Parts & getting started

Here's my work area in our basement. It's small and cramped but works out ok. I built my first guitar in this space, last winter. This guitar will be my second acoustic guitar build.




















This is my makeshift go-bar deck. I just made it with scrap wood, using L-shaped hardware and small screws.




















The kit guitar I'm building here came from John Hall / Blues Creek Guitars. John was nice enough to assemble a custom kit for me. The idea is to build something a lot like an early 30's Martin 00-17. John is quite the Martin historian and agreed to draw an appropriate bracing pattern on the underside of the top for me. Here's the bracing pattern he drew:















Some of the old 00's had one finger brace on each side of the "X", and some had two. Some had no popsicle brace. I'm not sure what the rhyme or reason is to any of it. I'm sure John gave me the right thing here for a early 30's 00-17. But I'd really like to go with no popsicle brace and one finger brace on each side. I want to brace the guitar lightly and see what happens.

John sent me some beautiful red spruce bracing, which he shaped and scalloped. Here's what the top bracing looks like, roughly laid in place on the top:















The top has some gorgeous figure to it:




















Here's a detail of the rosette:















Cutting off the belly of a modern bridge and then rounding the back gives you the same thing, as the thin bridge like on a 00-17. John cut it and shaped it really close, and I've done a little more to it.















And even though it'll be a long while before I actually set up the guitar, I went ahead and rough-shaped the saddle just because it is so fun to do:















Here are the sides. The sides also have nice figuring:




















Just look at how nicely bookmatched these are:















Here's what the back looks like. It was joined without a center strip, like I specified.




















Here's a detail of some of the figure on the back:




















The tuners are Grover sta-tite 18:1.















Bridge pins and end pin are ebony.
















Bone nut blank:



















Rosewood laminate cover for headstock:















Rosewood binding.