Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi,

I went to a guitar store today that carries a couple decent martin and taylors(a rare thing to encounter in norway, at least in my immediate vincinity)
What i've previously tried of guitars have been mostly dreads. The guitar i liked the most of the ones i tried was a 'martin 000 16gt' Really liked the size of the body and shape of the neck.

I'm currently researching for a first build and was wondering about plans for something similar to this, at least size-wize, only thing i would add to that 000 body is a soft venetian cutaway, had a hard time reching past the 12th fret.Anyone here ever built something similar to this, and like to share some pics?

I had thought of starting to make some molds, forms and jigs, and get most of that out of the way before starting to worry too much about the actual build.

So if anyone has plans they'd like to sell or can redirect me to where some can be obtained, i'd appreciate it.

Thanks,
Frank

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Frank

Welcome, Frank.

I believe what you may be looking for is a 000-12 Fret with a slothead headstock. Stewart-MacDonald has a set of plans available which are quite good. I've built 2 guitars according to these plans and they are my favorite models. If you play up the neck a lot, however, you might like the OM model which is 14 frets to the body and has a standard peghead. You can check out these sizes at the Martin site. I would also recommend comparing these 2 as to which best meets your playing style before making a build decision.

Good luck!

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

The forum offers my OM plans which is the same body shape as a 000-16. See the library of plans link at the top of each page.

I know Lance is having issues making the Library of plans sale link working so you might want to PM Lance If he does not have any in stock PM me but pay Lance.

the one i tried was a 14 fret to the body

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Frank

Yep a 000-16 is a 14 fret Take a look at my OM plans in the Library of Plans.

Do you(or anyone else) have pictures a guitar built with these plans?

Thanks Michael, btw just placed an order for the plans.

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Frank

I am at work right now but Yes I have several at home and I know Hesh and many others have built from my OM plans. It is based in shape and bracing off a Martin OM-14 which is the same body as the 000-16 but a slight differance in depth I believe. That is easy to accomodate from any set of plans.

You should know that I draw my plans for builders, and most of whom have their own necks designs so my guitar plans leaves off neck details. However my M&T 25.4 scale 14 fret at joint bolt on neck plans are available as well if you need them. How ever due to the coding issue Lance is having with the Library of Plans they don't show up there as of yet. But we will get a set of the neck to you if you need one.

Feel free to ask anyone of their opinion of my plans

Here is a link to Hesh's BRW OM, which I think was built from Michael's plan. Great pictures.http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10102&t=14858&p=211500&hilit=+finished#p211500

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Frank buddy the OLF's OM plan is excellent!

Ok, so i ordered the plans.

would it be easy enough to adjust the plans to accomodate a cutaway, i really like the look of this one http://elderly.com/images/new_instrumen ... tail-2.jpg

'straight' rather than the curved back kind.
thanks for all your inputs everyone.

Frank

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Frank

thanks for sharing those picks, looks like a good solution to the cutaway issue.

think i'm going to make a fox style bender, and i have parts lying around for making a decent bending iron, so my question is
can i just use the iron and get the bends in the ballpark, and leave the rest up to fox bender with bulbs installed, or would i need heating blankets on top also?

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Frank

Hi and thanks for all the replies.

Just wondering what radiuses for the top and back i should use for this olf om build?(going to start make some jigs for dealing with the radiusing of the braces)
Does the radiusing have anything to do with the tone of the guitar or is it just a way to stiffen and stabilize it?

Thanks,

Frank

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Frank

Yes it is possible but I do not recommend it as you will have the slats resisting the existing bends you made on the iron till the cauls are fully clamped against the form. This could lead to cracking the side if not carful

Frank,

As this is your first attempt at building a guitar, I would highly recommend kicking off your journey with a high quality kit instead of a scratch build.
I purchased a 14 fret Martin 000 (style) 24.9" scale kit from John Hall (Blues Creek Guitars) and had an absolute great time building it. I had some stumbling blocks along the way, however, John was more than accomodating with a quick e-mail to get me past my issues. My next four guitars were indeed scratch builds, however, I drew heavily from my experirnces with that first enjoyable kit build.
It's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination but it is my daily player! (I sold my Taylor 510CE two weeks after I strung up the 000...Much more comfortable!)

Ray

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Guitar Building = Continuous Improvement Process

Seems to me that I read here on the forum that Mark Blanchard bends on an iron then puts them on a bender and heats them up to even things out. He may use a blanket, but the process is the same. He has a few successful builds under his belt.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Supersoft? something to soak the sides in? where can this stuff be had?

And i have finally realised that i'm going to need a heating blanket.
I am tooling and jigging up at the moment, but i can safely say already, that with all the various tools and jigs i'm planning on getting together, this will not be a one guitar kinda thing. If i had planned on building just one guitar i would have for sure bought a serviced kit.

any takers on my previous question on radiusing? does 15' back, 28' front sound about right?

Thanks,

Frank

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Frank

Frank,

15' and 28' radius are pretty standard and you can see it done and explained here:

http://www.bluescreekguitars.com/blog/

You can also pick up a heating blanket and stainless steel slats there as well.
As for the Super Soft 2 you can pick it up at http://www.veneersupplies.com or http://www.highlandwoodworking.com

I will warn you though that being located outside the US getting Super Soft 2 shipped is VERY EXPENSIVE! (liquid product)

Ray

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Guitar Building = Continuous Improvement Process