1.5 6.0 6.0 178.3 279.6

29.2 120.0 29.2 54.1 171.5 54.1 7.5 11.5 16.0 12.0 4.5 4.5 A B

2.4 6.0 3.0

228.5

54.1 120.4 54.1 151.3

26.5 98.3 26.5 11.5 16.0 5.0 4.5 4.5 10.7 10.7 104.6 C E

4.8 7.2 3.0 6.0

385.3 117.1 54.1 61.9 54.1 51.6 109.6 54.1 26.5 64.2 26.5 11.5 16.0 5.0 4.5 M D 3.0 3.0 23.4

197.1 210.1

26.5 144.2 26.5 26.5 157.1 26.5 5.0 5.0 192.3 F G 3.0

224.7 251.7

26.5 171.7 26.5 26.5 198.8 26.5 5.0 5.0

H J 3.0 3.0

205.7 165.6

26.5 152.7 26.5 26.5 112.6 26.5 5.0 5.0

K L

Certain Luthiers Tune The Top By Making The Top Progressively Thinner As It Reaches The Edge And Remain Full Thickness At The Top. If You Do This Do Not Reduce The Edges Below 2.2mm And Make The Center Slightly Thicker.

Center Bridge Brace On 660mm Line For Scale 52.4 Length.

(4500 C F Brace Key Numbers. Refer To

Brace Diagram Plan For 54.0 Bracing Layouts 20.8 4.8 (4500 G 29.1 R 36.8 Dashed Line Indicates Rossette 85.7 12.7 1.2 Reinforcement Extends Beyond Rossette Approx. 5mm. Depth Of Holes For Rollers Can 39.7 330.0 43.5 30.7 Vary With Tuning Machine Mfr. Dashed Lines Indicate Outline Of Re-Constituted Ivory Or Excellent Quality Neck Block Where It Meets The Bone For the Nut. (4500 58.0 Top. H Shaded Area Indicates 1/16" Cedar

7.9 Bridge Plate Glued To The Underside Of E The Top Place. Notch Fan Bracing Over The Top Of The Bridge Plate.

15.9

R 42.1 (4500 J 78.5 38.0 50.8 63.5 53.2 65.1 73.0 368.5 230.1

15.9 16.4 !$$&<,"&=+,-%) 7.9 >00&1?3% (4500 E String Ramps K 37.0 35.0 258.0

4.8 34.9 21.8 20.8 Bridge Complete 37.0 34.9 Back Block or Butt Block. Vertical Grain With Tie Block, Saddle Channel And Cedar Or Spruce Minimum 20 Grains/ Either Bone Or Ivory Saddle. Center In. Some Luthiers Shave This Block or (4500 On 660mm Scale Length Both 128.6 Rossette - Usually L Angle It Away From The Top As This Prefabricated. But You Can Vertically and Horizontally. Block Often Gives A Guitar A "Hump" A Make Them Yourself. In The Top And Can Cause Cracking. Cut Slots Into After Drilling Holes For Fret Wire Detail !"#$%&'(%)%&*+,-%)&./+ Machine Head Rollers. Make A Template To ,&0/+%&)1%%'&)/2"3 Locate Holes And Drile Precisely With A Drill D Press. Cut String Ramps In With A Round Rasp and Final Shape With Sandpaper Wrapped Around (4500 A Dowel. B

M

Kerfed Lining Made From Either Basswood Or Cedar. Many Spanish Classicals Use Solid Kerfing For The Back Plate Attachment. If You Choose To Do That Make Sure The Kerfing Is Pre-Bent Prior To Gluing. Do Not Introduce Stress Into The Guitar

