I took the guitar body out of clamps and routed the back flush to the sides. It looks nice. It almost looks nice enough to skip a binding. I’ll have to think about that.
Next, I glued up the Sitka Spruce top the same way I glued the walnut back. This set has been sitting here seasoning for at least a year. It’s nice and dry.
Then, I ripped a plank of Sitka spruce down for bracing. I’ve had this chunk of Sitka laying around for about 2 years now, so it’s also perfectly seasoned. I cut the first brace for the back, to go across the widest part of the guitar– where the back needs support. I don’t want it to be too bloopy when it’s vibrating; you get a better, more “useable” bass response, if you cut out the loewest frequencies with some judicious bracing. I do not chamfer it yet, nor do I cut grooves in the lining to accept it and secure it. That’s way more work than it’s worth, and if it’s not done perfectly, the result is a brace that comes loose and rattles around at some point. I secure braces differently than some people do; more on that later in a future digest entry.
I will be tap-testing the back and adding braces or chamfering wood away from braces until it sounds “right”.
It’s clamped with a block-n-clamp on each end and some weights in the middle. That brace is going on there strong.
Tomorrow, I’ll add more braces to the back and start messing with the top.