12 Fret Slope Shoulder Dread

[Joe Sustaire]

Well why not start another build?
This is going to be a swap build for John up in Canada. I met him on the acoustic guitar forum where he had posted a 1924 Gibson round hole archtop he was looking to sell or trade, so we came to an understanding and I'll document the build here so he can follow along.

This will be a 12 fret slope shoulder dread, spruce top, mahogany back and sides with a paddle headstock.
I'm following a drawing that JJ Donohue sent me when he built his 12 string SS here.

First I cut out a plexi 1/2 pattern and then I built a mold from that.


Then I joined the top and back plates using hot hide glue and the tape method.



Then I made a pattern for my sides. First time to try this, I used Colin's method of setting the mold in the radius dish and transfering the radius to tape on the mold, you can find the tute here, http://luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopi ... e+template" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;, on the OLF, works like a champ!


Sandwiched the two sides and my pattern together with carpet tape and cut them to shape on the router table.


Sanded the top and back plates, cut them out and here they are with the profiled sides, ready to go.


All for now,
Joe

[rollingdam]

Thanks for posting the link-look forward to watching as it progresses.

John up in Canada

[Tommy K]

I do like slope shoulder dreds.
I like the proportions of the shape you are using. What is the width at the lower bout?

Tommy

[Joe Sustaire]

Glad to have you on the forum John!

Tommy the lower bout measures 15 7/8", yeah that slope shoulder is just so much sweeter looking to me than the standard boxy dread. I guess some of us are just drawn to the curves!

Joe

[Haans]

Well, Joe, at least it's 12 fret!

[JJ Donohue]

Hey Joe...nice to see you building this. Looking forward to watching your progress. Since completing the 12 string, I built a six string as well and really like it. Good luck and have fun!

[Kim]

Goodo Joe been look'in at 12 fret slop dredies and this build may even push me over the edge and back into the shop.

Looking forward to it mate.

[Joe Sustaire]

Thanks guys! Yeah, I've been wanting to build one of these since I saw JJ's slope shouldered 12.

Got the sides bent on the hot pipe.

Heavy aluminum pipe, 1/4" wall, I smooshed it some to give me some different diameters.


And one of the best tips I ever received was to put a folded, wet paper towel between the pipe and the wood. Adds steam to the wood for bending and most importantly, keeps the wood from charring.


And here it is clamped into the form. I let it sit overnight, then did a little touch up bending to refine it.

And today I cut the overlap off the sides, made a mahogany end block and neck block.

And here they are glued and clamped into place.

All for now,
Joe