they need less shaping. LMI necks are close, but still
need some shaping. Stewmac necks are very wide and
thick, and can stand quite a bit of shaping. A contour
gauge, about ten bucks at the hardware store, will help
you shape your neck if you can measure a neck you like
and compare them. (Also see www.LuthierSuppliers.com
for an excellent neck shaping template.)
Measure, Align, Cut Fretboard to Match Neck: On
the Stewmac and LMI fretboards, draw a centerline on the
slotted side, match it to the centerline on the neck, tape it
down, and trace the neck taper onto the fretboard surface.
With those markings on the radiused side of the board,
you can lay it flat for cutting. Leave some trim space when
you cut. Cut the fretboard, then file and sand it to fit the
sides of the neck. With the Stewmac and LMI fretboards,
you can pin-index them through a fret slot by drilling two
1/32 holes in fret slots and using #18 wire nails to hold
them in position.
Binding the Fretboard? If your fretboard will be
bound, this is the time to prep it. There are several
steps to this, and different ways to go about it. Heres
one way: 1) With the truss rod in and the fretboard
glued to the neck, rout the binding channel. (But if
binding will be the exact fretboard thickness, you
can cut the width of the binding off of the fretboard.
Not as easy to do accurately.) 2) Glue on the binding; trim and shape it to fit the radius of the fretboard
and sides of the neck. 5) Trim the soundhole end
of the fretboard and install binding. 6) Next, follow
the fretting procedure as outlined below, but: Before
installing each fret, use a Fret Tang Nipper to trim
the tangs of each fret so they wont cut into the binding. 7) After fretting, finish off the frets as described
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98
BRIDGE HEIGHT
AND ACTION
On my 2004 Taylor 510, the straightedge is just about 1/64 above the top of
the bridge, which allows for excellent
saddle height and action.
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http://www.doolinguitars.com/intonation/intonation1.html
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CHAPTER 7
Keeping A Record
106
~
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007 WLY
2
~
NE SED:
I
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ool
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W it ips
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CONTENTS
(NOTE: ITALIC steps do not apply to most kit guitars.)
KITS:
Check status of contents ..................................... 4
Acclimate woods to your locale............................ 4
Got Tools? ........................................................... 4
Got Supplies? ..................................................... 4
BODY:
Rim / Sides:
Prepare The Sides: Measure, Mark, Cut, Bend (L)5
Set up mold (S) .................................................... 6
Make neck block and tail block (L) ....................... 6
Glue neck and tail blocks to sides....................... 7
Contour/Radius sides for back (L) ...................... 7
Set up internal mold (if not using external) .......... 7
Glue kerfed linings onto Back & Top rims ............ 7
Top & Top Braces:
Join Top plates & plane to thickness .................... 8
Rout rosette; Glue rosette; Cut sound hole.......... 9
Cut top out of rectangle ....................................... 9
Mark Top for braces ............................................. 9
Cut, radius & rough shape Top braces (L) ......... 10
Glue Top braces, curved then uncurved ............ 10
Finish shaping Top braces/Tap tuning ............... 11
Sand/Shape Kerfed Lining for Top Gluing .......... 11
Notch lining for Top braces ................................ 11
Glue Top onto rims ............................................. 11
Glue in vertical side braces ................................ 11
Tap-Tune Top, nish braces, sign top ................ 11
Back:
True, Join Back plates & plane to thickness (M) 12
Cut & shape Back braces (L) ............................. 13
Mark and glue Back braces ............................... 13
Sand down kerfed lining for Back ...................... 14
Notch lining & rim for Back braces .................... 14
Clean up inside of body: Last Chance! ............. 14
Finish Back Braces; Tap tune Back ................... 15
Glue in Sound Port Brace if desired .................. 15
Clean up, Apply Sticker, Glue Back onto rims.... 15
Routing & Body Smoothing:
Trim Back and Top overhangs ........................... 16
Trim out Mortise for Neck Joint .......................... 16
Scrape sides at ................................................ 16
Install end graft/butt wedge ................................ 16
Rout for binding on Back.................................... 16
Rout for puring & binding on Top ...................... 17
Glue & tape Back binding ................................. 17
Glue & tape Top Binding & puring .................... 17
Untape binding & puring................................... 17
Sand body to 220 grit ......................................... 17
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Journal Page 2
Notes:
(L)=LMI
(M)=Martin
(S)=Stewmac
108
Journal Page 3
HOW?
This document is organized in blank, and
can be used in whatever order you want to build.
If you work on the neck rst, turn to the neck
section. Realizing that there are many ways of
building a guitar, I have only included all the
main steps; your own intermediate steps can
be added in the space provided.
If you want to change major steps in the
order, just print additional copies of the Extra
page (provided on page 29) and insert them
where you need them. Photos and blank pages
can be inserted as you need them also.
FIRST-TIME BUILDERS
When I built my rst guitar, I was puzzled
about how to do most everything. The second
through fth were better, and it sill improves.
Here are some things I wish somebody had
told me before I started building:
1) It isnt a mistake unless you cant x it.
2) Do not hurry.
3) Think about the goal of each little step: Each
stroke of the le, chisel, saw or sandpaper.
Every gluing step.
4) Test on Scrap.
5) Use the appropriate tool, whether you buy,
beg, borrow or steal it. Learn (on scrap) to
use your tools correctly; the quality of your
work will directly reect it. This applies to
everything from clamps to nish sprayers.
6) If in doubt about something, stop working and
think about it. Where can you nd info that
will help you be sure what to do? How to do
it? Be certain before you act.
7) Your rst guitar, though you will try to make it
perfect, will probably not be perfect. It might
not match your hopes. However, you will love
it. You will also learn from it, and each later
one will be better. Different procedures will
improve at different rates. Skills will improve.
Be patient with yourself.
8) Before applying glue to anything, dry t it completely to be sure it is correct. Lay out your
clamps, be ready, so the glue wont begin to
set up before you get the parts secured. This
is especially true in dry climates.
9) REPEAT: Test on scrap.
10) REPEAT: Dry t before gluing.
Enjoy it!
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Measuring/Marking
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___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
Glue Curved Top___________________________________________
Braces___________________________________________
TOOLS:-Go Bar Deck and
Radiused Sanding Dish (or)___________________________________________
caul (or)___________________________________________
at board if gluing at___________________________________________
Clamps (or)
___________________________________________
Vacuum Press
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
Glue Uncurved Top___________________________________________
Braces
___________________________________________
TOOLS:-Go Bar Deck and
Radiused Sanding Dish (or)___________________________________________
caul (or)___________________________________________
at board if gluing at___________________________________________
Clamps (or)
Vacuum Press___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
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___________________________________________
Tap Tuning of Top,___________________________________________
more Brace Shaping___________________________________________
TOOLS:- Fingertip___________________________________________
Experienced Ear___________________________________________
Chisels, Sandpaper
___________________________________________
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TOOLS:-Finger tip___________________________________________
Experienced ears___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
Glue in Optional Brace___________________________________________
Plate for___________________________________________
Potential Sound Port___________________________________________
TOOLS:-glue___________________________________________
Clamps
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
Clean Up Back; glue in___________________________________________
sticker___________________________________________
(Much easier right now.)
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
Glue Back Plate Onto___________________________________________
Rims___________________________________________
TOOLS:- Glue ... and
Go-Bar Deck (or)___________________________________________
24 Spool Clamps (or)___________________________________________
24 Cam Clamps (or)___________________________________________
Edge-Form and Clamps (or)
___________________________________________
Rubber Bands
(or)___________________________________________
Other Excellent Methods___________________________________________
___________________________________________
120 Building Kit Acoustic Guitars
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on Top
TOOLS:- Router___________________________________________
Appropriate Bit___________________________________________
Router Guide___________________________________________
___________________________________________
Glue & tape all binding___________________________________________
and puring___________________________________________
TOOLS:- Glue (CA, Weld-on,___________________________________________
etc.)___________________________________________
Tape (brown is best: from Stewmac or LMI)___________________________________________
___________________________________________
ALLOW 24 Hours Curing___________________________________________
Time For Binding/Puring___________________________________________
___________________________________________
Untape binding &___________________________________________
puring___________________________________________
TOOLS:-Hair Dryer to soften___________________________________________
tape adhesive and prevent tear-___________________________________________
out of grain
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
Smooth all of body___________________________________________
TOOLS:-Scraper(s)___________________________________________
Sandpaper(s)
___________________________________________
Sanding Block
___________________________________________
Sand to 220___________________________________________
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NECK:
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
Trim & Shape Neck (nut
width, taper, prole)___________________________________________
(Stewmac Kit necks are thicker___________________________________________
than Martin or LMI; prole if___________________________________________
you like a shallow neck.)___________________________________________
TOOLS:-Bandsaw or appropriate
saw___________________________________________
Files___________________________________________
Sandpaper___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
Finish Shaping neck___________________________________________
TOOLS:-Draw knife___________________________________________
Files
___________________________________________
Template or Neck Prole
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
Sand___________________________________________
TOOLS:-Sandpaper
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
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FRETBOARD:
___________________________________________
TOOLS:-Shooting Block
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
Glue Binding (If using)___________________________________________
TOOLS: Masking tape___________________________________________
Rubber Bands
___________________________________________
Cam Clamps
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
Inlay Side Markers___________________________________________
TOOLS:-Drill
Small bit___________________________________________
Side marker material___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
Inlay Front Markers___________________________________________
TOOLS:-Calipers for dots; or pat-___________________________________________
terns for detailed inlay___________________________________________
Drill Press for dots (or)
___________________________________________
inlay equipment for detailed inlays
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
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TOOLS:-Inlay Equipment___________________________________________
___________________________________________
Drill peghead for tuners___________________________________________
TOOLS:-Pattern or Template
Calipers___________________________________________
Drill and Bits___________________________________________
Tuners___________________________________________
___________________________________________
Fret fretboard to body
___________________________________________
(If fretboard is Bound, Measure
and cut tangs.)___________________________________________
TOOLS:-Fret Hammer or Press___________________________________________
Tang Nippers (if binding)___________________________________________
Fret Nippers
60 and 90 File___________________________________________
Files___________________________________________
CA glue might be needed___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
File Fret Ends to 60
(If Not Bound)___________________________________________
TOOLS:-Small Files, Fret Files.___________________________________________
DONT HURRY!___________________________________________
Use thin metal beside fret to keep
___________________________________________
from scarring fretboard.
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
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FRETBOARD / BRIDGE
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Neck: ___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
Back & Sides: ___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
Top: ___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
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___________________________________________
___________________________________________
Glue Bridge onto Body___________________________________________
TOOLS:- glue
___________________________________________
Clamps
___________________________________________
Allow nish to Cure (For___________________________________________
How Long?):___________________________________________
See Instructions for
___________________________________________
Finish Materials
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
Polishing body___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
Install tuners___________________________________________
TOOLS:-Small Wrench___________________________________________
Jewelers Screwdriver___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
Make saddle
TOOLS:-Sandpaper___________________________________________
Files___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
String it up
TOOLS:-___________________________________________
Strings___________________________________________
tuner___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
Setup action to liking
TOOLS:-Fret Files___________________________________________
Radius Sanding Caul___________________________________________
Steel Wool___________________________________________
Nut and Saddle Files
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
DONE! Congratulations!___________________________________________
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Tools
Many builders build some of their own tools, and
through the sources already given (forums and
eBay stores) you can nd a lot that you need.
But, how do you know what you need if you are
completely new at this? If you know what to look for,
you can often nd good deals on eBay through the
link above. The Kit Guitar Builders Book, scheduled
for publication in May, 2007, offers detailed information on kits, tools to buy and specialized tools you
can make yourself.
In addition to the tools listed on eBay, you can nd
professional tools through these suppliers. Many of
the tools can be found in hardware stores.
Stewart-MacDonald, Inc.
Martin Guitars
http://www.stewmac.com
http://www.lmii.com
http://www.martinguitar/1833
Happy Building!
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CHAPTER 8
he building of a guitar requires some pretty specialized devices. Well, maybe it doesnt require
them, but they sure do make the whole project easier.
There are many others besides these. These aren't
all the latest and greatest, or the most sophisticated, but
they all work and keep costs down. Check the forums for
others. Improve on these and post improvements in the
forums!
These are some Ive borrowed from other people and
some Ive come up with myself.
