The Guitar I Built

[nescient]

Well, I thought I posted this at some point or another, but I guess not. I semi-recently (this past April) finished building a Stewart McDonald Rosewood/Spruce Guitar Kit. It took me about 3 full months of working 3 to 4 nights a week for a couple of hours per night. For those who don't know, it's basically a recreation of the Martin HD28v, and the documentation, literature, and instructions are absolutely perfect and easy to follow.

The guitar sings beautifully too (actually a little louder and bolder than my buddy's HD28). At first it was a little bit subdued, but now 5 months later, after strumming the hell out of it everyday, it's really opened up with brighter highs and deeper and darker lows. I'm very pleased with the sound.

It's not perfect, though. There are a few flaws, mainly with the finish. However, it's good enough, and the average guitarist and especially non-guitarist would never really notice.

Overall I'm pleased. The only thing I added were martin vintage style open gear tuners. Other than that it's pretty much bone stock. On to the pics.



















Anyways, just thought I'd show you guys. All in all, the kit was right around $500 including tuners. Of course, I already had a home shop and tools, so that was cost I didn't have to include. But it doesn't take much experience to build and it's very very fun and rewarding to build one of these. Next project is a Macassar Ebony with Bloodwood insert (3 piece back) 12 string jumbo. This one is gonna be even cooler!

[Kahn]

good job ass face

[RunsWithBuffalo]

That is gorgeous, make me one.

[sfmartins]

That is gorgeous, make me one.

It would also be nice to have pics during the build up...

[justanotherfan]

Wow, what a great job. I would also like to see some progression pictures.

[nescient]

yeah, here are some of the progress pics.

Neck and Tail Blocks attached to the sides first



installing the kerfed linings. these add strength to the top and back joint where the sides meet the top and back. Yes those are clothes pins.


and here they are installed with the cardboard inner "mold". it does the job


and here are the top braces after installation...(notice they are scalloped, hd28 style)


gluing the top on...



gluing the back braces to the back


and the back is glued on...


a view from the inside


successfully glued on the headstock veneer (rosewood)


Martin tuners


binding channel routed with bindings and herringbone top trim installed, drying
(this was honestly the most difficult part of the build, and it wasn't even difficult per say. it just takes some time and some precision routing, and it turns out great!)


Butt wedge installed with the bindings, and drying


bindings dry, and tape almost removed



frets installed in the fretboard and clipped and sanded appropriately. truss rod getting ready to be installed under the fretboard.


fretboard fitted to the neck and sanded


tuning pegs installed in the headstock


a quick mockup before everything comes back apart for finishing (lacquer)
-no the pickguard hasn't been installed. it's just there to see how it would look


tuners preliminarily installed


pore filler and sealer, first coats of finish that fills the holes and seal them


after a couple more coats of sealer...you can see how quickly it's shining up


and finally after just 5 coats of lacquer (about 5-7 more to go)


the neck, stained and sealed


nice flame up at the top of the headstock, which came out with the stain!


and afterwards, the finishing touches of installing the bridge, saddle, nut, and shaping them all, and then final setup work, and she's done!


that's a quick runthrough...there are more detailed pictures, but i'm pretty sure that's as detailed as you guys likely want...That's all from a kit at stewmac that costs a little over $400, and then whatever tuners you add on. Not a bad investment if I do say so myself!

[RunsWithBuffalo]

wow, four hundred is a steal, how much did tools cost?

[nescient]

i dunno...I've had a lot of them for a while...the main tools you will need are glue and clamps, clamps, clamps and more clamps...the expensive tools are things like a router, chisels, scrapers, and little hand saw/knife thingy...but you can definitely build one of these on the cheap with minimal tools!

[jaroben]

that's really cool

[whatshername]

nobody has asked how it sounds yet?

[nescient]

It sounds great...Nice deep bass with clear highs...the mid range is very complex, which I love! Overall the sound is pretty loud and open, and the sustain just keeps ringing! (As I said in a previous post, it actually sustains longer and is a little bolder and louder than a buddy's hd28. that was compared with both having brand new uncoated strings)

I realize it still has a lot of opening up to do, as it has only been strung up for about 5 months. But the tone has already gone through such a change, already, that I absolutely can't wait to hear what the next few years do to the tone. Overall, I love it!

The funny thing is that I actually went a little conservative when I shaved and modified the bracing. The braces under the soundboard (and somewhat on the back) shape the sound. When I sanded them down I kept them a little thicker as it was my first guitar and I definitely didn't want it collapsing when I strung it up. The next guitar will likely be more outlandish!

[Easy E]

I don't know what happened. He put so much goddamn lacquer on that thing.
It was an accident waiting to happen.

[Reckless]

I don't know what happened. He put so much goddamn lacquer on that thing.
It was an accident waiting to happen.

[sfmartins]

awesome pics. Thanks man!

[EnFuego]

Awesome job. I'm hopefully going to start building one soon too. I have bought a lot of the tools, but I just started a new job and had to go out of town for a while. Now I'm back, and going to start building jigs so everything becomes repeatable.

Are you planning on building another, or was it a one-time thing?