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 […]
Category: All
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! […]
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 fence would only keep me square to the sides. To get the edge of 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 the split. Furthermore, the guitar had been repaired previously for splits in the sides, also […]