The Construction of a Guitar (part 2)
June 22nd, 2010 | Author: guitarman
To begin building a quality, hand-craftsmanship guitar, you must first choose the timber it will be constructed from. Then essay each piece and make assessments on its visible and tonal qualities. Much of the timber to be utilized needs to be hand selected including Spruce soundboards which are usually from Europe.
Because each piece of timber is different, modifications must be made of each part of the instrument as the structure progresses in order for the completed product to have the optimal volume and tone.
Such a quality Guitar could take more than 200 hours to construct and of course only a few guitars under construction at one time are possible in any workshop. This grants every guitar an extremely high level of attention to detail and a look of traditional hand-craftsmanship.
Each part of a completed guitar, no matter how small, plays a role in the sound and look of the instrument. It is for this reason that elaborated consideration must be payed to each stage of the construction, guaranteeing that the completed guitar is at its maximum potential. Each part of each instrument is commonly produced by hand, mostly employing hand tools.
The bracing and tuning of soundboards is one of the most significant stages of the construction of a guitar. The completed soundboard is the part of the instrument that absorbs the vibrations from the plucked strings to create the sound of the guitar. Therefore, it is very crucial for close attention to the construction of each soundboard, to ensure that it gives the guitar the particular sound trying to achieve.
Using traditional French polish on the soundboard usually completes the guitar. This is a highly thin coating of shellac, which allows the soundboard to vibrate without resistance. The back, sides and neck are completed by using a very thin lacquer; the lacquer gives these areas more protection from playing wear while having no detectable effect on the sound of the instrument.
The guitar now is set aside to cure and then hand polished usually to a high gloss. The whole finishing process takes about a month and about 35-40 hours of labor to complete.
Construction of a Guitar
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