Guitar Vise
Radius Sanding Sticks
Shooting Block
Side shaping/measuring grid
Protective Top Pad/Apron
Wingnut Wrench
Cory Router Guide
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ASSEMBLY
1) Draw the appropriate radius on the side of the stick.
The easiest, low-tech way, of doing this is to stretch
a tape measure out to 15, 18, 25, 28 feet (your choice
depending on your guitar), and use a pencil to draw the
radius on the wood. Some folks use their computers to
plot the line. Do whatever works.
2) Cut the radius out of the wood. A bandsaw is best since
it will cut a perfect perpendicular, but I know guys who
do it by hand with a coping saw.
3) Sand the cut smooth; remove bumps and irregularities.
4) Apply double-stick tape.
5) Stick the sandpaper on. Done.
To use the sticks, simply move them in a circular motion, centered on the center of the guitar body, and also
along a longitudinal path, as shown in the pictures.
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After you have glued your neck and tail blocks to the
rim assembly, the next step in setting up the rim of the
guitar (the sides) is to get the back correctly contoured.
Most people will use the LMI full-size plan for measurements, but LMI's plan or instructions don't provide a
method of transferring the measurements from the plan
to the actual three-dimensional wood.
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Regardless of the guide you use, you might end up with some
"fuzz," or bers that aren't completely cut. A razor blade xes it.
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FINISHING
CHAPTER 9
Dan Erlewine and Don MacRostie have created the denitive guide to nishing guitars.
It is absolutely the best, greatly improved
over the rst edition, and is the only guide
you will need to the entire nishing process.
150
In your quest for a compatible set of nishes, you will do best to get materials from
a single company. They've already done the
testing; you don't have to worry about it.
The Oxford line of water based nishes from
Target Coatings (www.targetcoatings.com)
is totally compatible.
Cautions
If you have chemical allergies or reactions, visit the
websites of these manufacturers and consult the Material
Safety Data Sheets, or MSDS. They will tell you if chemicals are present to which you have a known allergy.
And A Building Caution:
TEST ON SCRAP! If you dont have any good clean
scrap in the shop, go to the home store and buy some.
You must test on scrap when finishing. Sheets of mahogany laminate are cheap, and theres no better wood
available on which to perfect your pore-filling and other
techniques. This is probably the most under-used technique by home builders. I understand completely; I too
become impatient. I learned the hard way that not testing on scrap is a bigger pain in the neck than taking the
time to do the testing. Now, I always plan the testing steps
into the overall schedule for the guitar.
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Pore Filling:
Now, you have to look ahead to your final top coats. If
you are going to use a solvent-based finish on your neck
and body, use a solvent-based pore filler. If you are planning to use a water-borne finish on the neck and body, use
a water-borne filler. They should be compatible.
Apply one or two pore filling coats, following instructions on the packaging. Sand between each application.
Application procedures vary with pore fillers; each carries its own instructions. The main thing to remember is
that the pore filler is supposed to fill the pores; it is not
a surface coating. When you apply it, you can make the
sanding easier by scraping at a 45-degree angle with a
credit card or other flexible non-scratching straight-edged
tool. This will press the material into the pores and will also
remove excess from the surface. After allowing it to dry,
you will sand it down to the level of the pores, completely
removing it from the surface.
Be sure it is completely dry before continuing: Pore
filler, especially a waterbased variety, will shrink in the
pores as it dries completely. After the shrinking, you will
need to do another application to perfect the surface.
FINISHING
imperfections for the life of the instrument.
I got into a hurry and learned the hard way; I am sure
you are smarter and more patient and will be more attentive to this warning than I was!
Sealing:
Instead of pore-filling, on the top and on non-porous
woods, you will use a sealer.
A sealer is needed on the top. It might be the shellac
wash-coat that was applied following your preparatory
surface sanding. It could be vinyl. It could be the Target
Coatings sealer and barrier coat shown below.
Mahogany neck, before and after pore lling, nished with shellac and steel wool.
TOP COATS
Some beginning builders have access to a spray
booth, or they will create one and get spray equipment (or
use rattle cans) to spray their finish.
For the most part, though, the home builder starting
his first kit is limited to top coat finishes that can be applied by hand, by padding or by brush.
Body and Neck
Most people finish the body and neck as separate
units. Its easier to handle them separately, and the kinds
of top coats used are often different. I am treating them
as being finished separately here.
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TRU-OIL
This is a brand-name product distributed by Birchwood Casey, a distributor of shooting-sports accessories.
Tru-Oil is a gunstock finish, but has become popular with
home guitar builders because of its ease of use and its
suitability to our purposes.
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FINISHING
seed oil dries slowly on contact with oxygen, this polymerized version dries a bit faster in air because the polymerization process has already been started at the factory.
When you apply it and leave it exposed to air, the process is completed by oxidation, and the oil dries to a hard
film.
The preparation of your surface is extremely important when using Tru-Oil, because you will not build up
enough finish to flat sand and perfect the surface of the
finish, as you do with lacquer finishes. Be sure your wood
is sanded to a finer degree than you would with thicker
finishes: Going through the grits all the way to 2000 or so
is advisable.
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Target Coatings provides a full line of waterborne finishing materials. Their Oxford brand of waterborne finishes
encompasses stains, sealers, pore fillers and top coats.
The great thing about these finishes (beside the fact that
they are excellent finishes for guitar work) is that these are
all 100% compatible with each other and with all waterwww.KitGuitarManuals.com
FINISHING
based finishes, including KTM-9, if you use it.
NOTE: Don't use stearated sandpaper or steel
wool at any stage of application of any waterbased finishes. (Stearated sandpaper has soap in it; steel wool
leaves tiny particles that will rust under the finish.)
Stains: From their website: Oxford Ultima-WR
Stain System is built upon a unique hybridized linseed oil
emulsion base and organic colorants that allow this stain
to be thinned, and cleaned with water, while still providing
the deep, rich color penetration of traditional linseed oil.
No turpentine, mineral spirits or ammonia is required for
thinning this material. Oxford Ultima-WR Stains clean up
with basic water and mild detergent.
Sealers: Oxford Water-based Shellac Sealer and
Barrier Coating: Provides the same properties as shellac;
made from dewaxed shellac and available in four shades.
This can be used on all surfaces just as a solvent-based
shellac would be.
Just as vinyl sealer was mentioned above for use between solvent-based and water-based coats, this target
shellac can be used in exactly the same way.
Pore Filler: Oxford High Solids Grain Filler (waterborne urethane pore and grain filler) is worked just like
other pore fillers. It can be applied in multiple coats and
is available in tinted or clear varieties. It has a thick consistency, like honey. It dries quickly, as do all waterbased
pore fillers. This filler is much easier to use than epoxy
and is compatible with KTM-9. I found this grain filler to
be very easy to sand; it also showed hardly any shrinkage
in the pores.
Top Coats: Oxford Ultima Spraying Lacquer. I used
this with a 2-inch DaVinci 5080 watercolor wash brush,
and it went on just fine. Works brushed or sprayed. Spraying will give a thicker and more uniform layer. This topcoat
exhibits 100% burn-in to the previous layer. That's a very
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important feature. It is easily buffed, and its durability and chemical resistance are as high as solvent-based lacquers.
My Own Application Method
As I said above, on the guitar with my "best finish," I used the Ultima Lacquer with a DaVinci
5080 2" watercolor wash brush -- it practically eliminates all bubbles if you use it slowly. TEST!
First day: Three coats, waiting 60 minutes between coats. Because this lacquer is quite stable
(meaning it wont run or drip) after 20 minutes drying time, I established this procedure:
1) Coat the back; let dry for 20 minutes.
2) Rotate the guitar 90 degrees and coat one side; let dry for 20 minutes. (See page 153 to
see the rotating setup.)
3) Rotate the guitar 180 degrees and coat the other side; let dry for 20 minutes.
4) Start over with steps 1 3.
5) Repeat steps 1 3.
6) Repeat steps 1 3.
7) Allow finish to dry overnight.
Second Day:
Sand finish to flatten working up to 2000 grit.
Repeat entire first day schedule.
Allow Finish to dry for 96 hours.
After finishing the back and sides, while they were starting their 96-hour dry time, I did the
top.
1) Coat the top; let dry for one hour.
2) Second coat, let dry for one hour.
3) Third Coat, let dry overnight.
Third Day:
1) After letting top dry overnight; sand up to 2000.
2) Repeat the Coating process for the top. Let dry for
72 hours.
Sixth Day:
Sand all surfaces up to 12000 grit using MicroMesh sanding materials. Wet-sand carefully.
(The first time I did this, I sanded through in a couple of spots and had to repeat the finishing
process on those areas.)
Seventh Day:
Polish using a buffing wheel or by hand using a very fine-cut auto finishing compound. (I
used Meguiars #9 Professional Swirl Remover 2.0).
After using the Meguiars, I applied Renaissance Silicon-free wax. And, the finish is good!
(It is the Stewmac spruce/rosewood Dreadnought shown throughout this book.)
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FINISHING
SUMMARY:
Finishing has been called The Achilles Heel of Luthery for good reason. It is a disheartening thing
to put almost 100 hours into building a guitar kit, get it all together just right, and then put a finish on it
that isnt up to snuff. To prevent that, the defense is simple: TEST ON SCRAP. Test as many times as
necessary to get the result you want. Don't be afraid to spend a little bit of money to do your testing.
You'll be glad when you get a great finish. And read everything you can especially Dan Erlewine's
finishing book!
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CHAPTER 10
Glossary of Guitar
and Luthery Terms
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Action: Refers to the proximity of the bottom of your strings to the top of your frets. A low action is easier
to play, is more likely to have buzzing strings if played hard, and usually has better intonation. A high
action is harder to play, has less accurate intonation, and less buzzing. Its a preference thing. Setting
up the action can be difficult and is definitely time-consuming. There are good sources of information on
it all over the internet.
Adirondack Spruce: (Latin: Picea rubens) More properly called Red Spruce, and also called Blue Spruce
and Canadian Spruce. (Called Adirondack Spruce by a large guitar maker, and the name stuck better
than most other names.) This top wood has a clear, strong tone and is more expensive than other spruces.
It is thought by some to contribute to the clear strong tone of vintage instruments.
Armrest: Originally used on banjos, these have recently been introduced for guitars. John Pearse makes
a good one; its not cheap ($30 plus shipping right now) but it will do more for your guitars tone than
anything else! (Reason: It keeps your forearm from damping the top of your guitar.) Not a bad Wish List
item.
Back: Ok, you know this, but ... its the wide side without strings attached.
Back Braces: Inside braces, usually perpendicular to the strings, and usually four in number, that are attached to the back. Sometimes, these are done in an X pattern similar to the tops X-Brace. The back
braces can be configured and shaped in various ways to enhance various tonal colors, but it requires
experimentation.
Back Graft: Inside the guitar, the strip added between (or through) the back braces to strengthen the joint
between the glued halves of the back.
Back Stripe: The decorative strip inlaid into the back of the guitar. Sometimes glued between the two
sides.
Bearclaw: A type of figure, or marking, in spruce. Legend has it that the marks are produced by bears. It
looks more like stretch marks in my old skin, to me. But, its pretty on a guitar!
Belly Bridge: Steel string acoustic bridge that has a curved area bellying out toward the tail. It provides a
larger gluing surface, more weight, and more strength to the joint.
Binding: The plastic or wood trim around the edge of a guitars top, back and sometimes, neck (e.g., a
bound neck).
Bolt-On: A type of mortise-and-tenon neck joint that has one or more bolts securing it to the neck block.
Just as accurate as a dovetail joint (see dovetail), and for most, easier to construct and set correctly.
Also, requires less glue (often needing glue only under the fretboard extension), and is therefore easier
to reset if necessary.
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CITES: The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. An international agreement between governments. Its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild
animals and plants does not threaten their survival. (http://www.cites.org/eng/disc/what.shtml)
Classical Guitar: Normally used for classical music. Uses nylon strings and has a flat fingerboard that is
two inches wide at the nut.
Clown Barf: Celluloid plastic used for picks and pickguards. Real colorful stuff.
Cocobolo: (Latin: Dalbergia retusa) Cocobolo, as you can tell from the latin, is a rosewood. It is heavier and
darker than the other rosewoods, which makes it a better reflector of sound. It is considered to be the
closest wood, tonally, to Brazilian rosewood.
