(non Warmoth) Acoustic Guitar Project

[baljnm]

Hey guys, since everyone here loves guitars, i thought i might show off my other project.  Its a standard dreadnaught 6 string acoustic guitar (which i am making lefty, since i am lefty), indian rosewood back and sides, sitka spruce top, mahagony neck, ebony bridge and pegface veneer, macassar ebony fretboard. Ive probably been working on it for a month and a half by now, and it is slow going, but sooooo rewarding.

Anyway, on to the pics:

Macassar ebony fretboard, gold frets, with gold MOP block inlays and white Gibson style 'full nib' binding

Ebony pegface veneer, i will be binding the headstock in white as well, and inlaying a gold MOP fleur-de-lis with black MOP accents. Will be very sweet!

The kerfing being glued on:

The endwedge is quilted maple with black and white binding:

Back braces being glued up in my homemade go bar deck:

Closeup of back in the go bar deck:

Enjoy!

Jason

 

[Nando Vallart]

Very cool! Keep it coming!!

 

[nexrex]

WOW    Looks great so far.

 

[Eric Banjitar]

Wow that looks great. The neck is beautiful. Your gigs are of the greatest intrest to me. Where did you get the gig plans? What materials are the yellow go bars made of?  Thanks

 

[nexrex]

Looks like the plastic they use to join tongue and groove chipboard flooring

 

[baljnm]

Actually, the go bars i bought from StewMac. The hollow forms (or radius dishes) i have (both 15' for the back and 30' for the top) as well as the mold itself, and the guitar kit itself, i picked up from LMII.com. Their kit requires at lot more work (shaping and sanding and cutting and such) than, say, StewMacs kit, but you can change out the types of woods if you want. Ive probably spent 2 times what i payed for the guitar kit in just tools so far, but thats ok, because i can make more guitars after this one!

Jason

 

[Eric Banjitar]

Tool are an investment in your hobby that will pay dividends later on.  The jigs looked well-designed and if so are one of the best-kept-secrets of luthiery. A good jig can make a great guitar. A bad jig...

 

[Cagey]

Ive probably spent 2 times what i payed for the guitar kit in just tools so far, but thats ok, because i can make more guitars after this one!

One of my bothers had a hard-on to build an acoustic too, until I told him that. He'd never considered it. But, it's as you say - the following units won't be so expensive. Thing is, unless you're going to build a pile of them, there's little point in building one. You can buy a nice Taylor for what one will cost you by the time you're done with tools and jigs, which is what he ended up doing. It wouldn't be so bad if you could use the stuff for something else, but it's so specialized that you can't.

 

[baljnm]

Very true, but ive been playing guitar for so long, and ive built 3 Warmoths so far, as well as worked on some friends guitars, i just felt it was the next logical step. While part of me cannot WAIT until i can play this guitar, part of me will actually miss the building process. Even if i dont build another (which is highly unlikely, knowing me), the $1500 or so in tools/supplies/kit could not buy me a custom built guitar with the details that I want, nor will that guitar have MY name on it.

BTW, i need to snap a few more pictures. Ive got the binding on the headstock (really looks killer) and the back glued onto the sides. Its really starting to look like a guitar now!!

Jason

 

[Alfang]

And once you have all the special tools in your possesion, the material cost of another build, even if you buy the best wood is cheap, it's all labor from there.

we here should all be tryin to do the same thing someday

 

[Eric Banjitar]

We should share the tools and jigs!

 

[baljnm]

Ok, update for everyone here. Got the back glued onto the sides and the excess trimmed (mostly) flush (enough that i can trim the rest away when routing the binding and purfling channels). Got the headstock bound and the heel cap installed and trimmed. Enjoy some more pictures!!

Back glued on to the sides, neck temporarily mocked up:

Back braces:

Another view inside the back:

Heel cap installed (yes, with a black line, how cool is that?!?! Its not quite construction paper, but it seems like it!)

