Going to build a new "old" guitar

[whitespruce]

About time I do something. My good friend, Danny, does the black powder rendezvous circuit, with all the reenactment trappings and attire. They try to do everything as authentic as they can. He has been talking with me about the need for Guitars of the period. So we are going to bite that bullet.

I have this book detailing what C. F. Martin was building when he first came across the pond, starting with the "Austro-German" style before moving on to the "Spanish" style instruments. This is from the 1830's and 40's. And there are detailed plans available for purchase. So, I bought both sets of plans and we are going to start with an Austro-German style based on an instrument built in 1837.

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Here is the guitar that the plans were drawn from.

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We will deviate slightly from this exact guitar, in that we are going to use Goncalo Alves for the body instead of rosewood. Existing records state that Martin built 19 guitars from this wood between 1836 and 1840, and he continued to use this wood into the 1840's, but records have not survived.

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One interesting aspect of this build will be the Staufford style tuners. There is a place that claims to make reproductions, but they are in the $800 price range. We intend to make our own. We will use the gears from some open back tuners, and make all of the other parts, including the string pegs.

Oh, I already have a real clock key, which was used to adjust the neck angle.

Stay tuned, this should be a fun one,

g

[difalkner]

Looking forward to this build, Grant. It's been a while since I visited the Martin museum (1974) but don't they have one similar on display? Seems like I've seen one of those but it could have been in another museum. Either way this will be a cool build!

[whitespruce]

Looking forward to this build, Grant. It's been a while since I visited the Martin museum (1974) but don't they have one similar on display? Seems like I've seen one of those but it could have been in another museum. Either way this will be a cool build!

I am sure they would have at least one,

g

[Jason]

Might be worth a look-see for you here. I've also got a copy of the 1877 edition of the Practical Machinist. A little later than you're looking, but a lot of really simple (relatively) stuff. I don't think rotary cutting tools were a thing yet.

[whitespruce]

Interesting. I will keep that in mind for the future. Thanks,

g

[whitespruce]

Here are two different Stauffer style tuners that are supposedly commercially available. Neither seems to be the correct shape to match the plan I have.

This set looks like the closest match

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This is the $800 set, but I don't like it at all, and I would have to reshape the peghead.

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These are the hardware parts you can buy for the neck adjustment, but I already have these made.

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What I found interesting is that this is essentially identical to the externally adjustable version of my adjustable neck joint, Except I used more modern hardware: T-nut for the piece in the neck block, and Allen wrench instead of the clock key. Same 10-32 adjusting bolt.

g

[whitespruce]

Just for info, here are the neck adjusting parts I made. Did these from the plan. Still need to braze in a square stud into the head of the cap screw to fit the clock key. Note, I have a shorter screw than in the hardware for sale.

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Here is what the whole set up looks like on the plan.

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g

[whitespruce]

And here is the tuner layout from the plans. Note how thin the tuner buttons are, nothing like the sets for sale. And the string posts are laid out differently.

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g