Compensation: Changes made or angling of the saddle, nut, or shortening of the first fret in differing ways,
that are designed to make up for the raised pitch caused by fretting the strings. A guitar string, tuned to
concert pitch, is stretched further when fretted. This stretching raises the pitch of the string more than
it should for the chosen fret. The slanted saddle on steel-string guitars, and the carving of the saddle
differently for each string is part of the effort to compensate for this sharpening.
CNC: Computer Numerically Control, applied to any kind of machine (usually a router) that is controlled by
a precise computer program in order to make identically shaped guitar parts.
Curly Maple: (Latin: Acer macrophyllum or Acer sacchurum) Maple is a wonderful looking and mellow sounding back and side wood. It has a little less volume and bass than rosewood or mahogany, but a faster
attack. It has many varied types of patterns, such as Fiddleback, Quilted, Curly, Birdseye, and others.
Cutaway: In the upper bout, a section of the guitar body is removed to allow access to higher frets. Some
guitars feature a double cutaway.
Dots: Pearl or abalone dots or markers, about a quarter inch or less in diameter, usually inlaid above frets
3, 5, 7, 9, 12 (2), 15 and 17. Also, the smaller dots inlaid into the edge of the fretboard at the same positions.
Dovetail: A type of mortise-and-tenon wood joint used for mounting acoustic guitar necks; once the only
type used, it has met with strong competition in the bolt-on neck joint. The bolt-on is usually considered
easier to perfect for kit builders.
Dreadnought: A type of guitar body popularized by C.F. Martin & Co, now used by all guitar companies
and kit suppliers. Provides strong tone and loudness because of its large interior volume and the area of
its soundboard (top).
East Indian Rosewood: (Latin: Dalbergia latifolia) Properly called Indian Rosewood, but referred to as
East Indian to avoid confusion with Native Americans, EIR (as its called) is not cheap, but it is plentiful
164 Building Kit Acoustic Guitars
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Ivoroid: A type of plastic that looks like ivory, used for bindings.
Kit Guitar: Any set of parts and woods collected into one or more boxes for ordering as a unit, which when
assembled, will result in a complete guitar. The kit can consist of just the correct quantities, types and
cuts of wood, ready to be finished and assembled, or it can be a set of almost-ready-to-assemble parts.
In some cases, such as with the Grizzly Tools guitar kits, the body is already assembled, so you dont get
to do, or learn, very much! Kits are also available for electric guitar.
Koa: (Latin: Acacia koa) A native Hawaiian wood grown mainly on the Island of Hawaii, Koa displays a remarkable chatoyance (see chatoyance). It is heavy and provides a bright, hard tone that projects and
cuts well.
Kerfed Lining: Usually cedar or mahogany, strips of wood with kerfs, or slots, cut into it to allow for bending around curves without breaking. (Often incorrectly called kerfing.)
Lining: Reinforcement strips of wood inside the rim of the top and back, to provide a wide gluing platform
and more stability. Usually, but not always, the lining is kerfed.
Mahogany: (Latin: Swietenia macrophylla) Mahogany is available as a standard in many kit guitars. There
are various origins of this ubiquitous wood: Honduran, South American, African, Philippine, etc. It is becoming more scarce and will soon be fully covered by the CITES convention. Meanwhile, it has a great,
clear tone, with fast attack and high resonance.
Neck Block: See Head Block.
Nut: Located between the headstock and the fretboard, one of only two contacts open strings have with
the guitar, the other being the saddle. The nut is usually made of bone or a synthetic material (such as
Tusq or Corian) and holds the strings in their proper relative positions along the fretboard.
Peghead: See Headstock.
Pickguard: A piece of plastic or wood, clear or patterned, that keeps a pick or fingernails from marring a
guitar top.
Pickup: An electronic accessory added to a guitar body that allows the use of an amplifier or PA system.
Purfling: A strip of decorative material around the top edge, adjacent to the binding.
Pyramid Bridge: An acoustic bridge with low pyramids at both ends. Used mostly on smaller bodied
guitars.
Relief: Upward or forward curvature in a neck or fretboard. It is controlled by the truss rod and the tension
166 Building Kit Acoustic Guitars
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168
called medium. At one time, heavy gauge was available, but now these are hard to find. The difference
between light and medium is often only .02 on the trebles and only .03 on the bass strings, but this
makes a big difference in strain on the guitars top. (If strings are too light or too heavy for a given guitar
top and construction, the top will not vibrate freely.)
String Ramps: Slots cut in a bridge from the bridgepin holes to the saddle to provide a steeper, or more
extreme, break angle.
Tail Block: See End Block.
Tie Block: On a classical guitar, a part of the bridge the strings are looped around and tied.
Transverse Braces: Braces that are at a right angle to the guitars centerline. Basically used when talking
about the upper bout, or shoulder, braces.
Top Braces: The braces that reinforce the guitars top.
Truss Rod: An adjustable rod embedded and secured in the neck, adjustable from either the headstock
or through the sound hole, that applies tension to the neck to either create tension (movement of the
headstock backwards, or away from the strings), or relief (movement of the headstock forward, or toward
the strings).
Tuner: The tuning machines for tensioning strings, usually located on the headstock. (or) A device for helping
tune the guitar, usually electronic.
Volute: A carved, thicker, usually diamond-shaped part of the neck, just opposite the nut where the headstock meets the neck, used as a reinforcing device.
Wings: Pieces of wood attached to a narrower neck blank in order to make a peghead (headstock) as wide
as it needs to be.
Waist: The thinner section of the body between the larger bottom bout and the smaller upper bout.
Wood (Back and Sides): The following list, from Luthiers Mercantile International, Inc. (www.lmii.
com) will give an idea of the wide variation of species available for in guitar building. With LMIs
Kit Wizard, you can order any of these in an LMI kit! African Blackwood, Amazon Rosewood, Black
Acacia, Bloodwood, Bocote, Bubinga - African Rosewood, Camatillo Rosewood , Canadian Cypress/Alaskan Yellow Cedar, Cherry-American, Cocobolo, Curly Spanish Cedar, East Indian Rosewood, European
Pear, Granadillo, Honduran Rosewood, Jarrah, Kauri, Koa, Lacewood , Macacauba, Macassar Ebony,
Machiche, Madagascar Rosewood, Mahogany, Malaysian Blackwood, Maple, Monkey Pod, Monterey
Cypress, Oregon Myrtle, California Laurel, Ovangkol, Padauk, Palo Escrito, Pau Ferro / Morado, Pau Rosa
, Spanish Cypress, Walnut, Wenge, Zebrawood, Ziricote.
168 Building Kit Acoustic Guitars
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170
www.KennethMichaelGuitars.com
Providing a number of jigs, such as
the adjustable mold, shown in the
far left photo with an LMII kit rim
in it, and in the near left photo with
a Martin Jumbo body in it. Also
supplied with the mold are three
top/body templates.
The KMG Bridge Setter, far left photo, is valuable for setting perfect
bridge position, and the SS Bridge
Clamp, near left, glues the bridge
down without the use of clamps,
quickly and accurately, and allows
immediate squeeze out cleaning.
www.KitGuitarManuals.com
RESOURCES
A mold of some kind is
essential to building a
guitar body accurately.
At right is a mold from
BluesCreekGuitars.com,
who offers molds for
many body types.
(Spreaders are not included with the mold.)
Blues Creek also offers kits, side-bending
machines, and guitarbuilding classes.
CHAPTER 11
Resources
www.KitGuitarManuals.com
172
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RESOURCES
BUILDING
Stephen Delfts Compensated Nut
http://www.mimf.com/nutcomp/
Roy Noble Tools
http://www.roynoble.net/tools.html
Scott van Linge Guitars/parabolic brace works
http://www.vanlingeguitars.com/
Graphite Store
http://www.graphitestore.com/cat.asp/spcat_id/2
Chladni-patterns of a guitar top plate
http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/music/guitar/patterns_engl.html
Guitar construction
http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/music/guitaracoustics/construction.html#bracing
Guitar acoustics
http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/music/guitar/
Fine Guitar Brace Shaving by Scott van Linge
http://www.fineguitarconsultants.com/rep.htm
Adding the Top
http://community.middlebury.edu/~sax/guitar_building/assembling_top.htm
Guitar Photo Gallery
http://community.middlebury.edu/~sax/guitar_building/guitar.htm
Roo Glue Products, Inc
http://www.rooglue.com/index.html
Setting Neck Angle - KMG
http://www.kennethmichaelguitars.com/neckangle.html
Cumpiano neck joint
http://www.cumpiano.com/Home/Articles/Special%20interest/headblock.html
SmartFlix, How-To DVD Rental Store
http://smartflix.com/index.php?main_page=index
NPR : The Music of Guitar Wood
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6665726
Titebond Glues www.Titebond.com
http://titebond.com/ProductLineTB.asp?prodline=9cat=3
Gurian Instruments
http://www.gurianinstruments.com/index.php
CASES
Cedar Creek Cases
http://www.cedarcreekcases.com/index.php
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174
FINISHING
Birchwood-Casey Tru-Oil Finishing
http://www.birchwoodcasey.com/sport/
System Three.com - Epoxy Resin Products
http://www.systemthree.com/index_2.asp
Waterborne finishing/epoxy
http://www.doolinguitars.com/waterborne/instructions.html
Target Coatings Inc. Water Based Wood Coatings
http://targetcoatings.com/
Z-Poxy Finishing Resin
http://www.lmii.com
Tower Hobbies Product/Price Listings
http://www.towerhobbies.com/listings.html
174 Building Kit Acoustic Guitars
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RESOURCES
Dakota Art Brushes (Best Price on DaVinci Watercolor brushes)
http://www.dakotabrushes.com/index_wc_flat_synth_davinci.asp
French Polish Intro 1
http://www.milburnguitars.com/fpintro.html
WoodWorkStuff Finishing Related
http://woodworkstuff.net/woodidxfin.html
A Perfect Finish
http://www.io.com/~richardr/writing/APerfectFinish/
McFadden Musical Instrument Finishing Products
http://www.lawrence-mcfadden.com/music.php
KTM-9 Waterbased finishes
http://ktmfinishes.proboards7.com/index.cgi
CrystaLac Waterborne Finishing Products
http://www.crystalac.com/
Minwax
http://www.minwax.com/products/floors/reviver-direct.cfm
Wunderfill Waterbased Pore Filler
http://www.rockler.com
Enduro Waterbased Pore Filler
http://www.generalfinishes.com
INTONATION
Ask the Luthier-Intonation (Mike Doolin, Luthier)
http://www.doolinguitars.com/intonation/intonation1.html
LUTHIER SCHOOLS
Colorado School of Lutherie
http://www.evd303.com/school.html
Guitar College - Home Study Guitar Courses
http://www.guitarcollege.com/
Hoffman Guitars
http://www.hoffmanguitars.com/STEP%20BY%20STEP%20-%201.htm
American Sschool of Lutherie
http://www.americanschooloflutherie.com/
Fleishman Instruments
http://www.fleishmaninstruments.com/lsi.html
Roberto Venn School of Luthiery
http://www.roberto-venn.com/
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176
LUTHIERS' WEBSITES
Just browsing through these will give you great inspiration, ideas,and
education. Almost all sites show building procedures. A lot of what I
have learned and used was gotten from spending time studying these
experts. Those in CAPITALS sell kits and are reviewed in this book.
