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OK,

G'day from Wellington New Zealand.

I'm determined to knock of two more builds before our new baby arrives in October.... talk about pressure!

For the challenge I am going to build a little (think Martin size 5) guitar for my 6YO daughter. I was struggling to keep it under the $150 limit but have managed to scrounge damaged neck and FB for 0$. They were the result of mistakes made on a friend's previous build. I will be able to cut down the undamaged pieces and make them stretch to fit the 550mm scale length on this little project. Will also do without a truss rod and just use a single CF piece also to keep the price down.

I plan to knock the majority of the build off in the next 3 weekends to leave me ample time for finishing and to put some extra effort into the inlay. I'm thinking pink abalone flowers for a 6yo But will need the weather gods to smile on me as all of my "messy" work has to be done outdoors. The rest takes place in the 4th bedroom of our rented house.

Stay tuned.

Shane

I have some high expectations to live up to after delivering a custom electric to this same customer earlier in the year....

http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww35 ... ric021.jpg

I'll be shooting for a size 5 which is soft on little fingers - probably using silk & steel strings and hoping to make it playable in standard tuning as well as terz. In the past I've got into trouble for suggesting a uke would be appropriate as "it doesn't sound like your guitar dad!"

Preparing for a busy weekend!

Shane

Thanks Todd. Yep, I've managed to pick up a fretboard and neck blank that were someone elses mistakes. The remaining pieces were not long enough for a standard scale but work just right in this case.

Shane

Did not know that. I was under the impression that it was a 21.375" scale. Learn something new everyday!

_________________
"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

OK, after a couple of fast and furious weeks (both here and at work) I have made some good progress. Unfortunately, due to the technologically challenged camera operator I've managed to lose a bunch of images showing the early stages - joining and thicknessing plates, gluing and carving braces. But the weather gods have smiled on me and I am on track.

Plates finished including rosette
Sides bent
Spanish heel carved (yes, an integrated heel on this build)
Braces glued and carved
Neck joined to top
Sides installed with tentelones made from scrap
Heel block made from a scrap piece of plywood I found under the house laminated with offcuts from the sides

Anyway, here are some pics...

D'oh! I thought that was going to happen. They are in reverse order. Better luck next time

Shane

Some more...

Getting the back ready...

I realised I forgot to take a pick of gluing the back on... glue, rope, leave overnight...

Here's some pics...

I've managed to get most of the building done in two busy weekends plus I took a couple days off work early last week when the sun was out. Hence the sudden rush of updates. Things have slowed down again now as I plan the inlay. In the meanwhile here are a couple more...

It takes a fine day in Wellington to get me out into the other half of my workshop. Here it is on a fine mid-winter afternoon.

On a fine day, trimming the edges of the top and back then scraping the sides smooth ready for routing binding/purfling channels...

Routing the purfling and binding channels. Routing and gluing in the end wedge. I've used an offcut from the offcut of figured maple I used for the headstock veneer, trimmed with bw purf. Keeping it simple. Pleased with the result.

Curly maple bindings that were a promotional freebie with back and sides purchase earlier in the year. .010 bwb purf.

Even though it's too far along to turn back now it is always nice to check the fit of the instrument to its intended owner. Result - perfect fit. Owner-to-be very happy and looking forward to seeing the inlay design

Gluing on the ebony fretboard. Was a 25.5" fretboard with the first 3 frets removed. Sanded to 14" radius.

So, this is likely to be the last lot for a while. I head overseas tomorrow for work for a week (to the USA!) so things will slow down for a while. I have shaped the bridge and sanded most of it to 220. Still needs some fine tuning on the neck and headstock.

Will work on the inlay design while I'm travelling. Have the following to choose from:
White MOP
Black MOP
Paua
Red abalone
burl off-cuts?

Will need to be flowers as that is what has been promised to the customer.... Planning to incorporate inlay on fretboard, headplate, but wedge... lots of flowers

I hope the weather is warm in Portland Oregon next week as I've had enough wet weather in Wellington this past month to do me for a while. I have my fingers crossed for a few hot days!

Cheers,

Shane

Moving right along and looking good!
That looks like a pretty large bridge for a small guitar.

_________________
A man hears what he wants to hear, and disreguards the rest. Paul Simon

Weather should be nice and mild with highs in the 70s/80s

Enjoying watching your build! Enjoy your time in Portland, it's a great place to visit!

_________________
"Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never--in nothing, great or small, large or petty--never give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy." - Winston Churchill

Great looking work so far . I would say that from the apperance , the owner will be quite happy with the end result !

_________________
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Well, after a week of sunshine in Portland I arrived back home this morning to 11 degrees celsius and rain

Roger, I thought the same about the size of the bridge. It looks bigger than it is due to the wide angle lens but I have reduced it (by a couple of mm) in width and depth.

Now I need to get stuck into the inlay!

Cheers,

Shane

Finished!

Set-up complete late last night and delivered to my very happy client first thing this morning before school!

Pretty happy with the result. Will spend some time this morning bringing the photos up to date and hopefully shooting some glamour pics of the final product.

...stay tuned

Shane

Let me try to upload a few pics of the inlay in progress...

Wow looks great, lets see more pics.