Better view of the endwedge (which is quilted maple with black and white binding):

And the bound headstock:

Thanks for watching!!
Jason

 

[Cagey]

Good job! I gotta say, I'm envious. What a fun project!

 

[baljnm]

Hello everyone. I know this hasnt been posted in for quite a long time now. I just figured i would show you guys, who remember this thread, what the finished product ended up like.

To start off with, it literally has taken me the 2 years for finish this, but it wasnt for it being overly difficult or anything. Its just that life gets in the way sometimes. So here are the updates that ive missed:

So i did the back purfling in the herringbone with, originally w/b/w binding. But, of course, the first time is never perfect. I actually didnt get the binding channel routed perfectly square, so as i tried to scrape and sand the bindings flush with the sides, i actually sanded through the first layer of white so that black showed through. Guitar sat for many months, then i routed all that stuff off and went with an over sized piece of solid white.

So much better, and way easier to sand flush with the back and sides, as it not longer mattered if the binding channel was square, i could sand the binding square to the back and sides. Turned out rather nice!

Gluing the bindings up.

This was a mockup picture, probably taken over a year ago now. Notice the fleur-de-lis inlaid in the headstock. It is gold and black pearl.

So i tried again on the top with the w/b/w binding, along with some gold pearl Zipflex (no longer available). This time it came out quite nice!

Just a mockup, neck is not attached, nor is the bridge...

 

[baljnm]

And now it is time to show the final product.....

I finished the neck in amber shellac and the rest of the guitar in clear shellac, using the french polish technique. Still need to get a buffing wheel to finish the high gloss shine, but i am still *QUITE* pleased at the way it turned out.

The back, first as a mock up (tuning keys arent attached)

Then finished:

And the front:

The endwedge (bound quilted maple):

And the peghead (bound ebony with the gold and black pearl fleur-de-lis):

Eventually i want to get my last name (Martin) inlaid in gold pearl in the headstock, but use my fathers signature for it. Since the peghead veneer is ebony, i don't have much finish on it at all, and can just remove the tuners to inlay the name. Just gotta get around to doing it.

The tuning machines are Grover 18:1 locking mini Rotomatics. The nut, saddle and bridge pins are all bone. Ive got some D'Addario EXP 10 gauge strings on it.

So that's it. Let me know what you guys think.

PS. Cant wait to start another, this time with a cutaway!!

-Jason

 

[Cagey]

That's a gorgeous piece of work! Congrats on a fine build!

 

[LushTone]

Very awesome. So, how do you like the tone of it? Does it sound better than famous high-end acoustics (I wouldn't be surprised)?

 

[Fat Pete]

Beautiful job. This makes my obsessing over drilling a few holes in a pre-finished W body seem a bit silly.

You're going to use your father's signature for the Martin logo? Why not use the initial(s) as well - tell me they're 'CF'!?

 

[baljnm]

Very awesome. So, how do you like the tone of it? Does it sound better than famous high-end acoustics (I wouldn't be surprised)?

The guitar plays very, very well. The neck is a little thicker than I would have thought (it is 2mm wider than my Fender 6 string and 3mm narrower than my Takamine 12 string), but the gold EVO frets are a dream to play on! Being left handed I have the problem of walking into Guitar Center, seeing thousands upon thousands of guitars on the walls, and only really being able to pick up 3 or 4 to play. And as acoustics go, it is usually the $200 Fender or the $300 Yamaha. So I have never had the opportunity to play a Martin or a Taylor. That being said, I cannot see how either of those guitars would sound as amazing as this one does. I am so very pleased with it!

As for using my fathers signature, its mostly that I don't particularly like mine (its illegible) while his is completely legible and still very masculine and, in my opinion (since he is my dad), iconic. And yes, his initials are CB Martin, but it will only be Martin (as in the Jason Martin guitar company!).


- Jason

 

[vic108]

Incredible! Congrats on such a fine build!!