jaycee

I see Pacman!! Lay the body on it's bass edge and there you go, it will munch anything it comes into contact with

I used a 35mm auger bit cover it with the middle of a toilet roll and then tapped sandpaper to that in order to give me the curve on the headstock of a fender style headstock.

The scale length for my 12 string is 635mm, when you add on the compensation factor the treble "E" string ends up 637.7mm in length, whilst the bass "E" string is 640.3mm. Even then, depending on the string gauge it may still need compensating, which is easier on an electric than it is on an acoustic.

GT that looking very nice indeed. The photo of the soundboard fully braced with the sun shining on it is an xlent picture very arty. Also the one where the light is reflecting off the back of the neck, shows a nice and even curve, it's a technique I use to see if a curve is true and even, if the light is misshaped or it makes shadows where there shouldn't be any, then you know a bit more adjustment has to be done.

WRONG!! Perry i'm glad your not a doctor, I guess your bedside manner would be something like, "Is it bad doc? Yup your gonna die!"

I have to agree with Mikro, I could tell you that the scale length is the measurement from the nut to the 12th fret doubled, and on top of that you have to add for the compensation factor, which means that the string length is greater than the scale length. Knowing the answer to a question is only half of the battle at most, understanding it is much better. "Make your own electric guitar" , By Melvin Hiscock, is considered by many to be the bible of guitar building, so before you buy any materials you would be wise to buy it.

Something which I have done in the past is go onto the main guitar makers websites and find out what they use, particularly the maker whos sound you like. Mahogany, Maple, are the staples of the big brands. But it's your build and as long as it is a stable piece use it, or even do a laminate And Wes I googled "doprefer" and theres no such word.............

Done that and I dare say I will do it again. I suppose the answer to what should be angled the pocket or the neck is a matter of choice, and what tools you have available to you. I think most of the builders on here with mainly hand tools would angle the neck pocket, (as I will do on my next build) but i'm sure Perry (ormsby guitars) angles his necks on a bench planer/jointer

I think the C word should be banned

Huh I was under the impression the string height off the fingerboard on all guitars is pretty much the same, at least on the ones I build. You seem to have neck angle confused with string break angle off the nut. Thats why god created string retainers or was it Leo. That is right wooden, but in order to get that string height the neck has to have no angle as in a strat or tele for example because of the height of the bridge saddles being about 10mm. If a TOM was used on a strat the strings at frets from 14 for example would be so high it would be unplayable due to the height of the bridge . I think what is getting mixed up here is the "headstock angle " and the "neck angle" I believe Curtfrcan is talking about the neck angle. If he were to tell us the style of guitar he is planning that may make things easier, or as Southpar mentioned what type of bridge.

Chamfer or round over the edge if it's not being painted

That being the case then I guess you could call it the original double cut and the rest are merely copies

As long as the wood is seasoned and you have the tools, skill and confidence to do it then why not, after all someone has to prepare the timber for final use. I am no expert in seasoning timbers, but I imagine that it has to be stored in the environment where you are going to work on it after it has been cut from the main billet for quite some time to allow for acclimatizing . So whilst you may be ready for it will the material be ready? I got a nice piece of spruce from David Dykes for £25, check out my 12 string build in the "in progress" section if you want to see it.

Titebond 1. You can use hot hide glue but titebond is easier to work with. I asked the same question over on the 13th fret forum and that is the answer Bruce Sexuaer gave. If you check out some of the guitars he has made, and his clientel I think he knows what he's talking about Other than that make sure both surfaces are nice and clean and have a good contact. It's good to know or work out why the bridge came off in the first place. If it was knocked just clean the area if it "just came off" perhaps the two surfaces were not mating well, if that is the case it would be a good idea to sand the underneath of the bridge to the profile of the gluing area.

The bridge is more or less done except for some tweaking and general tidying up. The rosewood gave me a headache and affected my throat, so I had to work in a well ventillated area with a dust mask on. Overall I am pretty pleased with the outcome. I am not planning on any other way of fastening the bridge to the top other than glue. So the footprint is quite large and the strings which are attatched from the rear edge are recessed about 3mm to distribute the pull more to the centre of the bridge. At least that's the theory

I saw a simillar thing on tv with Wayne Henderson tap toneing a peice for one of his acoustics. I suppose at the very least it helps someone who is just starting out and idea of what people mean by the phrase tap tone, and also and example of what they should be searching for

Guitars by Jake please add some info on the guitar you have submitted for the GOTM it deserves it thanx

That looks good enough to eat! like a Dark and White chocolate guitar shaped bar yummy

Just a quick update, I have finally got the finshed design on the bridge, it's going to have 6 strings held in by bridge pins and the other 6 will come through the rear edge like a classical. The fretboard is partially slotted it will be radiussed to 18" and I hope to put Maple roman type numerals as the fret markers.

There is a video on the Taylor or martin site where the top has split due to dryness and how to fix it. Looking at the pics the splits seem to start from the fastenings on the bridge, are they still there? on the 2nd pic you can see 2 splits going across the grain, which would suggest to me that the bridge has been tampered with for some reason. Perhaps the fasteners had been removed and replaced with larger ones and just cracked the laquer. Get your hand inside the body and feel for a crack, mirrors and light inside there as well, feel the braces and the bridge plate for any ridges which may suggest damage. It just may have had something dropped on it and the laquer cracked at those points due to the impact and the laquer being forced against the fasteners. I dropped my guitar once and the neck came off, after I had fixed there were cracks in the finish that looked exactly like yours but there was no ridge when you draw your finger across them. But like I said before check the bridge thouroughly as that is the likely culprit if there is one, otherwise you may just have landed yourself a $50 bargain.

Check out the forum on the 13th fret it's dedicated to acoustics and the forum is frequented by a lot of top class builders

Having a template of the neck pocket and the neck is one way. Another is to use the actual neck as the basis for the template, Check this tutorial out, very simple and effective, I used this method without any problems

Generally speaking yes. The radius gives the top extra strentgh, classical guitars are not radiussed because the string tension is not as great compared to a steel strung guitar.

After you have clear coated the top why not just poke something into the hole that's the corect size as the hole, whilst the laquer is still wet, wouldn't that do the same thing?

I must be having a strange month this time around as not much struck me visually. Swedish Luthiers was probably the most proffesional looking, but Avenger got my vote, it looked right and reflected the care put into it.