Following the successful build of my first parlor guitar I decided to build a second one (P02) for myself with a few design tweaks based on lessons learned from the first one.
The main changes were to:
- Make the body 12mm shorter, 15mm wider at the waist, 5mm narrower at the bottom bout and 15mm wider at the upper bout
- Increase the head angle to 10degrees to give a greater string break at the nut
- Reduce the number of frets from 19 to 18
- Create a new neck dovetail template with lightly more acute angle
- Use unslotted bridge pins
Build process
Some of the key elements of the build process are captured here:
Dimensions:
| Scale length |
635mm |
| Total frets |
18 |
| Fret# at body |
12 |
| Body length |
497mm |
| Upper bout |
265mm |
| Waist |
215mm |
| Lower bout |
345mm |
| Total length |
997mm |
| Rib depth |
82-100mm |
| Sound hole dia |
98mm |
| Sound hole centre from heel |
153.7mm |
| Fingerboard width at nut |
46mm |
| Fingerboard width at 12th fret |
55.4mm |
| String width at bridge |
54mm |
| Fingerboard radius |
16″ |
| Neck thickness at nut |
21mm |
| Neck thickness at heel |
25mm |
| Top radius |
25 ‘ |
| Back radius |
15′ |
| Top thickness |
1.9-2.2mm |
| Back thickness |
2.5mm nominal |
| Sides thickness |
2.2mm |
| All-up weight |
1.93kg |
Woods:
| Top |
Alpine spruce |
| Back and sides |
Indian rosewood |
| Neck |
Mahogany with centre maple splice |
| Fingerboard |
Ebony |
| Linings |
Mahogany (laminated) |
| End blocks |
Mahogany |
| Top bracing (X style) |
Spruce |
| Back bracing |
Mahogany |
| Cross banding |
Mahogany |
| Bridge |
Ebony. Ebony pins with abalone dots |
Decorations:
| Sound hole |
Abalone ring |
| Purfling |
bw+Abalone+wb |
| Banding |
Maple |
| Back centre strip |
Maple bounded by abalone & purfling |
| Neck centre strip |
Maple bounded by 0.6mm black |
| Fingerboard dots |
Abalone |
| Headstock |
Ebony facing with inlaid crossbow |
| Pick guard |
Tortoise shell pattern |
Fittings:
| Tuners |
Gotoh 510 18:1 |
| Nut & saddle |
Bone |
| Pickup |
Fishman thinline under-saddle PRO- AG1-125 |
| Strings |
D’Addario XT 56-13 |
Drawings
Please find below pdfs of the key design drawings:
Parlor P02 body template
Parlor P02 fingerboard template
Parlor P02 Headstock
Parlor P02 purfling
Parlor P02 rosette
Parlor P02 sideview
Following on from the successful build of my second parlor guitar (P02), I decided to build a left-handed cutaway variant on the P02 body design as a gift for my son’s birthday.
Design
I chose a conventional 650mm scale length compared to the 635mm on the P02 which resulted in the bridge being pushed a bit further down the body and altered the bracing pattern slightly (as well as being reversed for the LH design). The sound hole wasn’t moved which gave room for 21 frets. I also increased the headstock angle to 12 degrees.
I was able to re-use the P02 body mould with the addition of a screw-on insert for the cutaway.
The Build
The build was basically the same process as the P01 & P02 with the exception of the cutaway which was the most tricky part requiring VERY careful bending of the rosewood. I also had to decide what decorations to do around the edges of the cutaway. I ended up putting maple edge pieces on the two cutaway side edges and continuing the abalone purfling around the cutaway on the back and front.
Dimensions:
| Scale length |
650mm |
| Total frets |
22 |
| Fret# at body |
14 |
| Body length |
497mm |
| Upper bout |
265mm |
| Waist |
215mm |
| Lower bout |
345mm |
| Total length |
1039mm |
| Rib depth |
82-100mm |
| Sound hole dia |
98mm |
| Sound hole centre from heel |
153.6mm |
| Fingerboard width at nut |
46mm |
| Fingerboard width at 12th fret |
55.4mm |
| String width at bridge |
54mm |
| Fingerboard radius |
16″ |
| Neck thickness at nut |
21mm |
| Neck thickness at heel |
25mm |
| Top radius |
25 ‘ |
| Back radius |
15′ |
| Top thickness |
2.0-2.2mm |
| Back thickness |
2.5mm nominal |
| Sides thickness |
2.2mm |
| All-up weight |
|
Woods:
| Top |
Alpine spruce |
| Back and sides |
Indian rosewood |
| Neck |
Mahogany with centre maple splice |
| Fingerboard |
Ebony |
| Linings |
Mahogany (laminated) |
| End blocks |
Mahogany |
| Top bracing (X style) |
Spruce |
| Back bracing |
Mahogany |
| Cross banding |
Mahogany |
| Bridge |
Rosewood. Ebony pins with abalone dots |
Decorations:
| Sound hole |
Abalone ring |
| Purfling |
bw+Abalone+wb |
| Banding |
Maple |
| Back centre strip |
Maple bounded by abalone & purfling |
| Neck centre strip |
Maple bounded by 0.6mm black |
| Fingerboard dots |
MOP |
| Headstock |
Ebony facing with inlaid crossbow |
| Pick guard |
Tortoise shell pattern |
Fittings:
| Tuners |
Gotoh 510 18:1 |
| Nut & saddle |
Bone |
| Pickup |
Fishman thinline under-saddle PRO-AG1-125 |
| Strings |
D’Addario XT 56-13 |
Drawings
OM1 sideview
OM1 bridge
OM1 body template
I finished building my new workshop a few weeks ago – something I decided to start building to get me out of my super-cramped garage as soon as the Covid-19 lockdown was announced back in March.
I went for a simple wooden framed design on a concrete base with a flat roof to give me as much headroom as possible whilst staying within the 2.5m permitted development limits on height. Plenty of rockwool insulation in the walls and ceiling and a few inches of celotex on the floor should keep things toastie in winter as well as keeping the machine tool noise inside. I clad it in Siberian larch feather-board for a good and long lasting look.
I now finally have room to swing a cat while making musical instruments (or anything else) although there is still quite a lot of stuff still left in the garage! Here are some pictures of the finished workshop:
And here is a gallery showing the construction process over the last 3 months:
Music is the gateway to the soul
