SwedishLuthier

CNC? As the fret slots are cut as integral part of the fretboard (i.e. no separate bindings) that is the most likely answer...

... rather than what it could be said to look like.

SR

I didn't se that at all... until you mentioned it!

I think you got the position makes in slight off center... Nice ideas. The JAT looks much better from the front compared to from the back for some reason (IMHO). Can't put my finger on why. Possibly the curves of the top carve makes everything flow better. However that is a minor problem as there will most of the time be a guitars blocking the back view! I like what I see.

All good advices here. If the re-.threading don't work you will need to pull the bushing. They are typically never glued, just pressed down. You can make a simple jig from an appropriate threaded rod, a few nuts, a stack of small pieces of mdf or similar or get a bushing puller. I pulled the first few bushings without one and now that I have a puller I'm not very satisfied with the action of that one either.

http://www.stewmac.com/Luthier_Tools/Tools_by_Job/Maintenance/Knob_and_Bushing_Puller.html

Schneider used carbon fiber reinforcement for the braces (some/all of them???) and maple for the center traverse brace. The biggest difference will probably be the weight. Hardwood add weight to the top and that will change the way the top vibrates compared to using lighter bracing wood, not necessary in a bad way

http://www.guitartonewoods4luthiers.co.uk/phdi/p1.nsf/supppages/2550?opendocument&part=7

In UK, but check the cost of shipping with them...

BTW, were did you get the bloodwood set from? I have search high and low for bloodwood backs and sides but haven't been able to find any at the usual suppliers

I have cracked more bloodwood sides than i have successfully bent sides regardless of type of wood...

£21.95 directly from the man himself.

No science at all here, but I have the feeling that if you run your fingers across the surface (smooth sliding motion here, no knocking) and you are starting to hear that "acoustic" vibrating quality (however that might be quantified) the wood will start to act as a part of the "acoustic system" in a much more serious way than if the surface have a much more "dead" sound (compare to a solid body guitar). I actually did exactly that with my MorningStar right now out of curiosity and the back has almost the same response as the top. I actually tried to measure more precisely the thickness of the back and it is pretty close to 5 mm. So at that thickness (if my theory is right) the back or top will already start playing a bigger part of the sound the instrument will have in the end

When I did a hollowed out guitar a while ago I left the back a bit thicker, I think I was in the 6-7 mm range, possibly a tad more. However I had the top "de-coupled" from the center stock. In that sense the guitar was a "true" arch top as the top was carved and braced and could vibrate freely. If I would have had the top glued to the centre stock I would have taken the back down a bit further, towards the 4-5 mm mark. the top was about 3 mm thick

This could also be an alternative way to get that back of

http://www.stewmac.com/How-To/Trade_Secrets/Cut_binding_strips_with_an_upside_down_Dremel_tool.html

I think that the old poly glue need to be removed completely before one can get all the broken part back again. To do that you either need very long, thin fingers or you need to take the back off. I would have left it as-is. But for a repair I would have aimed for a new back made of solid maple, using the old back as a template for all the curves of the back. Or maybe take the3 back off to try to repair it first. Dan Erlewine repaired a guitar were he popped of the back. Maybe some ideas kan be found here:

http://www.stewmac.com/How-To/Trade_Secrets/A_knife_in_the_back_Popping_the_back_off_a_1929_Gibson_L-5_.html

If you are attempting this it would be great to see some progress pics. And good luck!

That really looks a lot worse from the inside compared to the outside. My guess is that someone tried to fix this using polyurethane glue. Poly glue expands pretty much like the expanding insulation foam used in buildings.

My concern is that you write that the guitar plays beautiful. If you go in and replace the back it's not going to be that same guitar any more. If you take the back of, carefully remove all the broken wood, the glue residue and repair all the pieces as careful as possible and re-glue the back, it's not going to be the same guitar. I would probably just leave it as is.

Very interesting bridge design! I'm very curious about how it turns out. Especially how that narrow string holder will hold up against the pressure from the strings.