Collings Guitars
http://www.collingsguitars.com/
Walden Guitars
http://www.waldenguitars.com/
James Olson Guitars
http://www.olsonguitars.com/
Alan Carruth, Luthier
http://www.alcarruthluthier.com/
Breedlove Guitars
http://www.breedloveguitars.com/main.html
Robert O'Brien Guitars
http://www.obrienguitars.com
Dave Faoite Guitars
http://www.defaoiteguitars.com/home_7310.php
Mike Doolin Guitars
http://www.doolinguitars.com/
James Goodall Guitars
http://www.goodallguitars.com/index.htm
Kevin Ryan Guitars
http://www.ryanguitars.com/
Charles Hoffman Guitars
http://www.hoffmanguitars.com/
H. G. Leach Guitars
http://www.leachguitars.com/
Lance McCollum Guitars
http://www.mccollumguitars.com/
Brook Guitars
http://www.brookguitars.com/index2.html
John Greven Guitars
http://www.grevenguitars.com/index.htm
William (Grit) Laskin - Guitar Maker/Inlay Artist
http://www.williamlaskin.com/
Baxendale & Baxendale Custom Guitars
http://www.baxendaleguitars.com/
Paul Hostetter, Luthier
http://www.lutherie.net/index.html Home Page
176 Building Kit Acoustic Guitars
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RESOURCES
Blanchard Guitars
http://blanchardguitars.com/
Clarksdale Guitars
http://www.clarksdaleguitars.com/
Dana Bourgeois Guitars
http://www.bourgeoisguitars.com
Turner Renaissance Guitars by Rick Turner
http://www.renaissanceguitars.com/
Hamblin Guitars
http://www.hamblin-guitars.com/
Webber Guitars
http://www.webberguitars.com/
Morgan Guitars
http://www.morganguitars.com/
Kathy Wingert Guitars
http://www.wingertguitars.com/
Mauel Guitars Home
http://www.mauelguitars.com/
Gerald Sheppard Guitars
http://www.sheppardguitars.com/
William Cumpiano Guitars
http://www.cumpiano.com/
Randy Reynolds Classical Guitars
http://www.reynoldsguitars.com/
Borges Guitars
http://www.borgesguitars.com
Mueller Double Top Classical Guitars
http://www.classicalguitars.ca/index.html
Hill Guitar Company
http://www.hillguitar.com/
Jeff Traugott Guitars
http://www.traugottguitars.com/
Engraving by Paul Bordeaux Inlay
http://www.bordeauxinlay.com/
John Mayes Music.com
http://mayesmusic.com/
Lance Kragenbrink Guitars
http://kragenbrinkguitars.com/
Cree Studios -- Restoration
http://www.creestudios.com/
Fred Carlson Guitars
http://www.beyondthetrees.com/
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178
Gurian Instruments
http://www.gurianinstruments.com/
George Lowden | Luthier
http://www.georgelowden.com/
Sylvan Wells Guitars
http://wellsguitars.com/
BLUES CREEK GUITARS
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com/
Ellis Custom Acoustic Guitar Workshop.
http://www.ellisguitars.com/workshop.html
Paul McGill Guitars
http://www.mcgillguitars.com/newmcgillhtml/superace_sub_1.htm
Kinnaird Handcrafted Acoustic Guitars
http://www.kinnairdguitars.com/
Guitar Makers - The Bluegrass Guitar Home Page
http://bluegrassguitar.com/makers.html
Lucas Custom Instruments
http://www.lucasguitars.com/
Mario Proulx Lutherie
http://www.proulxguitars.com/guitars/t_dreads.htm
Ken Miller Guitars
http://www.kenmillerguitars.com/
Nashville Guitar Company
http://www.nashguitar.com/index.html
Applegate Guitars
http://applegateguitars.com/
Rushing Guitars
http://www.rushingguitars.com/
Karol Custom Guitars
http://www.karol-guitars.com/pages/1/index.htm
Tom Young Guitar
http://www.tomyoungguitar.com/
Linda Manzer Guitars
http://www.manzer.com/
Welcome to the CB Guitars
http://www.cbguitars.com/
Griffin String Instrument
http://www.museweb.com/griffin/
True North Guitars
http://www.truenorthguitars.com/
Andrew White Guitars
http://www.whiteguitars.net/
178 Building Kit Acoustic Guitars
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RESOURCES
Brian Kimsey Lutherie
http://www.bryankimsey.com/music/lutherie.htm
KENNETH MICHAEL GUITARS
http://www.kennethmichaelguitars.com/
John How Guitars
http://www.johnhowguitars.com/
Larry Stamm, Luthier
http://www.larrystamm.com/
Clearport Guitars
http://members.aol.com/rogluthier/clearport.html
Laurie Williams Guitars - Welcome
http://www.guitars.co.nz/
Chris Larkin Custom Guitars
http://www.chrislarkinguitars.com/
Santa Cruz Guitar Company
http://www.santacruzguitar.com/index.html
Paul Woolson Guitars
http://www.woolsonsoundcraft.com/
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneguitar.com/
Ervin Somogyi: Guitars and Artwork
http://www.esomogyi.com/
Howard Klepper Guitars
http://www.klepperguitars.com
Tim McKnight Guitars
http://mcknightguitars.com/index.html
STEVEN KOVACIK GUITARS
http://www.guitar-repair.com
180
WOOD
Luthiers Mercantile International
http://www.lmii.com
SpruceTonewood.com
http://www.sprucetonewood.com/pages/1/index.htm
180 Building Kit Acoustic Guitars
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RESOURCES
International Luthiers Supply
http://www.internationalluthiers.com/violinrepairbooks.php
Good Wood Resource Center
http://www.certifiedwood.org/
Allied Lutherie
http://www.alliedlutherie.com/
Welcome to RCTonewoods
http://www.rctonewoods.rcefaluguitars.com/index.html
Wood & Forestry Information
http://www.luthierwood.com/Forestry%20links.htm
Acoustic Guitars Wood Types
http://www.santacruzguitar.com/woods/acousticguitarwoods.html
Graphite
http://www.graphitestore.com/
Exotic Woods
http://www.exoticwoods.com/
Gilmer Wood Company Neck Blank Page
http://www.gilmerwood.com/instrument_wood-necks.htm
Guitar Neck Blanks - Bell Forest Products
http://www.bellforestproducts.com/guitar_neck.html
Necks Main
http://www.xstrange.com/necksmain.html
Acoustic Guitar Necks
http://www.ellisguitars.com/acoustic_guitar_neck.html
Wood Toxicity
http://www.collinsclubs.com/woodworkers/activities/wood_toxicity_chart.html
Gurian Instruments
http://www.gurianinstruments.com/index.php
Robert O'Brien Guitars
http://www.obrienguitars.com
www.KitGuitarManuals.com
182
Books
The books listed here are all favorites of mine. As your
guitarmaking interest grows, you'll find you need to take a
weekend off to build something mundane: A bookshelf!
These are all available through links on KitGuitarManuals.com. If you buy through those links, any referral fees
go to supporting the Kit Guitar Forum so it can stay free!
www.KitGuitarManuals.com
RESOURCES
the advantage that it will open flat and stay there. Great
for reading with your morning cereal, or working on a
guitar. The book is 9 x 12, 104 pages, and includes
not only full-size plans for both OM-style steel string,
but also classical guitars. It features diagrams for building many of the tools described in the book.
Claptons Guitar
(Allen St. John) Read it for fun and inspiration (I've done
it twice, and will again.) From its title, you would think
Eric Clapton was in the book. Wrong, except for a single
photograph of Clapton sitting with the recording-studio
owner who introduced him to a guitar built by Wayne
Henderson. The book is actually about Wayne Henderson, getting to know the man as you look over his
shoulder and watch him build a fine guitar for Eric Clapton. Its not only informative in a how to build a guitar way, but it is also a heart-warming book. It reveals
Henderson, a backcountry ex-mailman who has built
guitars all his life, as a complex, humorous, interesting
individual that just about everybody wants to meet after
reading the book. One of the most entertaining books
Ive ever read, on several levels.
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RESOURCES
DVD's
The digital revolution has been a boon for all of us in
the communications business. Everyone who can is putting out a DVD. (Mine will be out soon.)
The DVD's below are all part of my private collection
or have been rented from www.SmartFlix.com (the Netflix
of instructional videos).
Build A Steel String Guitar with Robert OBrien (and)
Guitar Finishing with Robert OBrien (and)
Build A Classical Guitar with Robert OBrien
Available from Publisher: www.apprenticepublishing.com (or through Luthier's Mercantile: lmii.com)
Authors Website: www.obrienguitars.com
These DVD's are collections of still photos, narrated
by OBrien, and covering every detail of building and finishing an LMI Basic (unserviced) Kit. This means that the
kit arrives as a box of wood, unbent, unshaped, unthicknessed, uncut. The length of the DVDs is not specified
(except for the Finishing DVD, which is 102 minutes), but
they're all long enough to get you all the way to the point
where youre out looking for a case for your new guitar!
In excellent detail, OBrien calmly explains and shows
the entire process of creating a nice OM guitar from the
LMI kit. The DVD, which is available through Luthiers Mercantile, is also available through OBriens own website,
and through Apprentice Publishing.
If you buy a kit from LMI, this DVD comes with it (unless you already have it, in which case you can opt to save
some money on shipping instead of accepting the DVD).
And, if you buy a DVD from LMI, then within 90 days order
a kit, theyll take off the DVD purchase price. Not bad.
The Finishing DVD is not included with kits, but if you
purchase a Classical Guitar Kit, you can receive O'Briens's
Classical building DVD with the kit.
www.KitGuitarManuals.com
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Forums
The Kit Guitar Builder's Discussion Forum
www.KitGuitarForum.com
I started this forum in March, 2006, and have been
gratified that it has grown in membership steadily. The
guys on the forum are all helpful, friendly, polite. I have
yet to read a single sharp word from anyone about anything. We (including me) ask the elementary questions,
the kinds you sometimes hesitate to ask on other forums. We're all beginners or were such recently.
The forum is free, and if possible, I will keep it that
way.
No obligation to join. Read all of it without registering.
186 Building Kit Acoustic Guitars
www.KitGuitarManuals.com
RESOURCES
FRETS.COM
Of all the internet websites created over the years, one stands
out.
Frank Ford is the creator of the
site and probably the leading acoustic guitar repair expert in the USA.
His website is the encyclopedia of
guitar work. Nothing is missed.
The site is www.frets.com.
Frank's DVD, titled "Frets.com,"
naturally, is available through the
website or through LMII.com, where
Mr. Ford is their guru of guitar construction and repair.
Got a question about frets,
strings, braces, top removal, back
removal, wood, tuners, pick guards,
history of various guitar types, or
anything else having to do with a
guitar?
The answer is on Frets.com.
www.KitGuitarManuals.com
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www.KitGuitarManuals.com
CHAPTER 12
Building Logs:
Martin Jumbo
&
Stewmac Dread
FUNCTION
Opened kit, read booklet, etc.
Tools: Made turnbuckle clamps & cauls
Tools: Fitted Body Mold to Rim
Rim: Glued Neck and Tail Block to Rim
9/17
9/18
9/19
9/20
9/21
9/21
9/22
9/22
DATE
9/1
9/11
9/11
9/11
1.00 Not difficult; measured curvature on the body mold.
0.50 Body mold and Rim slightly Different Shapes; not major
1.00 Made blocks flush with top; Way off on back -- The Tail block
was short of the rim; the neck block was too tall by 3/16"!
1.50 Left some sticking up for curvature of top
1.50 Left 1/16" above rim to sand down to match curve of back.
2.00 Made my own out of 1/8" mahogany; none in kit; mine look
better anyway.
2.00 Nervous. Never did this step before. I missed the strip they said
was included to go between the pieces. I won't know for sure
until next day if I've done it okay. Hope so. Resist temptation to look!
1.00 Inspected the join: It's good. Seam doesn't show. Sanded sides level.
0.50 First time to use this thing!
0.25 Foam on base with Kerfing along sides; the foam allows the
braces to conform the top to their curvature.
0.50 Wow, its so easy with this Go bar Rack. Great tool.
0.50 Yep, definitely more easy than using clamps.
1.00 I didn't like the material that Martin provided.
0.50 Pretty easy; used the go bars.
0.50 Freehand sanding -- Guessing at the angle; pretty close I think.
2.00 Got the back to snap right on. Better this time than with first kit!
0.00 Secured the back to the rim w/big rubber bands to let it settle.
0.00 Just to see; odd that the neck block sticks up above the rim, but
otherwise everything fits. The top is sized very close to the rim.
1.00 Love the go bars! Gluing braces is way easier than clamping.
1.00 Need to study some jumbo bracing to figure out how I will shape these
1.00 Used a bridge plate of E.I.Rosewood to make my own; didn't like the
maple and wanted brighter trebles. Rosewood should work nicely.
0.50 Now all are glued; will shape & trim them later.
1.50 Researching .. Found Pantheon/Dana Bourgeois, who uses a single
scalloped X-brace, bracing the treble side more strongly. His bracing is
scalloped on the bass side (looser) and straight on the treble (rigider)
to balance these tones in larger bodies. So, I did this, too.
