A Blonde Guitar - Making a Copy of the FE 19 Guitar by Antonio Torres: Shaping the Neck
Wilson, the necks on your guitars are perfect!
Alex Komodore, Coordinator of Guitar Studies, Associate Professor at Metropolitan State University, Denver, Colorado
This is the one time a guitar maker gets to do anything close to carving a piece of wood - the neck.
The profile of the heel is carved nearly to completion when I attach the guitar's top to it, now that the guitar is assembled I need to blend the curves of the heel to the rest of the neck. I also need to shape the profile of the neck to a flat "D" shape. I find this shape the most comfortable for playing, though some like a more rounded neck, I think this is the best shape for a classical guitar, even Alex Komodore thinks so!
Knives, spokeshaves, card scrapers, round and flat rasps and files are the tools used for shaping the neck.
I use this gauge to check the progress of the neck's shape.
The best judge for a neck's surface and shape is my thumb and hand. As a player I know the importance of a good neck and I spend as much time as needed making the neck perfect.
I read an interview with a very famous classical guitar maker and in the interview he bragged that he could shape a guitar's neck in 15 minutes using just a draw knife. Bravo for him.
I spent close to four hours shaping and sanding this neck. I want my guitars to be playable and comfortable.
French polishing with shellac is next phase for "Amparo"!
Alex Komodore, Coordinator of Guitar Studies, Associate Professor at Metropolitan State University, Denver, Colorado
This is the one time a guitar maker gets to do anything close to carving a piece of wood - the neck.
The profile of the heel is carved nearly to completion when I attach the guitar's top to it, now that the guitar is assembled I need to blend the curves of the heel to the rest of the neck. I also need to shape the profile of the neck to a flat "D" shape. I find this shape the most comfortable for playing, though some like a more rounded neck, I think this is the best shape for a classical guitar, even Alex Komodore thinks so!
Knives, spokeshaves, card scrapers, round and flat rasps and files are the tools used for shaping the neck.
I use this gauge to check the progress of the neck's shape.
The best judge for a neck's surface and shape is my thumb and hand. As a player I know the importance of a good neck and I spend as much time as needed making the neck perfect.
I read an interview with a very famous classical guitar maker and in the interview he bragged that he could shape a guitar's neck in 15 minutes using just a draw knife. Bravo for him.
I spent close to four hours shaping and sanding this neck. I want my guitars to be playable and comfortable.
French polishing with shellac is next phase for "Amparo"!
It would seem to me that the neck carving would be a great pleasure and release after all the very tightly controlled fitting work you do elsewhere in the building process.
ReplyDeleteMan, that Etude #11 is amazing! It's fun to see it played after hearing it so many times. Thanks again for the wonderful videos.