building the NST I acoustic

this blank is the starting point.. lightweight very well dried pine with flame maple stringers will give us the stability and tone we need so desperately with these guitars..

the template is marked in place and roughly cut out on the bandsaw

this gives me a more manageable area as I plane the top flat

Once the top is perfectly flat I re-cut around the body as close to the line as possible 

and then using a bearing cutter and the template I cut the final outline

several hours of dust later the back shape is roughly carved

and then sanded, just to 80 grit with the random orbital sander to even out the carve

the cutaway is tidied up with the bobbin sander

and here is a blurry picture after sanding sealer is applied to protect it just a little

next up the pillar drill is set up.  I measure a 3mm distance between the doodad (technical terminology!) and where the drill bit stops. 

this means that after drilling through I know that the drill has stopped exactly 3mm away from the back at any point.  It gives me something to carve to

when I start hollowing her out..

after another 6 and a bit hours I'm at this stage.  Basically the whole thing is about 3.5mm thick.. which is still a bit too much.

the hard bit is here now, using miniature violin makers planes.. which have two shortcomings, use them for more than five minutes and you get cramp in your hand from manipulating something that small... and if you grit your teeth and work through the cramp pretty soon the friction heats the brass up and you're holding a very hot piece of metal.. .. I love my job! 

the side soundhole and cavity for the Fishman system are marked out

and then cut..

and filed then sanded to an almost finished state.. 

the most time consuming, and painful, part of this job is tidying up the inside of the bowl-back.. but it will be done every now and then throughout the job until everything is ready to become an almost-guitar

finally the compressor is brought out and a mini random orbital sander is used to get to the hard to reach spots inside the bowl.. several hours and a lot of hand-sanding thrown in and I get the result required..

As this will be using the New Standard Tuning which starts at a low G I wanted to emphasise the lows and mids therefore I have chosen a particularly lovely bit of western red cedar for the top wood..

the front of each plate is planed flat

being held in place by little jigs made of dowel

then, using my largest Random Orbital Sander, the whole plate is sanded to a fine finish

My trusty old shooting board is brought out and the center joint 'shot' carefully

and then it just remains to glue everything in place.. after a test run or two of course!! 

after the glue has thouroughly dried I take the top out of the clamps and mark out the final outline

dusty puppy... probably hungry and tired too, but that's youth for you..

bored puppy...?

After roughly cutting to the outline the whole top is thicknessed carefully

and finally sanded to the correct finish for this stage.. this process obviously happens with both sides of the cedar...

the main soundhole is marked out using this nifty little device

and then cut to size carefully

after much deliberation a relatively standard bracing pattern is decided upon and marked out

and all the braces are planed, bandsawed etc to size

the x-brace is fitted and notched

and then glued using the Go-bar jig, the pressure of the dowels bent between the top and the brace hold everything in place while the glue dries..

a small violin-makers plane is used to trim the x-brace to size and round over the edges of it

along with a very very sharp chisel to get in the spots the plane couldn't

everything is then sanded down

the other braces are cut to size and placed on the top to make sure everything works correctly

then, using go-bar jig again, everything is clamped in place overnight..

all of the braces on this acoustic have now been glued in place and have to be shaped carefully for optimum tonal response, using a violin makers plane

and several very sharp chisels.  Every time I carve a brace I tap the top to hear the tone generated and also to hear how it has changed.. fun

next up I make a template for the bridge plate,

and after cutting it out of a piece of rosewood the Go-bar jig is used to clamp it in place

I play around with the positioning of the extra top soundholes, these will add an amazing amount of volume to the bass and also a certain extra sweetness to the mid response.. Just what is needed for the New Standard Tuning that this beauty will be using.

the soundholes are cut out

then filed, sanded and profiled just how we want them..

this will be a very attractive guitar!

a single veneer is too thin for what I have in mind here, the pretty ones go on top and

are laminated together with the plain backing. 

the white layer is a foam which compresses evenly between the clamping blocks and evens out any air pockets etc.. 

the laminated veneers are ready...

I cut the design into each one with a jewelers saw

the position is checked

and eventually we have three rosettes in place..

the bowl-back is ready and waiting... and so is the front.. almost

the outline is cut roughly to size on the bandsaw

pegged in place and test-clamped using large rubber bands

and using many more for the actual job.. this will be left overnight to dry..

the top has now been glued in place.. and the struts look great through the side sound-hole

a sharp knife is used to cut the lines of the sun motif around the soundhole

after sanding..

the edges of the top are sanded flush with the ribs

I then test the router on a surplus body

and go stright to a really nerve wracking job, using a high speed router on something as delicate as this is always scary

the top section is glued one half at a time

followed by the outer segments of binding.. it goes ebony/maple/ebony/maple/walnut/maple/walnut.... I think..

once dry the bindings are all planed and chiseled flush with the top

leaving all the dirty glue marks etc..

which are then sanded off to leave a lovely looking guitar

the timbers for the neck are prepared.. Bubinga in the center and Goncalo Alves on each outer edge

the G A is split down the center

and the bubinga is cut at an angle.. why have a straight bit of wood when you can have one that follows the lines of the neck..

each piece of neck is run through the planer and then planed by hand to give a perfect joint..

everything ready including the flamed maple veneers

and it's glued..