TIME COMMENT
190
BUILDING KIT ACOUSTIC GUITARS
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4.00 Near DISASTER I did a dry run with the rubber bands and cam
cam clamps, seemed okay. Then glued it for real and got it on
crooked. Glue almost set hard by the time I got the clamps and
rubbers off. Pulled the top of the rim, wiped what glue I could and
spent the next 2.5 hours cleaning glue off the rim kerfing and the
rim of the top.
1.00 Decided my first scheme won't work. Second scheme is to use the
Go Bar Deck. With only 16 fiberglass rods, I need more. Can't find
any. Got 5/16 hardwood dowels at Hobby Lobby; they'll work.
2.00 Nope. Tried using 5/16 dowels; no go. They put too much pressure
the body. Ordered 14 more sticks from www.bluescreekguitars.com,
run by John Hall. While waiting for them, I am starting construction of
my Stewart-MacDonald Dreadnought kit.
Waiting waiting waiting
1.00 Finally, the new sticks arrived -- at the same time my son did on his
first visit from college, so, I put it off until today. Then, it went pretty
well, I think. The sticks slipped a couple times, once putting a dent in
the top. But, it looks like the process will work just fine. I'll know for
sure tomorrow when I remove the sticks and check the joint.
0.25 Wasn't perfect the kerfing, on the inside, glued nice and flush, but
around the outside, there were some 1/64" gaps between the rim and
top, indicating that I didn't have the kerfing sanded down at a shallow
enough angle. I don't know if this affects the sound. Cosmetically, it
is no big deal, since the binding will cover the gaps.
1.00 Nice (low E!) fundamental tap tone on lower bout. Treble tap is G or
G sharp; hoping this is high enough; don't know for sure and can't
find additional info on it.
1.00 Got top fitted; back is fitted. Ready to glue. What about removing the
rim from the mold? Do I need to set up something to brace it?
1.00 Problem: I can't use the spindle clamps along the sides when the top
is glued on while the body is in the outside body mold. If I remove
the rim from the mold, it loses all shape and can't be reliably glued
into the correct shape. I don't trust the top and its accuracy to form
the actual shape of the rim, though possibly I should
0.25 Trying to figure out how to square up the end blocks -- especially the
neck block. If I square up the inside of the blocks, are they square
enough that the outside of the blocks will be squared up with the top?
1.00 Opened up dovetail. How to square up the ends? Maybe no big deal
with this guitar, but I can't imagine that. Later in the instructions, they
say to be sure that the sides around the neck dovetail opening are
flat and even. They don't mention whether this area needs to be
square to the top in any way, so I figure it doesn't matter as much. I
will just go ahead and glue on the back without worrying too much. It
seems that the adjustment of the neck angle, etc., is all done during
the neck fitting step fitting of the dovetail, etc. The instructions for
this kit really are not helpful; many questions not answered, etc.
2.00 To do this, I removed the rims from the outside mold. I also did a bit
of reading to find out if the neck block absolutely had to be square,
and did not read anywhere that it had to be perfectly square, since the
neck dovetail is where it's all done. So, I did the glueup. The back
went on a whole lot easier than the top, since I could use the spindle
clamps. As usual, a dry run, and measuring each spindle clamp for its
exact position around the rim, helped me work quickly. I also built a
little "platform" to lift the whole thing off the surface of my work table.
This made it possible to slip the clamps on with my two hands, and
not having to struggle to lift and hold the body up at the same time.
I publish a magazine from my home; this 2 months is nose to stone!
But now it's done and off to the printer, and I can do what I enjoy!
1.00 Today I fired up the router and laid into those overhanging edges of
the top and back -- up to 1/4 inch in some places. The Router, along
the "guitar vise" I made, worked pretty well.
1.00 Today, I scraped the sides and edges down smooth and straight, in
preparation for routing the binding and purfling channels. (Or maybe
I did the sanding and scraping to "put off" that scary routing job!?!)
The body was rough, the sides were not perfect so I got out my
1.00 new Porter Cable Random Orbit sander, put on some 150 grit discs,
and sanded the body down. Now, the sides are almost perfect, and
will be made so during the final pore filling/sanding/finishing. I made
one stupid mistake; I overestimated the thickness of the sides and I
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guitar, and it contrasts well with the mahogany. I didn't yet do the top.
I also did my best to use an epoxy/sanding-dust mixture to fix the
place where I sanded through; didn't work real well, but maybe after
staining the mahogany, it won't show as much. (Fingers crossed.)
I read as much as I could find on this procedure, gathered my tools,
and started. Three hours later, I had a perfect joint. So, what was all
the fuss about from everybody? I found, of course that the Martin
minimanual was better than I expected on this partiuclar step, though
it still didn't give enough info to really do the job. Anyway, I got the
angle of the neck laterally and vertically about as good as I could
ever hope. Tools used: Sanding block, carbon paper, file, steel ruler
with 60-grit sandpaper glued to it.
I found that getting the truss rod inserted into its proper space in the
neck block was not possible with the neck joint finished. Not sure if
I did the neck joint incorrectly, though I don't think so since it was
seated properly. The truss rod just didn't fit into the space between
the top brace and the routed channel for the rod. So, I did a bit of
customizing; filed through the top brace to make enough room for
the rod. Now it's fine.
The Martin kits are faster on this step than the Stewmac kits. They
send a neck that is already trimmed and pin-indexed to the neck,
which is already carved. It was a quick job to glue in the little dots of
Mother of Pearl (the holes are already there!). Then, cutting and
mounting the frets, trimming them and filing the sharp ends down
was a quick process. I still need to secure the frets better though.
The Martin MiniManual has a grand total of four words -- by way of
instruction on installing the tuners, and they require two separate
sizes of holes to be drilled! If I hadn't just finished installing the
Taylor tuners in the Stewmac Dreadnought, it would have taken me a
lot longer. As it was, it took long enough! The manual does include a
one-page template, though it is inaccurate and does not match the
size of the peghead: Though it appears to be exact, it isn't. It does
include the measurements, though, and mapping them out on the
peghead itself took about an hour. Then, I drilled the 5/16 holes, and
then the 25/64 holes on my drill press. Thank goodness for the $40
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Okay, I did it. I angled the nut; I took 1/64 off the bass, and 1/32 off the
treble. We'll see what happens. If it doesn't work, I can straighted it out
at 1/32 all the way across.
1.50 I put a bolt into the neck to augment the dovetail glue joint. When I did
the complete Dry Fit of the clamping procedure, I found that the
fingerboard extension on the bass side does not seat perfectly on the
0.50 Sealer has filled pores; sides should look better now.
0.50 Sanded, the top looks real good. Ready to resume finishing.
0.50 I will start -- or resume -- finishing today after it gets warm enough and the
heater stops going off. (It heats my little finishing booth too much.)
I just realized that I have spent over a year working on this guitar. I
started it in September of 2005, and it is now mid-March of 2007! At this
rate, my guitar building won't progress much! Gotta manage my time
better.
I have started and am working hard on the book on Kit Guitar Building,
and it is going well.
1.00 Sanded off top layer of Poly. Will redo it.
0.25 Looks good. Also did headstock. Later went and messed it up with a
fingerprint.
0.50 Sanded headstock. Put poly on side and headstock. Looks good.
Will leave it overnight.
0.50 Easy application; nice top.
0.50 Looks okay.
0.50 Looks Very good.
2.50 Very carefully fitting. Though index holes are drilled, the bridge has a bit
of "play," rotating slightly -- about 1/32 inch, which will throw intonation
off. Spent an hour measuring, making sure of position, then taped down a
metal ruler to abut top of bridge against when all was right. Glued bridge
and will allow to cure overnight; used KMG bridge clamp. Nice, Clean!
1.00 Very nice. Headstock is acceptable; two areas I could NOT get glossy.
2.00 My question: If a compensated nut is a good thing, and is better for the
treble strings, is there any possibility that an offset compensated nut -that is, with the low E string at full scale length, and the High E string at
scale Length minus, say, 1/32", and the line between them a straight line?
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upper bout, so I have to make some adjustment in the joint. Too tired to
do it tonite. Will do it tomorrow and glue it.
Glue the neck today and leave it to cure overnight.
Looking forward to this!
Action high, on purpose. Sounds great. Really great!
Took out 1/32 to lower action 1/64 at 12th fret. Easier now.
All set now! This is a very nice guitar! Intonation is absolutely exact; my
idea to slant the nut worked perfectly (to my ears and the tuner), and
every note everywhere on the fretboard is in tune. Marvelous.
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DATE
Then, tape the caul over the wax paper with a long piece of tape that
Now, tape the wax paper in place over the outside of the joing.
rim in place so that the top edge is flat against the work board.
and brick (or the board with vise attached, in my case) to hold the
0.25 Place the rim so that the joint is more or less aligned. Use the board
there's a better way hmmm. For now, that's the way it is.
at the same time clamp them in the exact position needed. Maybe
position, while they are sliding around with fresh glue on them, and
caul, wax paper, two springy stiff sides and the block, all in the right
1.00 About the same as the previous step. It's not easy to hold the
glued, used with clamps to apply even pressure for uniform gluing),
1.00 This requires a "caul," (a piece of wood shaped to the piece being
Martin kit is NOT the one to start with. StewMac is. If You Build Only
tell you what you might need in order to do what they say to do. The
wherein they tell you what to do in a short, terse style, and they don't
need to do. This is sort of in contrast to the Martin kit and materials,
StewMac kits is that they tell you exactly how to do everything you
2.00 The preparation on these kits can be somewhat time consuming, but
existing 000 manual and kit. I got a great deal; they got good info!
revamped the instructions, etc. The kit I am building here was sent
his staff, with Todd Sams, have built a 000 and Dread and completely
some modifications for the 000. This past summer, Tom Erlewine and
a StewMac 000, the instructions were almost exactly the same, with
1.00 Though I had done this before, I did it again. Refresher course.
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its edges. Pretty. Measuring each one for the correct length was easy;
enjoying doing it. I sanded each one smooth and put a nice curve on
took awhile to cut to the correct length and sand, because I was
The small center seam braces that go in between the cross braces
of the GoBars, into the foam, and is configured perfectly to the shape
The back then is pressed by the braces themselves and the pressure
a couple of 1/8" cauls along the edges, and then glue the braces on.
thickness. I lay the back on it, put a couple of pieces of kerfing and
bottom part of the Go Bar Deck -- about 1/2 inch of foam fabric total
feature of SM's kits.) Using the Go-Bar Deck, I didn't make a caul (as
2.00 Glued all braces to back. Marked with white pencil, taking measure-
configure exactly like that plan. Meantime, I can still glue kerfing
compare the body shape to the full-size plan and set it up to it will
they are not braced at all. I wonder why? I wonder, also, if this is
the upper and lower bouts, but it squeezes out at the ends so that
but on this Dreadnought, it is tight around the waist and the sides of
body mold is ingenius. On my 000, it was very tight all the way around
1.00 This is one of the nicest things about the Stewmac kit. The internal
clamp it, without having things slip around and get messy. EASY!!
is held in place. It's an easy matter to glue up the block, place it, and
reaches the wood of the sides, beyond the wax paper. Now, everything
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bout; the finger braces stick out toward the sides of the top. These
The Tone Bars are the long braces that join the X in the lower treble
the X-braces to accept the ends of the tone bars and finger braces.
Continuing with the cutting, little notches also need to be cut into
the top at that point, should be thicker/stronger), but I doubt that the
one; I had a reason (that the bottom brace, actually in contact with
that the bottom brace had a shallower cut, and the top brace a deeper
saw. Do this slowly, testing the fit after every small cut. I cut them so
notches in the X-braces where they cross; an easy task with a razor
the braces, packaged like those for the back, in cellophane and pre-
Next, I opened the little box marked "T" (for Top) and pulled out
holes with light pencil. This created the standard bracing pattern.
at the ends and all intersections of all the braces, then connected the
2.00 I laid the full-size plan onto the inside of the top and made pinholes
of the wood. Not perfect, but okay until I do final sanding of the top.
