Multitasking, Six Guitars at a Time
Recently, I’ve had a lot of projects going simultaneously.
Here I’m glueing the head block on the Padauk build. I’ve been building this guitar and the Malaysian Blackwood one more or less together.
Centerstrips for the backs.
The current state of the Padauk build. The Malaysian Blackwood one is looking similar, except for the rosette which is still in progress.
Glueing the fretboard on this Somogyi Modified Dreadnought.
This Somogyi 00 recently came back from the finisher.
The 00 needs a bridge, here I’m sanding a radius into the bottom, to match the dome of the top. Then the top of the bridge gets shaped.
Finish is removed under the bridge footprint before glueing.
My first guitar sold, but before it went out the door I wanted to improve the top finish. So, I decided to remove the bridge and re finish the top. Here I’m using a heat lamp to soften the bridge glue in order to remove it. There is tinfoil over cardboard to protect the rest of the top from the heat. The light was reflecting brightly off of the tin foil hence the sunnies.
Bridge removed successfully.
I sanded the top back to bare wood, and here is right after I started building up a new French polish finish.
And the top with a shiny new finish. I also did some minor touchup work on the back and sides finish, and re oiled the neck. Next step is to get the bridge back on.
This 1986 Somogyi was in the shop for some re voicing work.
I had the privilege of observing Ervin going through this re voicing process. At various stages Ervin would show me what he had done inside, and I could listen to how the tap tone response changed as a result of the brace shaping through the sound hole.
Then new strings and a setup. I played the guitar a little bit before the re voicing, and there was a big difference to the sound as a result of this work.