Acoustic Guitar Construction

George wrote:This type of build is way over my head so I can’t comment on the technical aspects but the workmanship is superior. Very, very nice. Your craftsmanship is outstanding.

Great pictures.

George

Thanks for the compliment George. This guitar is actually a rather straightforward (easy) build in many respects as the body has a flat top & bottom. I suppose the addition of the resonator basket makes it look complicated but the KMG Mega Mold and sanding bar make the construction part problem free. The critical part is proper alignment of the entire process along the centerline so that final setup can be accopmlished properly.

The kit is of high quality IMHO and the difficult to make parts (bent sides & basket) come pre-shaped in the kit. I'm enjoying the build so far.

Here's the cone assembly sitting in the soundwell. I added a small brass washer under the tension adjustment bolt so that the head doesn't wear on the soft aluminum spider. That also makes adjusting the bolt smoother. The height of the bridge inserts is critical to obtaining maximum volume from the instrument. Mine have been adjusted to within a hair underneath the palm rest of the coverplate. When the strings are installed and tuned, the tension automatically lowers the string height the correct amount.

Pretty cool. Thanks for posting the pics.

I did a little more work recently. I glued on the headstock veneer and shaped the neck. It is loosley fitted to the body in this picture. It's a bolt on style similar to KMG guitars. The fret board will also have four small screws attaching it to the top. The screws will be hidden under dots. Binding & fretboard work will be next.

I also did some extensive research on what pickup to install. It seems many people spent lots of money trying the various pickups only to be dissapointed with the amplified sound. There is approximately $50.00 price difference between some of the pickups most commonly used. I decided to get the Fishman Nashville pickup as that one met expectations more often than the others.

Looks like a fun project. It is amazing to me that they have a pickup set for your spider bridge. Have you heard how well it picks up the resophonic sound. It seems like it would as metal is a good sound conductor.

I've read that most people using this pickup are very happy with the sound it produces. It is supposed to be awesome with the optional Aura Pedal (maybe one day). I really don't need the power for stage performance as I'm not at that level of expertise. But I do need decent amplification to be heard at jams where all the other instruments are amplified. I hate using a microphone in crowded situations as I'm always worried about someone knocking over the mike and damaging my Dobro top. That's another reason I decided to install a pickup.

Today I managed to bind & purf the fretboard. I also installed some dots. The extra four holes at the high fret end are for screws that attach the fretboard to the top. They get covered with dots eventually. Because this is a square neck I don't need wire frets so I filled in the fret slots with maple veneer. This allows me to lacquer the top of the fretboard. I'm pleased with the result so far. I'll glue the fretboard to the neck tomorrow.