Acoustic Guitar Construction

Hello again,

Here are a couple of pictures of my setup. I couldn't resist sending one of my helper!

Last night I sanded the outside of the most rippled side flat and sanded the inside enough so that you can only feel a couple of slight ripples. I'm guessing less than .005 deep. The thinnest section of the lower bout is now about .065. The rest of the side is between .070 and .075. Obviously these measurements will decrease slightly with finish sanding, but I think I may be OK. What are your thoughts. This is a great forum and I truly appreciate the support of this community.

I would suggest a metal slat on top of the side, one of the reasons our tried and true systems (and factory benders) use a slat is to help prevent ripples. Also looks to me like your spings are a bit puny.

You have a beautiful cat.

One last comment on laminated sides. I talked with Brian Burns a while back. When he builds a guitar for a "regular" player who plays in small rooms he uses simple solid sides because they make it easier for the player to feel the instrument vibrate and such. Instrument is lighter too. (He builds only nylon string gits.) But if the player is a pro who needs enough "bark" to fill larger spaces, he always laminates sides. The guitar does not "feel" louder, but Brian says it definitely IS louder and projects better.

Thank you Ken and John,

I'll beef up the springs and get a slat. For this guitar, I think I will add some extra reinforcement in the thin areas and go for it.

The first guitar I built (with my son for a school project 15 years ago), had sides that I cold molded with West System epoxy. They were 50 year old pieces of mahogany that I saved from some old house trim. I planed them down to about .050 and clamped them around a simple form. The guitar was fairly crude and only 3 1/2 inches deep, but it was surprisingly loud for such a small guitar. I may very well try laminating again in the future.

Thanks again!

The first guitar I built (with my son for a school project 15 years ago), had sides that I cold molded with West System epoxy. They were 50 year old pieces of mahogany that I saved from some old house trim. I planed them down to about .050 and clamped them around a simple form. The guitar was fairly crude and only 3 1/2 inches deep, but it was surprisingly loud for such a small guitar.

Good for you -- of course the internet is the main engine for our business, but the thing that really is a bother to me are the self proclaimed experts that try and convince the new comer how important such and such is when it comes this or that guitar feature. The fact is worrying about all the minutia has prevented many from entering into this great past time. Time and time again we hear about how nice the first time project turns out even when the builder wings it all the way. Truth is if the project kind of looks like a guitar chances are it will very much sound like a guitar.