Materials: Tips and Techniques: Methods: Methods - Continued: Methods - Continued: Assemble the proper materials before you begin your project. If you don't have your tone wood Always make sure your tools are razor sharp and not dull. Buy good sharpening stones or Start by sanding your top plate, back plate and sides to rough thickness (within 1mm of final Now you should assemble the guitar neck. I recommed Cuban Mahogany because it is light and Now fit the top to the sides. Trim the top to fit exactly inside the inside form. Drop the sides on top already, there are several great suppliers including LMI (Luthier's Merchantile) which has a wide sharpening grinders such as the Tormek sharpener. thickness). Carefully glue the center joints of the back and sides together. When gluing the back, strong. Cut the Head scarf joint with a band saw first. Prepare this joint so it is perfectly tight. Next, and glue the sides to the top with individual blocks. These should be about 1/2 to 3/4" long range of top and back and side wood available. If this is your first guitar, you may want to try wood you will wand to insert your decorative center strip at the same time. This should be pre-assembled cut the blank to size and capture any blocks you can to glue to the heel/foot assembly. Now cut the depending of the contour they encounter and should be only set into place by hand and not that is a bit less expensive for your first try, such as mahogany for backs and sides or walnut, which If you use stationary tools, make sure the blades on your bandsaw, tablesaw, jointer etc. are also if you have multiple colors. neck blank right down the center and flip the grain so it is opposed and working against each other. clamped as this adds undue stress to the guitar top plate. is about 50 to 33% of the cost of the Rosewoods etc. very sharp and you do not have to force wood through the machines. Slip a 6mm strip of Ebony between the halves and prepare all pieces in a similar manner to the To prepare the joints, sand carefully with sandpaper glued to a perfectly straight edge. I like to use plate joints - or if you have a stationary drum sander, just run all the pieces through that. Prepare Now you can glue the back plate to the sides by using 3/4" elastic tape, rubber bands or spindel When you order wood make sure you order wood that is at least 1" oversized in each direction so You can never have enough jigs, templates etc. in guitar-making. If you plan to continue beyond this adhesive backed sandpaper in rolled and stick it to the side of a 24" metal level. Trim the sandpaper the other half of the scarf joint so you will have a good joint for the headstock trim. clamps. Get even pressure, but DO NOT FORCE anything - no stress here either. you can eliminate splits etc. 2" is even better and quite often accomodated with tone wood. Make guitar and make several others, templates and jigs are a must more making your work a lot easier. carefully. Use 120 grit paper and do not use a lot of force. The plates are joined most easily with a sure the tops and backs are bookmatched for grain pattern. cam-action jig while using a piece of wood on the top to keep things in alignment. Of course use Glue the heel/foot block on the neck - all the while checking with your neck template. Once the neck Next is the time to trim the plates, rout purfling groove around the edge of the guitar and fit the If you are starting from scratch, building , make sure you make excellent quality forms for waxed paper wherever you risk having your wood stuck to the jig - or coat the jig with wax. has dryed, do a final sanding on a stationary belt sander for the headstock and double-check the purfling. With groove cleaned out, nice tight fit and everything cut to length, glue on the purfling. Neck blanks can be Cuban Mahogany. This is a very lightweight but very strong wood. Fretboards your guitar. Both inside and outside forms for the body assembly. Lood at LMI's side bending thickness of the head. Now glue the headstock trim and purfling and set aside to dry. should be clear Ebony, solid and you will have to buy 2 of them to allow you to add the Ebony machine. It works great and you can pump out a lot of bent sides in a short time. Once glued (If you use Rosewood, be sure to get all of the resin out of the wood with acetone Rough sand the sides, back and top plates and round the edge of the purfling. reinforcing to the center of the neck. before you glue anything. Trace your top and back on the wood - use a white pencil for dark wood. Next rough-cut the heel and foot/endblock shape of the neck on the bandsaw, keeping things true Put together the templates we have shown here at a bare minimum. You should have a template to Then run the top and back through a wide stationary belt sander - or use scrapers and hand and plumb. Remember to always cut a bit outside the lines to allow for slight error. Now rough cut Next sand the fingerboard to thickness, cut to correct width and final sand the edges on a stationary Most suppliers will have brace wood available, which is split from to log so there isn't any runout in trace your basic guitar shape, your top and back brace locations, Your neck and foot profile and the sanding methods. the head after tracing with your headstock template. Sand the sides to final shape and size and drill belt sander. Cut the fret grooves and locate the fretboard on the neck. Lightly clamp it and drill 2 the wood - look for this in the literature. headstock layout, showning all the drilling locations for the tuning machine rollers and string slots. you machinehead roller holes of each side of the head. You can now drill your holes for the string small holes down through the fret groove at the body and nut ends of the fretboard. Place small When I started out making guitars, I couldn't afford all the expensive stationary sanders etc,, slots - being careful not to get any drill runout or tearout. Now cut the remainer of the slot out with locator nails in the holes and double check the fingerboard location before gluing. Double check all You will also need additional wood to make up the purfling around he edges and you will need There are a lot of great little tools and gadgets available for Guitar Lutherie - Here are a few: that makes the work so simple now. I used to get one side of the plate completely flat, then I either a router or a jigsaw. Cut outside the line and finish the slots with sanding stick. the latteral and vertical locations with a precise straight edge. Glue the fret board in place. maple or some other type of white wood if you want white stripping accents at your purflings. Thumb Planes - Available from Luthier suppliey houses - they are primarilary used for violins. would chuck up a small bit in the drill press and set it to stop at the desired thickness of my Spindle Sander - This is a tabletop stationary tool. plate. I would then drill dimples over the entire surface of the unfinished side and simple Cut your string ramps in the string grooves with a round rasp and finish with sandpaper wrapper Final shape the neck to the fretboard size, shape the heel and finish sand. Place a heel trim on the We did not get into the details of how purfling is put on this guitar as that is more of a construction Dremel Router with roller bearing bushings - or other small hand-held mini-routher. sand until all of the dents were gone - pretty slick! aroung a dowel. bottom of the heel. Dry-fit the tuning machine and make any adjustments so there is no binding or issue and not a guitar play issue. Any number of guitar construction books will guide you in the Note Stewmac has a lot of adapters available for the Dremel such as purfling routers, bits forcing in place. Fit the nut and bridge. Check the action, bridge location and after verifying glue the proper techniques of installing purfling, where it should be and how to laminate it and bend it. etc. After you have your thickness completed on the top plates. trace the guitar contour and carefully cut Next rough-shape the neck with a 4-way rasp, using the rough cut blade. Get the neck to within bridge in place. Fret cutting jig - this is available from Stewmac also. Give you precise control over fret sawing. the outline out. Make the cut line at least 1/8" outside the line to give you some give. about 1/16" of final thickness and width. Now cut in the guitar side slots in the sides of the neck. Do Buy good fret stock with at least 18% silver content. Steward MacDonald has a good assortment of Make a jig to glue your bracing. This consists of 2 plywood plates with dowel supports at each this very carefully and make sure you have good joints. I like to use dovetail saws for this operation Give all wood surfaces a final sanding with 220 grit sandpaper, install the frets and prepare to install fretwire as does LMI. corner. The braces are glued using bent dowels that span between the two plates. Get your sides bent, either with a bending jig or on a bending iron. You can also boil the sides and and g--o s--l--o--w. Thick the fitting often with your guitar sides clamped in the inside form. the finish. clamp them to an outside form for a few days to a week. Be sure to overbend a bit to allow for Rossettes are best purchased already made unless you are determined to complete that difficult Make sure your shop is held an a very constant humidity level all year long. Never vary more than springback. Once the neck fits in the sides precisely, trim the butt joint of the sides and glue the butt block on There are many different opionions on finish material from french polish to varnish to lacquers and operation. Many of the supply housed carry a great assortment of prefabricated rossettes. 5% between 45 and 50%. This will minimize cracking, shrinkage and give overall durability to the bottom of the sides. Make sure to carefully fit the butt block the ot contour of the sides and urethanes. Do your research and decide on what suite you best. guitars you plan to sell or gift. While the sides are curing, cut rout the channel for the rossette and insert and glue that. I use a make sure the block is vertical grain. Once the butt block is in place, final fit and glue the neck. Buy good tuning machines. Make sure they have good plating on them and the metal is a heavy dremel router with a steel stud sticking up through the center of the soundhold (the sound hole is Check the latteral and vertical positioning of the neck as this is extremely important at this time. The Finishing is a whole different operation in and of itself is too lengthy to discuse in this format. I gauge. Buttons can be pearl, pearloid or ebony on many good quality machine heads. not cut out at this point. Once the rossette is installed, rout out the soundhole with the router too. foot and top of the block may need some additional trimming when the back and top are fit. sugguest you get a good book on instrument finishing from one of the suppliers.

