#1-The Final Chapter (in Which a Hole is Drilled in a Newly Built Guitar)

The Final Chapter in Which a Hole is Drilled in a Newly Built Guitar | Okay, we are there - the final set-ups, dial-ins, and finishing touches before we string up the geetar. What better to do than pull out the Dremel tool and cut a large hole in the side of the guitar.

I have become a big fan of sound ports: holes in the top side of the guitar that allow some of the sound to be directed toward the player. I could have done this earlier, but decided to wait for what reason? I have no idea. Real simple: make the template, cut it out with the Dremel, sand it all smooth, and seal the edges.

Turned out pretty nice.

Before I did this, I set up the guitar by installing the nut and the saddle. I decided to just use a Tusq nut and saddle rather than shaping my own this first go around. I have set up a lot of guitars so this was no big deal. A lot of sanding and shaving to get everything to the proper thickness and height. Most of this is set based on personal preference in the way I want the guitar to play.

Finally installed the tuners and the strings and now these disparate pieces of wood, metal, and synthetic bone look like a real guitar.

Once the strings were on and I could feel the setup and action, I decided to do a little more work on the neck to make it a little thinner and dial in the contour a little more:

You can see my "high tech" dust collection system in the back: a box fan with a filter taped to it.

I would rasp and sand, take the guitar off the holding bar, play it, refine it a little more till I got the feel I wanted.

After many hours of work, it is done. This has been one of the hardest projects I have ever attempted in my life. Very rewarding. I learned tons and I am already thinking about what I would do differently for #2.

So how does it sound? I will let you hear it for yourself.

I will post some videos (hopefully this week) so you can hear it.