Two Steps Back

Sept 20, 2009

Current mood:vexed

I have been planning this guitar I am currently building for a while.  I have been happy with how things have progressed until a few days ago.  I got the neck thru part of my guitar out of the clamps, where it had been glued up, and noticed a problem.  There are a number of places where it is not glued tight.  In fact, there are some very bad gaps. 

If I was building furniture this wouldn't be a problem.  However, there is a difference between quality, and musicial intrument quality.  This is ok quality, but not musicial instrument quality.  Because of all the pressure the strings put on the body, the body has to be perfect.  If not, it will warp and twist and end up unplayable.

So what does all this mean?  It means I'm going to have to make it again.  I'm going to have to go through my maple, find a good piece, re-cut the pieces, glue them up, and hopefully get a quality neck out of it. 

I may have to break out my Robert Bennedetto DVD's on how to make an archtop guitar.  Just to double check, and make sure that I didn't forget anything.  Call it a refresher course. 

The one thing that irritates me the most is not having to remake the neck, but the fact that I accomplished something that I had never done on a project before.  The maple that I cut out had a twist in it.  The three pieces that I glued together ended up straightening each other out.  I actually managed to clamp and glue the twist out of it. 

So I take two steps back, but in the end I hope this will mean that my guitar will end up coming out a lot better.  If I am going to make something, it should be my best.  The good news is that the wings have come out great.  I love the look of the black walnut, and it will just pop when completed.