finally finished the first build

Talk about musical instrument construction, setup and repair.

Moderators: kiwigeo, Jeremy D

Post Reply
User avatar
Mark McLean
Blackwood
Posts: 1084
Joined: Thu Apr 10, 2008 2:03 pm
Location: Sydney

finally finished the first build

Post by Mark McLean » Mon Oct 20, 2008 10:37 pm

Yesterday Jack (my 17 yo son) and I strung up the OM that we have been working on for about 10 months. Such a great feeling to get it done and find out that something that we built actually plays well and sounds great. Learned heaps along the way - much of it from you gentlemen.

It is EIR and Western Red Cedar that I got from LMI. I am particularly pleased with the cocobolo/maple bindings and the cocobolo rosette. I don't think our Taylor is going to get played so much now. I have already been out to buy the wood for number two - seems like I am hooked on this hobby now.

There were plenty of mistakes but we covered most of them up pretty well. We haven't fixed the alignment of the 6th string tuner yet, strung it backwards for now. The finish of the top also bugs me a bit - my first experience using shellac and it looked pretty good until we tried to get a satin look by finishing with wax applied with 0000 steel wool. It left an inconsistent look, still shiny in some places and cloudy looking in others. I intend to tinker with it a bit more. But overall we are well chuffed.....Image
Image
Image

User avatar
Bob Connor
Admin
Posts: 3132
Joined: Mon Jul 09, 2007 9:43 pm
Location: Geelong, Australia
Contact:

Post by Bob Connor » Mon Oct 20, 2008 11:02 pm

That looks great Mark.

You must have a great feeling of satisfaction after labouring so long over it to get it strung up and haer how it sounds.

I'm interested how you would compare the sound/feel of it against the Taylor.
Bob, Geelong
_______________________________________

Mainwaring and Connor Guitars

User avatar
James Mc
Blackwood
Posts: 246
Joined: Sat Dec 08, 2007 7:37 pm
Location: Townsville

Post by James Mc » Mon Oct 20, 2008 11:18 pm

Hi Mark n Jack
Great job! I wish my first guitar had come up that well. Looks like you've taken your time and done a top job with the trimming (bindings and rosette). I wish I could give you some advise on getting a good satin look with shellac. I've tried scuffing it up using steel wool and abrasive powder on a soft buffing pad but wasn't happy with the results. I suspect that etching it with some kind of chemical treatment would work better.

Cheers
James

User avatar
Alfred J
Myrtle
Posts: 56
Joined: Fri Aug 29, 2008 12:47 am

Post by Alfred J » Mon Oct 20, 2008 11:43 pm

That's a lot better than my first attempt. :D The rosette is beautiful. Overall, a fine looking instrument. Isn't it good to know that on your first attempt you can build a guitar that sounds as good or better than a $2000 factory built number?

User avatar
ozziebluesman
Blackwood
Posts: 1529
Joined: Wed Oct 10, 2007 9:12 am
Location: Townsville
Contact:

Post by ozziebluesman » Mon Oct 20, 2008 11:51 pm

G'day Mark and Jack,

That's a beautiful guitar!! Congratulations! It is indeed a great sense of achievement finishing your first build.

So what's number two going to be?

Cheers

Alan

User avatar
Kim
Admin
Posts: 4376
Joined: Wed Sep 26, 2007 8:32 pm
Location: South of Perth WA

Post by Kim » Tue Oct 21, 2008 12:12 am

Fantastic work Mark and Jack, what a wonderful looking guitar and what a completely priceless experience for a father and son to share. No doubt a memory that shall live long and be recalled many times with pride by you both. Well done to the pair of you and thanks for sharing this with us.

Cheers

Kim

User avatar
sebastiaan56
Blackwood
Posts: 1279
Joined: Sun Oct 28, 2007 5:23 am
Location: Blue Mountains

Post by sebastiaan56 » Tue Oct 21, 2008 5:02 am

Well done guys! As has been said it is certainly a better job than my first attempts(s)! Sounds like you're hooked now but there are a lot worse activities in this world.
make mine fifths........

User avatar
Mark McLean
Blackwood
Posts: 1084
Joined: Thu Apr 10, 2008 2:03 pm
Location: Sydney

Post by Mark McLean » Tue Oct 21, 2008 6:44 am

Thanks for the encouragement.
I do find it amazing that 2 guys with no woodworking experience can manage to knock up a decent instrument in the garage on weekends. But I'm not planning to give up the day job and live off my lutherie skills just yet.

We tried to copy the neck profile and the setup measurements from the Taylor, and the overall feel and playability came out pretty similar. The action is still a bit high and it hasn't loosened up much yet, but with some more setup tweeking I think it will be good. Do you find that the feel and playability of a newly built guitar changes quickly? We have certainly noticed big changes (improvements) in the complexity of the sound just in the first 2 days.

