Guitar shed application3/10/2023 ![]() Sides are thicknessed to 2 mm a thickness sander is ideal. Once you are happy with the measurements, draw onto the side blanks and bandsaw off the excess. When taking measurements, remember to take into account the top and back thickness to get the width for sides or you will end up with a guitar that is approximately 5 mm thicker overall than planned. Taking measurements from plans or from an existing guitar of similar body style will serve as a good approximation that can be refined later when fitting the back. Because of this the sides have to be shaped to accommodate the dome of the back, resulting in the sides being trimmed lower at the outer point of the curves of the upper and lower bout of the guitar, and being tapered lengthwise. The crosswise and lengthwise arches combine to give the back a slight domed shape, and the guitar is shallower at the heel end than at the tail end. Also, when the back has struts glued on, these also have an arch in them. This lengthwise taper is not even there is a high point at the waist, which helps spring the back into a lengthwise arch. The edge that is going to be glued to the back is not straight, as the guitar body is thicker at the bottom (tail) than at the heel (where the neck joins the body). The side to which the soundboard will be glued is planed flat. It is important to mark them in some way to ensure that the bookmatched sides are on the outside in order to get a visually pleasing match up at the bottom of the guitar. Throughout this article, the words “strut” and “brace” for the support strips of timber are almost interchangeable, although it is conventional to consider the back to have struts and the top braces.īlanks for the sides are normally cut to approximately 820 mm long by 110 mm wide, and at a thickness of 3-4 mm. Prior to building, also make an accurate template out of 4 mm ply that defines the outline of the body shape and on it mark all important dimensions from your plan: centreline, centre of soundhole, soundhole dimensions, rosette dimensions, bracing, and also where the bridge plate, saddle and bridge pins will be. Use parcel tape to cover the area of the baseboard that will be under the heel and tail blocks, and also run a strip up the inside wall of the mould on the centreline to avoid glue squeeze-out sticking the sides to the mould. The body of the guitar is built up in a mould made of layers of 18 mm MDF which are accurately copy-routed to a master template defining a half outline of the guitar, then screwed together on a baseboard, working to a clearly marked centreline. The guitar we build on the Centre For Fine Woodworking course is a small-bodied guitar ideal for fingerstyle playing or strumming. For a first guitar I would recommend mahogany for the back/sides and sitka spruce for the top.ġ: Template 2: Checking fit of sides of mould The indications about how these woods sound is a bit of a generalisation, and the way that the guitar is built (size, bracing, wood thicknesses) and the skill of the luthier in using the qualities of these woods also play a major part in the final sound.Other important points to make about the tonewoods is that ideally they should be perfectly quarter-sawn (grain lines at right angles to the surface), air-dried, and bookmatched. Adirondack or Red spruce was used on highly sought-after pre-war Martin guitars, and is considered by some to be the best spruce for guitar tops, but it is getting rare (and therefore expensive, and somewhat variable in quality). Sitka or Engelmann spruce are the most commonly available species of spruce from luthiery supply companies, and these will produce a top-quality instrument. ![]() There are several species of spruce, all with slightly differing qualities and prices. The guitar soundboard or top is from resonant softwood such as spruce or cedar. For example matai, totara or even rimu can make a fine sounding guitar. Native NZ timbers could also be used if you can find a wide enough quarter-sawn plank. Commonly used exotic woods for back and sides are East Indian rosewood (bias towards lush dark tones), mahogany (brighter than rosewood, quite punchy sounding), maple (can sound a bit thin and trebly) and walnut (somewhere between mahogany and rosewood). ![]() Traditionally the back and sides are made from the same timber (usually a dense hardwood). Tonewoods are named for their ability to contribute their own tonal character to the sound that your guitar produces and should be selected to suit the overall sound that you are looking to produce from your guitar.
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