April 5, 2009

This weekend yielded very little progress.  I spent many hours in the workshop staring at my tools, staring at the workbench, sitting on my stool, listening to American Roots, and trying to unhinge myself to do some work.  Eventually I started back by restaining the Zebrez to fix some glue spots, then getting into working on the neck and fretboard for the parlor.

The parlor is really a nice little guitar.  It has lots of contrast and as I bang on the box, it gives some sweet resonance.  Girdis warned me that it may be a bit heavy on the top, and the bass may be lacking.  I’ll try and sand the box aggressively and bring down the thickness slightly in an attempt to boost the bass.  We’ll see.

I installed the neck heel laminate (maple, ebony, maple) and did some trimming.  I cut the fretboard to the neck dimensions and see that the neck is still a bit wide.  I can certainly work toward a narrower neck as too wide is easier to compensate for than too narrow.  The neck plus fretboard is at 26mm, which I will have to bring down to 22mm if I want the lean mean neck I’m striving for.

I may have mentioned the fretboard scale is not equal to the scale defined in the plans, but the bridge location will account for the difference.  It’s not much, so I’m not concerned with the variance.

090405layout.jpg

It’s quite a stunning guitar.  Once I get the neck width and thickness dialed in, I’m ready for the finish work.  I’ve got the binding/pufling trimmed down to where the sides are square and the BWB is exposed nicely.  I’m going to use very small paua dots for the fretboard, which I’ll have to order, to keep the look simple and uncluttered.  I’ve decided to NOT bind the fretboard with ivroid as I’m thinking it already has enough contrast and appropriate decor.