NotYou

I clamp a board to the table on one side of the top and use a square board on the other (about 1.5"-2" usually). I lightly clamp the square one down, so it doesn't pop up later. I glue together the two pieces that are going to make the top then place them between those clamped down boards. I clamp those with three long clamps parallel to the glued pieces so it squeezes everything together. Make sure to hold down the pieces being glued with something(I use plastic quick clamps, because they don't press too hard and allow the boards to slide together). That's pretty much it. I'm making it sound a lot more complicated than it really is. I might have a picture on my computer that will demonstrate better. Edit: I don't have a picture, but I'll get one tomorrow if I remember.

I've gone as high as 13's with a wound g-string. I kind of felt indifferent about it. If anything, the tone became a bit muddy. For acoustic, I love heavy strings. I have an old Yamaha that my dad owned and never played. The guitar is nothing special, but the action is very high. It has a very impressive sound, especially for what it is. I've thought about making a new bridge for it, but I think it will take away more than it adds. I also go for heavy strings on an acoustic. To me, there's nothing worse than twangy, empty sounding acoustic strings.

Ouch! I've definitely been there. It's heartbreaking when it happens, especially when you're almost done slotting. It looks great so far, BTW. I love your carve job.

I left the pickup rings for this body at home so I brought the body home because I was really curious to see what it would look like with the hardware. I was planning on binding this in ebony, but when my wife saw it, she said it looks good unbound. I'm kind starting to agree with her. I think I might just be subconsciously lazy, though. The wood is bubinga. It'll be a deep shimmery red color when finished, with maybe a hint of purple. The pickups will be nickel like the bridge. It's still in a rough state, so just ignore those nicks around the edges. This will be for sale BTW, I'm not keeping it. The other pickup ring is taller for a different bridge/neck angle. I still have to order the other one. Here's the back(which won't be bound).

My initial reaction: Secondary reaction:

LOL, sounds like you're talking about my post. I was being serious though. Unless he's fat, a guy that weighs 240lbs is going to be able to carry a 10lb guitar a lot easier than guy who weighs like 160lbs. It's nothing about being macho, it's just proportion. I like guitars to be a bit on the heavy side because they just feel more solid when strapped on. Nothing else. I mentioned redwood earlier. I've never been more excited about a guitar than the redwood one I'm building right now. It's total weight will likely be way less than 8 pounds, even though it's almost two inches thick. Tonally, I expect it to blow away everything else I've done so far.

hhmmmm That looks a lot like one of my new shapes. I'm already well into making a couple of them, though. I think it looks different enough that no one will care. Whoever designed that obviously had the same concept in mind as me. Mine are all solid so far, though. I was planning on doing a hollowbody in that shape next, but I might rethink it after seeing that. The actual body of mine (as opposed to just the outline) looks very different. I'll try to remember to get some pictures this week and I'll post them. From this thread: http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.php?showtopic=40278 Edit: I do have a picture of the template I made: No jokes about my "router table." It's actually solid as a rock.

I don't think weight changes much anything regarding sound, actually. I thought I'd throw that out there since some people seem to insist on it. I don't think it effects sustain either, at least not the weight of the wood you're using (how much wood is there is a different matter). I've been messing around with redwood a lot lately. That stuff is so light it doesn't seem real, but it will resonate as long or longer than most woods I have experience with.

If you're building it for yourself, it's no big deal. Most people don't want to buy a heavy guitar, though. My first build was also a one piece African mahogany and was definitely on the heavy side. Personally, I like them heavy. Although, I'm also 6'1" and 225 lb (that's a fit 225 lb ). If it feels comfortable to you, go for it. Some people argue that a heavy guitar gets a fuller tone and more sustain. I can't say that's true, though. I haven't compared them enough myself.

Okay, that's more along the lines of what I was talking about. If a board is moving when it's drying, I usually don't worry about it much because I know it'll only go so far if I have it stored properly. After that, if I just leave it on the shelf, it won't move any more. So I retract my last statement. My advice still stands. When you're working with it, things are different. I had a piece of goncalo alves that was stressed and trying to bend so much that it practically blew apart when I cut it.

Really? I must be lucky then. Unless a piece is thin, once settles into a shape, it usually won't move anymore for me. It's not something I rely on, but it's just something I've noticed. I guess you can ignore my advice on this one then.

