Juntunen Guitars

Looks like I can finally post pictures to this site again so I figured I'd start a build thread. I haven't had much time to work on guitar stuff or my violin builds over the last year and a half and I just took as job as the head repair tech at a shop in Vegas so I'll be moving across the country soon so I'll have to leave some of my projects behind in Minnesota. So in October of 2013 I sketched out a bass guitar and through it in CAD to blueprint it a little. In November or December of that year I started building it. Later tonight I will continue this thread with more pictures. Here's a screenshot of CAD while I was blueprinting.

I think my tops end up thinner than an 1/8th usually but I don't thickness them to a set thickness. I thickness them until the flex with and across the grain feels right. I'm curious to see how the inlay goes as well with the radius in the top. Are you going to inlay it before or after glueing on the top? If I can ever get pictures to post to this site again I will post a picture of a baroque I saw once that the entire back and sides were inlayed in a chevron pattern on every square inch of it... Impressive stuff.

I'm curious how a hard wood will work for bracing. Larson Brothers used laminated braces with a thin hardwood center and spruce on the outside but I've never heard of full on hardwood braces with a full hardwood box. I did get a chance to play an early 1900's Martin parlor guitar that was all koa except for the spruce braces. That was probably the best sounding guitar I've ever played.

Not epoxy! I wish you luck when it comes time to do a reglue on that bridge. Titebond is a big enough pain to deal with on a reglue. Looks like it's coming together pretty nicely so far. I may have missed it but what neck joint are you using, dove tail or bolt on?

Another book to look into if you want wiring diagrams is "The New Book of Standard Wiring Diagrams" by "Les Schatten". For some reason I can no longer post links or anything otherwise I'd link it to you but it's a good book.

Any more progress on the build? How are you going to do a bolt on from the outside, is there a reason for not doing a regular bolt on where you reach through the soundhole? If you want hardware ideas for the bolt on part you can look through my 8 string acoustic build, I did a bolt on with that one but I set it up so the bolts were inside the body.

Try to route with the grain instead of into it. If you keep going in one direction with the router it will always tear out. Fine Woo Working has a video on what I'm talking about but I can't post links anymore for some reason and if I try the forum freezes the link adding thing onto my screen... Google how to route end grain and the video title is "How to avoid router tearout" it's on the Fine Wood Working website.

Just watch how much the top flexes in that area. I think it'll be fine but it's something to keep an eye on. Like I said though, there's a number of builders who have brace patterns like that. What is the x-brace angle?

Great build so far. Couple questions though, why are you running the finger braces off the upper half on the x brace instead of the lower? I've seen builders doing that more now but haven't had the chance to ask them about it. How are you bending your sides? I'm assuming a heating blanket from the water marks on the inside of the bends. On your next acoustic you should try making a rosette like on a baroque guitar in you decide to do another one like the crane one you did here. I'd post a picture of them but I can't post links or pictures right now for some reason, it just freezes my screen if I try but I'm talking about the stacked parchment ones they put inside the soundhole, not the rosette on the top like a steel string.

Oh come on you can get that gluing tops on too, have you seen the top gluing pictures from my builds? Thought I might chime in on the bracing question on the first page. The top braces don't have to be the same wood, it doesn't hurt to have it be the same wood but it doesn't have to be. A friend of mine uses spruce as the x brace and the upper of the two lower transverse braces and cedar for the fingers and lower transverse. When it comes to voicing the top you can get a lot better vibrating top that way it seems. I really like how his guitars sound compared to guitars with all spruce braces. The other thing he does is laminate braces with cedar cores on the bass side and spruce cores on the treble because cedar vibrates more freely it makes for better bass tones. That's part of why I don't scallop the lower part of the x brace on the treble side of my acoustics much. A general rule to go by is the floppier the top the lower sounding it will be and the stiffer a top is the more treble you'll hear (at least those are the terms I use when describing sound) That's why planning your tops/sides/back to a set thickness isn't the better option. Since each piece of wood is different and more or less dense thicknessing it to where it "feels" right is where you stop (obviously don't go until you can see your fingers through it!) I thickness my tops until I can freely twist and flex them pretty loosely across the grain but it is still good and strong with the grain. You can always brace heavier above the soundhole near the neck block if you feel it's to thin since most of the vibrations there are killed off by your upper transverse brace anyways. As to the woods moving separately. This can happen but more so if the wood isn't truly dry or acclimated to your shop and the glue you use will affect this too. With titebond 2 chances are you'll see the braces through the top throughout the year no matter what wood you use since it doesn't let water move as much as titebond 1, avoid titebond 3. Epoxy ... please go jump in a well with cement shoes if you use epoxy for acoustic guitars ... that is all. I like hot hide glue but you have to work fast with it and it will release with heat much faster than titebond. I use titebond on everything in an acoustic except for the neck joint if it's a dovetail, then I use hide glue because it makes neck resets easier (another reason to never use epoxy) the idea of "if you build it right the first time you won't have to worry about it" does NOT work on acoustics.

Don't have any plans. I don't know where to buy them. The Strad magazine often has full size posters of old violins that have archings on the back that you can make copies of. What I have is stuff based off the Betts Strad from a poster from the Strad. Other than that measurements for the neck and everything is pretty standard from violin to violin. I'll post more pictures tomorrow when I work on it next. I didn't do anything for over a month but I'm getting back at it tomorrow.

Since this is your first build I'd suggest doing something like a strat or tele just to get an idea of what to do but if you're up to the challenge go for the Les Paul. I'd do a lot of reading on this site for info on building. The old way of doing burst was hand rubbing them with dyes and blending the colors. Do a google search on hand rubbed bursts and you will find articles. I'd like some but you always find more info when you look it up yourself or at least that's how it works for me. The burst you asked for colors is just an amber and brown more than likely. Some sites to look at for some ideas are Stewmac, LMII, Allied Lutherie and of course eBay. Stewmac has a lot of good articles on their website. What are you planning on doing for a top coat over the burst? Just dyes won't protect the wood, spraying is the easiest way to do a burst IMO but more expensive. Some companies sell aerosol cans that work. I wouldn't use paints because they are opaque. Try and use a colored lacquer and clear or hand rubbed and clear and like mentioned test on scrap wood. What do you have available for tools? I'd do a lot of reading and have a good idea of what to do before starting though. It's always better to go into a project with more info than needed rather than less and just go with it, been there done that with my first build, it plays but the action is high enough to be a slide guitar.

I started a side project this last week and got some more wood for another violin build that I'll start in the spring or summer. The build I started this thread with will have the back arching just about done after Thanksgiving week.

That'll be interesting, why not carve the scroll traditionally?

I like Veritas a lot but I don't really like their prices that much.