Andyjr1515

I like that very much. Great job!

Thanks. Not sure just how well my little handheld zoom recorder picks these things up but in real life it sounds pretty lush to my ear :). I'm not sure what style P plays on these types of instruments but I'm hoping it should cover all bases. They can be played single-note or strummed and in both cases the trick is to try to have even volumes between each string pair (same with an acoustic guitar) and no dull spots up the fretboard on any of the strings. I will know for sure when it can be properly set up but so far nothing untoward jumping out at me.

Now - DON'T get too excited. This is far from finished. The initial coats of varnish are on the body, hardening before the flattening and final coats, and the basic neck shape is carved. But before doing that final varnishing, there is the all essential check and fit-and-function fettling. With a bass and solid guitar, this is usually all handled with tweaks to the hardware - but on an acoustic, pretty much everything is hardwired and so involve sanding, chiselling and sometimes drilling! So the best time to do that is before the final finish coat goes on. But in all other respects, it's a 'live' mockup. A sacrificial set of strings, a temporary bit of bone in the saddle slot, truss rod tensioned and tuned fully up to pitch at GDAD tuning: The great news is that is hasn't clapped hands in spite of the string tension! Things that need tweaking: - neck angle still not right. Not a surprise as now we are dealing with real wood under real tension rather than a line on a drawing. Action is too high at a 'normal' saddle height and so the neck angle needs increasing by more filing at the heel - the spacing of the bottom G pair of strings isn't quite right, allowing for the thickness of the strings, the gaps between each pair to the other pairs should be even and the lower G is about 1mm out. While irritating that my arithmetic clearly had a flaw, it's actually quite a straightforward fix and a lot easier - again - now we have actual strings in actual place and tension to meaure. Oh...and it sounds GREAT (OK...I admit that is based on a hunch of what a guitar bouzouki should sound like ) Best with headphones, but here's a quick clip: Pre-setup sound check -

That's a stunning piece of veneer. Good choice of orientation too. Looks like arrow feathers

Well, if you're going to suffer a split, it may as well be a proper one! That red still looks good

And to the neck carve. Although I use a spokeshave and microplane to get much of the bulk out of the way, I do most of my neck carving with a humble cabinet scraper: It is very controllable, it is gradual - and with neck carves it is very easy to end up with a dip or a thin bit where you didn't intend one to be! And - while there is a lot of confusion about scrapers and they are only a couple of £'s each - they are planes in their own right. Here are the shavings: I had sent P a profile gauge to take the neck profiles from his present bouzouki. While I can't replicate these exactly because he has asked for the fingerboard to be wider and shallower than his present one, I will be replicating the 'soft V' at the lower frets (still a bit more to do here!)... : ...progressing to a more 'C' shape further down (a lot more to do here!): Ah - that's a bit better... : Now I'm a bit odd. I always have to 'air guitar' a build to see if the profile is right - even if I've never played a particular instrument. While I have never played a bouzouki, I can tell if it feels as I would expect based on P's profile measurements. Besides...it gives me an excuse to do a quick gratuitous mockup with the 2-coats-done-2ish-to do-body Bear in mind that the neck will darken and amber up a touch when the finish is put on: The neck actually feels great even though it is significantly deeper than a guitar or bass. The relative slimness and that V at the lower frets makes fretboard access a breeze. So, so far so good....

I agree with the above - move the whole nut across. 1mm should do it. In that second video you can actually see what is happening. As you pull off with an open string, the whole string is vibrating and so the section of string between your pull off and the nut is still vibrating when it hits the corner of the fret chamfer. You can actually see that in the video. I reckon 1mm would do it but I would also consider tighter tension strings - that looks very floppy to me

Love that radius jig, @spacecowboy ! It's all looking extremely good from over here

OK - I fibbed! I promise I won't do any of the subsequent coats...but this is the first coat:

And the top with its first coat of varnish: Some nice chatoyance (ripples, @Si600 ) showing in the spruce. The rosette's tidied up nicely, too. I won't do regular updates of the finishing - it's a bit too much like watching paint varnish dry. But fear not, those who have run out of anything else to look at in lockdown, I'll do the updates of the neck carve. Andy

Looks good

That's weird! I assume from the likes everyone else can see them? I'll try again here John, just in case:

Well, that patterning is definitely the wood - and now I've sanded down properly you can see the bookmatching. It has also toned down the contrast a touch. I don't know how well the photo looks here but in real life it's beautiful! There's an orange hue mixed in with the browns - delightful and further finishing will only enhance I've also tidied up the surround of the rosette - I'll put up a shot once it's dry enough to sand off

Well, off and on it's taken all day, but the back binding's done and the first rough sand. I won't go through the process because, of you go back a few pages, I ironed on the back binding exactly as I did for the top. But a quick mockup is always in order: So now I can start the finish process for the body while I start the proper carve of the neck. I usually apply a 'reveal coat'. I use the first coat - applied and slurried - as a grain fill, a sealer and also to reveal the dips and lumps or the glue over-spill. What it reveals also is a decent view of what the final colour will be. These two pics are in fading light, but I'm sure you get the idea... Not certain what the lighter areas on the back are - it could be the wood but equally it could be that it will sand off. At the moment my money is on the latter, and if so, the reveal coat will be living up to its name. But is the same colour as the very centre join - and that's definitely the wood colour. The full post-reveal sanding session will answer the question. Whatever, once the finish varnish is one, that figuring is going to be stunning. There are some beautiful colours in there! No wonder they call it Red Gum Walnut! So next steps in the coming week are body finishing, neck carving and daughter's Covid-fluid-situation-arrangements-govt-might-change-plan-again-already-cancelled-once-and-you-never-know wedding

Stain looks good. You can't beat a proper red and it will look glorious when your final finish is on. What stain did you use?

