Acousticraft

Several people have asked for a tutorial. The reason I made a fitted case is that they take up a lot less room than a rectangular one and are very strong but light because of the curved surfaces. I also want to make a case for my son who is going to university, for his cheap acoustic and I figured this would be a good practice run. As I had just finished my ES335 Gibson copy I needed a case to store it in anyway. I also lug my guitars and Vox AD50VT amp back and forward to my church when I play with our worship team so a compact case will make it easier getting it in and out of my car boot. I started by laying the guitar on my sheet of 1200mm x 2400 x 7mm untreated interior plywood. I drew around the outside of it. (Don’t forget to allow for the end strap button and the tuners if not fitted as I did) Then I drew in a centerline and added another 15mm all round to allow for a lining (black fake fur) always working my measurements from the center line. I wasn’t going to use foam as I wanted to keep weight down to a minimum as the guitar is heavy anyway. Once I had the outline drawn with nice even radiuses and curves drawn I cut out it out roughly away from my lines. Then I cut a second piece the same size making sure the two best face surfaces went to the outside of the case and nailed the pieces together with panel pins. (1.5mm). The next job was to cut it out with my jig saw which I prefer over a band saw as there is more control. While the pieces were still joined I edge sanded them in my drill press bobbin sander and smoothed them out nicely. The height of the sides are determined by laying your guitar on a flat surface propping up the neck with a block so it sits about level and measuring the highest point, more than likely the bridge area, then adding an extra 20mm. If you are using foam you will need to add this as well. In my case the guitar height plus 20mm plus two thicknesses of front / back came to 120mm. (remember you will lose 3-4mm when cutting the case in half) For the sides I am using 4mm "bendy ply" which is ply which is designed to be bent in one particular direction and the plys are laid in the right direction to achieve this. I cut two strips 120mm wide the full length 2400mm length of the sheet. I laid down sheets of plastic cling wrap to my workbench then screwed the back down firmly so it wouldn’t move. I made 15 cam lock clamps with a 40mm hole saw in the drill press then drilled a hole off center so when turned they will lock up. I screwed down about 15 of them around the outside of the back evenly spaced making sure I fitted one for the internal waist and neck curve areas. Make sure your cordless screwdriver is charged and all blocks, screws, panel pins, hammer etc are to hand You need to make sure any joins finish on the straight sections of the neck area otherwise they will be difficult to join. I ran a bead of glue right around the edge and starting from the tail end I glued and clamped as I went always pulling away from the tail area and clamped the sides with my cam camps which I turned with multi-grip pliers. Any extra gaps need small blocks pushed in and nailed down to keep joints tight. Once I completed one side I repeated the process for the other. I measured the gap and joined in a piece fully gluing and clamping in place. Stage one is complete. Once the glue had dried overnight I released all clamps. The next task is to fit the front panel. The front can be then glued in. I ran a good bead of glue both around side and top. I put about 6 screws sticking out along the top so I could get grip to pull up to get the top flush as I went. (Blocks of wood screwed on may be better to get a decent grip with) The trick is to angle the top sideways and push it down inside then pull up on the low side until flush. Starting from the tail end I used the small panel pin nails and drove them in as I went to clamp the sides to shape. Once the glue is dry, its time to put on the second skin which will stiffen the case up no end. This is an easier job and using clamps and panel pins you should get a nice snug fit. Remember to make your join on the opposite side of the case for the second skin as this makes the joint really strong. Once it has dried overnight you can mark a line to cut to. I used a block of wood 80mm long and by laying the case on the bench correct way up I marked around the outside with a pencil. This meant I would end up with a lid with about a 40mm rim on it. That 1/3rd - 2/3rd size ratio gives the case a good look. Use a panel saw and cut it carefully working around the side making sure your final cut through matches perfectly and voilà a top and bottom for your case. I found the odd place where there was a gap in the two skins so I mixed some sanding dust with glue and filled those, as well as filling all screw holes and nail holes. All panel pins need to be driven below the surface with a nail punch first. Once the filler has dried the case can be sanded thoroughly remembering the outside needs an almost guitar finish if it is going to look a million dollars. I used my belt sander and ended up with humps and hollows. I finished my case in hammered black paint so thought this would hide any flaws but it didn’t. Even with a Vinyl covering it will need a near perfect surface so hollows don’t stand out but carpet type covering is more forgiving. The fake fur lining was cut to shape and glued in with contact adhesive. It needs to be well vacummed after cutting as it sheds fur. You need to do this before you apply the adhesive. The case hardware I got from Stew Macs and seems fine. I used one handle, three hinges and three snap catches but I would recommend using four. Once you make a case you will realize how easy it is and the next will be done in half the time I reckon. The case ended up nice and light but is fairly strong for normal use.

