MIMF

Hmm - maybe Gibson knew what they were doing?? I do a little mini-volute like this, more for aesthetic reasons than for strength. I sort of balk at the idea of designing a guitar to withstand being dropped on its head. But that's probably because I'm a hobbyist, not a factory with hundreds of thousa...

In fret leveling, you can realistically achieve that kind of tolerance (at least temporarily). But that's metalworking.

Yes, and an optimally setup guitar with perfect fret placement and saddle-only compensation will have up to 5 cents error from the equally tempered scale, according to Trevor Gore. Of course it's still important to get the fret placement as accurate as you can, to avoid compounding errors.

Here's what my '70s Les Paul Deluxe looks like. I'm not sure I would copy this shape if I was making one, and I don't think it needs to be that far back. But I agree that the crest of the volute should be at or behind the nut line.

When all else fails, inlay! Seriously, if it's on both sides, nothing is going to remove it. There are various wood bleaching chemicals, but you'll never get the color to match the surrounding sapwood. So time to get creative and introduce some other woods. Of course, you'll have to get your custome...

Ebay

Michael, yes fretting is the one area where some plausible claim can be made that you should strive for better than .01" accuracy. I actually did the math on this, using a theoretical 650mm scale length and disregarding real-world string compensation issues. It turns out that to get a 1 cent di...

Warning: rant ahead. I just watched another video by a well-known luthier who claims that every component of his guitars is machined to 0.001” accuracy. And this is a guy who doesn’t use CNC machines. With all due respect (and I do have great respect for this guy’s skills), this is just nonsense. It...

Since you mention it, do you trim the fret ends to be flush with the outside of the neck, extending completely across the binding, or do you cut them just a bit short, leaving some binding visible at the end of the fret? I seem to recall seeing it both ways, and it sure is easier to make them flush...

Steve, I’m sure there are many methods that work fine, but here’s what I do: 1. Cut fret slots while FB is rectangular and flat (if you’re going to use the same wood for binding, cut off binding strips first) 2. Measure total width of binding with calipers and subtract from desired FB width at nut a...

With block inlays it's actually not that hard to polish the MOP a little beyond where you sanded the wood. If you go over the line a little, it's not a big deal.

Steve, I can't tell for sure but it looks like you've got about 3" of tenon before you get to the pickup cavity. IMHO, that's plenty for a solid neck joint, especially on a relatively short scale Les Paul type instrument - assuming you have a good fit. I wouldn't worry about the rest.

Steve, I assume you are routing the inlay cavities while the FB is flat? If you do that, it really shouldn't make any difference whether you glue in the MOP before or after radiusing, since the same thing happens to it either way. You can definitely see sanding scratches in MOP with anything under 6...

OK guys, I'm going to try the larger sanding blocks on my next build - thanks for the suggestions.

Takes me for bloody ever. I'm thinking that's the inescapable truth. Thanks for the comments. By the way, I picked up some sheets of that Abranet stuff Dave King recommended, and I love the fine grits for sanding back shellac. It loads up, but then you can just flick the dust off, or vacuum it off ...

David, thanks for the abranet suggestion. I'm going to try that. I've found that wine corks make pretty good sanding block for this purpose - and of course I have lots of those around. But nothing works perfectly, because the shape and radius of the recurve changes as you go around the guitar, at le...

I think I have a pretty good handle on most aspects of archtop guitar building at this point, but I’m still struggling with one step: carving a smooth recurve. I mean, I can do it, I eventually get there, but it’s a long and tortuous process, with hours spent correcting problems with tearout of wood...

I use this jig for both my dovetail and mortise and tenon neck joints. I can dial in whatever neck angle I want. For the dovetail joints, a router template fits over the top. For the m&t joints, the surface of the top plate is aligned with the shoulder of the neck joint. Then I use one of those ...

I agree with Brian. Since every piece of wood is different, it doesn't make sense to try to force the top to produce a predetermined frequency spectrum. You're just trying to get that particular piece of wood to sound as good as it can. So how do you know when you're there? As Benedetto says, that k...

Greg, National recommends Flitz metal polish for stains that won't clean up with just white vinegar or rubbing alcohol. I've used Flitz to remove tarnish from my Style 1, and it works well. You don't want to do this very often, because it removes a little of the plating each time.