Now is the time to install all of your bracing on the top and back. As I mentioned I use a dowel jig. I With the sides rough-cut to contour, glue in the lining to receive the back plate. This lining can be This was a quick overview of guitar construction and I have not had the room to go into any great plan on detailing these jigs in an upcoming book on guitar construction, but do not have plans on either kerfed lining or solid pre-bent lining. Glue with wooden clothespins with rubber bands detail on anything. At Ultimate Guitar OnLine, we plan on publishing an ebook on guitar the jig at this point. It works fast and really secures the bracing evenly and uniform. wrapped on them to strengthen their tension or use mini spring clamps. Make sure you have even construction in the near future, so watch for that. glue squeeze out and clean it up as you did on the braces. Typically bracing are only roughed-out for their final shaping is done after they are glued. After the Good Luck and most of all HAVE FUN! glue is mostly dry, remove the plate and get all of the glue squeeze out off the bracing and plate Now fit the back to the sides and neck with the side following the contour of the inside form. Since with a sharp small chisel. The glue should be dry enough to not be liquid but not fully adhered to the the braces for the back are slightly arched (about 1/8 to 1/4" ) carefully mark the trim marks for the Check Us Out At: wood. sides. This will vary with every aspect of the guitar beause the inherent nature of it's shape. www.ultimate-guitar-online.com [email protected]

