First, hello to all. Beginner at this, am building my first as a proto/learning experience. It will not be perfect, and the only musical instrument I play is mountain dulcimer.
My 'shop' is a drill press, scroll saw, cutoff saw, table saw, and hand tools. Sufficient so far.
My build is a Macanudo Portofino Cafe box, a poplar thru neck that will have a red oak fretboard glued on, and a winged headstock. It will be diatonic.
I fitted the neck today and am happy with the process and fit. Notches were with coping saw and hand files. The lid relief cut on the neck was done on the table saw.
The most pressing questions right now are about internal bracing, mostly at panel junctions. Is it needed? Does it hurt volume? Oak, poplar, or pine? Support blocks for the neck below the notches?
I just read a thread that talked about attached vs floating lid. Is a hybrid viable, with support under/near the bridge, but then a floated center section, sort of a double stepped lid relief cut?
Replies
you have made a good start, good choice of box, poplar through neck red oak fretboard- I always brace along under the neck going through the box with a support block the same width as the neck and leave the lid resting on top fairly firmly to sound the best, having it too loose will make it sound boomy.
http://www.cigarboxnation.com/profiles/blogs/building-the-lady-a-st...
Huh...I'm a new guy.I found piezo's work great under the bridge,as many have said;they sound pretty good.
You must mess around w/ position.You will find the sweet spot.
Been playing 30+yrs,so I know how to get a tone out of a turnip!lol!.
James, with a neck thru' construction the box is taking no stress, so you don't need to reinforce it. I put couple of packers glued to the back of the box and screw the neck on thru' these. Don't glue the neck in, it's not necessary and allows you more leeway when you need to get at the electrics for repair work. I prefer to rest the underside of the box directly on the neck stick - contrary to what people may say, it can give a great acoustic delivery. I always used to build my guitars with the top 'floating' above the neck stick with a gap between them in the belief that this would help the acoustic sound, but after trying both ways, I've settled on the solid connection between top and neckstick - not exclusively, but probably 90% of my guitars are made that way.
Yeah I busted up my 1st,but neck-thru-butt all I have to do is put a box on it.
I used to screw the top of the box directly to the neck.Works great,just doesn't look so good lol!
Been messing around w/ a frame inside the box,my last one turned out pretty good.But still learning!.
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Hi James, and welcome. The only thought I will add beyond what Wayfinder has already suggested is on the subject of bracing:
Think about the difference between an acoustic guitar and a solid body. You need to make a decision on whether it's acoustic volume or sustain which is more important to you, the stiffer the soundboard (box lid) the better the sustain but the quieter the acoustic volume. I would advise attaching the lid in some way as it may produce some unusual warbling sounds if it is too loose. Have a look at this one:
The neck is resting on a wooden block at either end of the box, which I make from offcuts from the neck blank. These are glued to the bottom of the box and the neck is screwed on from underneath.
I hope this helps, and happy building!
The 4 corners and neck blocks are exactly what I was thinking of.
My fisrt is not going to be electric, really a diatonic 4 string strummer. will the braces hurt volume?