Official Luthiers Forum!

Wenge back sides
Sinker cedar top
Ebony bridge / fingerboard
Fingerboard is progressive radius
But / saddle black horn
Binding curly koa
Purfling bwb
Rosette abalone w bwb
Slothead when done:)








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Sofa so good!

Still plenty of variables ha


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Totally an afterthought, but...
That hooked end of the fretboard gets lost in the sound hole, visually. So I think this would set it off nicely!



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I love the colour combination of the wenge B&S with the sinker soundboard, and two thumbs up for the feature inlay in the protruding tongue.

Looks great! Nice work. Can’t wait to hear a sound clip. The inlay at the end of the fretboard was a good call.

Also, let’s see that chisel.

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

Snow, you are getting GOOD, my friend! Congrats!

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Guitar Maker and Purveyor of the World's Finest Tonewoods
http://www.aaronhixguitars.com/
http://stores.ebay.com/A-Hix-Tonewood-a ... r-Supplies

Ahhh that chisel is my favorite tool. I NEED more of them. My others are dewalt chisels haha.(yea I can sharpen them. It just NOT in the same league as the Blue Spruce)


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You know how many sets I’ve purchased from you ha. I dig that you’re local. I’m in Rome. I appreciate the compliment. Sooooooo much to learn


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Why do you cut the scoop under the back braces to clear the center reinforcement strip?

In my ignorance I’m assuming there’s no marked weakness created by the scoop like that.
I see it as a simple way to get that brace over the strip. I can make that joint, but I’m not certain there is a reason TO do it.
It’s a quick trip to the oscillating sander, plus I kinda like how it looks.

Now, all this said, if there is a reason not to do it that way I’m certainly open to rebuke:)


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Structurally, taking that scoop out has to weaken the brace to some extent. I don't have the engineering background to wow you with calculations to prove it, but many years of building furniture says you are introducing some short grain that you don't have to. I don't bother trying to do any sort of fancy lap joint for this. I just glue the braces down and cut the reinforcement strips to fit between. It's not that hard and gives you a clean look without risking any weakness in the braces.

All that said, the hour-long video from Goodall shows where they do something similar to what you are doing, though they are being really fussy with the fit of that joint.... so you can always disagree with me and point to them as the reason why I'm wrong

Thanks for the input. I may be proven wrong at some point but I don’t feel it is a point of weakness. A lot of Larivee guitars done even use a center strip at all (although the back brace isn’t scooped) I guess I just figured wood was wood:) I have a halcyon without it as well (I see the connection there ) I’m sure the scoop has to weaken the brace to some extent yes.
I’ll check out the vid you mentioned when I get time. Thanks!


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I've had an old Giannini craviola for years that has the back braces done the same way, only it looks like the 'luthier' at Giannini used a As Seen On TV serrated kitchen to carve out the braces. It's taken a lot of abuse over the years and it's still hangin' in there. (Anyone else start out playing for 'all the beer you can drink' ??) People tell me I played some really good sets, lol.

I really like the proposed inlay for the end of the fretboard and may steal that concept for my current build. Nice guitar!

Honestly without it the cool shape of the end of the fretboard just got lost in the sound hole:/ binding on the fingerboard would have also solved it


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A few updates
I’m struggling w the turn from a squarish slot to a rounded ramp.
I like the clean square but like how the rounded terminates toward the nut :/









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Bridge located!!!!!
I always find a little relief when I locate a bridge... drill the first 2 holes, then double check it and it’s spot on. Whew!



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Looking good Snow! I love the soundboard, looks so woody.

Pat

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Pat

It’s TOTALLY made out of wood!!


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Like, totally wood? That's totally awesome!

Pat

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Pat

Pretty crazy eh?!


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Snow.

Your craftsmanship is excellent and so are your design skills, in my opinion. What's not an opinion is whether your scoop in the back braces might be a structural issue. It certainly is and you can check me on that. Removing a relatively tiny bit in height has unintuitive consequences.

Thanks. I’m a noob and I may need to look into that.
I realize that it does take away from the structural integrity of those braces of course. The question is: does it matter?

The back isn’t under stress as much as the top. Although I’m sure some

If I were to notch the inside strip I would also be removing material (not quite as much)

I wonder by removing those scoops what kind of failure I’m inviting... especially if there is a back strip glued in.

Any help in thinking through this is welcome. I just want to build better guitars:)

My big question is.... does it matter in the scheme of things (outside of some extreme occurrence)

I think I’ll start another thread on this, as it may get some more attention


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It's a non-issue in this context. If there is a failure of your back braces, something catastrophic has happened elsewhere, in which case the back braces are the least of concerns. If you like bracing this way, by all means continue, it will be perfectly fine.

_________________
Guitar Maker and Purveyor of the World's Finest Tonewoods
http://www.aaronhixguitars.com/
http://stores.ebay.com/A-Hix-Tonewood-a ... r-Supplies