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first acoustic build


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This neck jig is being a royal pain in my arse.....

Please talk more about this neck jig, as I'm currently in the process of deciding which style I'll be using and I've been told to go bolt on and avoid the old style dovetail, BUT, I know nothing of these matters, I've never built an acoustic.

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It was being a royal PITA to put together. I had to drag everything into the living room anf try to assemble it while watching the assembly instruction DVD. I FINALLY gor it all together. Hopefully, I'll have time tomorrow to try it out. There will be pictures of the event.......

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  • 2 weeks later...

Setting up the jug for tests is really pissing me off. The issues aren't with the jig, but with the necessary tools/accessories I have on hand. Or, more specifically, those I don't have on hand.

Nothing to do but make a shopping list and go to the store.

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NOW the issues are with the jig. Yet wnother full day of working on it and..... it must be possesed by the same obdurate spirit that was in RAD's "Hand Of Doom". It juse does not want to be used.

Tomorrow, I will bend this unholy b1tch to my will!

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I came at her with a big rasp...... tought her some manners. She finally realized who is relly in charge. Unfortunately, she is. I had to finda way around the final issue that cropped up today. A comprimise was reached

So..... either I'm an idiot or the plans for the jig are flawed in a whole bunch of ways. The operation of the jig is pretty dang easy. The assembly and maneuvering of it so that it's useable are a different story entirely.

It finally works, though. I think I might have done something to the heel block while trying to get the neck tenon to fit.

And I know I promised pictures. SWMBO went on a trip this week and took the camera. :(

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  • 1 month later...

I used the jig plans & hardware kit from LMII.

And now on to the singel worst acoustic you'll ever see built on this board......

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This P.O.S. is made from a couple of fence post blanks, scrap oak binding, poplar neck, scrap walnut f/b and bridge, and poplar bracing.kerfing. The saddle is cutoff aspen, the string guide is cutoff poplar.

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My first attempt at making a bridge. I want a top-loader style. I can't deny that I'm a touch concerned that string tension might pull it off. But, if that ends up happening, then I switch to a traditional bridge pin design.

The saddle slot is pretty jacked up. I tried my best to find a cheat way around using a router on such a small piece of wood, but failed miserably.

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The headstock is as utilitarian as one can imagine. I put absolutely -zero- effort into aesthetics. This is a prototype, and I know how to make one right, so why bother.

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Learning how to do natural binding was a real eye-poener. LOTS more to pay attention to than plastic binding. lots more room for error... like the binding moving around while you're clamping it down and not being seated properly.

I also have to be more careful when doing the end plate. The gaps shouldn't be there either.

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And the back is full of minor disasters as well.

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A blowout I somehow didn't notice until I was gluing on the binding. By then I simply didn't care anymore.

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Lotsa gaps. Poor routing, tearout, and poor fitting of the neck joint.

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I mangled the neck pocket so badly that I actually had to use a pair of deck screws along with a puddle of glue to get it into place.

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So overall, while I'll destroy it and re-use the tuners & truss rod because the whole thing is such a P.O.S., it's in no way a failure. I completely anticipated multiple serious mistakes, and there are plenty. But I learned a hellofalot in making them and going through the process, and that was the entire point.

Next up is a "real" one. I'm going for a mahogany back/sides/neck, spruce top, and undecided fretboard/bridge.

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