Such a fleeting jocular moment....because....the back's on! And the peg holes are taper reamed and the all important label is fitted: So tomorrow, I should be able to do the binding and then that's all set for final sanding and the start of the finishing process while I finish the neck carve

And it really is starting to look like a guitar bouzouki now A few more jobs to do with the back off - installing the Pure Mini transducers and cutting the top of the end graft to size being the main ones - and then I can glue the back on and sort the back binding. Then I can start the final sanding and finish coats of the body while working separately on the neck carve

The fitting of the bridge is perhaps the most critical part of an acoustic build. It simply has to be right. And there are big, big, problems if is isn't. First step was cutting the angled saddle slot. In the end, I had to make another jig - to be able to accurately use a router: Next was recognising that the top is spheroidal - and therefore the bottom of the bridge has to be shaped accordingly. Just to pander to @SpondonBassed 's engineering background, I will use again the old 'engineers blue' trick: First I put some masking tape on the top and put some school chalk evenly all over it: Rubbing the bridge a small amount on the chalk reveals the high spots: Sand the chalk marks off and repeat...and keep sanding the areas where there is chalk and repeat and repeat. This is starting to get there: As long as you only sand where the chalk is, you are always lowering the high spots. Eventually, there is chalk on every bit - and then you know it's a perfect fit. Next is position the bridge - scale-length-wise and double checking with the string lining up: Then cut round the bridge through the masking tape: Wood components have a tendency to float on the layer of glue while they are being clamped, and so need position positioning. So I now drill through a couple of the string holes and will use some bolts to position and help clamp during gluing: But, the main ooomph is a long reach clamp with yet another home-made jig - this one is to act as a clamping caul for the bridge body, and then the two captive screws clamp down on the bridge wings: And there it will sit until morning

There's lots of trialling and checking involved with an acoustic build. The bone zero-fret string guide will be shaped before fitting, but the slots are basically in the right place: Then, with the two outer tuners popped on, and a couple of spare strings from my bits box, I am able to first determine where the guide would be fitted at the nut end to give me equidistance from the fret ends, and then, popping the strings through the outer holes in the bridge and pulling them tight, where the bridge will go left/right-wise. Ignore the kink in the bass string - I couldn't pull tight and press the camera shutter at the same time!: What I am happy about is that is has confirmed I got my bridge peg holes in the right place Once I've cut the saddle slot in the bridge, then I can position it forwards/backwards-wise and then glue the bridge! (Again, not the sequence you will see in the text books...I will explain my logic later As always, thanks for looking and for your kind comments. Always greatly appreciated

And so preparations are afoot to fix the bridge. I should point out that the sequence I am following is NOT what you will find in the text books but it is what I have done on the last couple of acoustic builds and works much better for me than the conventional methods. The main difference is that I will be doing all of this with the back still off. As I have recently learned, the spacing at the saddle and nut of a bouzouki between each string and between each pair has to account for the string widths so that the distances from string edge to string edge are even. I have used a string pattern from one of the detailed internet sites of bouzouki specs and then scaled up the relevant dimensions to work out where the centre lines are. Clearly at the bridge, it is the spacing of the string retention holes that determines the string positions and here I have the additional requirement of two staggered rows of hole, like on a 12-string acoustic. I used a 12-string bridge to double check that I was getting the row spacing right and then used some schooldays arithmetic and 'avoiding accumulation of errors' precautions to mark out the hole positions, which equate to the string centre line positions just behind the saddle: Drilled using my small drill press with an accurate bradpoint - and then the acid test - do all of the holes line up exactly with the intended string positions: I'm pleased to say that they do Another Phew! So next challenge is how to cut an accurate saddle slot. I'll have to have a ponder on that one...

The headstock plate is now glued on. The plate has full area veneer to create the b/w/b demarcation line and, for the fretboard, it is built into the binding. Pretty good match... There is a zero fret but there will be a bone faux nut just behind in the normal position that will be cut to act as a guide for the string spacings To get all the the tuners fitting OK, I had to get the neck off, and the various files and planes out. So while it was there I just took the corners off the neck profile too using a spokeshave and a micro-plane blade. You can see the paper template that P gave to me (I sent him a profile gauge and some instructions to take the profiles of his best playing bouzouki). Over the weekend, I will cut some plasticard profile templates from these and start the main carve : So next job is the nut guide, and then I can pop a couple of strings on the top and bottom pegs to work out where the bridge and saddle slot needs to sit: But before I can do that I have to cut the saddle slot and drill at least two string hole positions on the bridge What could possibly go wrong

Headstock plate ready to glue and fretboard glued: And does it still line up? Phew! The headstock plate will be glued on tomorrow - this is how the veneers worked out: All being well, I should be able to start the neck carve in the next couple of days

I know this looks like just a picture with a whole load of clamps - but there's quite a lot going on underneath it all: On the left hand side is the headstock plate on top of two sheets of ebony veneer sandwiching a sheet of maple veneer, clamped down on a glass plate. This will mean that the demarcation line between the headstock plate and the headstock will match that of the fretboard to neck On the right hand side we have the fretboard being glued to the neck, which means the truss rod is fitted and the fretboard end has been shaped. Other than that, it's just a picture of a whole load of clamps

That's not a bad idea

Well, that went better than I expected! With a decent fit of the heel to the body (final action will be to 'floss' the neck/body join with emery to end up with a perfect join), the neck is now in line with the body: And the carbon rod is at the same height as the bridge