0.50 Using a scraper, I carefully scraped the ring material down to the level
on the bottom of each channel, then pressing the stuff in. It worked.
rosette within the short time before it would start setting up. I used
the white glue because I couldn't get it into the narrow channels of the
way, preferring LMI White Instrument Maker's Glue. Still, I couldn't use
Gluing: The instructions said to use Titebond; I'm not using it any-
to do it.
trimmed. With care, this can be done accurately; I used a razor blade
not show, isn't trimmed. The center and inner rings need to be
and only had to be trimmed for length. The outer ring, whose ends do
to glue into the pre-cut grooves in the top. The three rings fit perfectly
1.50 In the StewMac Dread kit, the rosette rings come pre-bent and ready
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angled the braces slightly differently while gluing. Once the new one
first one, after the braces were glued, was short. I had apparently
the bridge plate. I had to make a second bridge plate, because the
worked. Okay. I glued on the finger braces, flat shoulder brace, and
1.00 The cracked brace seems to have healed itself and the CA glue has
CRACK! Okay, now what? The brace is glued to the soundboard, but
Later, having clamped the cracked brace for 3 hours, I glued it on.
X brace and the tall shoulder brace on, using my foampad GB Deck.
know that it was something I did, but it cracked. I glued it shut with
1.00 CRACK! One of the X braces cracked along the grain. Oops. Don't
kit builder makes. Its materials are as good if not better; its instruc-
the major reason why the StewMac kit should be the first one a new
On the Martin Jumbo kit, this is not even mentioned. The Martin kit
It's interesting that StewMac does all of this notching and fitting.
just right.
can be cut and glued after everything else is in place, so they will fit
needs cutting to shape and sanding. The little flat soundhole braces
radiused (like the X braces), and needs no trimming. The flat one
The Shoulder Braces (for the upper bout) are easy. The tall one is
45 notch.
blank in the kit. Traced from the full-size plan, it's easy to cut. It, too,
Finally, the maple bridge plate needs to be cut out of the maple
are cut at a 45 angle and fitted into notches cut into the X braces.
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external mold on, it measured exactly that both top and bottom!
which is supposed to be 20" exactly -- and found that after I put the
0.50 Cut external molds out of 1/2" Foamcore. Measured body length,
and back.
Now that the rim-sanding is done, I will go on the gluing of the top
rigid, etc.
kit, for the same purposes. In fact, since I have an extra piece or two of
Not only that, but this same mold can easily be used on any other
still on the work surface. I'm thinking that ROUTING of the sides, later on,
very well for any other steps where the body needs to be held rigid and
This works for the sanding of the rims, of course, but it also works
your work table, and it will hold the body nice and still, without any
to the right level, you can clamp it down to a piece of wood scrap on
The best part, though, is that by slipping that external mold down
make a great external body mold that slips down over the rims.
opening about 3/16" larger (with a Sharpie and a Razor Knife), you can
internal mold out of the cardboard, and you are left with a piece of
of the cardboard that's left over. That is, just cut the shape of the
if the user will simply cut out the first mold without destroying the part
making the internal body mold, can also provide an External body mold,
another small/easy/cheap tool. The cardboard that came in the kit, for
1.00 With the tools described above , this was so easy! I also came up with
time to make it. I attempted to manually do the rims on a Martin Jumbo kit
sanding block with 1.5 and 5 degree sides, is really great and worth the
small, the tools themselves are marvels of ingenuity. This one, the big
1.00 Although the time involved in making some of these little tools is not
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wings with your fingers while you're trying to get all of those things
and the wing nut is quickly secured without having to search for the
and the little channel catches the wings and you twist -- either way --
spool clamp. So, it works like this. Put it down over the bolt and twist,
middle (well, sort of close) I drilled a hole bigger than the bolt of the
into which the "wings" of the nuts would fit. Then, right through the
little round piece of wood 2 inches long. Into one end, I cut a channel
that was round (like most are) and cut off a 2 inch piece. So I had a
So, I got another bright idea. TaDa. I went and found mop handle
Those little wings were a hassle, and turning them meant reaching
plate -- top or back -- would flex a little bit and the clamp would need
done each clamp for about the right opening for where it would go, the
them to the right place, either to back off a little to git the clamp onto
little "ears" of the wing nuts (maybe they're called "wings") never did
the rims (24 of them) it has been sort of nerve racking, because the
in the past, when I've attached the spool clamps all the way around
creating a new little helper tool to make it go more quickly. You see,
2.00 Normally, this shouldn't take two hours to do, but I got caught up in
rim.
block's 1.5 side. The sides now fit perfectly flush to the edge of the
across the back. The arch of the back is not as pronounced as the
1.50 This is alittle more straightforward, since the braces are all straight
possible. The top is a super close fit - not oversized like the back.
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assembly into my humidified room, along with the top, to stay for
the cardboard inside body molds. I put the newly glued back/rim
Great. Checked the next morning. All snug and secure. Removed
both ends. I'll let the glue dry overnight. Life is good.
warranties, so they started building their guitars more heavy, and the
a great book by the way. Martin was losing money on their lifetime
would they lose on their lifetime warranty if they built for tone instead
could they sell if they bellied up below the bridge? How much money
owner of the shop, he said, "Sure they're braced heavy, but how many
Still, I have to say that the braces on this guitar kit are not as heavy
to "go for it" at some point and not stay safe with those heavy braces.
that this is skirting the line of stability vs. tone for the top, but I have
between scallops, all the sharp edges, and some of their width. I know
guitar, I've slimmed and trimmed the braces to remove all the points
1.00 Thinning, sanding, rounding -- to get optimum "tap tone." For this
instructions direct.
bout, but decided against it. I want this kit to be done exactly as the
I was tempted to use mahogany strips for the braces in the large
call them popsicle sticks; that's about right for their dimensions.
the entire body of the guitar be more of a speaker. Since their grain
transmit sound vibrations from the vibrating top to the back, helping
3.00 The side braces give structural integrity to the guitar body, and help
0.25
cut for the braces, the body was exactly 20 inches long, and square at
Okay, so I glued the back on, snapped right into the slots I had
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and sanded the body down. Now, the sides are almost perfect, and
new Porter Cable Random Orbit sander, put on some 150 grit discs,
1.00 The body was rough, the sides were not perfect so I got out my
I did the sanding and scraping to "put off" that scary routing job!?!)
preparation for routing the binding and purfling channels. (Or maybe
1.00 Today, I scraped the sides and edges down smooth and straight, in
the top and back -- up to 1/4 inch in some places. The Router, along
1.00 Today I fired up the router and laid into those overhanging edges of
and purfling!
Next I will rout the top and back even with the sides. Then, binding
to have worked, as (next morning) I took the clamps off and nothing
it, sanded it, did a dry run, etc., and then finally glued it on. Seems
six weeks -- Anyway, The top was ready to glue on, but I fussed with
2.00 It seems as if I've been away from it forever! Actually, only about
annually in San Luis Obispo, CA. Deadlines, etc. Now, it's done!
or something like that, then when/if I make a guitar from scratch and
number of them? And, if I fudge and say "handmade by," "made by,"
my guitars? Can I brand them, since they are made from kits? Do I
More thought needed for this than one would think. What do I name
scallop peaks -- and the tone of that guitar is excellent and loud. So,
as it would have been -- that is, I trimmed and slimmed and removed
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agreed that I will build for him a Stewmac 000, with Adirondack
which both went online March 3, 2006. They are doing well, but are
The GAP in time was due to the creating and getting online of this new
the holes for the bolt-on neck bolts, and the level of the top of the
guitar, and it is bright against the rosewood. I didn't yet do the top.
binding and the back and sides. I used pure white binding on the
scraping of the sides revealed an almost perfect joint between all the
do as close to perfect a job as I could. It came out real, real well! The
glue runs.
blue painter's tape (easy release) so I wouldn't have to sand away the
have taken this long, except I taped the sides of the guitar using
2.00 Glued binding to back and binding and purfling to the top. It wouldn't
of the way, and lowers to the floor for use, guitars hanging inside.
I spent four days building a spray booth that raises to the ceiling, out
guide. PERFECT! Didn't take long, and it was done without error.
mounted, the cutting of the channels is very easy. After getting all set
1.00 The routing of the binding channels scared me up to now. I have now
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a hole through the main top cross brace, the way the Martin kit did it,
nothing that can be done about it. A solution to this would have been
into the neck. It can just barely be reached to be turned, but there is
main top cross brace extending downward and the Truss Rod's inset
the Truss Rod is extremely difficult to adjust due to the angle of the
the neck set, then the fretboard, will result in a better and more
1.00 Finished sanding the fretboard on the shooting block. I think doing
the bridge.
surface of the fretboard ending up just about 1/32" above the top of
to be right.
the neck to the soundhole. Checked it every which way and it seems
bit of the top so the fretboard could proceed perfectly straight from
meets the body, and then straightened the angles, sanded down a
bottom of the well where the mortise goes into the tenon (or tenon
the neck and aligned it without the fretboard. Used shims at the
triple-0. So, I treated this guitar the same as the Martin J: Mounted
the manual, I would have the same hump on this guitar as on the
aligning of the neck. When I checked the neck, its angle and its
to do the neck, mount the fretboard to it with frets, and then do the
be aware and plan ahead to avoid it. In the manual, the procedure is
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experience of having played the 000, and my Taylor 510, and had
2.00 I didn't even do this step on the triple-0 kit, but on this kit, I had the
cam clamp, and four flexible screw clamps. The latter work well but
1.00 After fretting up to the 14th fret, I glued the fretboard onto the neck
them. Just one of the ways things can get screwed up, but, looks OK.
hold the frets. Four of them popped out at the ends before I could
0.50 Man, this is a brittle ebony fretboard! Don't know for sure if it will
them in with black CA. They will dry soon and I'll sand the board and
smaller sizes, went in easier, and I wasn't as timid. All done. Glued
a full 90 minutes on it. But, finally got it right. The other 5 dots, of
fretboard. First one -- the 5th fret "large" dot . I was timid and took
drilled in several scraps and off cuts of rosewood, maple and ebony
is scary the first time. I did a lot of testing. Many wrong holes were
2.75 Six little pearl dots. Drilling into the fretboard to j-u-s-t the right depth
and sanded them. Done. This time, I didn't chip my fretboard the way
fretboard, stuck the plastic in there with some black CA, clipped them
1.00 The side dots were not difficult. Drilled 1/16" holes in the side of the
always say I did them that way for a reason if I can think of one.
awhile, but, with the drill press, it worked out. The tuners are not in
drilling of a small 1/16" hole that indexes the tuner's position. It took
quired drilling the provided holes out to 25/64 (from 1/4), and the
installed some Taylor tuners I bought used before. The Taylors re-
2.00 I removed the clamps, trimmed the Overlay to the Peghead, and then
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has a glassy feel. The entire body feels glass smooth. I'm enthused.
Target sealer on the top. One coat. Sanded it off, down to 600. Now it
wasn't really happy with the way the top felt, so I decided to use the
very happy with results. Could be a real good finish. I will recommend this.
Then I thinned the stuff and applied a second coat. Sanded it off and am
2.00 I've applied coats of pore filler on sides and sanded them. Same as top.
0.50 The filler is almost clear, and viscous like warm honey. I applied a
were not filled as well as they should be so (after the imperfect sides
pore filler, and top coat. On the Stewmac Dread, the back/side pores
1.00 Sanded off Second Coat. Might Be Just About Ready. Might Need One
All that is left now is the peghead; It will be finished with the guitar.
give it a satin finish has made the neck perfect -- I mean, perfect.
1.00 Applying a thin coat of shellac and using a synthetic steel wool pad to
is called "Enduro," and is water based, dries clear, and dries in only
2.00 (I have finally located a porer filler that I believe will be a success. It
heel cap.
and shallow, like the Taylor. It feels good. Glued on a thick ebony
the bass side up to about the 7th fret. So, I made the neck 1 13/16
shaping the neck in a "v" with the peak of the "V" slightly skewed to
sanded Flat
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FedEx for him to get them Friday morning. Article, hard copy and
2.00 String it up, play it, photo it. Must send the photos to Teja at Acoustic
2.00 Friday morning Fingers Crossed; don't want to sand through this time.
top coats (4) and let cure until Friday. Next time; dry sand only.
1.00 Wet sand and let dry overnight. Sanded through the finish! Had to reapply
sand, polish and finish. Then, on Wednesday, I'll put Finish the Guitar.
was. This is Thursday, Noon. I will leave it until Tuesday, noon, to wet
1.00 Just for good measure, one more coat on Back and sides. Left the top as
sand through and screw up. I sanded back, sides and top.
