Attendees

• Members
• Michael Dean
• Robbie Dummitt
• Jack Gellerstedt
• Woody McKenzie
• Tom Pafford
• Larry Sakayama
• Howard Wilson
• Guests
• Bob Schmucker

Attach the back on the J45 project guitar

Even among the small band of luthiers in our group, there are several ways that backs get attached - bar clamps, go-bar deck, spool clamps, and Tom's method which uses large rubber bands. We added some bar clamps to the centers of the upper and lower bouts and some additional rubber clamps from bicycle tubes.

The small pieces of wood along the curves of the bouts are to stop the rubber band clamps from breaking the thin wood of the back along the grain lines.

First thing was to do a dry fit - align everything and try a few clamps before spreading any glue.

Trim the back on the J45 project guitar

Using a laminate trimmer and flush trim bit, Tom trimmed the back to fit the rim.

Cut truss rod channel

Larry demonstrated how he cuts the truss rod channel on the router table. Because the headstock veneer is already on, he uses shims to keep the neck level as he cuts the channel on the router table.

After Larry's demo, Tom cut the channel on the project guitar.

We are using a "Hot Rod" 2-way truss rod and a 7/32" bit (both from Stewmac). The channel is cut in several passes until the proper depth is reached.

Reverse Tension Guitar

Bob Schmucker brought along his Reverse Tension guitar for us to examine. In addition, he got the inventor and owner of Reverse tension Guitars, Bill Martin, on the phone to answer our questions.

Woody snuck his phone into the soundhole and was able to get some pics inside. Notice how lightly the guitar is braced.

For more info on the Reverse Tension Guitar, check out:
rtguitar.com
RT Guitars Facebook Page