Candi's Toby Last Updated 5th December 2007. My latest commission is an all Cuban Mahogany Toby for Candi Harris. This is an interesting build as the very first commission I had back in early 2004 was for a Toby. I have come a long way in my building since then and so it will be interesting to compare.
While I'm waiting for the top, back and sides to be thickness sanded, I'm starting with the neck. The neck, sides and hopefully kerfed-linings will be from the same block of Cuban mahogany. The scarfe joint for the neck peghead has been initially cut and planed and is being glued up using hot hide glue.
Here is the headstock cleaned up and with the back volute initially shaped.
The top back and sides were thickness sanded today. The back join has been planed and joined using the "tent" method and hot hide glue.
The top is joined the same way.
The top is then sanded, rough cut to shape and the rosette rings routed.
The bwbbwb purfling is glued into each rosette ring and when dry sanded.
Oh ... these are the plans!!
The neck and heel blocks are made. The neck block is mahogany and has slots for the carbon-fibre flying buttress braces and the hole in the top-centre is where the neck supporting the fingerboard extension sits. The tail-block is made from lime.
Here's a view from the other side.
The soundhole re-enforcement patch is glued using hot hide glue.
Then the soundhole is routed out.
Here's the back and top.
Next the sides are bent. Here is the first side in the Fox-style bender.
Both sides have been bent in the Fox-style bender, touched up on the hot pipe, cut to shape and tested in the mold for fit.
The first side is glued to the neck-block using hot hide glue. The second side is glued similarly.
The sides are then glued to the tail-block with hot hide glue
Here's the glued up rim-set in the mould.
The back centre strip is glued on next with hot hide glue, allowing spaces for the braces.
The back X braces have their bottom surface profiled to a 10' radius and the lap joint cut. The first one is glued down using hot hide glue in the go-bar deck.
When the glue is dry the second X brace is glued in place.
Next, the braces are carved down roughly to height and shape to give me the tap-tone on the back I want. The cap for the X braces is glued in place - this is Old Rio Rosewood.
The bottom ladder brace is profiled and notched to fit over the X brace legs and then glued on using hot hide glue.
Followed by the top ladder brace. The dial in the background is a hygrometer, showing the relative humidity at between 40-50%.
The top X braces have their bottom surface profiled to a 13' radius, are notched and the first one glued in the go-bar deck using hot hide glue.
Followed by the second X brace.
The top X braces are treated like the back ones but the cap used is spruce. Then the Old Rio Rosewood bridge-plate is glued in using hot hide glue.
It's a rainy day today and so with the humidity high I'll leave the rest of the top bracing until later. Instead I'm doing one of my favourite theraputic tasks - producing mahogany "pig-tails" with the block plane. the sides are shaped to accept the back allowing for the curvature and the tapering towards the front of the guitar.
Here are the reverse-kerfed linings I have made. They are from the same piece of Cuban mahogany that the neck and sides are made from which gives the instrument a nice continuity. Here they are taped together ready to go in the Fox-style bender to fit the rim shape.
In the bender they go . . .
. . . and out they come in the right shape.
The A frame braces are glued on the top. These are flat and are set into the neck-block.
The upper bout brace has its bottom profiled to a 10' radius, is notched to cross the A frame braces and the upper legs of the X braces and is glued in place in the go bar deck using hot-hide glue.
The first set of reverse-kerfed linings are glued on the sides with hot-hide glue.
Here the reverse-kerfed linings for the back are installed and sanded to the side profile.
The brace that sits behind the bridge-plate is glued in place with hot hide glue.
The installed braces are shaped and the top "voiced". I tap along all of the braces listening for clear ringing sustain and fine tune the brace shapes until I get this. The first of the lower bout tone braces is then glued on . . .
. . . followed by the remaining lower bout braces . . .
. . . and finally the finger braces.
All the top braces have been shaped and the top voicing is almost finished.
The sides are profiled to fit the top and the mahogany reverse-kerfed linings glued in.
The side braces of Cuban mahogany have been glued in and the carbon-fibre flying buttress braces epoxied in place. The rim-set is now rigid and no longer needs the support of the mould.
The back is trimmed to very close to the final shape and the back glued on. I use binding tape for this process - the back and sides are profiled to match so that little clamping pressure is required and the tape works well.
After the glue has dried the back is routed flush with the sides.
The final voicing is completed on the top and then I sign it.
The top is then glued on in a similar way to the back.
Here is the closed box with the top routed flush with the sides.
The ebony bindings with bwb side purflings have been bent to shape in the Fox-style bender and it's now time to route the binding channels. The top and back channels are first routed to the full depth.
Then the channel for the ebony end graft is cut and tested for fit with the bwb side purflings. These are then glued in. This is scraped flush when the glue is dry. The top and bottom of the end graft is then routed so that it is higher than the binding channels by the height of the side purfling. This allows the binding side purfling and end graft purfling to be mitred.
