Non Identical Concert Guitar Twins

[ozziebluesman]

Here are a few pics of my latest challange. Two concert size acoustic guitars.

Concert guitar one is going to be built from the Scot Antes plan. It has a dovetail neck joint and I am probably mad but i'm going to have a go.

The top is a sitka special from BobC, two tops for $25. This particular top is not so stiff so it will have to be braced accordingly. The back and sides are Golden Sassafrass and I have a Tasmanian Cyprus neck blank. It is a 24.5 inch scale and the plan has been designed for steel strings. I will follow the plan but lighten up the bracing a bit. The bridge dosen't cover the x braces well enough so iI will make the bridge a little bigger. Anyway, this is my first go at an acoustic guitar.

Some pic's







Concert number two is a copy of a Martin 0-18 concert size guitar. The shape is different to number one and it is a 24.9 inch scale. This one is going to have a bolt on neck. I'm trying to mix things up a little so as to gain experience in different guitar building areas. This one has a sitka top and it is very stiff. Back and sides are opportunity grade, forum buy EIR and I reckon it looks tops! I have a mahogany neck blank for this one.

Here are a few pics







This will be an on going project and a huge learning experience. Bring it on!!!!

Thanks for looking

Cheers

Alan

[kiwigeo]

Looking good Alan. Interesting to see you using a workboard. I made my first two steel strings on a workboard but went to a mold for the 12 string. Ive got to say Im used to the workboard and will probablly go back to it for the next build.

The sitka looks nice...you certainly got it for a good price .

Cheers Martin

[ozziebluesman]

Thanks Martin. I used the workboard, solera for the two weissenborn copies and it worked for me. I think if it feels right, go for it.

Cheers

Alan

[Stephen Kinnaird]

Alan, they're looking Gr8, M8!
Good score on the Indian.
Looks like a better grade than lowly "opportunity".
I'll be interested to hear your opinions on the different neck joints.

Steve

[Allen]

Oh so good Alan.

You've got a lot of fun ahead of you.

And yes Steve, we got some really ripper wood in that opportunity grade sale. Well worth buying.

[jeffhigh]

Hi Allan,
Looks like nice work on the bending.
Having used that sort of spreader arrangement, I would suggest you make sure you can remove them without having to slide them out, before you close the box or even install linings.
I found that he rod needed to be just a little longer than the gap between the cauls with a bit of clearance in the holes

[DarwinStrings]

Good on you for taking up the challenge Alen. I am wondering if that EIR is off the quarter sawn and that's what makes it opportunity grade?

Jim

Life is good when you are amongst the wood

[sebastiaan56]

Looking Good Allen,

The EIR was a group buy from Allied last year Jim, I didnt jump in but it looks like I should have

[Allen]

Jim, the group buy I co-ordinated last year for the opportunity grade EIR was a super deal. The sets were either forest grown (dark and finer grain) or plantation grown (pale and wide grain).

Allied didn't spend a lot of time matching up back and sides for the absolute best match, but they did come at a good match. Some sets were really nice, and others not , but certainly not firewood.

I sorted out the sets to what I thought were 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade. Everyone got a set of each, then I started again, until they were all allocated.

The 2 guitars that I'm building now are getting built with this same wood.

[ozziebluesman]

Cheers Steve, Sebastiaan and Allen.

G'day Jeff. Yes I had a few difficulties with this style of spreader when I built the weissenborn copies. I think because the waist bend in these little guitars is not as tight as the weissenborn, it should work ok. Time will tell on that statement!

Jim as Allen has already pointed out the EIR opportunity buy was a winner. Out of the four sets I bought one set had to be used to build two ukuelele's as the side set had a big split due to a knot. The uke in my recent post is that particular set. There is enough left over to build a soprano uke too! The other set has been used for the concert guitar in this post for the same reason but the knot was in the back set right about the waist area. The smaller sized guitar shape fitted the set perfectly away from the knot area. The other two sets one forrest and the other plantation are very, very good. They all have bug holes and lime deposits but the price was great and as you can see, the sets have great colour and grain pattens.

Thanks everyone for your support.

Alan

[Cam]

nice Rosewood Alan (EIR = East Indian Rosewood right?)

Can't wait to see these 2 polished up and finished.


Can't believe I joined late and missed the group buy, it looks great.

[ozziebluesman]

Some more progress pics on the concert, parlor guitar.

The rims have the linings, endblock, side supports and neck blocks glued and the top and back have been roughly fitted.

The rosette is a very simple double ring design

The back has been braced and voiced and is weighted down in the radius dish.

Top is also braced but not voiced yet. I have added some soundhole braces and two patches on each side of the tone bar for extra strength. Probably an overkill. I would be interested in your comments on this!

Just waiting till humidity conditions and time is available to be able to close the box in one session. HHG was used on all gluing.

Thanks all for looking
Cheers
Alan

[xray]

very nice allan. nice solid looking build. Im interested in how the tap tone on the flimsy sitka top sounded. Was is nice and resonant or was it closer to no response or sustain? I have a top similar in bunya and it is almost flexible enough to make a u shape but it rings like a bell. Compared to others i have had it is almost the best sounding.

