The info you giveaway here is pure gold! The best channel on acoustics I've found over here. Congratulations and hope you are safe from these shitty times!
I'm really glad I chose to get the sanding discs from you. Following your method with the 28 and 15 foot discs worked extremely well for me. Not to mention once the top and back are glued on you can't go back and change things so it has to be correct at this stage of the build. My Blues Creek H D 28 turned out extremely nice, and in all honesty sounds as good if not even better than many big name sister models. The sound from this guitar will jump out and hit you upside the head, It's a true cannon! I'm so proud to play this guitar at jams and explain it's origin, people don't believe it. I used all of your videos as my build guide and nothing else, all I can say is thank you so much John and Glenn for taking the time to put all this together. You've mentored yet another aspiring guitar builder.
I can't speak enough about preparing things as early as you can. This not only sets up the geometry for the neck mating but eases the process of setting a neck and getting the neck as true as you can. The better the geometry on the neck the better it will play
hi I enjoy your vids ,I always seem to gleen valuable info thanks. Im building an archtop and made a sanding paddle to sand the kerfing and blocks but Im going to change over to your method as I think it will yield a flatter surface . very cool .
Jon Hall, You must be a Secret, I have noticed not many watchers and You Sir are the absolute Best and have the Best Videos on " How To's " That Okay, I feel Like A Select Customer. By the way, I am going to need a Mold for an OM Acoustic. I assume I can just order it from The Blue Creek Guitar web site.
So, how do you set the angle when ftatting the top with a zero radius disk? is it the way you set the rims into the mold (relative to the central post) or just removing more from the neck block and shoulders area first?
I can't see anything wrong on our side. Perhaps Google is having some issue. I will give it a few days, and if it still doesn't play, I can always re-upload the video
I use a 28 foot disk , then when I use the flat side to dial in the angle for the neck I want to see 1/4 in to 3/8 inch rise off the tail block. Once the guitar is ready for the neck I tweak this . A new video will be out soon with this info on it. Hope this helps and please let me know if you need more info
I got it now! Did you consider a rigid mold/center post jig with the post angled and the disc with central bearing or something similar to have less guesswork? I'm still in search of the most effective way to form the top geometry, including bracing and rim preparation. BTW, do you leave the spreaders inside to be removed through the sound hole?
demetrymerkuloff You can't really do it that way , as there are variables to the back as you radius it. There is about a 9/16 taper front to back on the back , then when you start looking at Dred 000 , 12 fret etc you have to make a jig for each one and at this point , you are getting things close. The tweak to get it right is done once the top is glued on and the neck is set. You take the measurements for the top using the tail block as a reference before the top is glued on and after you can actually measure to the point where the saddle is. 3/32 ( .094) in . This gets you pretty close and the final set up is done when the neck is set so you match that geometry. There is a new video that will show this step and it will make things more clear. And yes I take the spreader out once the top and back are glued and before I remove the mold.
John, in a previous video to this stage (the one when you were gluing in the tail and neck blocks after rough profiling the sides) you left both your tail and neck blocks a "little proud" of the sides on both the top and back of the guitar. At the stage of this video, we can also see that. Question is, what do you think the optimum amount of proud is since we'll be taking that down, as well as the kerfing, with the sanding dish at this stage? My concern is, if we make the neck block too proud of the top of the guitar, aren't we raising the neck up too much in relation to the top surface (since the bottom of the dovetail female end moves up accordingly and we can only make minor adjustments in dropping the neck into this V slot when setting the neck)?
When we rough in the sanding , we are doing this because sanding a 1/16 piece is easier than sanding a 5/16 so this is just a prep of the sides for the later point when we glue in the blocks and kerfings. So you want to know just how proud you need it to be . I do it about 1/18 on the back and 3/32 on the top. Now we have to retrue the rim. At this point you are getting all the geometry into spec. The neck block will move and yes that will move the neck up , but remember , you still have to set the neck and you will want that a bit proud. That way you adjust the neck tenon after you adjust for the center line and neck angle. There is a new video coming out to make this more clear. The higher the block the more adjustment on the tenon. This also will depend where you get or make your neck block. If you got them from me this is figured in. In a perfect world you would want to be about 1/8 proud of the top to allow tweaking for the final fit , of neck angle center line and tenon adjustment.
John Hall Thanks, John, again for your very thoughtful and timely info-packed response...looks like I'm in good shape then because this is about how much proud I have to work with (this for the ongoing 000-42 build which BCG provided both the neck and corresponding block for). Will look forward to the upcoming videos as always.
I’m unclear in one part. In the first video, where you rough shaped the sides, you did the 28’ radius on the upper and lower bouts of the top. Then you flattened the upper, where the flat transverse brace will go. I didn’t see that here. Do you not flatten that area, or is it just not in this video?
It seems you set the angle of the sides for the top in the other video before gluing blocks and kerfing. Now you start with the flat disc to level the top. Are you using the slightly angled sides a guide to make kerfing and blocks flush with sides or are you actually leveling everything before putting the angle on the top again? Also how wide (tall) are those machinist parallels you are using? They look very handy.
I still rough the geometry in before the kerfing and block but the flat disk is to set the area between the top of the sound hole and the bridge flat. That way I have a mark for the kerfing so I don't have so much to grind away. feel free to contact me through my blues creek site and if you need to call we can arrange that Hope you enjoy the videos
blues creek guitars Absolutely enjoying. Guitar building is a lot to take on for an amateur. Videos gave me the confidence to start process and invest in tools. I feel the videos will help avoid a LOT of mistakes sure to be made. thanks
Josh Kuhn glad to hear that.We also have the kit guitar forum where you can share experience and learn from others. Music makes you smile making the instruments is a legacy
the parallels I use depend on the guitar. You can use play wood , just something to get your mold even with the table. I like about 5/8 in to 9/16. That way I can work the kerfing and clamp it in while in the mold. I don't like to take things out of the mold more the necessary
