Acoustic Guitar Construction

How many of you started out building on your kitchen table. Lol

I have a good size shop next door to my house where I restore antique motorcycles but I don’t have an area set up to work on guitars yet. Wood and motor oil do not get along well. I have another building out back that is ready for insulation and drywall and it will be my wood working shop in the near future. I’m in the process of getting tooled up and today was a very good tool purchase day. I came home with a Powermatic PWBS-14CS band saw. I asked Ken if he would recommend a good one and he said this was the one to get in my price range. I’m a very happy man!!

I know I’ll be making mistakes along the way but I made one of my best decisions when I decided to buy the “KMG Mega Mold”!!!!! It does a lot more than mold sides. Since I’m the kind of guy who likes old school I went with a dovetail neck instead of a bolt-on and I was stressing a little about getting the neck angle right but with the MM it should be easy to get the angle spot on. If you haven’t checked out the MM do yourself a favor and take a look.

OK, I’ll stop kissing Ken’s butt until I find out if I’m getting a discount on a guitar kit. Of course I’m kidding and I have no affiliation with KMG other than being a very satisfied customer. I also bought the KMG binding channel routing system and will be to the point of using it very soon and I’ll let you know how it performs in the hands of a novice.

I know everyone has seen pictures similar to these but thought I would share my first build experience as I proceed. So, there will be more to come and hopefully unedited.


















Here's the top. I got the rostte installed and the braces on. I'm about to glue on the back braces and profile the top rim.

Bought a digital protractor today also. If I screw up the neck angle there wil be no excuses. I have a good record of screw-ups so I'm taking it slow.





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George

It's looking good. How do you access you truss rod on this one?

Thanks for sharing your progress George, I never get tired of seeing the builds under-way.

Ben-Had wrote:It's looking good. How do you access you truss rod on this one?

Tim, if you look at the last picture of the sides in the mold you can see the hole in the neck block that will acess the truss rod through the soundhole.


George

Hide Glue wrote:

Ben-Had wrote:It's looking good. How do you access you truss rod on this one?

Tim, if you look at the last picture of the sides in the mold you can see the hole in the neck block that will acess the truss rod through the soundhole.


George

George you need a hole in the transverse brace or it will be in the way when you try to adjust the truss rod. It will need to be centered laterally and toward the sound board.

Thanks John!! As you can see,,, I need all the help I can get. :)

I guess I'd better take another look at the instructions but I swear I didn't see any mention of drilling a hole in the transverse brace. That doesn't mean the info wasn't there. lol

George

There is not one mention of drilling a hole in the transverse brace in the instructions. It states in the truss rod section and I quote, “Slide the Hot Rod Truss Rod into the neck channel from the heel end, with the adjustment nut down. Set the neck into the neck block. Using a 4mm Allen wrench, check for sufficient access to the adjusting nut. Adjust the hole size if required.

Do you think StewMac is trying to sell me one of their wrenches?
From their ad: Soundhole Truss Rod Wrenches
Our special right-angle wrenches let you easily adjust an acoustic guitar truss rod through the soundhole. The Allen ball end allows extra tilt for clearance over the top bracing when needed.

OPINIONS…..

Drill the access hole anyway?

Buy a wrench?

If I drill, should I drill from the outside of the body using the hole in the neck block as a pilot?

Flip the rod and carve an access channel in the peg head and use a truss rod cover?

Plug the hole and make adjustments by using heavier or lighter gauge strings?

Admit upon completion it’s a wall hanger?

What to do,,, what to do?????????? ;)

Also, and I'm being serious now. When fitting the soundboard to the sides do you think it is best to notch the tone bars into the kerfing or taper them down before they reach the kerfing?

George