How I Make Concert Stella Steel String Acoustic Guitar

The body of the little “concert” size Stella copy is together, I am getting ready to glue on the bindings. Once the bindings are done then I can start fitting the neck to the body. I wanted to share some photos of how I assembled the body.

The top is Lutz spruce. The brace under the bridge, the sound hole and upper bout grafts are scrap pieces of Engelmann spruce from my wood cache. I used my Roarockit Thin Air Press vacuum bag to glue all the pieces on top of a work board that is scooped out under the bridge to help dome the top.

Six years ago, I made an outside mold/work board to make one of my guitars and I disliked the thing so much I sent it to the local dump. With this guitar I made a work board that is based upon the one you will find in Roy Courtnall’s book, Making Master Guitars. Unlike Courtnall’s work board, the dished solera is removable. 

The “L” blocks are held in place by carriage bolts, the blocks help keep the sides at right angles to the sound board. This photo shows that I have attached the sides to the top with little blocks of birch and the “ladder” braces got their little pillar blocks to keep the ends of the braces from coming loose.

The small stick running from heel block to end block helps to keep the end block at right angles to the sound board.

The back with its braces and center seam graft. By carving the ends of the braces I can adjust the tap of the back, it’s quite something to hear the change in the tone as I carve the ends and lower the height of the braces. I can bring that tap tone into a better “focus”, the tone is present without much “fuzziness” to it, it’s hard to explain unless you are in the shop with me so I can demonstrate this amazing change.

The top already for the back. Ladder bracing was popular throughout Europe in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, except for Spain. Sorry, I forgot to take photos of how I glue on the back!

Refining in the heel of the neck with spokeshaves that I made.

Top: Lutz spruce

Back and Sides: Black cherry from Indiana

Neck: Port Orford cedar

Body length: 24 5/8”

Upper bout width: 9 1/2”

Waist: 7 7/8”

Lower bout: 13 3/4”

Depth at end block: 3 5/8”

Depth at heel: 3 1/2”

String length: 24 5/8”

 Contact me at highcountrylutherie@gmail.com if you have any questions about this guitar!