MAKING PLANS...

Sometimes the best laid plans aren't all that great really. I got plans for the Gibson ES335 via e bay and they seemed fine to the naked untrained eye (i.e.: me). On closer examination there were some big omissions. In particular the contours for the sound board were not recorded, so shaping the top of the guitar would be hard, if not impossible, unless I left it flat (not an option).

  

Also the thing looked bloody huge on the plans. After some guidance from my tutor and getting a copy of a set of plans for a cs356 Gibson (above right, thanks Strato & James)  I made some adjustments to the original outline. 

The new more compact shape was cut out on a bandsaw and is shown above.

Next up was the task of planing the joined pieces of mahogany to get a level surface to shape into the cs356.  Incidentally the wood is Malaysian in origin but the original genus is from Honduras. Most of the mahogany imported to the USA now is from Peru and up to 75% is illegally harvested. Brazil put an embargo on mahogany harvesting many years ago and the illegal harvesting is now mainly in Peru.

Planing has a kinda "zen-like" quality to it and is a guilty pleasure I would highly recommend to everyone .The red gold (i.e. Mahogany) is now flat(ish)and ready to shape. 

I spent the rest of the day improving the action on my old guitar and restringing it.  Plays as sweet as a bird now.  This student is on leave for a month and I leave you with the video below. The drummer now lives in Redhead NSW. The group are essentially defunct but left a great legacy of which this is but one small piece.  Enjoy!

FIRST STEPS

Well, after some delay and consideration on my behalf,  a few decisions have been made and work officially started on Friday last, June 14th. The wood choice ended up as Mahogany from South America.  Australian Red Cedar and Spruce were considered but I am told the Mahogany is the best available, easy to use and should look awesome. All I know about wood is that it grows on trees so who am I to decline the advice. The first picture shows the wood which was originally a block but is now cut into four pieces. The plans (bought from e-bay - $16 ) sit in front

The body shape, as outlined on the plan, is affixed to a piece of craft wood and shaped out with the help of a bandsaw ( check out the second pic above) The plan is to cut the mahogany into that shape but first a few other steps. The wood i.e the mahogany, is in four pieces needs to be joined so a guitar shape can be arrived at. The wood is glued using a bookmatching system so each piece mirrors the other, which gives the appearance of an open book. Check out any, or at least most guitars you will see this on the front or back. Many other pieces of woodwork/furniture will display this too.

Clamps hold the pieces together in the pic above.  It needs a while to dry and gel so this is all for today.

What I learned today was a return to basic art of using a saw: use your thumb knuckle to maintain the starting place of cutting, by placing it next to the saw edge at the cutting point. When holding the saw handle extend for first finger to secure the direction of the saw!

In the mean time heres John Hiatt: