Shop News

Making the Classical Guitar

October 13, 2012   Karen

HI Friends, 

In September (2012) I started the journey of making a Classical Guitar.  This is a new venture for K2 Guitars, as we predominately make Steel String guitars.  

Several people have asked me, "So is making the Classical guitar more difficult than making the Steel String guitar?"  

My answer- hmm, there are many things that transfer,but they are indeed different.

Here are some of the key differences:

TOP

Double Top- Cut Away Construction

January 2, 2012   Karen

HI Friends,

I started a small journey sometime ago to build a OM cutaway with a double-top.

What is a double-top you ask?  Great question...A double-top, in my case, is two pieces of thin milled sitka spruce sandwiched on both sides of a thin piece of nomex honeycomb.  I learned the double-top process from Alan Dunwell at a class hosted by Robbie O'Brien at Red Rocks Community College. Click HERE to review the full description of the process and YouTube videos from the class. 

Shop Supervisor

July 7, 2011   Karen

Skootch "the cat" is the Shop Supervisor.

He is a stickler for safety! 

 

Shop Dog

June 19, 2011   Karen

Logan is the shop dog.  He helps build the K2 Guitars.

End Wedge

March 2, 2009   Karen

The decorative end wedge is then carefully installed at the bottom of the guitar. The end wedge provides a nice transition from the top to the back, with smooth linkage to the side bindings and perfling accents.

Kerfing

February 16, 2009   Karen

Once the sides are radiused, kerfing is installed around the top and back perimeters to provide additional support. We use titebond and good old-fashioned clothes pins to hold the kerfing in place until it dries.

Radiusing

February 5, 2009   Karen

Next, the end block and heel block are glued in place, which secures the shape.

The front and back sides are then radiused to 15 feet on the back and 30 feet on the front side. The pictures show the radius dish and sides being radiused in the dish.

Bending the Sides

January 20, 2009   Karen

The sides are then placed on a bending form and shaped one side at a time. After bending, the sides are placed in a form to maintain shape and provide support.

Selection and Thicknessing Tone Woods

January 15, 2009   Karen

The process to select, cut, carve, shape, sand and finish a K2 guitar takes 4-6 months. The following pictures and text walk you through an overview of the process to build a K2 guitar. Click on thumbnails for a bigger image.

The first step is to select the back, side and top woods for your guitar. The most popular and proven woods for back and sides are: Indian Rosewood and Mahogany. There are many more beautiful woods to choose from, such as Ziricote, Koa, Walnut, and Machiche. These woods are more figured and typically require more time to work with.