It all started simply enough with a referral from a local guitar shop for a fret job. This wasn’t even a refret, which can be more nuanced and touchy given the potential for damage to the fret slots during fret removal. This was…
Eric Schaefer Guitars
Harmony through Superior Craftsmanship
Author: Eric Schaefer
Side Bracing
Side bracing on an acoustic guitar is simple and structural in nature. I discuss a simple process for creating, fitting and spacing braces on the bent sides of your guitar. Was this useful? I would love to hear your…
Creating a Headstock Template
In this excerpt from the Online Course, I demonstrate a practical method for creating a headstock template, whether copying your peghead design from plans or designing your own. Creating a simple Martin style paddle shape certainly simplifies things. However, I…
Chisel Sharpening
I discuss hand sharpening and honing chisels with sandpaper and a granite block, and sharpening using a powered system with dry abrasives: the worksharp 3000. This is an excerpt from The Online Guitar Building School course “Building an OM…
Cutting the Scarf Joint
In this excerpt from the Online Guitar Building School, I cut and prepare the scarf joint for the headstock. Video Transcript: Okay, we are ready to begin work on the neck! From this single blank of wood I will cut…
Posted in All, Guitar Making, Uncategorized, Videos Tagged with: guitarmaking, headstock, scarf joint
The End Wedge
A decorative end wedge hides the seam between the sides at the lower bout. This video excerpt from the Online Guitar Building School goes into detail about design considerations and the process for creating a clean and attractive endwedge. Video…
When a Neck Removal Goes Bad!
To follow up episode #22 When a Bridge Removal Goes Bad, I decided to also write an article on bad neck removals as well. This neck removal was particularly hairy. I won’t get into why this was the case,…
A Simple Jig for Cutting the Headplate Square to the Nut Slot
When I first started building guitars, I remember some of the difficulty that I had in cutting the headplate square to the nut slot. I would clamp a piece of scrap wood to the headplate as a fence, but the…
Using Magnets to Repair Side Splits
This Martin 000-15 came into my shop with a long split in the sides on the treble side. The owner told me that the guitar was never dropped or bumped into anything. It never experienced any kind of trauma to cause…
Making Guitar Mold Spreaders
For this episode I am using an excerpt of The Online Guitar Building School’s Building an OM Acoustic series. This video walks you through the construction of upper, waist, and lower bout spreaders to fit your guitar mold. Was this useful?…
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