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Russell Rose, the proprietor of Avandel Guitars, is
making a Special AGW 000 Model, with walnut back
and sides. We thought this would be an interesting opportunity
to take you through the process of building a quality acoustic
guitar. If you have any questions, or want to make general
enquiries about Avandel Guitars, please contact Russell
Rose
Fingerboard
The first stage in making
the fingerboard is to prepare our fingerboard blank the
blank is thickness and squared to a thickness of 6.35mm
(1/4").
I like to slot the fingerboard
at this stage, the position of the slots is absolutely critical,
even a fraction out and the guitar will not play in tune
Next the fingerboard
is tapered to suit the nut and saddle string spacing, and
in this case a deduction is made to allow for the width
of the fingerboard binding.
The Binding is now glued
to the fingerboard; I like to insert small bits of plastic
into the slots to keep them free of glue etc, whilst I work
on the fingerboard.
Finishing the fingerboard
Once the fingerboard
binding are dry the side position markers are added, any
inlay is done and the board is radiused, at this point it
is ready to be attached to the neck.
Many Factories cut their
necks from 4" x 3" Blocks of timber; this suits
the CNC machines they use to fashion their neck. I prefer
to make my necks from 1" Timber in what is known as
a stacked heel configuration. There are many advantages
to this type of construction, the critical headstock area
is stronger (I Started to explain why, but decided I would
probably bore you all to death), A wider range of timbers
can be used because some timbers are simply not available
in 4" x 3" blocks, and it conserves timber, for
the AGW Guitar we have chosen another native timber (Cherry)
for the neck.
Most modern steel string
guitars have a truss rod, the type I like to use are double
action, which means they can induce a bow in the neck in
either direction, another common type of rod is the Channel
Rod or Martin Style Rod which sits in an Aluminium channel
and requires a wooden spline between it and the fingerboard,
these can only induce a bow in one direction.
Completing the neck
After installation of
the truss rod the tenon for the joint to the body is cut,
and the neck is then cut to its rough shape, and then the
heel and shaft are shaped with a combination of spoke shaves,
chisels, sanding blocks and elbow grease.
The fingerboard is then
attached and the neck and body head for the finishing bay.
Completing the guitar
Once the finish has
been applied the neck and body are assembled, then the fret
board is fretted, and the bridge is then positioned and
glued, tuners attached, setup and strung.
Here it is all finished
and ready to provide years of faithful service, and sweet
tone.
Many thanks for taking
the time to read my articles, I realise that the articles
give just a brief overview, and I have skimmed over many
parts of the process. If you would like any further detail
of the construction of my guitars please feel free to drop
me a line.
I would like to say
a big thank you to Andy Fellows of Prime Timbers for donating
the timber being used to construct this AGW Guitar.
If anyone is looking
for a quality supplier of excellent quality Tone Woods drop
Andy a line by emailing, andy.fellows1@ntlworld.com,
he is happy to deal with orders from the trade and hobby
builders.
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