Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

After 10 years of building electrics I went and built my first acoustic, its actually a gift for an old friend, he wanted a J-45 clone with a sunburst so I obliged. The back, sides and neck are Blackwood and the top Sitka Spruce. It was a fun project, I spent a whole lot of time going through about 8 books on acoustics I own and the O'Brien online video course, that was a great tool, especially when it came time to voice the top and back, I also used the Kent Everett DVD when doing that. That was fantastic, I could really hear the difference between the tap tone when overbraced and when it finally got at the right place. Very happy with this guitar. I'm always pretty picky with m work though and if there's one thing I'm not super happy with is the sound of the low E and A strings, they're just not as defined as I wish they were, is this maybe a property of the model, a bad set of strings or something else?

I've made a full tutorial thread on my forum to show the guys over there how an acoustic is built, if anyone feels like having a peek here it is:
http://www.ozbassforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=11026

So here's a bunch of pics

Phil is hyper critical. I played it the other day and like the song says....." deep, rich and wide ." Onya Phil !

thanks Bill

That's a beauty Phil

Don't look so bloody happy with yourself. in one acoustic build, you've managed to un do every shred of confidence I have in the gradual improvement of my ablilitites.....

Just kidding....Looks awesome, and I can't imagine the lucky owner not treasuring it....

That burst is delicious....

Congrats Phil, that's one precious looking guitar!

Is there an archie on the way or is the plan on the wall just a place-holder for a missing window?

Thanks guys, an archtop is definitely on the plans but god knows when that'll be, seems I'm always too busy with other projects and never have time to build something for myself, I've had the Benedetto book and dvd for years and do have the back and side blank in stock so who knows... I certainly feel like making an acoustic for myself now though.

Lovely Gibsonesque burst on that Phil.

I reckon your braces look a bit hefty. I'd be carving everything south of the soundhole into a triangular shape which should open up the bottom end.

Here's what I've done before (which is fairly typical of how Martin braced their pre-war scalloped dreadnoughts.
Regards