LOL. I actually love using hand tools. Recently, though, I got access to a HUGE planer and I'm in love with it. Jobs that used to take me forever now take a couple minutes. It's not so much fun for me as it is amazing. When I used it the first time I felt like Tom Hanks in Cast Away when he gets back to main land and everything that he had to struggle for on the island is readily prepared for him. I was just stunned. I wanted to plane wood that I had no use for just so I could watch it happen.

I've always hated poly finishes, but I decided to try out some wipe on poly. I figured since it's rubbed on, it should be much thinner than sprayed and help solve some of the issues I have with polyurethane. This is one coat. I'll add some more tomorrow and take a picture. It has about a 2-3 hour dry time. So far I'm very impressed with it. This is a crappy cell phone picture, but it's all i have right now. I'm bad about progress pictures. I'll try to get some this weekend of the bodies. (note, this body isn't done. There are still some flaws in the wood, like the a couple notches near the top. I just wanted to try this out.) Also, I changed the line up a little. I'm doing four guitars. One of them now has a redwood body. I got a nice stash recently and wanted to try it. It sounds amazing.

Before you do anything drastic, let it sit for a few days. I've heard from some well respected builders that they come across this exact issue all the time and it corrects itself in a about a week, after the wood dries. That doesn't seem to make sense, but I can't argue with them if it works.

There's a plus to warped wood: once it's warped, it usually won't warp anymore. If you have access to a stationary planer, just give it a pass or two and it should be fine. You can hand plane it too, but that's not as fun.

I was going to suggest adding a flat one-piece top, but it looks like everyone beat em to it. You'll be very glad you did.

I have to try to keep from vomiting when sanding or cutting bone. I don't think I want to know what I smells like under a laser. I'm with you on this. I appreciate hand tools, but there's definitely a place for CNC. I don't think it's wise to rule either one out. Personally, I'm an art school grad, so I tend to enjoy hand tools much more. It's much more comfortable for me to get my hands involved in my work. I'm definitely more artist than engineer, but I can understand how others would think differently. We all have different brains.

That's what I thought was so great to begin with. Those small nut sized bone pieces were only a dollar. At Stew Mac, they're more than three times that (still not much, though). The buffalo horn slabs were around $3 each and the rods were $8. I haven't bought buffalo horn before, but that seems cheap. BTW, I was amazed by how lightweight and smooth buffalo horn is. I was almost convinced it was plastic. I even took a lighter to one of the pieces just to be sure . It seems almost unreal. Even though it feels that light, it's incredibly durable. I still need to do some resonance tests before I use it for anything important, though.

I'm building a few guitars right now, but one of them is walnut and Goncalo alves. If it's together soon enough, I'll let you know how it sounds. That combination seems to work well, though. Walnut has a pretty balanced sound by itself and Goncalo seems to be on the bright side (this is my first time working with it too). If you compare them by tap tuning, you'll see what I mean.

I think they meant them to be samples. They wrote what each item was on the backs of it. The ones I actually bought didn't have any writing on them. That big "ivory" block was a very pleasant surprise.

These guys are amazing. I ordered some bone (for nuts and inlays) and buffalo horn(for knobs and bridges) and they sent me all kinds of stuff I didn't order. Some of it was synthetic, but perfect for picks. The rest was some really starnge stone and a block of "alternative ivory" (BTW, if anyone knows what that might be, I'd appreciate it. It's definitely some type of horn or tusk. It has the same smell and stomach turning effect that bone and ivory has). On top of that, their prices are dirt cheap. Those black poles are buffalo horn. There's enough there to make a ton of knobs and they were only like $8 a piece. I also got a catalog that was filled with some amazing inlays, binding, rosettes, etc.. I didn't see that stuff on their website, so I was thrilled to see that they sold it. They're a small company, so I wanted to post this hear to hopefully get them some attention. Actually, I really just don't want them to go out of business because I plan on buying a ton of stuff from them<_< . http://www.masecraftsupply.com/ I ordered the stuff on the left and the stuff on the right was thrown in the box for free:

Here's mine: http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...st&p=415529

What did you pay for it?

I use this one: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore...799607&mt=8 It's not too fancy, but it does all I need it too. It's only $4.