OK I finally finished it a few days back but my wife has had me busy doing house maintenance so haven't had a chance to visit. So going from the first picture I cut out front and back together out of 7mm plywood making it 15mm bigger all round than the shape of the guitar and I ended up using the fake fur to line the inside so when it was finished it is a good fit. The only mistake was at the headstock end, I didn't allow for the tuners sticking out so it is a firm fit at that end but OK. If you want thick padding then you need to allow more clearance but the fake fur has all the padding to protect your work of art. Anyway back to the case construction, I screwed the case back down on my work bench so the back wouldn't move and with plastic cling wrap under neath so the glue doesn't stick the whole lot to your bench. The height of the sides was determined by laying the guitar on a flat surface with a block under the neck so it was sitting with headstock well clear of surface and measuring the highest point. I added about an extra 20mm for height clearance and cut the strips of 4mm bendy ply, in my case 120mm full length down the sheet so they were about 1220mm long. Start gluing and clamping so the joins end up on the straight sections of the neck area. Its too hard to join on a bend. I started pulling the ply around from the tail stock area gluing and clamping as I went. I made cam clamps out of some 10mm ply (just cut out with a hole saw about 40mm dia with hole drilled off centre so when turned will lock) and screwed them down at regular spacing. Turn the clamps with multi-grip pliers in the direction so they are always forcing the sides forwards to keep all gaps tight and work your way around bit by bit as you go until you get to the end which should be on a straight section. The other end is repeated on the other side. I used plenty of glue and did a small section at a time then clamped it as soon as possible so you need to make sure you have all cam clamps ready with you cordless screwdriver charged up and all screws to hand. There will be extra places that need to be clamped do I had small wooden blocks and used panel nails so i could nail them where needed. Once you have everything clamped you will need to add a piece depending on your sheet size. Leave overnight to dry and release all clamps. The front can be then glued in. I ran a good bead of glue both around side and top. I put about 6 screws sticking out along the top so I could get grip to pull up to get the top flush as I went. The trick is to angle the top and push it down inside then pull up on the low side until flush. I used the small panel nails and drove them in as I went to clamp to shape. Once the glue was dried its time to put on the second skin which will stiffen the case up no end. This is an easier job and using clamps and panel nails you should get a nice snug fit. Remember to make your join on the opposite side of the case for the second skin as this makes the joint really strong. Once it has dried overnight you can mark a line to cut to. I marked 80mm up so I had a lid with about a 40mm rim on it. That 1/3- 2/3rd ratio gives the case a good look. Use a panel saw and cut it carefully in half working around the side making sure your final cut through matches perfectly and voilà a top and bottom for your case. I found the odd place where there was a gap in the two skins so I mixed some sanding dust with glue and filled those as well as filling all screw holes and nail holes. all panel nails need to be driven below the surface with a nail punch and filled. I will give more detail later as it is late now.

At least a two way switch will be needed. A mini switch or larger is fine depends on personal choice, aesthetics etc. It will have normally 3 terminals. The center or common terminal will be the wire that goes to the output jack and the other terminals (1-2) will be the output from either selector switch.

Don't Stew Mac have a book with all the main guitar colour mixes listed? This may be the way to go apart from the obvious experimenting yourself.

IMHO single acting truss rods are adequate for most guitars. Once they are set you hardly ever need to touch them. A double acting one needs a big slot routed out although there is less effort to fit as you only need a straight slot, not a curved one as for a single acting. I make my own truss rods which can be made very cheaply by either threading the end of a 3/16" or 5mm rod or buy a piece of threaded rod. As for a fingerboard you could get a bass blank and cut it to suit your scale length.

Hi there sounds like a challenging project. I get my wiring diagrams from Stewart MacDonald's website and copy and paste them into a word document so they can be enlarged to the full page size to make them clearer. I use red marker pen to show the hot wires from pickups to make it clear. The other thing I do is number the pot terminals 1-2-3 from left to right so 1 volume goes to 3 tone for example. I think you need the digram for both guitar wiring systems and where the signal wire goes to the output jack you will need a two way mini switch to divert signal from either pickup system. So in other words, either you have the strat signal or the 12 string signal going to the output jack. It shouldn't be that difficult if you have good diagrams. Good luck.

Don't forget the longer the scale length the more tension required to bring the string to correct pitch. Thats why a Les Paul has a softer feel with the same gauge strings than a Strat. Look at D,Addario website as they list the string tensions for all their sets. Makes interesting reading when comparing electric V acoustic.

I nailed to sheets of 6mm ply together with panel pins and drew around my ES335 style guitar then added another 15mm for lining, padding etc. I cut it out with my jigsaw, sanded with the drill press sanding bobbin and laid down sheets of plastic cling wrap and screwed the back down to my work table. Using the ply camlock disks I made with the hole saw in the drill press I screwed down about 15 of them around the outside of the back. For the sides I am using 4mm "bendy ply" which is ply which is designed to be bent in one particular direction and the plys are laid in the right direction to achieve this. I cut a strip 120mm wide the full length of the sheet and glued it and pulled it around clamping it with my cam locks as I went. I also needed to fit some extra blocks to push it in tight here and there. I had to add in a piece about 200mm long to go right around.Once the glue is dry I will glue in the front and once that has dried I will laminate another piece round the outside and make the join on the other side to make the case stiff and strong. Pics so far.

