Twin Bursts

In honor of 2-22-2022, here is a snapshot of the slope-shouldered dread twins showing off their in-process sunburst finishes. Especially in the brighter lower parts of the guitars, you can see how deep and transparent the dyed color is.

Two guitar bodies being finished, hanging in a workshop. — The slope-shouldered siblings have been wood dyed, sealed with blonde shellac and now are receiving some darker shellac to deepen the edges. The foreground guitar is Tasmanian blackwood, the other is mahogany.

Slope-shouldered Dread No. 28 Build Gallery, part 4

It’s time to get the bodies finished so I can allow the finish to cure while I finish the necks. Once the bodies are sanded, the pores in the the wood need to filled, then it’s time to get out the wood dye. This acacia body is getting a classic burst (which will look amazing over the curly wood).

A guitar body with sanding tools. — Final sanding of the body. You have to find and fix any problems at this point.

A guitar body on a workbench — When final-sanded, this acacia almost has a waxy finish to the surface already

A slope dreadnought guitar body on a workbench — Applying the shellac seal coat gives you the first look at how awesome the wood really is!

A guitar body hung in a workshop. — Once the body is sanded, it’s sealed with shellac before the pore filler is applied.

A pine board with a variety of dyes applied to it. — I made a sample board of the dye colorants I expected to use in this burst.

A guitar body being dyed with golden tones — The figure pops under the first body color, which is used to raise the grain as well as form the center of the burst.

A guitar body with a new burst finish — The direct-to-wood dye has been applied, and another shellac seal coat is applied. Wow!

See the first installment of the build gallery
See the second installment of the build gallery
See the third installment of the build gallery

Slope-shouldered Dread No. 28 Build Gallery, part 3

These J45 twins are coming right along, and I’ve installed the sugar maple bindings and done quite a lot of the neck and fretboard work. Once the box was closed, I switched over to doing the major carpentry work on the neck, which is somewhat complicated by using my version of the Mike Doolin adjustable neck joint. For these guitars, I’ve made a small change to my method again so that the fingerboard is supported by a single, contiguous length of mahogany to further improve the playability of the neck.

Using a router to cut a binding channel around the top of a guitar — Cutting the binding channel for the sugar maple binding

Applying glue to a binding channel on a guitar — I’ve glued one side of the binding and am preparing to install the other side’s purfling and binding.

Tape holding the new binding in place on a guitar — The pre-bent binding is first pulled into place with tape around the perimeter.

A guitar body wrapped in black elastic — I follow the tape with an old car tire innertube cut into strips that acts like a big strong rubber band.

The new purfling is scraped flush to the top of a guitar — The new purfling is scraped flush to the top

Two guitar neck blanks on a router table — Once the headstock scarf joint is made and the nut location is set, I rout the truss rod slot.

Using a floating tenon, I can orient the grain of the tenon for strength.

A guitar neck block showing its component parts — Once the fretboard surface is ready, I add the heel block and floating tenon.

A guitar and its neck showing the mating surfaces — I cut a recess in the top of the guitar to allow the neck to fit.

A guitar with the neck roughly attached. — Checking the fit of the neck in the routed body.

The guitar body side of an adjustable neck joint — The body with the fingerboard extension and neck heel recesses routed out.

A guitar body with a neck attached — Whew! The neck drops right in!

See the first installment of the build gallery
See the second installment of the build gallery

Slope-shouldered Dread No. 28 Build Gallery, part 2

The slope-shouldered siblings are moving along quite speedily, with the box on this Tasmanian blackwood guitar being closed over the last week. The Acacia melanoxylon sides and back have been a joy to work with: it bends easily, sands well, and has a nice, smooth finished surface. The box has a tremendous tap already, and the top frequency came in right at 148Hz before gluing the back on. I’ve moved onto the necks and will return to this body to install bindings once the no 30 box is closed.

Gluing solid laminated linings to guitar ribs. — I often use solid laminated linings that are pre-bent and laminated, then installed in the ribs.

The inside of bent and assembled guitar ribs. — The solid mahogany linings make the rim assembly very stiff and also very stable. The Acacia looks great with a light sanding.

The back plate of a guitar, showing the braces. — Using an X-brace on the back plate makes it easier to tune the plate to a supportive frequency.

A guitar top showing the attached bracing. — With red spruce bracing this stiff, the bracing has to be pretty minimal to allow the top the flexibility it needs.

A guitar rib assembly being radiused. — The completed rim assembly is sanded using radius dishes so that the arched plates meet the sides to form a solid joint.

The top attached to the ribs. — I’ve glued the top in place and checked the top frequency. The ribs are ready to accept the back.

A freshly assembled acoustic guitar body. — The body has been freed from the mold after both plates are glued in place.

See the first installment of the build gallery

Slope-shouldered Dread No. 28 Build Gallery, part 1

I’ve just began a new set of triplets, and the first on the list is a transitional J-45-inspired slope-shouldered dreadnought for Devin. It will feature a beautifully figured Tasmanian blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon) back and sides set and a primo red spruce top from Old Standard Wood. After letting the woods adapt to my shop environment (the back and sides came from an Australian tonewood company), I’ve joined the top and back plates and selected a Honduran Mahogany neck blank from my collection of seasoned neck wood. The next jobs will be bending the woods for the rosette, routing and installing the rosette, and then my favorite task: thicknessing the top and back plates and bracing them.