once dry the excess is trimmed off on the bandsaw

and then the whole thing is run over the planer to true up the edges

a vision of the future.. the very near future..

pretty..

the truss rod cavity is routed out

and then the fun begins.. making jigs and templates can be fun.. or infuriating.. still a good jig makes for a much more unifirm job in the end.

first off I rout around the edges with a standard flat bit to save digging in with the mitre bit 

and end up with this..

bandsaw the excess off

and rout the joint in the body

a good place to be.. though the neck is a bit fat at this point

next up she is roughed to shape on the bandsaw

on all axis

and then planed to the finished size

the headstock face is flattened off

and the rough carving begins.. a long dusty process..

but we end up with something akin to a guitar neck..

the bobbin sander is used to get the correct curve at this end

and we end the day by glueing pieces of Bubinga and Padauk on to the headstock to achieve the desired width.. much prettier than your standard fare?

after cutting the excess timber off the tuner positions are marked out and double-checked.. if I'm going to go to the trouble of designing a headstock with straight string pull I can't let myself mess up at the last stage.. as my old master said .. 'measure, measure... cut'.. the only good thing he ever taught me!!

rough cut on the bandsaw

and then finely profiled using the bobbin sander

the neck is partially carved..

and then the final shape is rasped etc.. though doing this without a fingerboard on does cause some headscratching

but we end up with something which should be incredibly comfortable..

neck joint is tested out to see how the carve will affect the shape of the back..

and then the straightness of the neck is checked using the ruler down the center-line.

while the neck is clamped and glued I start work on the fingerboard.. carefully marked out

cut on the bandsaw and then fine planed by hand to size

measure measure cut.... ..

the fingerboard radius is planed.. in this case a slightly concave but still flattish curve.. for comfort..

next up this lovely little tool, made by a good friend of mine, is used to mark out the purfling

a sharp knife is used to make the scores deeper and then they are recessed using a very small chisel

the inlays are glued in..

and after sanding they are looking pretty good

the fret slots are marked and cut

and each fret glued in place.. makes for a much more stable neck in the end.. it's the smallest things that seem to make the biggest difference in this craft

the fret ends are then snipped off and filed off at a comfortable angle to the fingerboard and then finished with 400 grit garnet paper

the side dots are then glued in place.. not an easy job after the fingerboard is in place..

the dual-action truss rod is masked off so that the glue will not foul the action

and then everything is glued..

the first section of the bridge is drawn out on the Padouk

bandsawed out then fine-sanded to shape

the section for the pickup is cut out and then used to hold the piece in place as I plane it to thickness

the cut out sections are there to reduce to the minimum the cross-vibration between strings.. this will make for a much cleaner acoustic tone with very clear response from each string as a chord is being played

sanded to shape

I double check the measurements and positioning

and mark out exactly where the bridge will sit

and then it is glued in place..

 some words on the theory at work here.. thin bridge equals greater vibration therefore more sound.. more surface area at the bass side evens out the response accross the entire tonal range.. a bass sound wave has a greater length therefore it needs more space in which to vibrate..  and then between each string I reduce the thickness of the bridge down to less than a millimeter, this greatly reduces cross-vibration between each string which makes for amazingly clean chordal playing.. needless to say I will be making a seperate bone saddle for each string..  and the last addition is a seperate tailpiece which is what allowed me to make the bridge such a good vibrating platform..

 a small padouk inlay at the bass of the guitar..

 the tailpiece blank is roughly cut out

 put in place to check string pull etc

 holes are drilled in the top and brass marker ferrules placed in them.. pressing the tailpiece on top of them marks the exact spot where the corresponing hole will be drilled in the tailpiece.

 dowel is glued in place..  this gives more strength to the joint as it increases the glueing area and helps the whole thing to become an integral part of the top

 my favourite clamps put to good use

and there we have it 

the back here is very beat up and the neck hangs over the edge 

 everything is carved down, including the best neck-joint access you'll ever see on an acoustic..

 several hours sanding down using both the random orbital sander and then various grits of paper by hand

 more padouk being used for the headstock inlay

 cut out with a jewelers saw

 and here she is after glueing the inlay in and going through the sanding process again..

 blood red!!!  Beautiful.. but dull..

 until the first coats of sanding sealer are applied..

 the neck prior to finishing.. the timbers are bubinga in the middle and Goncalo Alves on each side with maple stringers between them.. multi-lam necks are much much stronger than on your bog-standard fare.. not to mention it's prettier than average

 the top with finish applied

 after everything is thouroughly dry the whole guitar is rubbed down through the grits

 and wax is applied and polished several times to get this lovely sheen

 strings applied to make sure everything works.. I just couldn't wait any more..

 strings removed and the frets marked for the stoning.. while stoning the frets I check to see where ink is removed.. when it is all gone then the frets are perfectly flat..,

 several coats of lemon oil are applied after polishing and profiling each fret

 labled.. and signed..

 the smug grin on my face is very very justified!!  I was asked to design a small bodied acoustic with a short Gibson scale length and a bowl back.. all of this with masses of sustain and increased bass response.. oh, and it also has to be strong enough to withstand the incredible tension produced by the use of New Standard Tuning..  I succeeded!!  She is perfect!

and pretty..

 any questions about price and different custom options just let me know..
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