First Build Progressing, Slowly

[Eric Knapp]

I'm making some progress on my first guitar. I have closed the box, trimmed the edges, and sealed it with some shellac. The top is western red cedar, the back and sides are black walnut.

I made a fretboard from an old ebony blank I had. It has some nice color streaks in it, just the way I like it.

I also made the bridge out of ebony.

If it looks a little odd at first glance it's probably due to the seven holes. I'm making a 7-string acoustic guitar. I've always wanted one. I hope to make a slightly more common 7-string archtop someday too. My guitar teacher of my younger years was a 7-string wizard and I have been intrigued ever since.

The next step in the build is the binding and purfling. This is a bit intimidating to this old beginner. I will be cutting the channel with hand tools. I made a couple of gramils for string inlay work on furniture and they work well for binding in my test trials. I have given up on making my own wood binding, I can't bend anything I've tried without breaking. I'm going to order some plastic ones just to keep making progress. This guitar is my student-grade learning instrument. It will never make it out of the house. I'll trying wood binding on the next build.

-Eric

[Dick Hutchings]

This is coming along nicely and I'm with you on the streaked fretboard. It's much nicer to look at than perfectly black. The color choice for dots, I'm on the fence. Looks like one is white and the rest kind of aqua?

[Alan Carruth]

I used to drill the pin holes in a curved line too, with the idea that they would not all fall on the same grain line and cause a crack. Frank Ford pointed out that many people look askance at this. Mostly, of course, it's because Martin doesn't do it that way, but the stated objection will be that the break angle of the strings over the saddle will be different for each string, and this is thought to cause the tone of the strings to vary. Since then I've done a pretty definitive experiment that shows the break angle has no effect on tone once you have 'enough', and I'm pretty sure that 12-15 degrees is 'enough'. So the reasoning is bogus.

After talking with him I took to drilling the pin holes in a line that parallels the saddle angle, which eliminates the 'break angle' argument in any case. In fact, it's 'better' than what Martin was doing, since they had the pins straight across but the saddle angled, so that the low E string pin is very close to the saddle; close enough cause problems, in fact. If you're moderately careful in selecting your bridge wood they won't all fall on the same grain line.

I realize this is something you're building for yourself, so you've already got the necessary customer input, but later on, when you start to sell them by the gross, this sort of thing will smooth your path.

[Mike Conner]

Eric: I had alot of frustration bending wood bindings early on, especially curly maple. Now I use SuperSoft 2 treatment and haven't broke any sides or binding since, even around a tight cutaway bend. Bought a gallon container of the Supersoft and looks like it will be a lifetime supply! I bend by hand on a 350 degree pipe heated with a charcoal starter and controlled with a light dimmer.

I really like the contrast of curly maple with walnut, and I am currently working (slowly) on my first flat-top guitar with walnut back and sides and curly maple binding.

[Peter Wilcox]

After talking with him I took to drilling the pin holes in a line that parallels the saddle angle, which eliminates the 'break angle' argument in any case. In fact, it's 'better' than what Martin was doing, since they had the pins straight across but the saddle angled, so that the low E string pin is very close to the saddle; close enough cause problems, in fact. If you're moderately careful in selecting your bridge wood they won't all fall on the same grain line.

That's what I do now too, for that very reason, though apparently it doesn't make any difference sonically.

[Karl Wicklund]

I think that fingerboard will look great with the body woods. Nice job.

Are the feet markers as blue as they look in the picture? I can’t tell if it’s true color or some optical effect. I could imagine that being nice with a subtle color in the headstock to match. Like Alan said, though, clear it with the customer first!

[Eric Knapp]

This is coming along nicely and I'm with you on the streaked fretboard. It's much nicer to look at than perfectly black. The color choice for dots, I'm on the fence. Looks like one is white and the rest kind of aqua?

Thanks, Dick. The dots are reconstituted turquoise. The different colors in the photo above are just the lighting. Here's another image before I installed them.

-Eric

[Eric Knapp]

I used to drill the pin holes in a curved line too, with the idea that they would not all fall on the same grain line and cause a crack. Frank Ford pointed out that many people look askance at this. Mostly, of course, it's because Martin doesn't do it that way, but the stated objection will be that the break angle of the strings over the saddle will be different for each string, and this is thought to cause the tone of the strings to vary. Since then I've done a pretty definitive experiment that shows the break angle has no effect on tone once you have 'enough', and I'm pretty sure that 12-15 degrees is 'enough'. So the reasoning is bogus.

After talking with him I took to drilling the pin holes in a line that parallels the saddle angle, which eliminates the 'break angle' argument in any case. In fact, it's 'better' than what Martin was doing, since they had the pins straight across but the saddle angled, so that the low E string pin is very close to the saddle; close enough cause problems, in fact. If you're moderately careful in selecting your bridge wood they won't all fall on the same grain line.

I realize this is something you're building for yourself, so you've already got the necessary customer input, but later on, when you start to sell them by the gross, this sort of thing will smooth your path.

