DIY Guitar Making Videos

Guitarmaking Q&A for October 2018

Today’s topics include:
bending florentine cutaways, sourcing guitar plans, creating headstock inlays, deciding the dimensions of a mortise and tenon, installing fretboard inlays on a finished guitar, radiusing fretwire, and radiusing the soundbox.

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Side Bending Machine Basics Part 3

In this series, I talk about bending guitar sides with a side bending machine as opposed to bending by hand around a hot pipe. I talk about the pros, the cons, and the practical tips on bending wood. And I demonstrate my side bending procedure with the side bending machine.
In this third and final part I demonstrate the way that I use my fox-style bending machine to get perfectly bent sides without any scorching.

 

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Want to really learn more!? Take a class with Eric Schaefer and build your own guitar in 8 days!

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Side Bending Machine Basics Part 2 – Essential Items

In this series, I talk about bending guitar sides with a side bending machine as opposed to bending by hand around a hot pipe. I talk about the pros, the cons, and the practical tips on bending wood. And I demonstrate my side bending procedure with the side bending machine.
In this second part I talk about the necessary items for side bending including the thermal blanket, the controller, the bending slats and more.

 

 
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Want to really learn more!? Take a class with Eric Schaefer and build your own guitar in 8 days!

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Side Bending Machine Basics Part 1 – Building Forms

In this series, I talk about bending guitar sides with a side bending machine as opposed to bending by hand around a hot pipe. I talk about the pros, the cons, and the practical tips on bending wood. And I demonstrate my side bending procedure with the side bending machine.
In this first part I talk about the machine itself, designed by Charles Fox, and I talk about building the forms and waist press shoes necessary for using the side bender.

 

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Want to really learn more!? Take a class with Eric Schaefer and build your own guitar in 8 days!

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Sapele vs Mahogany: A Comprehensive Review

I use a lot of Sapele here in the shop! I talk about my experiences and those of my students with using Sapele including how it bends, how it carves, the aesthetics, and it’s mechanical properties.

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Want to really learn more!? Take a class with Eric Schaefer and build your own guitar in 8 days!

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Guitarmaking Q&A for August 3rd, 2018

Today’s topics include:
carbon fiber inserts and truss rods, intonation and compensation, hiding fractures and splits in the plates, building your own thickness sander and more…

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Want to really learn more!? Take a class with Eric Schaefer and build your own guitar in 8 days!

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How a Truss Rod Actually Works

See what a truss rod actually does when you turn it clockwise and counter clockwise! I talk about single action and double action truss rods and I show how the truss rod functions inside your guitar’s neck, whether the adjustment is through the soundhole or at the headstock.

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Want to really learn more!? Take a class with Eric Schaefer and build your own guitar in 8 days!

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14 Mistakes to avoid when building your first acoustic guitar

I talk about some of the mistakes that beginner luthiers make on their first acoustic guitar.

#1 using woods of opportunity or reclaimed wood
#2 using expensive wood
#3 using highly figured wood
#4 biting off more than you can chew
#5 buying tools in bulk
#6 skipping the dry run
#7 using dull edge tools
#8 using routers inappropriately
#9 using edge tools to carve the neck
#10 thicknessing parts to final dimensions
#11 getting started without the end in mind
#12 sides not square to plates
#13 sanding out of sequence
#14 perfectionism procrastination

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Want to really learn more!? Take a class with Eric Schaefer and build your own guitar in 8 days!

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Creating a Unique Bridge Design: Part 2

I walk you through the process of designing a unique bridge shape for my new model of guitars. In this second part, I mark out the saddle location, locate the bridge in the guitar, widen the saddle slot and set the bridge pin holes so that they are evenly spaced and parallel to the saddle slot.

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Want to really learn more!? Take a class with Eric Schaefer and build your own guitar in 8 days!

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Creating a Unique Bridge Design: Part 1

I walk you through the process of designing a unique bridge shape for my new model of guitars. In this first part, I draw out the bridge shape with french curves, trace out copies of the design on a light box and lay out the other dimensions of my plans in preparation for marking out the saddle slot and bridge hole locations.

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Want to really learn more!? Take a class with Eric Schaefer and build your own guitar in 8 days!

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