sMg Guitars

May 20, 2012

Banged away on the frets this weekend.  After sanding and smoothing the fretboard and cleaning out the fret slots, the frets were cut to length then tapped in place.  I have also been sanding away at the binding and purfling, bringing it flush to the sides.  Still a lot of fairing and squaring to go before I mount the bridge and prepare for the lacquer spraying.

Once this guitar is ready for the spray booth, I will apply the same finish to the Girdis guitar I am finishing.  I’ve rough cut the snakewood bridge in preparation for final shaping.

The Gotoh ebony button tuners arrived.

November 20, 2011

It was May when I added the label, which is why it’s dated May 2011.  Boy am I slow.  The strings are on.  It sounds lovely.  Monday and Tuesday I will:  Fill a few minor gaps with lacquer, remove the strings and tuning machines, lower the height of the nut and the saddle, clean up the fretboard, knockdown the sides and neck, wet sand the entire uke, buff it to a glorious sheen, glue in the nut, reinstall the tuning machines and strings, then play it until my fingers fall off.

May 7, 2011

Happy Birthday Sister Cyndy!  In honor of your birthday, I did NOT work on your uke.  Rather, I finished knocking down and buffing the Koa Dreadnought.

The finish will get another buff after setup to bring on a real shine.  The lacquer under the fretboard extension was stripped off, and the neck was glued and bolted on.

After setting, the end pin hole was drilled and the tuning machines were installed.

The bridge location was determined using MATH!  The lacquer under the bridge was stripped in preparation for gluing.

The bridge was glued and clamped with the fancy bridge clamp from LMI.

January 17, 2011

I used the router table to smooth away the divots from drilling out the head slots.

Final smoothing will be done after tuning machine holes are drilled.  To ensure the holes are spaced properly, and equally balanced from side to side, I built a jig to direct the drill, locate the trio of holes, and prevent tearout upon exiting the headstock into the slot.

It’s a bit crumbly, as part of it is MDF.  I may rebuild with birch ply if I need to use it again sometime in the future.

Using the jig, I was able to drill holes, avoid major tearout, and dry fit the tuners to check appearance.  The top drums will need to be trimmed as they bang into each other due to the narrow profile on top..

December 26, 2010

Located slot position on headstock and drilled out holes (smaller than 1/2″) in preparation for head slotting.

The slot opening will be 1/2″.  By rasping out the material between the drilled holes, I’ll be able to create a flattened opening.