Congi's Guitar Project

This is a big project. January.2002, I decided to build a guitar for myself and I had read many books and trying to learn about constructions, materials, working methods and acoustics. One year later (May.2003) I got a chance to build my own guitar in Liikanen workshop. Liikanen brothers are famous luthier in Finland and well known in European. Please visit their website for further information www.liikanenguitars.com

Ready!! Finish!!
That's my guitar after polishing.
It¡¦s not easy to choose suitable woods for your guitar. I examined my woods with master Liikanen and we came into same conclusion. The soundboard is Alpine Spruce, sides and back is Santos (Bolivian) Rosewood. The back looks wild ;)
There are funny splashes on side woods, but it won¡¦t affect the sound.
A stiff and light soundboard for my guitar. This is the best one we found.
Just cuted
Setting up the rosette is like dealing with hell, now is time to sand my soundboard with this sanding mouse.
Is not easy to bend those sides. I spent over 2 hour with that bending iron.
Bended and glued.
Ready.
Grains on this back are quite wild. I hate straight grains because they looks death.
The binding is a important part of decorating.
Another view.
It's glued
Scraping blade is a important tool. We must be carefull when we deal with that tool.
My hand in action
Now is time to brace the back.
More braces.
The neck is the most difficult part in guitar building. Any wrong strike may destroy it.
And we need a lot of sanding papers
This is a fretboard, from eben wood, it¡¦s a black and hard wood. I made a little bit difference cutting. Kind of tired with traditional style.
Now is time to see if the fretboard fit on my guitar. Yes it does.
Another View
I cleaned my guitar. It's ready for varnishing.
Another View
Varnished, and now I need to wait untill my guitar get dry.
Another View with a bridge. Next I need to put shellac on my guitar and polish it weeks after weeks. This will be the longest process. I estimated that this process will takes until December.

26.Semtemper.2003.