taxtelle

I need a tunematic for the solid body that I'm building. I see quite a few no-name tunematics on ebay. Does anyone have experience with these? Are they likely to be of decent quality, or does it matter as long as they have the proper spacing and radius?

...looks very lean and mean. Helluva job!

The details -- Materials -- Master grade maple back and side sets purchased from LMI, neck stock purchased from a local lumber outfit that I don't remember -- perhaps Bow River Craft Woods. Sitka spruce top from LMI. Abalam rosette pieces from LMI, MOP for headstock from Stew Mac. Braces were riven from a sitka billet from LMI. I bought the fingerboard preslotted to a Gibson scale from StewMac. Reference -- "Guitarmaking Tradition and Technology", Cumpiano and Natelson. I didn't follow their plans exactly, but it was extremely helpful. Method -- Sides were soaked in H2O and bent over a short section of aluminum pipe heated with a propane torch (THICK gloves) and then clamped into a mold until needed. I split the end of one side during this process (very easy to do with curly maple). It glued back together nicely with no visible seam. Neck was carved using primarily edge tools ala Cumpiano. Curly maple isn't the easiest wood to carve -- nevertheless this was very satisfying. The headstock was scarf jointed. Braces were made from sticks of Sitka riven from a billet. The bottom of the braces were arched using a homemade 25' radius dish and clamped using a gobar deck. The bracing pattern I used was kind of a combination of those used by Martin (non-scalloped) and Tacoma. They were shaped after they were glued to the soundboard using sharp chisels and a finger plane. Kerfed linings were made from Sitka strips using a tablesaw. The binding ledge was cut using a full-sized router and a bearing bit. To avoid angling the ledge due to the arch in the top and back I fastened a popsicle stick to the router base. As the stick was only 1/2 in. wide, it wasn't significantly angled by the arch in the top or back plates. Frets were installed using a homemade jig and a drill press. I purchased a radiused fret caul from StewMac and inset it into a small block of oak. I fastened a bolt to the other side of the oak block using a threaded insert and lopped off the head of the bolt. I simply chucked the bolt shaft into my drill press and used it to press in the frets. It was unbelievably easy. I cut the fret ends with a Xuron tool used to cut model railroad track. It cuts fret ends perfectly without crimping them. Buy it here. The neck joint is mortise and tenon. The tenon was fitted with barrel inserts inserted perpendicular to the length of the tenon. I bought these at Rockler. This seemed to make much more sense to me than using threading inserts into end grain. The finish is a wash coat of 2 lb shellac to pop the figure followed by multiple coats of Target Coatings waterbase premium spray lacquer. This worked wonderfully on the back and sides. Unfortunately, I had to refinish the top a number of times due to grain-raising issues after leveling. I am very happy with the end result on the maple pieces, but the top could be better. I keep thinking that I should buff out the top more and perhaps I will if I can stop myself from playing it. The electric instruments posted on this board are very impressive. If y'all can make such beautiful electrics, you shouldn't be intimidated by the acoustic process. I found it easier, but more time-consuming than I expected. Best of luck to all and let me know if you have any more questions. This was my first guitar project. My next is through-neck carved top electric with either a Les Paul or Turner Model One body shape, a Gibson scale and either Burstbuckers or P-90's. I'll be looking for your advice on carving the top and making the neck angle. Any suggestions on the shape?

Sorry, I didn't do any build pics. I like a Gibson scale, so that's what I used. The rosette is made from curved abalam strips purchased from LMI and strips of ebony that I cut from leftover bindings and bent to fit. To address the comments about the soundhole -- I finished this thing (my first) about 1 year ago. I have never noticed an off-center soundhole or fingerboard; nobody else has mentioned it to me until now. However, one look at the picture and it sure does look off-kilter. In any case, I had it professionally set-up by a very highly respected luthier in Seattle who told me that it had a more accurate scale and fret placement than any guitar in his shop -- so I'll be happy with that. It sounds fantastic -- much better than I had hoped. A lot of the maple J-200's that I have played sound a little muddy in the low end, but this one does not. It has crisper highs and mids than my Larrivee dread; though the Larrivee has a sweeter low end. Thank-you for your comments and questions and good luck to you.

Thank-you for the kind remarks. The picture you requested is here.

Thanks for the ettiquette lesson. The soundhole isn't off-center, it just looks that way in the picture(s) for some reason.

In my first post to this forum, I would like to show off my maple jumbo: Other pics: here here here and here.