Travel Guitar Progress

[seeaxe]

This post is half a reconstruction and half progress report

Last year I started a 6 x steel string travel guitar, having inadvertently printed out the Grellier OM plans at the wrong scale.

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I started by building a neck, but a little slip with the panel saw when I was cutting the cheeks meant I had to make another one.

I then started making the back and sides, by laminating bubinga and sapele veneer that I came across by accident one day. The first back attempt failed miserably and the sides weren’t much better. In January this year I had another go and got the back and the sides to the point that they looked like they might work.

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I made a top from a piece of spruce that I bought when I first thought I might build a guitar “one day” – that was about 30 years ago!

Having made the new neck, I decided I didn’t like it, binned it and then made another. I made a fret board and tried some funky paua inlay – didn’t like that either, so that went into the bin too. You can see why I didnt like the fretboard - what was I thinking?. This pic shows the laminated (almost) back that was.

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I made another neck I am happy with, using carbon fibre as reinforcing. And a new fret board

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I finally glued it all together and it looked OK.

I started cutting the binding channels and made a few slips, ended up routing off the binding and starting again. Then, when sanding the back, my dodgy glue gave way and the top veneer started to lift and I sanded right through it. By this time I had some more binding on the guitar. That didn’t go too well either.

At this point I was starting to question the wisdom of making guitars as a pastime, as I klutzed and blundered my way through this project.

On a cold weekend in the middle of the kiwi winter, I finally admitted defeat, cut everything off the spruce top and threw the back and sides in the bin!

I had bought some kwila in a job lot from a local timber merchant who wanted to get rid of lots of odds and sods he had lying around, and got a trailer load of random lengths and sizes for $100. I was amazed to find a lot of it was sawn dead on the quarter. It was too narrow for normal guitars but was perfect for the mini-OM, so I had my first go at resawing. I put it through the thicknesser and borrowed a bending iron and bent my first sets of guitar sides. I enjoyed that, I dont think I will be laminating again.

I finally got the back and sides together and made the neck joint (bolted) and glued on the top a few months ago. Yet again, I stuffed up the bindings and they are too big and not tight in the waist in one place – I think building a small guitar is actually harder than building a big one.

Anyway, after a bit of scraping and sanding, I was able to put some lacquer on it and last week I finally got the bridge on – in the wrong place! I noticed just in time to get it off again and it is now in the right place with intonation checked and OK, but with a blemish on the soundboard where I removed the finish in the wrong place.

Here's a few pics of the current condition.

Lefty sound port!!

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Kwila back and sides and bolt on neck joint -I really like the colour of the kwila

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Close up of the top, binding and soundhole. You can see where the binding is not tight at the waist - I still dont know how that happend as I had a clamp across the waist. I had so much tape across it that I didnt see it until it was too late. I just didnt have the heart to take the binding off again!



The only thing left to do now is to glue the neck on (I have had it strung up with just the bolt joint and it sounds OK, but I suspect the better neck joint will improve things) and give it a few more weeks for the nitro to harden so I can give it a final cut and polish and fix up the bridge/soundboard mistake properly.

So looking back, the only bit of this that I started with that’s still there is the top. Its had about four sets of sides, three backs, three necks, three sets of bindings and two fretboards!

Overall, I am sick of the sight of the bloody thing – until I pick it up to play it – then I like it again! When its finally done I will post some better pics in the Gallery – unless something else goes wrong, in which case it will be in lots and lots of little itty bitty splinters

Thanks for looking!

[lauburu]

Thanks for sharing the "learning experiences" with us. I consistently amaze myself with my uncanny ability to find new ways of doing things wrong. I then spend vast amounts of time trying to fix them when I should probably use the mistakes as firewood. I admire your courage in throwing what you're not happy with. Your project is looking good. If it sounds as good as it looks you'll be a happy chappy.

[Allen]

It looks like it's come out a treat. You would have learnt a heap from redoing all those steps. Down the track you'll be glad you did because that experience will come in handy when something goes pear shaped....and it always has a way of doing that when you least expect it.

My feeling would be not to glue the neck in. We make them bolt on for a reason, and as long as you have a good fit, then I see no reason at all to expect that the tone is going to change by glueing it in.

A few of us make adjustable necks, and they have less contact with the guitar than a conventional bolt on. Sound is not affected at all. Rick Turner builds adjustable necks that are fully set off from the body. Not heard one personally, but I would say it's a safe bet that they sound superb.

[Kim]

So looking back, the only bit of this that I started with that’s still there is the top. Its had about four sets of sides, three backs, three necks, three sets of bindings and two fretboards!

That is excellent Richard, only 4 sets of sides, 3 backs, 3 necks, 3 sets of bindings and 2 fretboards and already you are '20 times' the builder you were when you started out. Seriously mate, well done! Your perseverance is starting to pay dividend, and when this one is done, your confidence will come to the fore and you will be making far fewer mistakes. You really should be proud of what you have accomplished, so many fall by the wayside at the first one or two setbacks and never get to where you are now..ONYA .

Cheers

Kim

[matthew]

(MT: all the ken parker neck comments have been split to a new thread. )

[J.F. Custom]

Sorry for the hijack Richard - all fixed. (Thanks Matt)

To repeat what I had said in relevance though - full credit for perseverance Richard. In years to come that will have paid off many times over and be a distant memory for you. It's looking great now.

Cheers,

Jeremy.

[DarwinStrings]

Looks pretty good to me Richard is there any chance you could get a pic of it next to another guitar so I can see its size?

Jim

Someone please turn up the Tele!