Thanks Tim, much better explained! I tend to lecture a bit too much from time to time

You put a ground wire to the bridge, not because the bridge or the strings need to be grounded. What happens is that you, by touching the strings/the bridge act as an extra ground (in lack of the correct word in english) and you are drawing some induced noise to your body, thus lessening the noise level quite a bit. The same effect can be achieved by having a simple metal plate were your wrist (or other bare part of your body) touches the lap steel, and have a ground wire to that plate.

EDIT: Or you can use a ESD Bracelet

and connect that to the signal ground (not really a serious suggestion...)

Thanks guys!

Re: Strings we used a pretty standard .012 Phosphor Bronze set, Ernie Ball. As the guitar is tuned three semitones up the tension is the same as it would be on a standard scale guitar. We tested to tune it to standard tuning. It worked, but the guitar need a bit more tension to really drive the top. I'm thinking we should try a 014 set or possible a Phosphor Bronze resonator set. They come as heavy as 016!

Do I understand you correctly if I assume that your plan is to have the fretboard flush with the body? If so I'm a bit concerned that the string action might be to high. Most fenders have the bottom of fretboard about 1/8" above the top of the body (someone will have the exact measurement...). If you look at the picture you posted you can even see a small amount of maple between the top and the fretboard.

Personally I would not bother with a tenon. I would route the full with of the neck as a neck pocket and glue the neck in at the correct height. If you trust your routing and template making skills (no significant gaps between neck and body) there is no need for that extra step. The only reson is, as mentioned to cover up sloppy joints. Or for reasons like "I need it to be a Gibson style joint". Witch is fine, but a bit overkill IMHO

Thanks a lot Scott! Both me and the daughter appreciated your comments.

Yes I am proud of the work we did together. It also gave us quite some true quality time. On top of that a really nice instrument with a tone of its own. It is tuned 3 semitones higher than "normal" and it is interesting that while your fingers go for those familiar pattern (or same old boring chords...) the sound is different and you start exploring new areas within the same old routine. I might need to build a guitar like this for myself now...

Here is "The Father/Daughter guitar" built by my daughter with a helping hand from me. An alto guitar with a nice story behind it. A very rudimentary build thread can be found

This is a scaled down version of my EvenStar acoustic guitar. It is based around the work of Kasha/Schneider and uses an adaptation of their bracing pattern and a somewhat more "normal" bridge. The back and side wood is Bloodwood, the top is Sitka Spruce, the neck maple and the fretboard, bridge and sound hole ring is all bloodwood. Bindings, end graft and heel cap is red sparkling celluloid. The scale is almost exactly 21" (actually just a 25" scale chopped of at the third fret). The guitar is finished in tung oil and rubbed down with steel wool to create a matte satin sheen.

Feel fre to ask any questions in

The pictures:

The back strip is glued in place

We also made X-shaped back braces, here is my daughter sanding those to an arc as with the top braces.

And the box glued up and presented to the LMI binding machine

The binding is glued in place

And then the bindings are scraped flush. She chose a red celluloid binding with a four black and white accents on the top.

More scraping

I realised I don't have any pics on us cutting the sound hole or making the sound hole ring or bridge or anything. However a last pic of her drilling for the bridge pins.

After this; a lot of sanding, set up work, including routing for the bridge sadel, drilling for tuners, making a nut etc etc, but this is what I have. So whats left? Just taking the glamour pictures and entering the guitar in

Then the neck was rough shaped (no pics) and fret markers drilled for and added. We used 4 mm aluminium rods for markers.

The luthier herself, measuring for the side dots

actually measuring going on

Drilled for side dots

And side dots glued in place

next the dots are filed flush, the neck shaped and finish sanded. No pics of that...

When the top was glued in place and the excess wood trimmed away we routed the neck pocket. Yes, I build using an electric guitar neck pocket. It gives more stability and as I use a larger the normal neck block I believe it will eliminate the need for future neck resets and the neck/body transition hopefully will be much more stable. Time will tell.... Anyway, the neck pocket routed

building up the neck heel using double stick tape to protect the body from glue...

...as we use the actual guitar as part of the clamping system. This way the heel block get the best possible fit to the body.

Like that

The heel is "hollowed out" so that is only has contact with the body for about 5 mm along the perimeter of the contact surface. That way it is easier to sand the "joint" to a perfect fit.