The headstock is scraped with a cabinet scrapers to level the binding. The final carving of the transition area from headstock to the running stock of the neck is then hand carved with a paring chisel and sanded.
The neck is now ready for the precise fitting of the neck to the body of the guitar. Size, shape and mass of the bridge can have tremendous influence on the sound and performance of the guitar and this is the stage which assures that the playability of the guitar is exactly what is required.
Here we see Petria Mitchell working her magic with her graver on the SJ’s heelcap. A piece of 10,000 year old mammoth ivory has been glued to a block of mahogany and polished to a high luster. Working completely by hand and with no magnification, she will etch the picture desired onto this small surface.
Here we see acrylic paint being added to the etching. Ah, but it seems so simple, doesn’t it?! Try it yourself sometime. Ooops! Yes, she IS amazing!!!
Our heelcap is shown in an intermediate stage; the Vermont scene of a Sugar Maple tree and an old stone wall coming into focus.
After the neck angle has been set to the body and the engraving has thoroughly dried, the cap will be epoxied to the neck heel with a super-strong, slow setting epoxy. After final sanding of all parts, it’s off to Larry’s
Spray booth where his expert hand will bring the SJ’s various woods to life.
L.A.C.E.: Local Agricultural Community Exchange, located in the former Homer Fitts Building on Main Street in downtown Barre provides an environment where consumers can buy and eat locally grown and prepared foods conveniently and affordably.
Their stated mission is “…to create a commons where Farmers and the communities that support them can celebrate local food”. For starters, they’ve been running the most eco-friendly market/cafe in Barre for over a year now. And thanks to a federal grant to the Central Vermont Community Action Council, plans are in place for LACE to provide technical assistance to food based local business startups, as well as to expand their educational programs.
Today we pick up our SJ neck, already in progress. Our first photo shows the “rough” neck, with the classical style three-piece layup of the heel block, the running stock, and the peghead clearly visible. We use this traditional method for its superior strength and stability. After the neck pieces are glued together as shown, the tenon for attaching the neck to the body is cut; the tenon sides then get a thin cross-grain mahogany lamination on each side, once again for superior strength and structural integrity.
A channel for the truss rod is then routed into the running stock. The two-piece over/under rod of 3/16” steel is set into the channel; a 1/16” mahogany cap is glued on top of the rod, so that it is completely embedded into the neck. The rectangular rod has greater bearing surface than a round section device. Notice that the rod works independently of all other parts, and that it is designed to oppose perfectly the tension of the strings. (Truss rods are designed to “true” a guitar’s neck, NOT to adjust the action.)
After being certain that the neck blank is perfectly flat, the fretboard is positioned, located with two small wooden dowels, and glued in place.
The peghead overlay, in this case of Gaboon ebony, is then glued to the peghead face. Spanning the running stock of the neck and the peghead as it does, this creates a headstock of greater strength than a one-piece neck.
The truss rod is the tightened slightly, back-bowing the neck a bit. The fret board is then planed perfectly flat and the appropriate radius on our CNC router.
The small bandsaw is used to trim the excess stock from all areas of the neck in preparation for rough carving on the CNC router. We only use the CNC to do rough stock removal on our necks, preferring to do the finish carving by hand. This allows a much wider range of neck shapes in response to the widely varied and highly specific needs of our customers.
She’s starting to show her personality now! After a thorough scraping to remove rough scratches and level all surfaces, the body has been sanded down to 320 grit sandpaper. Sealer has been applied in preparation for grain filler which, after scuffing with fine sandpaper, will make the wood surfaces smooth enough for lacquer.
Another view at the same stage, showing the sides. Please note the difference in color of this and the previous picture. Color presentation on different computer monitors can vary greatly! On our Mac, the previous picture (of the back) is much closer to the actual color of the rosewood.