Beefy Bryn Flat-top

Dinner was delicious, as I remember, but now it's back to the build.

This being a (completely) flat-topped guitar, I couldn't use any of my previous aids, which were all shaped for a side-to-side arch (radius = 5'10").  I therefore had to make a new "solera", though it's pretty simple, being two pieces of plywood glued/screwed back to back and cut to shape.  It can be seen under the guitar-so-far in this photo:



Here it's being used as a base/jig for gluing the sides (and neck) to the soundboard using - you'll be proud of me - fish glue!  I thought long and hard about this after previous experiences, which were admittedly all my own fault.  I wanted to use hot hide glue but couldn't see how I could control the temperature down there;  how to heat the whole perimeter simultaneously whilst avoiding too much spread of heat on to the ends of the braces, which are detachable with a little heat, was beyond me.  And you would have to get the cramps on before any of the glue started to gel.  I then considered yellow glue (aliphatic resin), which is not reversible.  The idea appealed to me since, in the event of access to the insides of the box being necessary, it would make much more sense to remove the back rather than the soundboard - no purfling to disrupt, no trouble with the end of the fretboard and so on.  In the end I turned the dehumidifier up together with the heating, got the relative humidity down to about 42% and broke out the fish glue.  "This is your last chance," I muttered.  I must admit, it's nice to use, gives you plenty of open time, is easy to clean up and, given the right conditions, dries convincingly hard.  I left it cramped up for over 24 hours and so far it gives the appearance of being bullet-proof.  The fact that it's not as reversible as hot hide glue doesn't bother me too much for the reasons given above.  Here are a couple more gluing pictures in celebration of the event:




You'll notice I even read my notes and remembered to line the solera with baking paper to avoid sticking the whole lot together.

The guitar emerged much as I had hoped apart from one obvious problem that I will have to come on to later - isn't there always a problem?  Here's the beast so far:



I say "beast" because, if you remember, this thing has thick sides and weighs a good deal more than you'd expect.  (And whoever cleaned up the glue at the bottom there didn't do a very good job, either;  can't get the staff these days.)  The uncramping provided me with my first chance to hear the soundboard's "tap tone" with the edges glued down and it's definitely made a difference.  However, without the bridge to make the whole thing rigid, you can't really come to any conclusions at this stage so I'm holding off.  I have, however, continued to read Somogyi and I was feeling guilty about the state of the face of the soundboard.  You might have guessed that it's been tossed from pillar to post over the last couple of months and it's picked up quite a few scrapes and dents along the way.  Now Mr S makes a point of telling you how he keeps a piece of card fixed to the the front throughout most of the build to protect it from just such treatment and, since mine still measures almost 3mm in thickness, I decided to take this opportunity to sand it down to a nice clean surface which I could then protect in an attempt to look like a proper craftsman.  I attacked first with 80 grit and then through the grades to 240, concentrating more towards the edges of the board rather than down the central spine where it needs its strength.  It looks like a proper soundboard now but I'm afraid you can't see it because I've covered it with protective card:



Another thing that Mr S suggests brings me to the slight mishap mentioned above.  He points out the fingerstyle players need more distance between the string and the edge of the fingerboard on the treble side than on the bass side.  In order not to throw everything out of kilter - and he's particularly worried about the end of the fingerboard at the soundhole not appearing skewed or off-centre - he attaches his neck so that it points to a spot precisely 1/8" to the treble side of the centre-line of the soundboard at the "butt" end with the fulcrum, as it were, at the end of the fingerboard.  "I think I'll try that," thinks I.  Well, it's not so easy when everything is face down on a solera.  Or maybe it is if you are a bit more careful than I am.  Suffice it to say that mine allows plenty of extra room on the treble side of the fretboard and I am going to have to move the bridge one or two millimetres across to allow for my over-exuberance.  I would rather not show you but here it is:



I will have to fall back on what Mr S says about this:  this is a "purposeful element of guitar design and not an example of sloppy workmanship" - not in his case, anyway!

To move on.  Cutting the purfling and binding channels.  I'm sure I've shown this before but here are some pictures of my simple (copied from the web) device to guide the router bit where it should go.  It works even better when the front of the guitar is dead flat, of course.  You can see it naked in one of the previous pictures but here it is with some nice layers of bubble-wrap to soften things and keep the box straight:



I started with the binding channel and it seemed to go well.  There are no worries about taking the whole corner out with this guitar since the sides are so thick!



This afternoon I managed to find time to rout out the channel for the purfling (but didn't have time to take a photo).  Next job:  make the purfling.  Quite a job!