Top and Go-Bars | So now I am in a cycle where I go to the office, do work, meet with folks, teach my classes, spend time with the fam, and try to cram as much guitar building into the cracks of time that I can. The last couple of days I have been doing a few odds and ends. I joined my cedar top and that turned out to take longer than expected.

I used the same method that I used with the back plates on the shooting board - planing it smooth then finessing the seam with 220 sand paper. This time, it took me almost 2 hours to get this joint right. What I discovered is that since Cedar is so soft, if you use much force it tends to throw things out of whack (that is a technical term). Once I realized this, I used a very light touch, just enough to move the plane and sandpaper, and everything fell into place. As I was doing this, I was praying and thinking about Jesus being a carpenter/skilled craftsman. My new Luthiers’s Prayer: "Lord Jesus, I know that You are busy with bigger things, but since You are Yourself a Maker and skilled craftsman, please give me a little help here ."

I also build my Go-Bar deck. I had never heard of or seen one of these till I started doing research for this project. This is about the coolest contraption since sliced milk. It is a very simple device to hold things in place while they are being glued. It replaces multitudes of clamps when you are gluing all the braces on the back and top.

I made mine from a piece of 2'x4' plywood cut into two 2'x 2' pieces. They are held together by four 2" threaded rods with regular nuts and wing nuts. I can adjust the top of the deck up and down to dial in my clamping pressure. I hope to be using it this weekend.