Sheet Number This Drawing or Drawings Are To Used For One Date: Sept. 10, 2009 Use Only And Not Reproduced For Any Other Purpose Than Construction Of This Particular Ultimate Guitar OnLine's Revisions: Instrument.

Reproduction, Distribution or Sales For Any Other Use Is Strictly Prohibitied And Falls Under U.S Note: These Plans Are Copyright Laws For Ultimate Guitar OnLine 2009 Drawn Full Scale Are Are C1 Classical Guitar Plan #1 Labled In Millimeters

660.0

177.6

21.0 4.8 660.0 Classical Guitar Bridge Complete 129.6 Many Classical Guitars Built In The Spanish With Tie Block, Saddle Channel And 37.0 35.0 33.0 31.1 29.4 27.8 26.2 24.7 23.3 22.0 20.8 19.6 18.5 17.5 16.5 15.6 14.7 13.9 Tradition Shave The Bass Side Of The Fretboard Either Bone Or Ivory Saddle. Center Down Gradually From The 12th Fret To The 41.3 On 660mm Scale Length Both Back Block or Butt Block. Vertical Grain Cedar Or Spruce 7.9 19.0 43.0 Soundhole To Give The Bass Strings Additional 34.9 Vertically and Horizontally. Minimum 20 Grains/In. Some Luthiers Shave This Block or Re-Constituted Ivory Or Excellent Quality Room To Oscillate. Angle It Away From The Top As This Block Often Gives A 34.9 Bone For the Nut. Guitar A "Hump" In The Top And Can Cause Cracking. This Light Line Is The Neck Splice Joint. There Is A 8.13 Degree Angle From The Neck To The Headpiece 6.3

14.5 600&17 600&17 600&17 The Soundhole Reinforcing Plate Is Made From The Same 8900&(7 8600&(7 Material As The Top Plate (i.e. Cedar) And Is Slightly

19.1 8600&(7 Drill These Holes Only After You Have Larger Than The Rossette Size (About 1/8"). Glue It So Purchased Your Tuning Machines. Make That The Grain Runs 90 Degrees To The Top. Fit It After Holes About 1mm Larger Than The Roller. The Top Bracing Is In Place, To Fit It Perfectly Around The Drill These Holes First To Minimize Tear-Out 2.2 25.4 Braces. Of The Tuner Slots. 94.0

Shaping The "Foot" Of The Guitar Is One Of Side Braces. Set On Top Of Top Braces And Extend Down 102.0 103.2 The Most Demanding Operations. The Foot 105.2 #1 Quality Cuban Mahogany Neck With R 38.7 Sides Of Guitar - See Latteral Section For Profile. R 12.0 Give The Neck And Body A Lot Of Structure Ebony Reinforcement Strip Down Center And This Joist Should Be As Perfect As (See Detail Above). Select Only Vertical Possible. Grain Wood For Your Neck. The Top Trim For The Headstock Is Traditionally Made From The Same Wood As The Back And Sides. It is Usually Leftover Stock And Is About 2.2mm Thick. Glue Maple Or :00&17 :00&17 Maple/Ebony Veneer Beneath For Additional Detail - This Is 8;00&(7 :00&17 10.2 8;00&(7 :00&17 A Personal Preference. Glue These Pieces Before Any 8;00&(7 8;00&(7 Headstock Work Is Started.

