In the works

[Andy Bounsall]

I haven't posted anything for a while so I thought I'd share a few photos of the two acoustics that I'm currently building. One is purpleheart and curly maple with a spruce top. The other is flame birch with a chocolate brown western red cedar top. Enjoy!

[John Clifford]

Why the open tail blocks?

[Andy Bounsall]

Why the open tail blocks?

I'm trying something new (for me). Since these guys don't have traditional sound holes, there's no easy way to gain access to the inside to attach the bolt on neck, nor in the event that repairs, etc are ever needed. I made the tail blocks so that there's an access hole big enough to get a hand and forearm into. A matching piece of the side wood is attached to the cutout to form a trap door which, when completed, will blend in with the design and be almost invisible. Not shown in the photos below, but there I'll be a mechanism by which the removable trap door will be secured from the inside.

[Gordon Bellerose]

Forgive me for asking, but how will you get inside to activate the mechanism?
Or will it in some way, be integral with the strap button?

[Andy Bounsall]

Good guess Gordon.

There'll be a short aluminum bar that spans across the inside of the access hole. An end pin jack, attached to the bar, will poke out through a hole in the trap door. Tightening the nut on the outside of the end pin jack will pull the bar outwards and the trap door inwards, locking the whole thing in place. At least that's the plan.

Clear as mud? I'll post some pics of the contraption once I have it all put together.

[Bryan Bear]

I made an access plug that operated similarly to this. When you twisted the end pin it rotated the steel bar to verticle then pulled it all together to squeeze the plug in place. I like the dowel corners on your plug, did you do that because you drilled out the block then cut or for some other reason?

[Andy Bounsall]

I wanted a nice snug but not tight fit. Drilled the four corners (5/16" I think), cut between with a thin scroll saw, then glued the dowels into the drill holes. Worked out quite nicely.

[Bob Francis]

Very clever

[Bryan Bear]

That makes sense. I made mine by cutting up and re-laminating the tail block. It was similar to how you would make a bandsaw box.

[Clay Schaeffer]

I made a tail port that was oval shaped and used a wooden "bar" to hold it in place. Just another way to do it. To fill the kerf that the coping saw blade made I moved the two cut off pieces of the sides outward before gluing them to the plywood backing - leaving a gap between them , which I later filled with an end graft. It allowed me to grain match the port to the remaining sides.

Hey Andy,
Is the F hole guitar a flat top or semi arch top? I've been thinking about making one with a strong cylindrical arching scheme (that I use for octave mandos) using a typical flat top soundboard.

[Andy Bounsall]

...Is the F hole guitar a flat top or semi arch top?

Clay, it's a flat top - the same 25' radius that I normally use for acoustic guitars.

[Gordon Bellerose]

Would it make sense that the aluminum bar you mention, would be as wide as the "plug" itself when turned horizontal?
And then when turned vertical it would be long enough to hold the plug in?
All of that could be controlled with a couple of small dowels placed as stops on the inside of the plug?

[Bryan Bear]

Would it make sense that the aluminum bar you mention, would be as wide as the "plug" itself when turned horizontal?
And then when turned vertical it would be long enough to hold the plug in?
All of that could be controlled with a couple of small dowels placed as stops on the inside of the plug?

That’s how mine worked, though it was a rectangle not an oval.

[James Meloan]

I've been really curious what flattops with f-holes sound like. I've never gotten my hands on one but have seen a few pictures. Do you notice a difference between them and guitars with round soundholes located in the usual place or not so much? I've heard some things here and there about f-holes and their effect on the sound of viol instruments but I'm not sure what's legit vs speculation.

[Matthew Lau]

Nice!

I really look forward to going back to building

[Brian Evans]

All I do is drill a 7/16" hole through the tail block and poke a long allen key wrench through. The hole is either covered up with the tail-piece, or I use it for the end-pin if a cable type tailpiece. This time I am strongly considering a single bolt into the neck block from the neck heel, dual use for a strap pin. One bolt is more than enough. I do use a tightly fitted plain tenon to stabilize the neck.