First guitar build

[P Bill]

Cheers everybody, thanks for the kind words.

Jim, it's interesting you say it has an antique look because I've been sort of fixated on the early Gibson carved top/no-extra-hole-in-the-body guitars. That's part of the reason I didn't do a cutaway. I just really love the look. There's a book from our library I've had out three times called "Classic Electrics". I can't remember the author but I'll get it out again. First half is all solid body and the second half is acoustic, semi-hollow, and chambered. The early Gibsons really look like they're from an other era completely.

[Bob Connor]

Absolutely gorgeous Bill.

Can't wait to see what impressions you have once the strings go on.

Regards

[Phil Mailloux]

Its a shame the pics of the archtop don't give justice to how beautiful it really is in person, I walked in Bill's workshop as he was oiling the guitar Sunday, absolutely beautiful, fantastic looking instrument. I can't wait to hear it and try it.

Thanks Bill for the update! I will add some wings onto my back set and build the 17" guitar with the Benedetto plan and book. If I can scrape up some spare cash, I will try and buy the DVDs

Get them, they're definitely worth it, much more detailed than the book and always great to see the way its done from start to finish.

[Nick]

One fine looking lady Bill, I want to run my fingers over her curves (& recurves!) Great piece for your first effort, better than anything I could do Bill & I too love the timber combinations.

[rocket]

A very nice looking unit there Bill, i love the "F" holes, very elegant, and i like the accentuated lines of the recurve on the back, looking forward to seeing this one finished!
Cheers,,, Rod.

[P Bill]

Thanks once again for the encouraging comments.
Nick if we ever meet you can certainly have your way with her. I got everthing fitted up today and the bridge is in the right place so the MacIntyre Feather should be in the right spot, I'll try it later tonight. I've been playing it unpluged and am getting used it. I'm not much of a jazzer but I can string some 7 ths ,9ths and m7ths together in a blues and it really sounds the part.I'll Post more photos in the morning before I demount it for polishing.

[P Bill]

I've had it plugged in, but I'm really quite happy to play it unplugged. The treble response really caught me by surprise, probably because I'm used to playing middle-of-the-road Dreadnoughts. Over all I'm pretty happy with it. I followed Benedetto's instructions very closely, but was flying a little bit blind reworking the recurve on the back, trying to get an even response over the entire back. Also, flying a bit blind with the recurve on the front and a lttle extra sanding over the braces.

My choice of binding is probably not going to wear well, but I'll certainly change that in future.

[liam_fnq]

very nice.

[rocket]

Bill ,, I love the bridge you've made for that beauty, did you design that yourself?
Cheers,, Rod

[duh Padma]

.
Yay! Daz an A1 first, class, good looking carved top you done did there.

blessings
on you for shareing
Padma

[P Bill]

Thanks fellas.

Rod, the bridge was made using photocopied patterens of the standard adj. in B.B.'s book. I just omitted some of B.B.'s design. The curve on the bottom of the is, I've been told, very important.

I had help with my basses in the early days from a violin maker in Brisbane. He showed me what a nut, bridge, and fingerboard looked like. He even let me copy fingerboard curvatures, nut end and string end. One of his standard procedures on all bridges, whether for violin, viola, cello or double bass, was to make a very definite curve on the bottom side of the bridge. And to make sure that the feet were not too thin or too thick to effectively take the pressure of the strings. Apparently too thin a foot on a setup is more common than too thick.

[P Bill]

Rod, I just had a look at the photo of my bridge. The bottom side is still the rough curve when I originally made it. Now that I know what it finally looks like, I have to even one corner to match the other. In the center I'll mark 2 mm up from the bottom. Then make a curve from each corner to the 2 mm mark in the center. That sounds a bit convoluted, but I'm just reshaping the arch.