Laminate Spanish Cedar Left Overs From The 2.2 Neck Blank (Before You Rip The Blank Down The Middle). Make Sure To Glue Enough For The Note: Most Luthiers Make A Template From Either Wood Or Continuous Neck Block And Foot At The Guitar Back Braces - Vertical Grain Minimum 20 Grain/In. Plastic With The Neck Profile, Heal Shape And Interior Neck Interior As Well. 75.0 Cedar Or Spruce #1 Quality. Cope Out Ends Of Block And Foot Profile - All In One Template. Make Another Copy Bracing And Fit Into Channels Cut Into The Lining (Do Of This Plan To Make Your Own. Just Use Spray Adhesive To Either Extend The Back Material Over The Heel Not Cut Through The Sides. Attach The Pattern And Cut It Out With Your Band Sand. Cut A Or Place A Piece Of Ebony Trim Over The Neck Kerfed Lining Made From Either Basswood Or Cedar. Little Big (Away From The Line) And Finish Sand With A Spindle Heal. Both Practices Are Used And Traditional. Many Spanish Classicals Use Solid Kerfing For The Side And Back Material: Many Different Woods Can Be Sander Right Down To The Line Extension Of The Back Plate Over The Heals Back Plate Attachment. If You Choose To Do That Used. For Bright Tones Go With One Of The Gives The Guitar Additional Strength. Make Sure The Kerfing Is Pre-Bent Prior To Gluing. Do Rosewoods Such As Indian Rosewood or Brazialian Not Introduce Stress Into The Guitar Rosewood. Koa Is Bright As Is Zircote And Madagascar Rosewood. For Warm Tone Use Walnut. Most Traditional Classical Guitars Are Constructed From Indian Rosewood.

93.2 65.0 82.7 114.0

Longitudinal Section

Back Block or Butt Block. Vertical Grain Cedar Or Spruce Minimum Classical Guitar Bridge Complete R 4,686.3 Guitar Top Plate. Usually Braced Dead Level (No Arch) Use Only #1 or AAA Top Materials - 20 Grains/In. Some Luthiers Shave With Tie Block, Saddle Channel And This Is The Single Most Important Piece Of Wood Used In A Guitar. This Block or Angle It Away From Either Bone Or Ivory Saddle. Center The Top As This Block Often Gives On 660mm Scale Length Both Materials Vary Quite A Bit, But Usually Consiste Of Spruce Or Cedar From Many Different A Guitar A "Hump" In The Top And Vertically and Horizontally. Regions. Spanish Cedar, Canadian Red Cedar And Many Others. Must Be Vertical Grain Can Cause Cracking. Wood With No Run-out, Even Grain Across The Top And 20 Grain/In Minimum.

Top Thickness Varies As Well. From A Minimum of About 2.5 to 2.8mm Up To 3.5mm, Depending On The Strength Of The Wood.

60.0

Solid Ebony Fretboard. Tone Bracing For Top. Spruce Or Cedar. Vertical Spanish Cedar Neck Material. Select Grain, No Run-Out. Min. 20 Grains/Inch. Kerfed Lining Made From Either Basswood Or Cedar. Vertical Grain - As Shown Here. Split

Many Spanish Classicals Use Solid Kerfing For The 6.3 The Neck Blank Down The Middle 98.4 Back Plate Attachment. If You Choose To Do That And Reverse The Grain So The Grain Make Sure The Kerfing Is Pre-Bent Prior To Gluing. Do Is Opposed - Gives Much Greater Not Introduce Stress Into The Guitar Strength To Your Neck And Prevents Warping. 17.9 27.0 6.0 27.0 Vertical Grain Ebony Center Reinforcing Strip Down Center Of Neck. Neck Section At 7th Fret Latteral Section