Rule 1: Don't cut your fingers off...

When I arrived last night for the first session Ken had me sign a liability waiver and pointed out the shop rules. Actually they are just pencil scratched onto a board by the main workbench. There's only two.

1. Don't cut your fingers off.

2. Don't screw it up. (My cleaned up version. He was more blunt.)

Simple enough. We will see how well I do with them.

Tonight was about making sticks. I took 3 pieces Sitka brace stock and measured, cut, planed and sanded them until I had about 10 braces to be used on the top and back. Ken taught me how to measure properly so you arrive at your final size. Basically, if you want a 1/2 brace, you measure and cut a 9/16 brace so you have room for sanding and planing. I know this seems like a no-brainer, but if you aren't familiar with this stuff, this little detail saves you a lot of ruined sticks and wasted wood.

They obviously aren't finished, but they have their basic size. The smallest is about .070 thick and the largest is just under 3/4 inch. Its also important to have the grain going the right direction. It needs to run top to bottom, not side to side. From here they will be cut to length and glued to the top and bottom. Once in place they will be carved to their final shape. The goal is to have a very light and strong brace that allows the top to vibrate as freely as possible without caving in or distorting. The scalloping also has a significant effect on the final sound, although I don't know exactly how yet. What you see here is about two and a half hours work. Seems like a lot but I was taking my time so as not to break Rule 2.

We also worked on the back. Ken showed me how to bookmatch the grain, which is basically lining up the two halves to get the grain to match each other. Once this is done you stack the 2 pieces one on top of the other and tape them together. Then its off to the joiner to shave off the edges so they fit together with no light showing between them. The joiner is set for the lightest possible cut, but it still takes only about 3 passes and you're done. Actually, the joiner only gets you close. Holding the two halves together up to a light shows there is still some work needed. I used a 16 "fret leveler with sandpaper glued to one side to do the final matching. All of this was much easier than it sounds and expected and only took about a half hour.

What you see here is the back after it has been glued. Clamps on the right and left hold it in place. Notice the dark shims on the left. These are used to apply pressure to force the halves tightly together. The top clamps are obviously holding them down. This will sit and cure for the coming week. It probably doesn't need that long, but I won't be back before next week anyway.

All in all, I think it was a successful week. Ken was happy because neither Rule 1 or Rule 2 was broken.

P.S. While we were there Ken showed us a 1942 Martin 000 he is working for a friend. Spruce top and Brazilian Rosewood back and sides. In spite of its rough look, its considered to be in good condition and the market value is about $10K. This is because of the rosewood. The equivalent guitar with mahogany would be around $2-3K.

See ya next week...

Some Assembly Required...

I ordered a new guitar last week. It arrived on Thursday. Apparently some assembly is required. Oh, and also may require some special tools!

I was on Craig's List the other day checking out what the latest guitar offerings were and spotted a listing for a luthier in Black Mountain, NC offering guitar building classes for fifty bucks per class. Well, that got my attention. 

To my surprise it turns out to be Ken Bailey, a respected luthier and owner of Bailey Acoustic Shop. For the cost of $50 per class he will walk you through the entire process of building your own guitar. You buy the materials and he supplies the education, workshop and tools. Ken invited me to come over and see one of the classes in action and to discuss what I wanted to build. "Class" is a bit of a misnomer. It's really a few people at various stages of working on their guitars while Ken gives them guidance and help where needed.

Ken was showing me around the shop and showing me various guitars he has built so I can get an idea of what to expect. While talking about the possibility of building a 1930s era blues box along the line of Gibson L-00, Ken pulls out a 1934 Kalamazoo KG-14 exactly like the one my lovely wife Carolyn bought me for Christmas 2014. Mine of course is a 1936 model, the exact year Robert Johnson is reported to have owned and played. Ken showed me how to tell if mine needs a neck reset (it does) and showed me other various things he has done to his, like putting in a truss rod at the same time. Not sure I will put in the truss rod since its got to affect its vintage mojo, but the neck reset is on my list after I get done with this build. I am hoping I can get Ken to help me with it.

In the end I decided not to do a blues box since I have the KG-14 and also a Loar 200, which is modeled after the old blues boxes and is a great player. Maybe if I keep building I will go there.

I settled on an OM body style. When I was at the Martin factory (you should go, even Carolyn loved it) I ventured into their playing room where you can pick up any one of several of their models and play them as much as you like. I picked up an OM-45 that was just beautiful, comfortable and sounded unbelievable. I am somewhat of a porch picker. Finger picking is what I like to do best. I want this guitar to be a great finger picker.

So what you see above is not a kit guitar. This is all the raw materials needed to build the body. I have to cut, shape and glue together all of it. I went with mahogany sides and back and sitka spruce top. The neck will be mahogany with rosewood fingerboard and a rosewood bridge and bindings. Top it off with a bone nut and saddle.  The only things I bought pre-made are what you would expect. Things like the herringbone rosette, the  tuners, etc.

The neck itself is another matter. Ken highly encouraged me to have my neck custom made. Apparently there is a huge amount of work in just the neck alone and its easy to screw it up. I get that. The neck is where you make the notes happen and if its not just right you can end up with a very expensive piece of fire starter. It won't play right and it won't sound right. Ken said he will help me build the neck if that is what I want but recommended Jim Ethington in Plant City, FL to build it to my specs. I am strongly considering it. Of course I want it to sound and play right, but it doesn't sit right for me to say I built the guitar but outsourced the neck. What do you think?

So I will try and post the progress here after each weekly Monday class. My goal is not just to build a guitar, but to try and squeeze out of Ken all the information I can on each stage and why things are the way things are. I have been told it will take about 20 - 30 weeks to build this thing, depending. Try to keep up and send me your comments!