These pictures have been taken in my workshop; they will give you a survey of the various steps of the working process for constructing one of my guitars.

The crucial factor for the sound of a guitar is its soundboard; apart from the properties of the material such as hardness, fineness and run of the fiber, the processing method is of utmost importance. In order to get a uniform thickness on the entire surface of the soundboard, its thickness must be constantly controlled during the planning process.

Due to the fact that the attachment of the bridge and of the neck with the help of clamps is very complicated, the application of a locating fixture has turned out to be useful. It consists of two stable plates which are connected with metal sticks, thus you get a space for gluing the bridge and the neck on to the soundboard by applying many thin wooden struts under adapted stretching.

The part of the neck above the rose is attached with a small planning tool on the appropriate position for its triangular form.

The application of templates guarantees a symmetrical neck form which must be constantly controlled during processing and corrected if necessary.

The neckform is at first roughly designed by sewing and then finely shaped with various carving knives.

With abrasive paper of various ranges of grain sizes, all traces of the previous processing (rasping and filing) are eliminated.

The rib of blackwood (eastindian) is planed until getting the suitable strength.

The surface is polished and traces of planning such as crackings are eliminated with a scraper.

The rib is formed with a heated iron bending machine. During this process, the rib must constantly be compared with a template and corrected if necessary.

The two halves of the rib are stuck to the heel with glue.