Post by R the F on Jan 30, 2016 22:16:14 GMT
Getting withdrawal symptoms from not writing a build thread but I haven’t been sitting twiddling my thumbs since I last wrote; I’ve been building a guitar. It’s coming along. I haven’t used any fish-glue on it yet, only hot hide and Cascamite. It’s a bit of a departure from the last one although it should look surprisingly similar when it’s finished. I’ll explain. [Sorry I haven't used the standard quoting system in what follows but I keep having to re-write the thread every time I move to another page!]
To go back to the beginning. The first two guitars I made - I started exactly two years ago - were carved archtops. I had the Robert Benedetto book and (sort of) followed some of his instructions whilst going my own way. One of my own ways was to build them with laminated sides. This was partly because I had no way of bending solid sides at the time but also because I had been reading about Greg Smallman’s classical guitars with their multi-laminated backs and sides. I therefore carved the back for strength but laminated the sides; they were in fact made up of 4 layers of veneer (c. 6mm thick) glued together with Cascamite, which itself sets very rigid.
The carved tops had no bracing at all but the structure was supported by a lightweight strut from block to block inside the guitar.
When I moved on to making “flat-tops” I read a lot more – I like to think I know what I’m doing even if I don’t - and I discovered this forum. Here I followed one of colins ’s builds with great interest. Right at the beginning of this he says, “The first steps are always a bit unexciting, but form the bones of the guitar. The first thing I always make for any guitar is the headblock. This is the bit of the guitar you hang in the air and attach all of the other main components to.” And then, “By using solid laminated linings I guarantee that the sides are uniform as the linings are stiff enough to ensure the sides do not distort, they also form a very stiff side structure to glue the top and back to.” With the sides reinforced and fixed to the blocks he says, “So, with the tail block also shaped, the unsung heroes of the guitar internal structure are completed.” Since then I’ve always kept this image of the skeleton in mind when building and have always thought of the sides – the “ribs” – as being of paramount importance in taking the strain that the tightened strings put on the instrument, which is why the ends of my X-braces are fixed into the waist of the guitar.
Now, with this in mind, I began investigating “double” sides which were being mysteriously mentioned from time to time. For example, Rory Dowling says, “I’m making my first double sided Tirga Beag in Malaysian Blackwood and Scottish Sycamore. This again is to give the guitar more response, helped by this amazingly strong structure that does work that the top and back would otherwise have to do. I take no credit for this idea, a lot of builders do it but the fact that there always ways to make things sound better is brilliantly exciting.” I realised this was a logical step to take and then read nkforster’s newsletter/blog in which he explains why his “Session King” is so heavy and loud and how increasing the mass and stiffness of the sides should make the top “work more” because its energy does not seep away into the sides. The article is here if you’re interested. You’ll see that he is machining his sides out of something very dense and inert and I realise that there is certainly more to it than he is telling us but, as a beginner, I would certainly be interested to see what would happen if I simply made my sides heavier and stiffer and my soundboard dead flat but with comparatively light bracing.
Luckily, I’ve got some constructional veneer – about 1.5mm thick - which I have been using to make up my purfling; it’s sapele and maple. I’ve used it to make the sides of the new guitar by making them up as five-ply – s-m-m-m-s – with the two outside layers of maple at right angles to the other three layers. I had to build a mould to do this and it’s fairly accurate so that they really do look like plywood and are about 7.5 mm thick.
The new sides weigh just under a kilo as opposed to the 400g of the last build, which was itself laden with laminated linings so not the lightest by any means.
To go back to the beginning. The first two guitars I made - I started exactly two years ago - were carved archtops. I had the Robert Benedetto book and (sort of) followed some of his instructions whilst going my own way. One of my own ways was to build them with laminated sides. This was partly because I had no way of bending solid sides at the time but also because I had been reading about Greg Smallman’s classical guitars with their multi-laminated backs and sides. I therefore carved the back for strength but laminated the sides; they were in fact made up of 4 layers of veneer (c. 6mm thick) glued together with Cascamite, which itself sets very rigid.
The carved tops had no bracing at all but the structure was supported by a lightweight strut from block to block inside the guitar.
When I moved on to making “flat-tops” I read a lot more – I like to think I know what I’m doing even if I don’t - and I discovered this forum. Here I followed one of colins ’s builds with great interest. Right at the beginning of this he says, “The first steps are always a bit unexciting, but form the bones of the guitar. The first thing I always make for any guitar is the headblock. This is the bit of the guitar you hang in the air and attach all of the other main components to.” And then, “By using solid laminated linings I guarantee that the sides are uniform as the linings are stiff enough to ensure the sides do not distort, they also form a very stiff side structure to glue the top and back to.” With the sides reinforced and fixed to the blocks he says, “So, with the tail block also shaped, the unsung heroes of the guitar internal structure are completed.” Since then I’ve always kept this image of the skeleton in mind when building and have always thought of the sides – the “ribs” – as being of paramount importance in taking the strain that the tightened strings put on the instrument, which is why the ends of my X-braces are fixed into the waist of the guitar.
Now, with this in mind, I began investigating “double” sides which were being mysteriously mentioned from time to time. For example, Rory Dowling says, “I’m making my first double sided Tirga Beag in Malaysian Blackwood and Scottish Sycamore. This again is to give the guitar more response, helped by this amazingly strong structure that does work that the top and back would otherwise have to do. I take no credit for this idea, a lot of builders do it but the fact that there always ways to make things sound better is brilliantly exciting.” I realised this was a logical step to take and then read nkforster’s newsletter/blog in which he explains why his “Session King” is so heavy and loud and how increasing the mass and stiffness of the sides should make the top “work more” because its energy does not seep away into the sides. The article is here if you’re interested. You’ll see that he is machining his sides out of something very dense and inert and I realise that there is certainly more to it than he is telling us but, as a beginner, I would certainly be interested to see what would happen if I simply made my sides heavier and stiffer and my soundboard dead flat but with comparatively light bracing.
Luckily, I’ve got some constructional veneer – about 1.5mm thick - which I have been using to make up my purfling; it’s sapele and maple. I’ve used it to make the sides of the new guitar by making them up as five-ply – s-m-m-m-s – with the two outside layers of maple at right angles to the other three layers. I had to build a mould to do this and it’s fairly accurate so that they really do look like plywood and are about 7.5 mm thick.
The new sides weigh just under a kilo as opposed to the 400g of the last build, which was itself laden with laminated linings so not the lightest by any means.
If it doesn't work then just carve the braces off. 
Jo whoever he is.
