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Faux Acoustic guitar build

#61
Thanks, mazereth!
I have a friend who has one of the little Gretches. Had it here for a little while. Great little bass!
I would be concerned if I tried to build a bass similar to the style of this build because I am uncertain of the amount of bracing it would need. This build is pretty much a crap shoot as to whether or not the bracing scheme I've come up with will stand up to string tension. A bass would need to be built much heavier. But I havebeen thinking about it.:help:
 
#63
SurferJoe, no tailpiece. The bridge will be glued to the top just like a conventional acoustic. What I'm basically trying to achieve is the vibrating top of an acoustic guitar that the pickup can "pick up", combined with a hollow electric guitar body. This is similar to what Taylor did with the T5. I have an article from one of the guitar mags I used to subscribe to that shows the T5 with two parallel braces and a bridge plate.
My design differs in that my braces are much narrower, and they spread out in the belly sort of like the back end of an X-braced guitar.
I'm betting that the solid upper bout(where the neck joins the body) along with the fact that the actual open area of the body being so small, will allow me to get away with the thinner bracing and still have enough stiffness to resist string tension, but I won't know until it's strung up for a while.
 
#67
OK, the weather is cooperating, and I have some free time, so I thought it was time to rout the neck pocket.
I started by placing a piece of masking tape down the center of the top, and drawing a centerline.

Faux%2520Acoustic%25202%2520001.jpg


Then I placed my template on top with double stick tape.

Faux%2520Acoustic%25202%2520002.jpg


I don't have pics, but I made a mistake here. I was in a hurry, because I had other things I needed to get done. But I hadn't been able to work on this thing for a while, so I though that I would rout the neck pocket "quickly", and move on to get all the other stuff I needed to do done. Big mistake. I was in such a hurry that I failed to insure that the router bearing was riding on the template. As a result, I routed into my template and damaged the neck pocket. After cleaning up the mess, the pocket was nearly 1/4" too wide.
Now, if this were a customer's guitar (yeah, like that's gonna happen anytime soon, right?), I'd scrap it and start over. Or at the very least, re-top.
But this is a prototype. I've never built this model design before. Heck, I don't even know for sure if the bracing scheme is strong enough to withstand string tension. I may end up having to re-top again later anyway.
So what I have decided to do is plug this, and move on.
So, after making a plug blank with ash and a piece of spruce for the top, and using a big bastard file and some sandpaper to shape it, here we are with the plug for this.

Faux%2520Acoustic%25202%2520005.jpg


And here it is in the clamps.

Faux%2520Acoustic%25202.jpg


After the glue dries, and assuming I can find the time to do this without being in a hurry, I'll rout for the neck pocket again.
Live and learn.
 
#68
OK, second time's the charm, right?
I built a new neck pocket template, lined it up and secured it with double stick tape. I prefer using screws instead of tape, but there's really nowhere to affix a screw to this top.

Faux%2520Acoustic%25202%2520001.jpg


And here are a couple of shots of the finished product.

Faux%2520Acoustic%25202%2520002.jpg


Faux%2520Acoustic%25202%2520003.jpg


I'm really happy with the way the repair turned out. Not invisible, but nearly so. And it's decent jointery besides. so what shows IMHO is not that bad.
Here's a couple of pics after trimming the treble side of the pocket.

Faux%2520Acoustic%25202%2520004.jpg


Faux%2520Acoustic%25202%2520005.jpg


Notice the ink line on the outer edge of the treble side of the pocket. There is usually a little lip, or overhang, leftover from routing the neck pocket. The ink line is where the outside edge of the neck heel ends. Before finish sanding prior to finish, I'll trim this so that it is more even with the edge of the neck heel.
 
#77
colcifer said:
?
Click to expand...
Thanks for the interest, colcifer!
Haven't given this build up. I'm waiting to purchase the router bit and bearing to rout for the binding.
I have a yearly medical appointment (diabetes management/testing/exam) that I have to save cash for. That will be done sometime near the end of this month(March). After that, there should be some quick progress to complete this guitar.
All I lack is binding, finish, and then it's on to mounting the bridge, installing the preamp/pickup, and assembly.
Thanks for your renewed interest, and your patience.
 
#80
blubolt said:
Hope you are getting the upper hand on the diabetes. I am living with it as well. It sucks but it has caused me to make some really positive changes in my lifestyle.

I am really enjoying the build!

Take care.

Chris
Click to expand...
Thanks, Chris.
No worries on the diabetes front, I think. There was a time when my sugar levels were way out of control (250 and above for a morning fasting blood glucose test. Not as bad as some I know, but definitely not good).
But I made some lifestyle changes recently, the most significant of which was to watch how much I ate, and how often. You'd be surprised how large most American's meals are. Way larger than what is really needed. Not that I'm preaching to anyone. Everybody makes their own choices, which are none of my business.
But for me, a reduction in the portion size, along with an adjustment in frequency(small meals with a small snack between instead of 1,000 to 1,500 calorie meals and nothing between) has given huge dividends. My fasting sugar went down almost immediately. Now the high side of a fasting glucose is 116, with a low of around 75, and a range of 150-170 about an hour to an hour and a half after meals.
i don't anticipate any problems with the doctor, and I feel better than I have in years. But these appointments/tests are a necessary maintenance kind of thing (and the doc needs his chunk of change, lol).
 

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