2.50 I'm taking my time with 400 and 600 sandpaper because I don't want to
time actually finishing, etc., is 120 minutes (12 coats). The Guitar is now
you can't do much else, so I figure all the time is in this guitar. Total
4.00 It really only takes ten minutes to do a coat and clean up the brush, but
and the bubbling and marking, I'm enthralled by the results of this brush
with a paintbrush? After all the problems I've had with waterbase finishes
brush marks, though there aren't many of those! (can you be in love
2.50 I'll do a flat sanding of the first three coats just to knock down the
the back of the body, then waited, then put three coats on each side.
3.00 Using my DaVinci 5080 watercolor was brush, I put three nice coats on
it off with Renaissance Wax. GREAT finish! Now, I'll start the guitar.
1.00 I flat sanded to 400, then used the rubbing compound, polish and topped
Teja Gerken from Acoustic Guitar Mag emailed and they are assigning me
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BUILDING KIT ACOUSTIC GUITARS
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ing bench vise, which is attached to a 2x6, worked fine when clamped to the card table.
My router guide worked well, letting me rout binding and purfling channels perfectly and
quickly. Radiused sanding sticks allowed me to radius the kerfed lining as necessary without a large sanding dish, though I had a dish I could have used. Hand tools only (powered
and manual) were used for every step (even drilling tuner holes). They allowed me to work
only on the card table and also proved that a kit can be successfully built without using
any major bench-top tools at all.
Overall, I would call the experiment a success. I have the data I need, and my daughter
has a straight-A Report Card reward that Ill teach her to play.
ANTICIPATED QUESTIONS
Q: Can any kit be built in a week -- or two -- by a beginner?
A: Probably not by a first-timer. I think I was able plan the build for best use of time
only after having built similar kits before, and having completed nine other kits. (Still, some
things took longer than expected and caused problems simply because I was working too
fast.) The difficulty a beginner would have is that he might not know exactly what problems
to anticipate and prevent, and how to fix them if they did happen.
Q: Was it still enjoyable to build it this quickly?
A: Yes, absolutely. Just the novelty of seeing the body glued together in two days was
rewarding. The most quickly I had ever done it before was three weeks. It became a family
thing, with everybody curious about how it was going.
Q: Can you build a guitar using CA glue only?
A: Basically, yes. The only exceptions were that I did use WeldOn cement for the ivoroid
bindings, and I used LMII White Instrument Makers Glue for gluing the bridge on and gluing
the neck to the body. I have heard that CA glue loosens in response to moisture. Though I
don't expect this guitar to live in a high-humidity environment, I still don't know where my
daughter is going to college ... and who knows, she might like to sing on the porch while
it's raining ... so I might eventually find out.
Q: So, how does the guitar sound, right off the bat?
A: Amazingly good! The intonation is right on, the tone is balanced, loud, resonant. The
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sustain is long and rich. The harmonics ring as well as on any other guitars I've built and as
loud and pure as on my two Taylor guitars. To me, it sounds just excellent. Original strings
Im using are Martin Bronze (80/20), which were packed with the kit.
You can hear the guitar at www.KitGuitarManuals.com/music.html.
Q: Would I do this again?
A: No. It was a one-time thing with deadline pressure. It offered a chance to test a few
things. I will fully enjoy taking time to make the next few more relaxing, and better overall.
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technical description of the guitar, gleaned from Wlliam Cumpiano and Roger
Natelson, Roger Siminoff, Alan Carruth, Rick Turner, many forums, et al:
Acoustically the guitar is called a coupled system. This means that none of its components is acoustically isolated from any other. The tail block, for example, ultimately affects
the high E strings tone to some small extent, just as do the neck and frets to a different
extent. Ultimately, every part of the guitar affects every other part. Of course, certain parts
directly and more heavily affect others, but in the end, none of the parts is isolated.
What this means to us builders should be obvious. If we decide not to try to get every
brace securely inletted into the kerfed lining, or not get a solid and flat joint between the nut
and its seating, we are going to change the instrument somehow. Maybe some changes
will amount to only a .01% difference in volume, timbre, bass response, or another factor.
Maybe some changes will amount to a 10% (huge) change. All the things we do, though,
will add up to a changed sound coming from the instrument. And, how could it have been
different if we had changed this or that? The problem is, well never know, because the
building of the guitar is basically a one-way street. Once we go a certain direction, we
cant turn back.
Its an adventure, isnt it!
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AFTERWORD
(the remaining 25%) sound by the movement of the soundboard acting the way a speaker
membrane does. (Hold and release your forearm on the soundboard of your newly built
guitar, and you wll experience and hear a definite difference. This is what makes the John
Pearse Armrest such a wonderful accessory.)
Not all of the energy of the strings vibrations gets converted into mechanical energy.
Some of it, not much, is dissipated into the air as actual sound waves, like those weaklings that come from an unampified electric guitar. But, some guitars capture and project
the small amount of energy from the strings lots better than others. The efficiency of the
conversion is what makes some guitars into cannons, and others into dead, but maybe
pretty, assemblies of wood parts.
This is all completely separate from the issue of the guitars character, its tone, its
timbre, its brightness or warmth. Those are all highly advanced. I am in awe of those professional luthiers who can aim for a particular sound, and actually achieve it. They are truly
accomplished and skilled craftsmen, far beyond us kit builders. But, as for the issue of
building the guitar to be as efficient a sound machine as possible, volume-wise and regarding intonation, we can purposefully do a few things and actually go in the right direction
with our novice building efforts.
Construction Quality
As kit guitar builders, some of us assume the kit is like a model car: We put it together
the way it comes in the box, and we get an accurately constructed instrument. In actuality,
thats not the case.
Taking into account the one-way street nature of guitar construction, we have to
question everything provided in a kit, and think it through for ourselves. Why spend several
hundred bucks on a guitar kit and then not concentrate on building it as perfectly as possible? So, we should fight impatience and do the work as well as possible given our skills,
experience and temperament. ... And we must remember to measure the kit's parts.
Tap Tuning
Besides tuning the strings after the guitar is strung up, there is this thing called tap
tuning that was only briefly addressed in the main text. Its not always exactly the kind of
operation we see in photos of luthiers at work.
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Think about this: A luthier holds up a top that has been newly braced. The soundhole
is already cut and the rosette installed. The braces arent yet shaped as they will ultimately
be. The luthier taps (with his fingertip) the top assembly in different ways, trims the braces,
taps, trims, taps, trims ... and finally arrives at the sound he is looking for. It is most likely
a really nice sound, judging from the incredible sound of some of the custom guitars we
know of.
But, what happens when the top is attached to the rim? It takes on a completely different sound. The same tapping that resulted in the great sound the luthier wanted is now
changed, because a free plate, as it was before attachment to the rim, sounds different
from a fixed plate, after secure attachment to a rigid frame. (Because of the luthiers
experience, he has probably taken this into account. We dont have that experience yet,
so we cant.)
So, we beginners should not do any tap tuning until the top is attached to the rim. Naturally, this assumes we are gluing the top on before we glue the back on. After that is done,
we can tap the soundboard in various places, tune it to sound the way we think it should
be by ear or by using a tuner, and make the changes we want by shaving various braces
in various ways and also thinning the top itself. According to Roger Siminoff, the note we
tune a top to should be one in the standard scale based on A-440. If its not some whole
or half tone within that scale, the natural frequency (see Helmholtz, below) of the guitar
will be constantly fighting the string tuning, and well always be uncomfortable with it.
Where and how do we tap? This is something only learned through experience, but
basically, to learn what the overall "tap tone" of the top will be, it makes sense that we
should tap it where the bridge will be located. (It might also be a good idea to temporarily attach the bridge with tape. After all, its mass must be taken into account if we are to
accurately judge the top's sonic properties. Is this too fine a point? Possibly, but then,
possibly not!)
Do we tap with our fingertips? Siminoff claims that if we do that, we excite higher partials, giving the tapped note a different character. (Partials are responsible for the differing
character of sound you hear when you pick a string near the bridge, right over the soundhole, or right over the end of the fretboard.) He recommends using a tapping hammer
some kind of hammer that can give us a firm but soft impact and is more consistent than
a fingertip. He uses an old piano hammer with a handle attached. I use a tympani mallet.
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AFTERWORD
Soundhole Size
There was a German scientist named Hermann Helmholtz, who during his life (1821
1894) identified an important acoustic principle. Known as the Helmholtz Frequency, it is
the resonant frequency that is the most resonant in any acoustic enclosure.
Pick up a guitar any guitar, doesnt matter which. Start at the lowest note you can
hum, mouth open, and hum it directly into the soundhole. Slowly hum higher and higher:
Within about three or four whole tones, you will reach a frequency that makes the entire
body resonate. (Dont worry: Youll know when it happens!) This is a close approximation
of that particular enclosures resonant frequency, or Helmholtz Frequency. (The experiment
is something like blowing on a glass soft drink bottle to get that low tugboat-horn sound:
The tone you get is the resonant frequency of the bottle.)
Whats interesting to me is that theres a perfect tonefrequencyfor every enclosure,
that maximizes its sonic performance. Another interesting fact is that we can, to a certain
extent, tune the frequency of the enclosure to a little bit higher or little bit lower frequency.
We can do this by changing the size of the opening in this case, the soundhole.
Kits come with soundholes already cut in the soundboard, but if you happen to be substituting a different top from the one in the kit, you can cut a smaller soundhole to start with,
and gradually enlarge the soundhole until you get to the frequency you want. Of course, if
you go too far, you pass the perfect frequency. You can measure a louder reponse when
you reach the Helmholtz frequency, though. Thats where you should stop.
And, Finally, Intonation
For some real good information on this the best on the internet, in my opinion go
to http://www.doolinguitars.com/intonation/intonation1.html. This excellent article by Mike
Doolin tells the whole story. Well, almost the whole story. He could tell more, as could most
professional luthiers. Things like this: A 15/1000 change in string length, not taking stretching by fretting into account, will change the strings note by one cent (1/100 of a half tone).
So much for cutting my own fret slots!
Luckily for us, kits have slotted fretboards. Also luckily, many people cant hear less
than a five cent difference. (Maybe thats where the saying, not a nickles difference came
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from.) At .015 per cent, that five cents gives us a margin of error of .075; thats a nice
margin, but we shouldnt try to use it.
Accuracy of intonation actually starts with our first gluing of the neck joint to the sides
and continues from there. These all affect it: The position of the bridge, the angle of the
saddle slot, the width of the saddle, the formation of the saddles peaks, the height of the
nut above the frets, the accuracy of the fret slots and fretwire crowns, the age and gauge of
strings we use, how hard we press them when playing, and several other factors. Its incredible that a guitar can ever be made that can be played in tune, especially by amateurs.
Thank goodness a lot of these things are already taken care of in guitar kits.
Anyone care to design and build a scratch guitar?
The Ver y End
I included this short article just to keep myself humble. I think its working. See, it's
easy, if you write a book, to think you know the subject. But, remember, this book is about
kit guitars, and only kit guitars. Sure, when we build a nice guitar from a kit, we are proud
of ourselves, naturally. We should be! Not everyone does it. But, are we anywhere near the
level of a luthier? Nope ... not even close. We shouldn't fool ourselves.
I live in Colorado Springs, Colorado. I see Pikes Peak every day. I'll hike to the top of it
later this summer. Hiking to the top of a Colorado Fourteener on a trail is not easy, but its
not even comparable to topping a real mountain, like Mt. Everest or Anapurna. A Pikes Peak
hike is not a tiny achievement, but I tend to view it in the light of those who have climbed
Everest. In the guitar world, my kits are like Pikes Peak; Kevin Ryans work and James
Olsons (and many others') work is like those who have climbed Everest. It is a level I will
never begin to attain, but that doesnt keep me from building at my level and loving it. And,
I will still enjoy hiking on Pikes Peak, just as I enjoy building and playing my kit guitars.
Thanks for reading this book. Good luck with your kit building!
Bill Cory
June, 2007
Colorado Springs
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APPENDIX
Appendix
MY WEBSITES:
WWW.KITGUITARMANUALS.COM
The purpose of this site is to expand on the information in this book, to help you build your
guitar. On the site, you can find the "Manual of Kit Guitar Building" a general manual that covers
the specifics of building Martin and LMI kits, with photos. (As this book is being published, the
manual is in its final stages.)
