Another free excerpt from The Online Guitar Building School. In this lesson, mother of pearl dots are inlaid into the fretboard face and plastic rod stock is used to make side dots. Was this useful? I would love to hear your questions or comments! I try to answer every e-mail I receive, so please be […]
Author: Eric Schaefer
All Rosewood on CITES: What this means for Luthiers and Traveling Musicians
In September of 2016, the CITES delegates agreed to place ALL Rosewood under Appendix II protection, effective January 2nd, 2017. Many musicians and builders alike are familiar with the fact that Brazilian Rosewood, or Nigra Dalbergia, is a protected species, and that there are many restrictions surrounding the sale, and transportation of this […]
Radiusing and Kerfing the Sides
Another free excerpt from The Online Guitar Building School. In this lesson, I rough out the back and top radius onto the sides, add kerfing and then final sand the radii. Was this useful? I would love to hear your questions or comments! I try to answer every e-mail I receive, so please be patient […]
Fretting a Fretboard on a Fake!
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 a brand new slotted fretboard that the customer ordered online and replaced the existing fretboard […]
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 questions or comments! I try to answer every e-mail I receive, so please be patient […]
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 demonstrate a more interesting design incorporating long symmetrical curves. Was this useful? I would love […]
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 Acoustic”
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 and make the scarf joint for the headstock and I will also cut and assemble […]
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 Transcript: Okay, the sides are looking pretty good at this point. The addition of a […]
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, but you can see the damage to the soundboard beneath the fretboard tongue was extensive! […]