Wood Types:

Tonewood is the term that is used to define woods used for lutherie. Softwoods are generally used for top plates. Commonly used woods used are Spruce and Cedar, and sometimes hardwoods such as Koa and Mahogany are used as well.

Backs and sides are constructed of hardwoods. Hardwood species that is used in the backs and sides plays a important role in the tone and intensity characteristics an instrument will possess. Mahogany, Maple, and Walnut will give your instrument a nice warm tone. If you are after brighter tone and more intensity, such woods as Rosewood, Ebony, and Koa would be a better alternative.

Another tip you can use to define your tone, balance, and volume is to vary the thickness of the top wood. It is commonly known that a thinner wood used for tops and backs will develop an instrument with greater intensity.

Another place where tonewood is used is for the bracing of the tops plates, to structurally support the thin woods. Usually, the top braces are constructed from the same wood family as the top plate. Again the way the bracing is designed can shape the tone and volume of the instrument.

Tools and Jigs:

Typically the trade of lutherie requires an extreme amount of precision that will govern the end result of a great sounding and playing instrument. It is exceedingly useful for the luthier to precisely accomplish many operations and be able to repeat these operations consistently. This can be achieved by the use of specialized jigs and forms. Some of the specialized jigs to consider:

Plate Joiner Jig Go-Board Gluing Jig Fret Slot Cutting Jig Inside Forms Work Board Heated Side Bender

Beneficial Hand Tools:

In order to start your building tasks you will need a fundamental set of hand tools. When purchasing hand tools, purchase the best quality tools you can afford as they hold and edge better, are easier to sharpen, cut better, and are safer to use.

Japanese Pull Saws Low Angle Brass Block Plane Plastic Tipped Hammer Dovetail Saw Fret Saws Hand Scrapers Violin Finger Planes Orbital Sander Wood Chisel Set Dremel Moto Tool and Attachments.

Recommended Stationary Tools:

Stationary Tools are very beneficial as well. Some fundamental tools to consider are:

12" Band Saw 6" x 48" Stationary Belt Sander Drill Press

Workshop Conditions:

Not only do you need space for glue-up operations, and assembly, you need some extra workbench space. Additionally have adequate lighting to do your close work. It is always desirable to have natural lighting streaming into your workshop as well.

The Purchase of Quality Plans:

Be sure to purchase a fine set of guitar plans for the type of guitar you wish to build. Plans ought to be full scale.

Assembly of the Neck:

Rip the neck wood into 2 pieces. Oppose the grain and re-glue the 2 halves together. Sand the neck blank flat, cut scarf joint and glue headpiece on neck. Route a truss rod channel down the center of the neck. Next install the truss rod in the channel. Glue the stacked heel blocks in place. Now shape the heel, neck and headpiece. Cut the headpiece laminate and glue in position. Use either a mortise and tenon neck joint or a dovetail neck joint and fit precisely to the head block.

Precisely cut the appropriate openings for the tuning machines. Cut fretboard to shape and thickness and cut fret channels.

The Sides, Back and Top:

The top, back and side woods need to be planed down to the proper thickness. If you plane the plates to a thickness of 1/8" for acoustics and 3/32" for classical guitars, that is a good starting point. To thin the plates you can use several choices or techniques. You can use a planer, scraper, sander, belt sander, a drum sander or a hand held jack plane.

Join the back and top plates and cut the guitar forms out. After cutting and rough shaping the top and back bracing, glue into place using the go-board gluing jig. After glue is dry, shape the braces and smooth out with fine sandpaper. Cut Rosette channels, glue rosette into place and cut soundhole. Reinforce the soundhole.

Bend the guitar sides by use of a heated or unheated side bender. Let the sides cool for a few days, take them from the bender and position in the inside form. Trim the ends with a band saw. Glue the head and tail blocks into place. Next fabricate the kerfings and glue the kerfing into position around the top and bottom edges of the sides. Fit the top and back to the sides with the sides in the inside form. Mark out brace locations and cut into the kerfings.

Using 1" elastic upholstery tape, glue the top to the top of the kerfing on the sides. Glue the back to the kerfing and sides in a similar manner. Take the Dremel router with the binding cutter attachment and set it to the proper depth and width for your bindings and purfling. Cut the channel for the peg head binding as well.

Making The Bindings:

You can either purchase your binding and purfling trims or you can design and fabricate your own. If you intend to use wood binding you will have to pre-bend them on the Heated Side Bender. Glue into place using 1" upholstery tape.

How to Fit the Neck:

Align the neck carefully and then glue in place to the body and head-block. Do not glue a bolt-on neck. Carefully align the fretboard and glue to the guitar neck and the top, unless you are utilizing a bolt-on neck. Finish shaping neck and heel. Tap in the frets into place and dress them.

Applying the Finish:

Prior to finishing operations, sand the entire guitar with 120 and 220 grit sandpaper. It may be compulsory to cleanup the rosette, purfling and bindings with a hand scraper. Apply masking tape on the top plate over the bridge footprint.

Spray several vinyl sealer coats on guitar. When the vinyl sealer is dry, sand flush. Next apply a toned paste wood filler and let it dry. Clean up and spray the finish coats of lacquer. Depending on the viscosity of the lacquer it may take from 6 to 10 coats of lacquer with sanding between each 2 coats.

Next you will need patience and let the instrument stand for at least one week. Do a final sanding with silicone carbide paper and buff to a mirror finish.

Final Detail Items:

Glue the bridge to the top plate and use the saddle channel routing jig to cut in the saddle slot. Install nut and saddle. Assemble the tuning machines on the peg head. String up the instrument with either light or medium light strings and test the action and fretting. Make any adjustments as required. Your Guitar Building will now be complete.

If you have an interest in building a guitar, this article will give you a very broad overview of the processes compulsory to make your own fine instrument.