That's great information. Thank you, Alan. I have no point of reference on this so I'm just following the Grellier plan. Here's how he designed it, I just modified it for 7-strings.

I think I'll do a straight line parallel to the saddle on the next one. That makes more sense.

-Eric

[Eric Knapp]

I think that fingerboard will look great with the body woods. Nice job.

Are the feet markers as blue as they look in the picture? I can’t tell if it’s true color or some optical effect. I could imagine that being nice with a subtle color in the headstock to match. Like Alan said, though, clear it with the customer first!

Thanks, Karl. I'm just making things up as I go on this first build. It's nice to get some positive feedback. Here's a short video of the fretboard that might show the reconstituted turquoise better.

https://youtu.be/ELkcu2nZFkU

-Eric

[Eric Knapp]

By the way, I did the groove for the saddle with hand tools I made for string inlay. I added an angled scrap which would also facilitate doing parallel pin holes.

Here are the tools I used. The two gramils I made are at the bottom, one in Delrin, the other maple. I have 1/12" and 1/10" chisels which are very handy. As you all might surmise, I am trying to avoid using powered routers if at all possible. I've done enough with those in my life and I really hate them. I'm not trying to be productive, I just enjoy doing the work by hand.

Here's a closeup of one of the gramils with scraper cutters I made with a spacer. This is the exact width of the saddle.

-Eric

[Eric Knapp]

Eric: I had alot of frustration bending wood bindings early on, especially curly maple. Now I use SuperSoft 2 treatment and haven't broke any sides or binding since, even around a tight cutaway bend. Bought a gallon container of the Supersoft and looks like it will be a lifetime supply! I bend by hand on a 350 degree pipe heated with a charcoal starter and controlled with a light dimmer.

I really like the contrast of curly maple with walnut, and I am currently working (slowly) on my first flat-top guitar with walnut back and sides and curly maple binding.

Thank you, Mike. I think I had heard of Supersoft before but had forgotten about it. I think I'll be getting some soon. Does it affect the look of the wood in any way?

I have an old round hot pipe bender but I have no idea how hot it gets. How do you measure its temperature? I got a cheap IR thermometer with a laser pointer from Harbor Freight. However, it doesn't seem to give me accurate results once the temp is over about 200. It only says my pipe is about 210 even though it will leave burn marks on wood if I leave it too long.

-Eric

[Mike Conner]

[/quote]
Thank you, Mike. I think I had heard of Supersoft before but had forgotten about it. I think I'll be getting some soon. Does it affect the look of the wood in any way?

I have an old round hot pipe bender but I have no idea how hot it gets. How do you measure its temperature? I got a cheap IR thermometer with a laser pointer from Harbor Freight. However, it doesn't seem to give me accurate results once the temp is over about 200. It only says my pipe is about 210 even though it will leave burn marks on wood if I leave it too long.

-Eric
[/quote]

The SuperSoft does not appear to change the look of the wood at all, and doesn't affect the TranTint dye color or the adhesion of the waterborne Endurovar I use.

I use a long thermometer probe sold for use with turkey fryers to monitor the temperature. It has a metal clip intended to attached to the side of the fryer pot, and that works great suspending the probe inside the pipe (second photo). I also tried a magnetic temperature indicator intended for use with gas grills, but the fryer probe has proved to be more reliable.

[Alan Carruth]

I use the same wedge-with-double-stick-tape trick to make my saddle slot, but I mill it out on the drill press. Take light cuts, and push the work in from the left (treble end first). I put the bridge up on a 9 degree wedge so that the saddle tilts backward. This reduces the tipping force on the front of the saddle slot, and also more or less automatically adjusts the compensation if you have to raise or lower the saddle. When you're done milling the slot, just leave the wedge on the front of the bridge. Remove the 9 degree wedge from the drill press table, re-adjust the fence to get the holes the right distance back from the slot, flip the (uncarved) bridge blank over, and drill the holes on the lines you marked for them. Any chip out from drilling will be on the top of the bridge that you carve away.

SS works great, but it does seem to mobilize oils in tropical woods. This can interfere with the way varnish hardens.

[Karl Wicklund]

Well, let’s put some positive feedback in perspective. No matter how this guitar turns out, it’s a better instrument that 99.9% of other humans have made. And that’s not nothing.

[Eric Knapp]

Well, let’s put some positive feedback in perspective. No matter how this guitar turns out, it’s a better instrument that 99.9% of other humans have made. And that’s not nothing.

Thanks, Karl. That’s a nice thought. If you ever make it down to Madison we should have coffee or lunch.

-Eric

[Karl Wicklund]

I’d be glad to share a coffee, Eric. My next trip to that neighborhood will probably late October.

[Dick Hutchings]

Eric I love those homemade Gramils. I have the violin perfling cutter and it sucks for doing binding ledges. What you have looks like it might work better. Before building a router jig, I think I'd like to give these a try, I love hand tools and I haven't got a perfect ledge yet using power.

[Allyson Brown]

Having tools specific for violin really bolsters a luthiers capability.