This page will give you a flavour of what it
takes to make an acoustic guitar.
Warren wanted a distinctive full voiced guitar
with a smaller body and 24 frets - this is the
design we came up with.
The commission coincided with a planned trip
to one of our tonewood suppliers so Warren
came along with us to help choose the wood for his
guitar. We decided on Amazaque (a beautiful but difficult to bend hardwood) for the
back, sides and neck, a Sitka spruce top and ebony fingerboard and bridge
together with maple binding. An Artec piezo pickup and preamp were also included.
As this was a one off design it was constructed on a workboard rather than using a
mould to minimise the number of jigs necessary (new jig = time = money). The top
and back were dimensioned and jointed to make the plates, the rosette was
designed, routed and inlaid and the spruce
braces were made and fitted and then
carefully carved into the optimum shape.
The sides were bent to shape and carefully
glued to the top (face down) and then the
back was glued in place with a million rubber
bands to hold everything together.
The neck was made from the blank
with a heel block and a 15 degree
headstock and the truss rod channel
was routed out before the neck was
shaped (should have taken more
photos of this!). The neck was
planned to be bolted on rather than
glued in a dovetail joint so the body
block and the heel were precisely cut to fit together snugly. The
ebony fingerboard was dimensioned and slotted for the
frets and glued to the neck, the ebony face of the
headstock was applied and the custom inlay of a
Mother of Pearl and Abalone Walrus was
designed, cut and inlaid to the headstock before
the machine head holes were drilled. 24 frets
were installed and the neck given a final shaping
(this was to have a fast electric style neck
profile). The body and neck were then bound
with maple, scraped, sanded and sprayed with
many coats of water based lacquer.
The bridge was machined to shape from an ebony block
and glued to the top in precise alignment to the neck
and the nut and saddle were fabricated from a bone
blank. The finish was highly polished and the piezo
pickup installed under the saddle. The rest of the
hardware was installed and the frets stoned, re-crowned
and polished.
Now the moment of truth! We hear her voice for the first
time as the strings are fitted and we
give her a first set up. The last few
items are the makers paper in the
soundbox and the symbolic fitting of
the truss rod cover.
After a few days rest The
Walrus is ready for Warren
to come and try her out.
The Walrus is a sweet
toned, easy to play guitar -
the Florentine cutaway
allows access to the 24th
fret suspended over the
soundhole in a distinctive
triangular shape.
This brief summary
captures over 2 months of work
(including drying time).
We look forward to helping you find
the guitar you always wanted!
