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.