Wood Types:

Wood that is used in guitar building to make backs, sides and tops is called tonewood. Normally the wood of choice for top plates are softwoods such as Cedar or Spruce. From time to time hardwoods such as Mahogany and Koa are used as well.

Hardwoods are used almost exclusively to construct the instrument sides and backs. The family of hardwood species forms the tone and intensity of the guitar to a certain degree. Walnut, Mahogany and Maple hardwoods will give your instrument a warmer tone. For brighter tone and more intensity for your instrument, investigate such hardwoods as Ebony, Rosewood and Koa.

Another tip you can use to define your tone, balance and intensity is to vary the thickness of the top wood. Thinner plates (tops and backs), typically produce louder instruments.

Another place where tonewood is used is for the bracing of the tops plates, to structurally support the thin woods. Usually, the top braces are constructed from the same wood family as the top plate. Again the way the bracing is designed can shape the tone and volume of the instrument.

Tools and Jigs:

Typically the trade of lutherie requires an extreme amount of precision that will govern the end result of a great sounding and playing instrument. It is exceedingly useful for the luthier to precisely accomplish many operations and be able to repeat these operations consistently. This can be achieved by the use of specialized jigs and forms. Some of the specialized jigs to consider:

Plate Joiner Jig Go-Board Gluing Jig Fret Slot Cutting Jig Inside Forms Work Board Heated Side Bender

Beneficial Hand Tools:

Prior to staring building tasks, purchase a fundamental set of hand tools. Good quality tools cannot be emphasized enough here as they cut better, hold an edge better, and are much safer to work with.

Japanese Pull Saws Low Angle Brass Block Plane Plastic Tipped Hammer Dovetail Saw Fret Saws Hand Scrapers Violin Finger Planes Orbital Sander Wood Chisel Set Dremel Moto Tool and Attachments.

Recommended Stationary Tools for Lutherie:

If you are serious about this endeavor, investigate obtaining a few stationary tools to save a tremendous amount of time. Some basic tools to consider are:

6" x 48" Stationary Belt Sander 12" Band Saw Drill Press

Workshop Conditions:

Not only do you need space for glue-up operations, and assembly, you need some extra workbench space. Additionally have adequate lighting to do your close work. It is always desirable to have natural lighting streaming into your workshop as well.

Building Documents:

Be sure to purchase a fine set of guitar plans for the type of guitar you wish to build. Plans ought to be full scale.

Neck Assembly:

Rip the neck wood into 2 pieces. Oppose the grain and re-glue the 2 halves together. Sand the neck blank flat, cut scarf joint and glue headpiece on neck. Route a truss rod channel down the center of the neck. Next install the truss rod in the channel. Glue the stacked heel blocks in place. Now shape the heel, neck and headpiece. Cut the headpiece laminate and glue in position. Use either a mortise and tenon neck joint or a dovetail neck joint and fit precisely to the head block.

Next you need to cut the appropriate sized holes for the tuning machine hardware. Before cutting the fret slots, shape the fretboard to the proper width, length and thickness.

The Sides, Back and Top:

The top, back and side woods need to be planed down to the proper thickness. If you plane the plates to a thickness of 1/8" for acoustics and 3/32" for classical guitars, that is a good starting point. To thin the plates you can use several choices or techniques. You can use a planer, scraper, sander, belt sander, a drum sander or a hand held jack plane.

Next, in order to glue the top and back halves together, use a plate joining jig. Rough shape the bracing for the back and top. Glue into place with the go-board gluing jig. Let braces dry and then final shape the bracing and finish sand them. Cut the rosette channels in the guitar top. Glue the rosette into place and cut out the sound-hole. Glue in the reinforcing for the sound-hole.

Heat up the side bender and bend the sides. You should keep the side in the bender for a couple of days. Next place them in the inside mold and trim to length. Install head and tail block into place. Make the kerfing on the band saw and glue kerfing around outside edges of guitar sides. Fit the guitar back and top to the sides while in the inside form. Cut bracing into the kerfings.

The top can now be glued to the sides using elastic tape. Glue the back in same manner. Cut the binding and purfling channels with the Dremel router with the binding cutting attachment. Set the depth and width of cut to match your binding design. Also cut the binding channels for the peg head bindings.

The Purfling and Bindings:

You can fabricate your purfling and binding trim or you can choose to purchase them. Pre-bend wood bindings on the Heated Side Bender. After a day, glue them into the binding channels with 1" elastic upholstery tape.

How to Fit the Neck:

Fit the neck to the body very precisely and glue in position, unless you will be using a bolt-on neck option. Glue fretboard onto neck and top. If using a bolt on neck, do not glue to top plate. Shape the neck and heel with wood rasps and sandpaper. Tap the frets into the fret channels and dress the frets.

Finishing Operations:

Prior to finishing operations, sand the entire guitar with 120 and 220 grit sandpaper. It may be compulsory to cleanup the rosette, purfling and bindings with a hand scraper. Apply masking tape on the top plate over the bridge footprint.

Several sprayed coats of vinyl sealer will be needed over all surfaces. When the sealer is dry, sand flush and apply toned paste wood sealer and let that dry. Cleanup the wood filler and apply the nitrocellulose lacquer coats. It will take anywhere between 6 and 10 coats of lacquer for a premium finish. Sand the finish flush between every 2 coats.

Next you will need patience and let the instrument stand for at least one week. Do a final sanding with silicone carbide paper and buff to a mirror finish.

Final Detail Items:

Glue the bridge to the top plate and use the saddle channel routing jig to cut in the saddle slot. Install nut and saddle. Assemble the tuning machines on the peg head. String up the instrument with either light or medium light strings and test the action and fretting. Make any adjustments as required. Your Guitar Building will now be complete.