One dilemma that I feel is how much I should try to correct the errors (like imperfect finish). I guess it is much more sensible to accept imperfections, learn and move on to the next build. A classic error is the slight malalighnment of the tuners which means that the 5th string runs into the 6th string tuner (curse that narrow Martin-style headstock design - no room for error there). We have put the 6th string in from the outside just so that we could get on and play it - but I'll probably want to go and move that 6th tuner some time.

Number 2 is going to be an all mahogany L-OO style. I got some nice mahogany last week from Gerard Gilet, and the plans are up on the wall of the workshop. Jack has his HSC coming up next year so he is not going to have so much time for this one.
Image

User avatar
Craig
Admin
Posts: 1090
Joined: Wed Sep 26, 2007 10:08 am
Location: N.S.W. in the bush

Post by Craig » Tue Oct 21, 2008 9:18 am

Congratulations Mark. It's an incredible feeling ,stringing it up for the first time , isn't it ? :D

I wouldn't be too concerned about finish imperfections . Particularly as it's only your No. 1. Getting a good finish is one of the most difficult things to master .

Next time , try making a template for your headstock first . This will aid in drilling the tuner holes , and also give you an idea of how the strings will line up.
Hooked on making guitars ????? ,,,,,,, geez , I can't understand that ! :lol: :lol:

Looking through the soundhole ,I can see some of your very neat and careful interior work too ! Great effort Mark .! I know you'll both get an enormous amount of pleasure and pride when playing it :cl

P.S. I've just noticed your Avatar :lol: . One of the best I've seen :lol:

Cheers Craig
Craig Lawrence

Paul B

Post by Paul B » Tue Oct 21, 2008 9:22 am

Feels good, huh?

Congrats to you both, that's a fine first guitar.

I had a few areas that I wasn't happy with on my first that I wanted to address, and I did go back eventually, but you'd do better just jumping into #2 and keep moving. Learn from this one and move on. You're hooked now anyways.

Hesh1956
Blackwood
Posts: 1420
Joined: Thu Sep 27, 2007 9:58 am

Post by Hesh1956 » Tue Oct 21, 2008 11:02 am

Mark and Jack you guys produced a great guitar!!!!

Isn't it amazing how good a guitar that you build yourself sounds? It makes us wonder what the factories have been passing off on us for ages.....

Congrats guys - very well done! :cl :cl :cl :cl :cl :cl

User avatar
Allen
Blackwood
Posts: 5252
Joined: Thu Oct 11, 2007 5:39 pm
Location: Cairns, Australia
Contact:

Post by Allen » Tue Oct 21, 2008 6:28 pm

I'm a bit late, but none the less very impressed. And for me the bindings and rosette really show off the care to detail that you put into this instrument. They look fantastic.

I've stuffed up the alignment on tuners before too. It's not that hard to plug the hole with a hard wood dowel, then re-drill in hopefully the correct spot. It's amazing how even 1 mm off will draw your eye.

Enjoy number 2. And I bet you can't stop there.
Allen R. McFarlen
https://www.brguitars.com
Facebook
Cairns, Australia

User avatar
kiwigeo
Admin
Posts: 10582
Joined: Sat Sep 29, 2007 5:57 pm
Location: Adelaide, Sth Australia

Post by kiwigeo » Tue Oct 21, 2008 9:54 pm

Nice work there Mark and Jack.

That back brace just south of the waist looks interesting. It looks very low...almost like a patch rather than a brace. What's going on there??

Cheers Martin

User avatar
Taffy Evans
Blackwood
Posts: 994
Joined: Wed Apr 30, 2008 6:54 pm
Location: Charters Towers North Queensland

Post by Taffy Evans » Tue Oct 21, 2008 11:55 pm

Great job guys, love the look of the guitar, and like others have said it looks better than my first guitar and if it sounds good its worth the effort. Your skills will grow as will the quality of your guitars, we all learn from our mistakes. Keep on keeping on.
Taff

User avatar
Mark McLean
Blackwood
Posts: 1084
Joined: Thu Apr 10, 2008 2:03 pm
Location: Sydney

Post by Mark McLean » Wed Oct 22, 2008 6:46 am

Thanks again for all of the help I have got from the forum. I will go back and move that tuner one day, but mainly I want to get on with the next one. I think my wife has some gardening tasks lined up for the next few weekends though :roll:

Martin, the back braces were according to a plan which copies the Martin-style. The top two back braces are tall and thin (13x6mm) and the lower two are short and wide (6x19mm). This seems common on Martins, including a D-18 that I have in front of me now. I don't know if it makes any difference? Probably makes it easier to retrieve dropped picks.

cheers

Mark

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 104 guests