Cloth strips on the sides

I found some cloth ribbon at Walmart that looked quite a bit like the cloth used on early Martins to reinforce the sides and prevent cracks from spreading around the guitar. I cut them to length and drenched one side with super glue. I think it looks pretty cool.

The following two pics were taken through the soundhole.















The brace in the following pic looks huge but only because the camera is so close to it.















Here I put the camera inside the guitar and used the 10 second timer. The camera is down near the end block and is pointing toward the neck block.















I'm pretty proud of how all the bracing turned out, since I made it all myself, out of spruce boards, this time.















Here the camera is underneath the soundhole and pointing towards the end block.

The headstock

Over the weekend, I shaped the back of the headstock. The pre-made Martin neck was pretty close to being finished but there was a rough area near the volute. I got much closer to making it look authentically vintage, than I did on my last guitar.




















Here's a mock-up to give an idea of what it might look like with tuners:

A case

I went to Elderly in Lansing on Friday afternoon and picked up this case.





























While I was at Elderly I played one of those Santa Cruz "1929" mahogany 00 guitars. I liked it. It has the old vibe, for sure, and will age well. But I think I'm headed in that direction, too. Since becoming a builder I notice a lot more than I used to. Are there any Santa Cruz fans here that would get mad if I mentioned that the back on that one was glued on a tiny bit crooked? Ok, then I won't.

The upper bout

On my first guitar I installed the popsicle brace across the upper bout. The "popsicle brace" is much maligned because it restricts vibration in the upper bout and arguably doesn't do anything to keep the top from cracking in that area anyway. My solution to the problem was to install two smaller braces. I'll also glue the fingerboard extension very lightly to the top. The whole problem is that when a fingerboard is glued firmly to the top, the thin soundboard is no match for the thick fingerboard extension. When the fingerboard inevitably expands or contracts at a different rate than the soundboard, then your top will crack. Not even the popsicle brace will stop it. Anyway, here are the braces I installed...















The pic was taken by laying a mirror inside the guitar and pointing the camera through the soundhole at it. The braces are between the upper transverse brace and the neck block.

A Brazilian rosewood bridge

I've been more and more interested in making my own parts, to work towards doing scratch builds.

I bought some wood recently on ebay that I thought I would use to make a few bridges, and maybe even use one on this guitar.

The wood was advertised as a "quartersawn brazilian rosewood blank." The description said, "DALBERGIA NIGRA".

After receiving the wood I held onto it for a little while, then cut it up at a friends' place on his bandsaw.

After the wood was cut, it didn't look very much like Brazilian rosewood at all. I my friend immediately said that this was not Brazilian, but it was Pau Ferro.








































































So I learned my lesson. Don't buy wood from bigmikeyc1on ebay. Store name is "Wooden Artistic Treasures." He either doesn't know what he has or he's deliberately deceptive. I don't think I'm going to buy wood on ebay anymore, from anyone who isn't recommended by someone that I trust, for that matter.

Just get a load of this BS:

I have been dealing with DALBERGIA NIGRA for about fifty years now. My Father made guitars in the New York City area and this came from his estate and was clearly marked. He would never touch Pau Ferro or Santos! This wood has been sitting around since 1987. When I cut into it there was a noticable Rose smell in the work shop maybe due to the large amount of cuttings. I have sold 47 blocks of this on Ebay with only one complaint, yours.