GUITAR MAKING DIARY

The Brutal Act of Installing the Pickup/Preamp: Guitar Making Blog

It’s been 4 months since I “finished” making Ann-Marie. But there have been a few things missing. 1)      the pickup & preamp 2)      the strap pin 3)      a scratch plate

The Making of Ann-Marie Acoustic Guitar Complete

Wow, I’ve finished making Ann-Marie, my first acoustic guitar. I made this guitar over a period of 30 days (2011-2012) at Thomas Lloyd Guitars in Montsalvat (Eltham – VIC) under the guidance and instruction of wonderful luthier Chris Wynne. WOODS: Bunya Pine: soundboard Tasmanian Blackheart Sassafras: back, sides, head plate, rosette Gidgee: fretboard, pinless bridge, […]

Video: Sound Sample of Ann Marie – Self Made Acoustic Guitar (Lighthouse by the Waifs)

Wow, the making of Ann Marie is complete. I thought I’d whack up a quick video to let you know what she sounds like. In this video I’ve done a version of Lighthouse by the Waifs.

Day 25: Sanding, Ironing, Sanding

The other kids in class warned me about the “all day sanding” day. Today was that day. My guitar is a point now, where I need to sand out all the markings, blemishes, lumps and bumps, and prepare the guitar to be oiled. So I spent most of the day sanding. Sanding and sanding. Much […]

Day 24: Bridge Engineering

Bridge engineering: I brought my Takamine guitar along today to attempt to create a similar bridge design. My purpose to have a bridge like the Takamine, rather than the standard Maton style bridge that holds the strings in with removable pins, is because I don’t want to fiddle around with pins while changing strings at […]

Day 23: Designing the bridge

It was hard to feel like I got much done today, as the changes are quite minimal in the photographs, but it’s all part of it. Designing a bridge: You may have seen previous photos where I’ve had a bridge positioned on my guitar, but I haven’t actually created the bridge yet. In those photos, […]

Day 22: Fretting!

Frettin’ the fretboard today. Don’t rush, don’t fret! Today’s all about patience, getting it right. The more accurate at this point, the easier the set up will be when it comes time to string the guitar.

Day 21: Shaping the neck

27/3/2012 10am-5:30pm. Shaping the neck, heel block and headstock: Lots of carving, filing and sanding today. This has been one of the most magical parts of the guitar-making journey. To carve a neck, heel block and headstock out of a chunk of wood feels amazing.

Day 18: Hours and hours of sanding….

   DAY 18 – 19/3/2012 10am-4:30pm.   Oh the irony. My first session back since shaving my noggin’ for the World’s Greatest Shave, and the first tool Chris hands me to get on with my guitar is a hair dryer…….

Day 17: Gluing bindings to the guitar body

DAY 17 – 15/3/2012 1pm-5:30pm. Super productive day today. Bang, bang, bang. I routed a space for the bindings, hand bent the bindings, and glued them to the body!

Day 15: Creating the soundbox…

DAY 15 – 29/2/2012 11-5pm. There’s something therapeutic about building a guitar. There’s something relaxing about doing woodwork. A guitar is coming out of the woodwork…

Day 12: Joining the sides of the guitar together

DAY 12 – 8/2/2012 10-4pm. I am SO stoked! The two side pieces are now bent into the shape of my guitar. I left them clamped into frames over two days, and released them from the frames today. VOILÁ! The sides held their newly bent shape. They look amazing.

Day 11: To BREAK or not to BREAK!

DAY 11 –6/2/2012 11-2:30pm.  I was a little reluctant for the first day back at the workshop for the New Year, as I knew this session would involve remaking the sides of the guitar from scratch after I broke the cutaway on my first attempt at hand bending. My new sassafras pieces had arrived and […]

Day 7: Creating the soundboard bracing

Creating bracing for the soundboard: Today was all about creating the bracing for the soundboard. This is a detailed process, and there’s a set formula/layout to follow. Altering this formula will have a profound effect on the distribution of the sound across the soundboard, thus altering the sound/tone.