The Luthier Community

When I took my curly maple build in to work there was lady there who liked it so much she commissioned me to build her a guitar. Since she didn't play I tried to talk her out of it, but she said she understood the cost and was planning to learn how to play. And besides she hopes to have an early Feissli for when I become famous

She likes the abalone and likes the idea of a soundport, so more bling and a few extra holes here and there.

To start with the back I used the tape method I learned from Steve.

The sides were from the same billet as the previous build which was almost too thin so I added a strip of walnut.

I also joined the spruce top but didn't take a picture of it.

Ran them both through Eben's drum sander.

I cut the neck pieces out of a plank of flatsawn curly maple and a center strip from walnut.

I don't like to have to match up the laminates in the stacked heal or headstock, so I cut the whole shape out.


Bending:

A couple of shots of my bending form to see how I did the cutaway.

I cut out the form with no cutaway first, and then cut out the cutaway and kept the offcut. I had cut them out before joining the boards so the offcuts got joined separately. I added some plywood sides to hold them on and found that the cutaway fit snugly enough I didn't need any pins to hold it in place.


Lunch is calling so more later.
Raymond

My SG shape is similar to an OM in size, but is a little longer and a little slimmer. This is the original that Debbie liked so much she commissioned me for this one.



I built a heat blanket controller a friend of mine designed and the sides for this guitar were the test subjects.
I made the sandwich - wood surrounded by paper towel, aluminum foil, heat blanket and metal slats.

I spritzed the wood, and paper towel with distilled water to avoid mineral stains, set the temperature for 320 and twenty minutes, and started the bend a few minutes after it reached temperature. I clamp the waist part way first to hold everything in place, then the cutaway, lower bout, and then tighten the waist to pull in the slack.

I got some springback at the lower bout

and some cracking in the cutaway,

so I increased the temperature and rebent.

On the non-cutaway side things went smoother,

but I still got some springback so I increased the temperature again and rebent. No springback, but I scorched the wood. I tried sanding it out and it apparently goes clean through.

I thought about my options, and I've decided to lay this set aside and start over. I resawed this set out of a billet so I have another set just like it.

I won't repeat the pictures, but will be back with the new set when they are bent.
Raymond

Ouch Raymond,

That's rough, I'd offer some advice but I don't have any experience with blanket bending.

I sure do like the looks of the finished guitar your patterning this one after. Hey, I know, just do what you did last time! Sorry, couldn't help myself, and seeing how you dish it out to Eben, figured he'd enjoy seeing some headed your way.

Sounds like you sure found a good customer, a beginner that knows what she wants and is not going to settle for less!

Better luck next go-round, you were just getting warmed up,
Joe

Who me? I have nothing but nice things to say about Eben. True I have lots of not so nice things to say to him but only because I love

Most of the problems I had with these bends were related to the learning curve with the new bender and some development bugs in the controller. I put a 10 amp fuse in the controller and it's a 10 amp blanket, so I keep blowing the fuse at the most inopportune time (like while I'm bending the cutaway), and I initially had some problems with the temperature sensor giving me inconsistant readings. The stubborn side of me has a hard time setting anything aside and starting over, but it was going to happen eventually.

The reason I know that an SG is similar in size to an OM is the first one started out as a prebent OM rim I got off of ebay. By the time I started building with it it had lost it's shape and I couldn't quite get it back to the OM. I used different premade parts in my first few builds so that I wouldn't get bogged down before I finished anything. The last 2 have been scratch builds.

I'll probably resurect these some day. But for now it's a good thing for me to be able to say this isn't good enough for a Feissli guitar.

Ramond

Conjecture: maybe the galvanized metal did not properly support the wood during bending?

Dennis

I wondered about that myself Dennis, but I bent the cutaway side months ago, and actually since then started and finished the build with the EIR and Bloodwood 3 piece back. It was the same size and shape and also had a cutaway and I bent those sides without incident using this same set-up.

The cracked side was because the blanket blew the fuse while I was bending it, and the burnt side was just carelessness on my part.

I'll let you know if I have any trouble with Maple set #2, but as my father would say... first I need to put one hand on each cheek and push until I hear a popping sound. (That will be my head popping out of my arse.)

Raymond

Ah, bummer, bro;

But good on ya for posting up and showing ever'body that shit happens!



Oh, and I resemble those remarks!

E

I admire you guys that can bend those tight cutaway radiuses with a bender. I've got to the point where I do it on a bending iron by hand cause I've not mastered the heat blanket, or light bulb methods.

Raymond - the curly maple is nice stuff.

Gary