Crazydave's 2023 Brotherhood Build (may God have mercy)

[crazydave911]

I've thought about this all year . Should I build something I MIGHT can play (my short scale basses for example), a tiple,a tres, a cuatro? Or something familiar but hard to play?
Well familiar won out, for now lol

I've worked in the background on this all year so may as well build it

A uh guitar . A spruce top (scrap, not my best ) and a sycamore body (from dad's old place, decent)

A body/top plan and the old fashioned Stradivari building mold

I probably should have chosen different but I didn't (don't crap if I go crazy simple next year )

 

[crazydave911]

I may as well come clean right off. Of COURSE I designed it , I didn't yet have a bender and tried to come up with something that might not need one. Of course by the time I did my dad helped me build a bender that used a simple propane torch and I never built it lol.
Of course learning to use the bender (and not torch your belly) was an eye opener lmao

 

[old wrench]

Welcome to the BB, Dave!!!


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[crazydave911]

Welcome to the BB, Dave!!!


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Thanks friend

 

[crazydave911]

Got the top good and flat, now to do the neck and tail blocks and cut the building form to fit. Going sycamore neck block and tiger stripe cedar for tail block. I NEVER throw away scrap

 

[crazydave911]

Here is the top bracing plan. Just an X brace, a bridge pad an a tone bar (yes, just one )

And since that's the back side, here is the back side of the top. Note: the holes aren't filled yet, I use toothpicks

And the back. Using an old back blank so will need to slightly fill the waist

 

[crazydave911]

Filled the nail holes. I used to use old fashioned square toothpicks but found nothing but round. They didn't go as tight and probably will show

 

[crazydave911]

My sycamore neckblock

And cedar tailblock,all very rough still but that won't last long

 

[Deeve]

cool

 

[hopdybob]

you have a vision Dave, so go for it

 

[crazydave911]

A little more sanding then cut out. Hmmm, the 30 year old Elmer's did better than the fresh Titebond

Also smoothed out my endblocks

Fast enough for ya Rich?

 

[crazydave911]

Patching and sanding

Gonna be 3" at the neckblock and 3 1/2" at the tailblock, not great but not bad

 

[crazydave911]

Starting on the soundhole prior to bracing

 

[crazydave911]

Well, got the soundhole started

 

[crazydave911]

Tired of this top cracking every time a cat jumps on it

Also got the building form sanded

 

[crazydave911]

A TAD more bracing installed, no the bridge plate isn't, just testing the fit

And thanks to a hospital visit the X brace patch is linen. Just what the Martin doctor ordered

 

[crazydave911]

Got my braces tapered at the edges, no scalloping but a little taper on top

I didn't cut for my neck and tail blocks (yet) but decided to glue up the body (will get my best ice cream sticks as stiffeners

 

[crazydave911]

Gluing in my little sycamore inserts (was a standard 000 back )

 

[crazydave911]

Getting the tail glued on (this was NOT as easy as I foresaw designing it )(of course I DID forsake the Stradivari building steps somewhat )

Lessons learned for when I build the Strad )

 

[crazydave911]

Another small (grueling) step