Hello all,
I really can't say just how much I would appreciate some of your divine feedback/advice.
I am kind of stuck on my first acoustic build. I wasnt sure where to put this. Apologies if this is wrong and also too long.
To explain what the deal is. I want to make a good guitar as it's going to be a gift for my son. He was born with a cleft on his left hand(2 fingers and thumb). He is right handed so over the years he has learned to pic lefty. He is 13 now and already playing Metallica better than me and Ive played for 20 years. Since he has been doing so well, i want to make him something from scratch that shows that im proud of what he has accomplished.
Since it's still new I'm a bit overwhelmed to say the least and most likely adding more pressure to what has been a really enjoyable journey.
Currently I still have to tidy up the body and make sure all is flush. So that's fine, can do. I've done the scarf joint and made flat. Just need to laminate a few blocks for the heel and sort the truss rod groove.
So jigs, I can't justify spending the crazy amount of money on some of the jigs for sale so I think building them is my only option. Hell, I'm skint, couldn't afford them anyway.
What do you think I should do next or have I missed something?
1, Build a mortise and tenon jig for the body/neck (somehow find plans)
2, Build a jig for binding the body(also find plans as it will defo need binding)
Apologies again for this long topic post and thank you for reading. Certainly made me feel a little better writing it.
Cheers
You don’t need a jig to do any of the things you describe. People use them for routers which are a fairly recent thing. Mortise and tenon jigs and binding can all be cut by hand tools and have been done for years.
Can you post some photos of what you have done so far.
Some people call me a tool, others are less complimentary. Tools being useful things.
Yeah. I've done three acoustic builds so far following Marks methods. If you have been following the course then the heel block would have already had the mortice cut out of it and that would only leave the tenon on the neck to make fit. It is all part of the course and Mark walks you through everything so easily that even someone like me can feel confident doing it.
As for the binding... Do you need to do the binding or just want to? I know it strengthens the edge and makes everything look really cool but it is not needed for a first build. It adds an element of difficulty to the build that you don't need to do in the first build. I have woodworking experience and wanted the challenge even on my first build. I did purchase an attachment for my small router and did all the things but in the end I still had a binding that was thin in parts and thick in other and with gaps all over. It was an eye opener that has improved over the next two guitars. I think if I had to do it again I would have told myself to skip the binding (kinda like @markbailey suggests in the course.... aahh... yeah... I didn't listen Mark. he he) and focus on the important stuff like neck angle. A guitar with no binding is still a beautiful strong guitar.
@rocknroller912 & @Bpower Thank you both for such a quick reply to my topic. You are brilliant!!!
I should have added this at first too. I had been using the plans for the OM build from stewmac to build this. So I followed the details for building the body and assembled it. The glue up was fine. This was all done by the time I found the videos from Mark on YouTube. I wish I found this first as its great.
I forgot I had already made a template to route the mortise and thanks to you both I've just realised that if I just get the mortise done today, I can follow the course for dealing with the neck tenon and not need a jig for the neck. Just use hand tools.
The binding can wait as your right, its not needed for a first build. Jeez, the stress is gone.
Thank you both for helping a panicking noob.