Then the long process of cutting and fitting the binding and purfling takes place with it taped in "dry" to check fit.
Finally the binding and purfling is glued and taped. At this stage the top becomes "active" again and when it is tapped gives an idea of the potential responsiveness and sound of the finished guitar. This is always a magical and exciting moment for me.
Blocks are cut from the neck stock to make the stacked heel and are glued together using hot hide glue. The tenon is cut in the heel and it is then glued to the neck stock with hot hide glue.
The truss-rod channel is routed next . . .
. . . followed by the channels for the carbon-fibre rods, on on each side of the truss-rod.
The carbon-fibre rods are then glued in place.
A thin mahogany cap is glued in on top of the truss-rod and when the glue is dry everything is sanded flush.
The ebony fretboard is cut to size and the fret positions marked and cut.
The fretboard is then bound with ebony with a bwb purfling to match the body binding.
Here's the finished result.
The neck is cut for the fingerboard extension that sits inside the body and the heel is rough carved.
The neck is tested for fit.
The ebony backstrap for the headstock is glued on.
Followed by the upper face ebony veneer. Before gluing this on, a small piece of mahogany was glued on the neck with a perpendicular edge at the position of the fretboard end. This was then leveled to the same plane of the headstock. This is to allow the side purfling of the headstock binding to meet in a continuous line with the fretboard side purfling.
The headstock is shaped to it's final shape.
Then the channels for the bindings are routed.
The bindings are mitred, cut to length and glued in.
The bindings are scraped flush with the headstock. Then the nut slot is cut. A block is made with the bottom sloping at the same angle as the headstock. This is attached to the headstock with double-stick tape at the line of the end of the nut. The face is perpendicular to the fretboard face. Using the block as a guide a fret saw is used to make a cut in the ebony veneer that stops just short of the bwb purfling.
You can see the cut here.
Next using the laminate trimmer and a straight-edge fence the rest of the nut slot is cut in the plane of the headstock. This is done carefully with a number of passes until the depth is down to the start of the bwb purfling.
Here's the result.
Here's the fingerboard butted against the headstock showing the continuation of the bwb purfling.
Next the tuner holes are drilled . . .
. . . looking like this.
Next the slots are routed out. This is a little nerve wracking and definitely not a time to sneeze!! The two spruce pieces are held onto either side of the headstock with double-sided tape and are guides for the laminate trimmer. They will be taken off later.
The routed slots are cleaned up and ramped at the nut end with a rat-tailed file.
The fingerboard is glued on.
The neck is then carved to it's final shape and the side MoP dot markers installed. The neck is then fitted to the body with two bolts and the side of the cheeks "flossed" to give the correct neck angle and orientation. Here is "Toby" next to "Jack the Lad".
And here's a side view.
Next the frets are pressed in.
The Old Rio Rosewood bridge blank is cut to shape and the saddle slots routed.
Then the bridge is rough shaped and the bridge-pin holes drilled and countersunk.
The heel cap of ebony is glued up with veneers to make a bwb purfling that matches the side purfling. The heel is cut just below the side binding and the heel cap glued on. The neck is then removed and the heel cap profiled into the heel shape.
The bottom of the bridge is sanded to match the profile of the top. This is possibly the most tedious task on earth but vital as the bridge is the biggest brace on the top and the generator of the guitars tone.
Next the side sound-port is cut. This is done by hand - the port outline is marked in pencil, then using a 2mm drill bit holes are carefully drilled inside the outline. the spaces between the holes are cut out with a thin Stanley knife blade, and round hand files used to finish to the sound port shape.
The position for the bridge is determined and the bridge held in place with a clamp. The two outer bridge-pin holes are then drilled through the soundboard and bridge-plate.
Here is the guitar with the bridge held loosely in place with two bridge-pins in the holes.
The body is sanded down ready to apply the finish. First Z-Poxy resin is applied as a pore filler.
The neck has had Z-poxy applied as well. The guitar body is prepared and ready for the first spray coats of pre-catalysed lacquer.
The first lacquer coat has been sprayed on.
After the lacquer coats have been sprayed, the finish is rubbed-back by hand. I'm aiming for the minimum possible finish that gives protection but enhances the guitar's tone. The bridge is repositioned in it's place and the lacquer is carefully scribed around the edge and then removed underneath the bridge in preparation for gluing.
Then the bridge is glued on with hot-hide glue.
Finally the setup work is done - bridge-pin holes drilled out and slotted, bone saddles shaped and fitted, tuners fitted, nut shaped and fitted, label signed and glued in and then the strings go on. The nut is slotted for the strings, the truss-rod adjusted and the saddle height dialled in. It's always a great time for a builder to hear the first voice of a new instrument things change so much in the first hours and weeks.I did some recording when the strings had been on for a couple of days and here's a little ragtime piece I've called "Candi's Rag".
