DIY Network

Handmade Guitar, Part 12: Hand-Shaping the Neck From "Handmade Music" episode DHMM-103

	Cody Kilby is one of the finest guitar players in America, and he has enjoyed the vintage sound of Dudenbostel guitars for years. He
	Cody particularly likes the way the neck of this Dudenbostel guitar feels in his hand.

In this segment of DIY's Handmade Music, the guitar's neck gets refined to its final form through hand-shaping. Luthier Lynn Dudenbostel spends lots of time getting guitar necks to fit like a glove.

Materials:

Band saw
Straight-edge ruler
Carpenter's pencil
Sandpaper
Safety glasses or goggles
Luthier's hand tools including:
Hand scrapers
Chisels
Draw-knife
Hand-planes
Rasps

Safety Alert: Always wear safety goggles or safety glasses when
working with wood, power-tools, saws, drills, routers, etc.

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• Lynn prepares for the shaping process starts by cutting excess mahogany from the neck with a band saw (figures A and B).

  Figure A

  Figure B

  
  

  Figure C

• Then he trims away the excess rosewood-veneer from the peg head (figure C).

• Next, Lynn sketches a distinctive detail to the back of the peg head. This is for creating a feature that's characteristic of the vintage guitars Lynn strives to emulate to the finest detail.
  
• "In the 1800s and early 1900s," says Dudenbostel, "the neck and the peg head were not one piece of wood. They were two separate pieces, and the peg head was joined to the neck with a scarf joint (figure D). When Martin [Guitars] went to a one-piece neck, they carved a diamond on the back of the peg head to mimic the scarf joint -- just to pay homage and be historically correct."

• Paying homage is not easy. This is a tough assignment. Lynn shaves away the excess width of the peg head but leaves a triangular area to mimic a scarf joint (figure E). He'll carve it later to dress it up.

  Figure D

  Figure E

  
  
• With a neck free of excess wood Lynn puts it in a vice and begins carving, using a variety of hand tools including rasps, draw-knives, chisels, hand scrapers, hand-planes, etc. (figure F and G). He begins shaping at the heel of the neck, then moves on to the shaft. The process of carving the neck may take Lynn four to five hours.

• Building a guitar by hand never reaps the same result. Each one made is uniquely and pleasingly imperfect. "There's a certain level of 'imperfection' that just can't be duplicated with a machine," says Dudenbostel, "but I hesitate to call it imperfection. It's really more of a character that you get in the final product that really shows when it's done by hand."

  Figure F

  Figure G

  
  
• Essentially, Lynn took a 4"x4" block of wood and, in just a few hours, crafted this perfectly shaped guitar neck begging to be united with its body (figures H and I).
  
  "Carving the neck is really satisfying," Lynn continues. "You start out with a piece of mahogany 4 inches by 4 inches square and two feet long. There's a neck in there somewhere. It's a matter of carving away everything that doesn't look like a neck."

  Figure H

  Figure I

  
  
• Before that can happen, however, and before a wood finish is applied to both the neck and body, some sanding must be done to prepare them (figure J). Lynn begins by raising the grain of the wood using distilled or de-mineralized water. Then he begins sanding with 150-grit sandpaper. After allowing the wood to dry, he goes back and sands using 220-grit paper. He may repeat this process three or four time until the grain doesn't raise any more. Lynn also sands the binding. It doesn't take much sanding however, because scraping made the surface fairly even. At this point, he only needs to round out the edges a bit.

• After sanding, Lynn measures and marks the area for the ebony bridge (figure K). By doing this now he can mask the area with tape to prevent finish from getting under the bridge.

  Figure J

  Figure K

  
  

  Tools of the craft. Some of the tools used by Lynn Dudenbostel in hand-shaping the guitar's neck.

RESOURCES :

Stewart MacDonald's Luthier Supply Shop
Website: www.stewmac.com

Luthier's Mercantile International, Inc.
Website: www.lmii.com

Pioneer Valley Luthier Supply Company
Website: www.pioneervalleyluthier.com

GUESTS :

Lynn Dudenbostel, Luthier
Dudenbostel Stringed Instruments
Knoxville, TN

Johnny Ray, Custom Auto Sound
Fullerton, CA
Website: www.casmfg.com
Automotive sound systems, including those designed with the look of original systems for classic and collector cars.