created by rjcogin.com

 

My passions in life have always been music and wood working. When I was a young boy my grandfather bought me my first carpentry set I knew from then that I wanted a career working with wood.I started playing guitar at the age of 11. I’ve played and sang in bands since the age of 16. I like most other guitarists always thought of designing my own custom guitar different from everybody else’s and to create my own unique sound. When I was in school I built my first acoustic guitar for my A levels. I really enjoyed building it but wanted to learn more about the traditional methods of guitar making. I moved to London and attended Merton College doing a 2 year City and Guilds course in Guitar Making and Repair under the tutorage of luthier Mile Hobbs. Everything I did was by using hand tools learning the traditional skills of the trade. Whilst I studied in college I worked at Dave Dykes Luthier Supplies learning about all the different types of materials used to create the best sound and overall finish when building and repairing guitars, mandolins, violins, violas and cellos.I want to make guitars that make you want to play them. Picture 1. This demonstrates the tradditional way of installing sound bracing to a classical guitar. It's the GO BAR system, the front lies on a curved piece of wood with the bars putting the correct amount of pressure on to the struts to keep them in place at the same time the curved piece of wood gives the front its correct overall shape. Picture 2. This is the same guitar after a few more days work. All the sound bracing is in place with the front glued to the sides ready for the dove tail joint to be cut for the neck.
Picture 3. This shows the insides of my first guitar. The sound bracing is in a pattern called the X brace which is what most steel string acoustic guitars use for their bracing pattern. its conventional, gives a great sound and is very stable, giving the guitar that extra protection for the years of use ahead. Picture 4. This shows the opposite way of the GO BAR system. This is how many steel string guitars have their sound bracing installed. Instead of using the bars to press down we use clamps and many of them. Picture 5. This shows the dove tail joint for the neck after its been cut and chislled flat, ensuring the best possible fit for the neck joint. Picture 6. This shows the binding being glued into place. After marking and chiselling the binding channel out I bend the binding into the shape of the sides then glue it and hold it in place with masking tape. Picture 7. This shows me chiselling the neck part of the dove tail joint flat and square to ensure it fits perfectly into its corresponding piece. Picture 8. In this picture I'm chiselling out the truss rod channel for a steel string guitar neck. Picture 9. This shows me carving out the shape of the heel of the neck. After I sand to a high finsh making sure its smooth all over with no bumps. Picture 10. This shows me cutting my fret positions on the fingerboard before I install the fret wire. Picture 11. After the bridge has been glued on its time to mark and punch out the bridge pin holes, this picture shows me using a reamer doing that very job.