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Tagged With: acoustic guitar

Retirement Gift for a Friend, Co-worker, and Bandmate

I have the best job ever. In my job at Conversant not only do I get to work with some of the brightest folks in ad tech and software engineering, I also get to help organize the company band and emcee a gig at the Chicago House of Blues at the end of each year. … Continue reading »

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Assembling the Box, Part I – Soundboard and Sides

This entry is part 6 of 6 in the series Building an Acoustic Guitar

The head and tail blocks The head block was assembled as a 5-piece glue-up with three ‘core’ pieces stacked vertically and a top and bottom glued horizontally cross-grain. This is done to promote stability and strength in both dimensions while providing a side-grain surface for both the sides and the top and bottom. The top of the … Continue reading »

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Picking Up Where I Left Off…

This entry is part 5 of 6 in the series Building an Acoustic Guitar

In early 2012, I started my first acoustic guitar build and for several reasons wound up putting it aside. Over 4 years, a couple electric guitars and mountain dulcimers under my belt, I finally felt ready to return to this project. Back to Prep Work… The first two tasks were to build a bending form … Continue reading »

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The Rosette

This entry is part 4 of 6 in the series Building an Acoustic Guitar

The soundhole rosette is an aesthetic embellishment that provides an excellent opportunity for the luthier (or newbie like myself) to leave his distinctive impression on the finished instrument. Consequently I spent much time considering the design for the rosette on my first guitar build. Although I’ve significant experience inlaying wood, I’ve never worked with abalone … Continue reading »

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The Soundboard and Back

This entry is part 3 of 6 in the series Building an Acoustic Guitar

Back to work I took some time off guitar building to spruce up the shop and make some much needed improvements. Also, with the parents visiting for the week, the shop was occupied for a time with more pressing matters… Alterations This weekend I was finally ready to get back to the build. Since carving … Continue reading »

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The Neck

This entry is part 2 of 6 in the series Building an Acoustic Guitar

My lovely wife spent her weekend watching the kids and provided me with nearly two full days of shop time. In the intervening days I’d decided I wanted to build one of the guitars from cherry. I have a rather large stockpile and had read somewhere that Martin made/makes a “sustainable” series out of cherry, … Continue reading »

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Building an Acoustic Guitar

This entry is part 1 of 6 in the series Building an Acoustic Guitar

A few years back I was conversing with a co-worker and fellow guitar player. Aware I was an amateur woodworker, he suggested I build a guitar. “Luthiery requires special tools and skills…training. Naw, I couldn’t do that,” I said. Google search. Fast forward to last year when essentially out-of-the-blue I recall this conversation and start … Continue reading »

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