I have planned to have about four boys build solid bodies but we wont be making pickups thats for sure. By the time you buy the wire, mounts magnets etc you would have paid for a couple of cheap pickups.

Hey looking good, a stand out design and colour.

Thanks guys. Yes an AD50VT Valvetronic which I really like. Incidentally some of the amp models like Boutique clean and Bassman that I don't use on my solid body just rock with this thing. Those dirty channels also sound meaty and gruntier as well.

I have used the tip cleaners for all my guitar nut work. The drawback is the compromise on finding exactly the right size as the range is a lot more limited than the big sets I remember when I was an Engineering apprentice many yrs ago. Usually they are slightly bigger than needed but I never had any trouble with buzz as I always use a 15-17 degree peg head angle. Maybe if used on a Fender style peghead that has little angle and straight string runs this could be problematic. I use a fret cutting saw to do the initial cut then work away with the tip cleaner, a slow process but a cheap setup.

Thanks guys I am assured now that they are cut accurate. I set the string height as per Melvyn's book re fretting at the 3rd and the string just having a little clearance on the 1st fret. I was fairly conservative so maybe they need to go a little deeper. Incidentally I have never read anywhere else how to accurately set string height at nut. It is assumed that you just know, but Melvyn's method is a foolproof way to get the lowest action. I set it up with the old strings so will recheck intonation and action once my new strings arrive especially as I have gone from 10 to 11 gauge strings.

I have just finished my semi-hollow 24 9/16" scale and noticed when setting the intonation at the 12th fret and checking individual frets the first 5 frets are showing sharp on my tuner then they come right. This is similar to the last Stew Mac fretboard I used although it was a different scale length 25". Has anyone else noticed this or maybe my tuner is not accurate enough. The first few guitars I radiused them and cut the slots myself and had good intonation but wanted to save the time and hassle of doing this. Anyone else noticed this?

I been to busy finishing my guitar to stop and take a pic of my stand. This stand sort of evolved from a length of rod I had at home. it could be made more simply than i have done it. I covered it with than foam rubber as I had some laying around, they use it for insulating hot water pipes but plastic tubing would be fine.

I did the final assembly of hardware and fitted the pickups and completed the wiring. I put the low E string on and plugged it into the amp and voilà it was all working perfectly and even the selector switch was working the right way correctly. I fitted everything thru the "F" hole and tightened all the nuts and then tested it again to make sure it was all going. Then I fitted the control knobs strung it up an without setting the intonation and played for about 2 hrs. I am really impressed with those Stew Mac humbuckers as it has a nice clean bluesy sound. I guess this is due to the maple back and front. It is a lot more responsive to touch than my other solid body with the over wound pickups and has a lot more bass response. The pictures don't do it justice because of the light from the flash. I was beginning to despair a little as the odd thing along the way didn't work out as well as I hoped but now I am a happy camper.

I will post a pic of the one I made later. It is made out of 10mm / 3/8" square bar. I made it originally for the first acoustic I made but modified so my smaller bodied solid body electric would fit as well.

I'm not sure shellac would be rigid enough. Better to use fiberglass and cloth. You could make it black and look cool by using carbon fiber cloth.

I turned up in a lathe two, 2" diameter steel sanding bobbins to edge sand in my drill press and have 80 grit glued on one and 120 on the other. They are great for edge sanding for a body. I put a MDF extension on the drill table so there is more support. I also have a table set up so I can mount my 4" belt sander on its side. It is ideal for shaping braces and other such delicate stuff. You have much more control than trying to use the sander on your work.

Yeah thanks it is all coming together well. I'm building a custom case at the moment so will post some pics as it progresses.

I have the over-wound buckers in my LP style solid body and I like the sound of them. I have got the standard Humbuckers to fit in my new semi-solid and wondered what the forum consensus was on Stew Mac pickups. I know pickups are a contentious issue as every guitarist seems to like a different brand of pups.

If it where me, I would de-solder it from the pot. The less joins the better.

Thanks The lacquers had about 5 days to cure so is ready for sanding polishing but I still have to glue the fret ends down first where they go over the binding. Then a fret level, crown and polish. After that it is assembly time and final wiring etc and that final moment when the lead goes into the amp and sound bursts forth.

Hey Sapphire, If your man doesn't like spruce go for Western Red Cedar. Both acoustics I have built have been Mahogany back, sides with a Cedar top and they sound different to Spruce, but still a really nice sound and lots of volume. Both acoustics were totally different sounding but I did use some NZ Matai for the tone bars on the 2nd build.

Thanks Mattia for the quick reply. I thought super glue might be the thing to use although the binding cement also acts like a super glue as well. Yes I will leave the paper in the "F" holes until the finishing work is all done as I don't want any marks inside as they will be very difficult to clean. I will try the 1500 and se how that goes. I also have some ultra-fine buffing compound I may try that as well. I thought I would find find a nice white masking tape to wrap the wiring to make it as invisible as possible thru the F holes. The only problem is it is so hard to remove if it has been on a long time but I will worry about that when the time comes.