You will also find other reference materials. It's worth checking out.
WWW.KITGUITARFORUM.COM
If you like forums, and you want to build a kit guitar, this is the place to visit. We started in early
2006 and have slowly and steadily grown. Lots of good information is available, and it's one of
the friendliest forums on the 'net.
WWW.KITGUITARBUILDER.COM
This was where I started. I continue to add pages to this site. I wanted to make it the "frets.
com" of kit guitar building, but Frank Ford and his incredible Frets.com site is unapproachable.
Still, there is a lot of good information on the "KGB" site, with illustrated building instruction,
MP-3s, and other features you might find valuable.
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APPENDIX
HUMIDITY:
In the winter, when the heat turns on, the humidity inside the house goes down. It doesnt
matter what kind of heat source, though some are worse than others.
A guitar is best kept at a Relative Humidity similar to where it was built, or within 10% or
15% of that RH. What is RH? It is the percentage of humidity in the air, relative to 100%, at the
temperature of the air. If the air in your home is 35% RH at 70 degrees F, the same amount of
moisture, at 60 degrees F, will be only about 30% RH. Cold air can hold more moisture than
warm air, so the cooler the air becomes, the lower the RH will be in comparison to 100%.
What happens to a dry guitar? A guitar is unfinished on the inside, and so will change
somewhat in reaction to changes of humidity. Unless the change is extreme, or long in duration,
it probably wont cause any problems. However, a guitar can lose as much as two ounces of
water if it is in a dry area for very long. The effects of this are best illustrated in resources on the
Taylor Guitars website, at www.TaylorGuitars.com. Go to their Reference tab, and select Tech
Sheets. You will see the best illustrations and explanations available. (Basically, you want to
know about this before it happens: Fixing it is possible, but is a real hassle.)
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What are symptoms of a dry guitar? On the fretboard, fret ends protruding. On the body,
the soundhole sinking and bridge rotating. A wet guitar will look swollen at the soundhole and
will develop string buzzes on the higher frets. Dont rely on the truss rod to solve the problems:
Keep the guitar properly humidified.
USE A CASE:
Guitars kept outside of cases are more often damaged by everything than those kept in
cases. Just makes sense. A good case will protect your guitar not only from being bumped and
bruised, but will also protect it from sudden swings in temperature and humidity.
TRAVEL:
The stories abound about travel on airplanes with guitars. It seems the baggage handlers
dont differentiate a $4,000 handmade guitar from a Samsonite suitcase. If theyre smart enough
to make the distinction, they get promoted. The Peter Principle at work. So, what do you do?
Personally, I dont fly guitars on passenger flights. If I need to get the guitar somewhere,
I will arrange shipping by Federal Express or UPS, and pick the guitar up. If theres no other
way to carry it, you can buy a Calton flight case, or a Case Extreme Clamshell Case, and your
guitar will most likely be okay. Just for your info, airlines no longer allow you to carry a guitar
onboard: Dont ever count on it just because your best friend said they let him do it.
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APPENDIX
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APPENDIX
10
11
Allen (Cairns,
Queensland, Australia)
LMI dreadnought, Indian rosewood & Sitka
spruce. Allen's rst kit.
14
12
15
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13
Pat (USA)
Stewmac Dreadnought,
Indian rosewood &
sitka, built for his
daughter. Pat's second
kit.
16
Herman (Netherlands)
Martin HD-28 kit,
Indian rosewood,
European spruce top,
Golden Era neck.
17
18
232
19
23
20
21
24
22
Bill (USA)
Martin 0000 jumbo kit.
25
27
26
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APPENDIX
Most of the photos here look pretty good ... but if you have a hard time photographing your guitar and getting it the way you want, maybe these hints can help.
1) Turn off the flash. If you're shooting the guitar "straight on," you'll get a flash reflection. If you're not
shooting it straight on, you'll see the light fall off from the nearest to the farthest edge, side or end.
The bright flashed foreground will create a dark background, robbing the photo of some detail.
2) Use "Soft" light. Goes along with #1. There are several ways to use "soft light," which simply means
your light source is wide (large) in relation to your subject. "Large" can be a bright cloudy sky, or
even an open sky if you're in the shade. It can mean putting the guitar in the shade of a tree or car,
and using reflected light coming from bright sunlight on a nearby white wall or garage. It can mean
being inside, near a window, with sunlight on white curtains or bedsheet hung over a sunlit window
or glass door. It can mean pro studio lighting with umbrellas and reflectors, if you have them.
3) Are you shooting the surface, or the reflections on the surface? When you see a car ad photo,
look closely at the way the highlights in the car's finish are gentle and graduated. This comes from
the photographer rigging a huge (really huge) soft light for the reflection. If you want to show the
beauty of your finish, put a sheet over a window and move the guitar, and yourself around. You'll
get some nice lighting effects that will enhance your guitar's appearance.
4) Don't be afraid to shoot closeups. Our kits are not perfect all over, right? But they do have some
nicely done appointments. Shoot those areas! Show the things you did well. Don't forget to dust
and shine the surface!
5) Are you shooting inside? Under incandescent light (regular indoor bulbs), set your camera manually if possible. If you can set the "color temperature" on your camera, set it to 3200K: that's the
approximate Kelvin (K) temperature of incandescent lights. If your camera has little icons, just set
it to the "light bulb" icon. If your camera is "fully automatic," get a white sheet of paper: As you
turn the camera on, point your lens at the paper up close (with no shadows), in the light you will be
shooting in. This is called "white balancing," and it is what the camera does automatically. (Though,
if it's pointed at your chartreuse carpet when you turn it on, the silly machine thinks that is white
and adjusts everything accordingly! That's why your color is sometimes "off.") (FYI: Your flash is balanced for "sunlight," at about 5600K, which is bright sun in a blue sky between 10am and 2pm.)
6) Take lots of photos. As a commercial and wedding photographer, I always aimed for a ratio of about
4 to 1: Four shots of any subject for every one I used. For the 450+ photos in this book, I have in my
Mac's iPhoto library just over 8,000 photos of guitars under construction. Let's hear it for the digital
revolution! The more photos you take, the better your odds of getting something truly outstanding.
Moving one foot closer, changing the light by a couple of feet, can make all the difference.
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INDEX
A
A-440 222
candle 87
allergies 150
caul 41,60,82,84,88,89,102,115,141
allergy 150
Al Inteso Guitars 62
Chemicals 72
chemical allergies 150
CITES 44,49,163,164,166
Classical 56,62,164
"Basic Instructions and Helpful Hints for Guitar Kit Construction" (Martin's manual) 54
basswood 56
compensation 97,98,99,103,167
contour gauge 94
billets 22,26,28,47,87,115,118
Bill Cory 1, 224
Cory 224
bluescreekguitars.com 58
cuchillos 12
curved chisel 89
Brace Pattern 50
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INDEX
D
flush-cut bit 91
D-28 41
David Bender 48
fretboard 10,16,22,27,28,31,35,45,47,52,54,56
,60,70,89,93,94,95,96,97,98,99,100,102,103,107,124
,125,126,127,128,151,162,164,165,166,167,169,189
Frets.com 225
doolinguitars.com 103,223
dovetail 19,28,47,52,54,93,96,97,102,162
Dreadnought 15,25,30,49,51,52,53,60,62,87,158,
164,189,198,199,200,201,202,203,204,205,206,207,20
8,209,210,211
glossary 161
glue braces 88
go-bar deck 87
Dremel 68,72,91,114,121
GoBar Deck 36
E
East Indian Rosewood 49,53,58,164,165,168
Gotoh 27,45
eBay 55,57,72,92,105,109,135
Go bar Deck 88
Enduro 215
Grizzly 32,39,56,57,166,179
Erlewine 38,51,171
External mold 60
guitar-repair.com 59
guitarbuilderstore 92,105
guitarmaking 11,48,63,65
FedEx 229
finger braces 88
FINISHING (websites) 174
finishing your guitar 149
fixed plate 222
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H
Healdsburg Guitar Festival 48,174
Building Kit Acoustic Guitars 235
236
Helmholtz 223
KitGuitarBuilder.com 13,18,23,105,106,135,211,2
Holy Grail 7
25
humidifier 67,68,83
KitGuitarForum.com 8,13,20,23,41,58,59,63,105,
135,225
Humidity 67,83,109
humidity 67,68,83,84,86,93
KitGuitarManuals.com 23,51,57,63,82,105,146,17
1,225
Hygrometer 67,72,109
KitGuitarManuals.com/music.html 219
Kit Acoustic Guitar Builders Guide 57
Kit Instructions 57
Independent Luthiers 57
KMG 32,57,60,61,97,102,170,173,179
Instructions 46,53,54,57,63,133
instructions 9,15,19,23,27,30,31,41,46,47,4
8,49,50,54,55,57,59,62,63,71,81,82,84,85,90,96
,97,99,100,103,142,152,155,174
Kovacik Guitars 59
KTM-9 156,157,175
L
Laminated Brazilian Rosewood 212
intonation 10,16,21,22,29,56,70,81,97,98,99
,103,162,167,169,175,211
J
James Olson 224
John Hall 212
John Pearse Armrest 221
Jumbo kits 53
Jumfaux 60
KennethMichaelGuitars 60,65,97,170,179
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INDEX
M
Madinter Trade 62
mahogany neck 100,189
Martin 15,16,18,21,23,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,35,41,4
3,44,48,49,50,53,54,55,57,58,59,60,63,81,83,84,85,86,8
7,89,93,94,95,96,98,99,107,111,117,124,126,135,140,155,15
6,164,170,189,190,191,192,193,194,195,196,197,211,212
P
paint remover 98,102,151
Parlor guitar kits 58
photography 233
martinguitar.com 43,53
polyethylene 154
polymerized 155
Maton 228
polyurethane 38,151,155
Microplane 112,142,143
pore-filling 150,152,153
MIDWEST GUITAR 62
Practice on Scrap 92
Minwax 154,155,175
mold 9,60,62,65,71,84,85,86,91,107,111,112,170,1
71
MSDS 150
Mt. Everest 224
MUSICMAKER'S KITS 62
MUSIC MARKETING gmbh 62
R
Radius Sanding Sticks 137
rattle cans 153
Relative Humidity 67,227
relative humidity 67,83
N
neck shaping template 94
O
OM/000 32,53,58,60
Oxford 156
Oxford High Solids Grain Filler 157
Oxford Ultima-WR Stain 157
Oxford Ultima Spray Lacquer 157
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T
sanding dish 115,139
tap tuning 88
scratch 8,11,19,20,22,23,26,38,65,152
TaylorGuitars.com 227
shellac 37,93,100,101,108,151,153,154,155,1
57
Terz 58
silicon 228
siminoff.net 62
Sitka 13,30,49,167,169,189
Titebond 72,82,173
Todd Sams 51
spruces 58,162
Trigger 228
Triple-O 13,17,31,49,51,52,87
Stewart-MacDonald 13,15,19,31,39,40,43,49
,50,63,67,135,171,180
Tru-Oil 38,100,101,151,154,155,174
TruOil 227
Stewart-Macdonald, Inc. 49
Stewmac 7,13,16,17,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,43
,44,47,49,50,51,52,53,54,55,68,69,70,71,81,82,83,
84,85,86,87,90,93,94,95,98,99,101,107,111,112,122
,124,125,137,139,145,158,189,198,199,200,201,202
,203,204,205,206,207,208,209,210,211
tuners 27,45,49,52,54,56,81,95,107,126,133,165,1
89
U
UPS 229
stewmac.com 43,49,109,135,172,180
Success Kits (KMG) 60
sylvanwellsguitars.com 138
Sylvan Wells 138
V
VarioClippix 50,83
Victor Guitars 170
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INDEX
Voicing 88
W
wash coat 93,101,151
waterbased finish 151
waterbased pore filler 155,156
waterborne finish 151
waterborne lacquer 156
WeldOn Cement 212
western red cedar 49
Western Steel String (Grizzly kit) 32,39,56
William Cumpiano 227
Wingnut Wrench 137, 145
Wipe-On Poly (Minwax) 154, 155
Wlliam Cumpiano 220
WOBB (Weight Of Bills Body) 213, 217
WOOD 180
X
X-braces 52,87,88,89,90,116
Z
Zero Fret 169
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