[Joe Sustaire]

Looking good Alan!
I like that simple double ring rosette and I'm really drawn to the wide grain in that top. And the nice curvy shape on that first one works for me also.

Call me simple,
Joe

[Stephen Kinnaird]

Yeah, I'm with Simple, I like your double ring rosette.
I did a guitar with that arrangement once.
Liked it then...like it now.
So unpretentious!

How's the learning curve going?

Steve

[Allen]

Looking tremendous Alan. I like that simple rosette as well. The seam reinforcements should be fine as long as they're paired down very thin.

[Nick]

Looking really good so far Alan. Your work is very clean which I like, I also love the "loose" grain of the top (as opposed to the traditional 'tight' grain that's supposed to make a good top ) It's should be a ripper when it's done.

[ozziebluesman]

Xray: Thanks mate for the encouragement. The top before bracing was very flimsy but the tap tone was big. The top after bracing is stiff as with not much resonance or sustain. I will brace it to the sizes on the plan and see what happens to the tap tone. Will keep you posted on that developement.

Joe: Thanks mate. I want to try and capture a vintage look just like your new old parlor. (Loved that little project outcome by the way) I'm planning a herringbone binding top and back.

Steve: Thanks mate. Keep it simple stupid is a good moto sometimes. This is the first time working with a spruce top too. Very soft so you have to be careful. I did this with a sloan circle cutter. I do have a soundhole jig setup purchased from stew mac but need some practise using it. The learning curve is so good mate! Extremely enjoyable. As long as I don't make any big mistakes it should turn out good!

Allen: Thanks for the comment on the seam reinforcement and I will take it down to almost nothing on the sides. For some reason the top didn't join well in a few places. I had two goes at joing it and I think it muist be the wide grain of the spruce in places that has given me problems. So the patch is a safety measure.

Nick O: Love your input on the forum mate. Thanks! Well the top is a cheapie and I thought it had a vintage look to it which will suit my vintage look aspirations for the guitar. I'm with you and prefer character to perfect straight grained tops. Mind you the top has to sound good though. So this guitar is a learner. I'm happy with the outcome so far.

Thanks again everyone

Cheers

Alan

[Taffy Evans]

Hi Al, seems only a short while ago you said you were go to start two concert size guitars, and here they are well on the way. You do a great job even though your work shop is not fully set up yet. Those bent sides look spot on good work. Thanks for sharing.

[Lillian]

Alan, where did you get the plan for the Martin? I have the Ande's but I'm just not in love with the shape. It just looks a tad bit chunky to me.

Your new babies are looking sweet so far. Love the simple rosette. I am not a fan of bling, especially on small bodied guitars.

[ozziebluesman]

Taffy: Thanks my friend. The concert guitar is coming along ok. I had a week off over the School Holidays and got some good progress in.

Lillian: Hi there! Thanks for your support. The martin 0-18 plans as such are from Bob in Geelong. He sent me some files of the outline shape, side profile along with some pics of the brace pattern inside the box of a real martin. My bracing is going to be a rough copy of the picture but much lighter than the Scott Antes plan. The top proposed for the martin copy is very stiff sitka and the back and sides is some nice EIR rosewood. It will be very interesting and great experience to build these two guitars with totaly different top stiffness. It will make me think about what is going to give the best tone outcome from both tops.

I can send the martin information to you at any time.

Cheers

Alan

[Lillian]

That would be sweet Alan. I would love to add it to the list. I have a couple of sets in mind that it would be perfect for as well.

Bob's twins was an interesting experiment. I think yours will be as well. Please keep us posted.

[sampson]

Nice work Alan
Its really heartening to see builds like yours underway, as it gives novices like myself confidence and ideas of what to expect when I finally start my own (waiting on some blackwood to dry). I'm a big fan of simplicity your combination's are sweet. Nick O I'm with you on the loose grain tops. I have a Cole Clark with a bunya top which is loose to say the least!! It sounds great and looks interesting!! Well I think so.
Look forward to following your build. May the Luthier gods be with you.
Todd

[ozziebluesman]

Thanks Lillian and Todd for your comments.

Todd: I love the bunya top on the cole clark.

I was a little dissapointed as the back has lost most of it's 15' radius. There is still a very slight radius so will go with that. Allen and Taffy from the forum where at my home Saturday and I showed them both. They where in agreement the two flat braces on the back are difficult to work with so nect time I will go with four 8mm by 12mm back braces or maybe a tad lighter.

The top was voiced Sunday and then glued on the rim.


This morning the top and back where sanded flush with the rim. The body was given a good sand all over with 220 grit.


Very happy with the top glue up and the radius is what I was trying to achieve. First time building with a radius. All good!

Thanks for looking.

Cheers

Alan

[Allen]

When the box is closed, your 1/2 way there mate. The rest is going to seem to go very quickly now.

I'm really keen to hear what these end up sounding like.