So, Paul Moody asked me if I'd like to rebuild a 1981 1113 Classic for him that he was buying off eBay. We decided to use torrefied Adirondack top and brace stock instead of the red cedar that was originally used.

1981 was the last year of the woven cloth bowls, so if it needed a bowl bend, I could have done one. Once I got the guitar I checked the neck angle and it looked pretty good, so no bowl bend was necessary. The frets and fingerboard are also in good shape, as is the condition of the finish on the neck and headstock.

So, this job will be limited strictly to re-topping. The top is in pretty bad shape with three major splits. The pics below don't really convey the condition of the top. The wood between the splits is severaly cupped. There is no way this top could be repaired.

The first order of business is to remove the binding and purfling.

Next, the top is separated from the lining using my trusty Xacto chisel. In so doing I discovered the reason for the notches in the lining I've seen on my 1619 and 1617. These are there to allow the brace stock to be 'tucked' into the lining. When braces are tucked normally, the lining is notched and the braces are tapered so they fit between the top wood and the lining. In this case, the copious amounts of epoxy secures the braces to the lining.

The only reason braces are tucked is to reduce the number of warranty work that needs to be done. When they aren't tucked, they are more prone to being popped off the top when the guitar is bumped. The problem with tucked braces is they reduce the response of the top. The braces on the new top will not be tucked.

Here's the underside of the top sans the braces which are still stuck to the bowl.

Paul and I talked about brace patterns and whether I should retain the original double-fan brace pattern or use the original X-brace like what I used on Jay's Balladeer. We decided to use the double-fan braces. But, since the torrefied spruce is stiffer the top and braces will be slightly thinner than the original. The standard thickness was tapered from .140" to .100". For this top, I'll taper it from .120" to .094". The braces will be thinned accordingly.

Today's task was to remove the remnants of the soundboard from under the fretboard extension and the glue from the plastic lining in preparation for fitting the top.

Whomever built this bowl didn't spare the glue. The glue joint holding the lining to the top was almost 1/32" thick on one whole side of the guitar. It was so thick that I had to take a hammer to the Xacto chisel to break it free. What couldn't be chiseld had to be ground off with the Dremel sanding drum.

Ditto for the glue joint between the underside of the top and the top of the neck block.

After pulling the top off and seeing the transverse braces that were tucked into the lining, I finally understand why the lining is notched as it is. If you compare the notches in the lining to the brace schematics on Ovation Tribute site, you can see that the notches can be used for the VT-8, VT-10, VT-11, Ovation Fan and Double Fan brace patterns.

Here's the massive amounts of glue used to glue the lining to the bowl. Talk about overkill.

The next job is to clean up the binding and purfling between the fretboard extension and the top of the neck block. Once that's done, I'll set the body aside and start jointing the top.

Dan,

Sweet! This is so fun to watch, not to mention a lesson in each rebuild.

Question...quite a few classicals use the long fan approach, with less cross bracing...some provide a V brace at the bottom.

Ovation seems to be the only company that used that double fan approach with the additional cross bracing...

Does the bowl prevent a long fan appraoch, with less cross bracing...or is this what they went with to accomdate the tucked cross bracing?

Or does it matter?

((of course i made up the terms of the bracing, so I hope you catch my drift))

By the long fan and bottom V, I assume you mean something like the Torres or Esteso seen below?

I really couldn't say why Ovation went with the double-fan brace pattern. It might have been something he discovered and like in how it responded during testing. I don't believe there's anything in the bowl that would prevent a Torres-style fan brace pattern.

The cedar top is quite a bit softer and more easily distorted (cross-grain bending) than the spruce tops, so I believe that's why the transverse braces were tucked into the lining. They're actually pretty large in cross-section and very stiff.

IMO, the best sounding tops are thin with minimal braces to impede the resonance. Naturally, there'a balance between strong enough to resist the tension of the strings, but flexible enough so it sounds good. That's what all those designers above tried to do.

Here's an interesting article on the evolution of Classical brace patterns. (See: Bracing Styles for Classical Guitars)

How come there's never a cop around when you need one...... 

Hang around the donut shop more often. I might even buy you a cup.

I got a bare hand-laid bowl in the 1619 deal, so I'm able to compare the two. The lining on yours adds a little stiffness, so it's not as flexible as the bare bowl. But, it's still more flexible than either Jay's which has the original molded flanged lining, or my 1617, which has the same lining as this 1113.

Next time you come over, I'll let you check out the bare bowl.

George makes a great point

And if it's laying around in the shop we're going to use it for something or other.

Take for example the 1651-7.

Additionally my 67 has a 2 piece neck...why...they needed a neck and probably didn't have the stock on hand. I can count on one hand, the # of 2 piece necks I have seen from the early days. 

"All guitars are hand made"

Well, what about necks and bridges?  There is something cool about having a guitar that craftsmen made happen (Including you Dan.). Maybe, back then, all guitar companies made guitars the same way...but it certainly doesnt diminish the cool factor.

Progress continues.

I got the top thickness sanded and the basic outline cut. Normal thickness for Ovation tops is tapered from .140" to .100". I ended up with a .120" to .094" taper.

Bridge index pin holes are drilled.

Sound hole is cut.

New rosette is fitted.

I laid out the locations of the braces on the underside of the top.

I'm not sure if the fan braces are supposed to be asymmetrical or not, but I followed the locations of the original top.

The braces have been kitted. The transverse braces are shorter than the original because the originals were tucked into the lining. I'm not a fan of tucking braces, so these will not be tucked, either.

All of the braces are about 10% thinner than the original braces. The original transverse braces were 1/2" x 3/16". The new transverse braces are 7/16" x 3/16", or about 10% shorter. I also thinned the fan braces by about the same amount. The originals were 1/4" x 1/8". The new ones are 7/32" x 1/8"



Next job is to start gluing down the braces.

The runout of the wood isn't anything to write home about, and I certainly wouldn't use this wood on an airplane (more about that shortly) but it's acceptable for guitars. I've read that anything less than 30-degrees will work for either top wood or brace stock.

Brace #1

Brace #2

Brace #3

Brace #4

In contrast, here's the grain of the original braces. A couple approach what would be considered flat-sawn, but given the hectic production schedule and limited resources, it works. Also notice that only one piece is a true 3/16" thick. The others are about 7/32".

WRT grain orientation, most luthiers like to have the grain on the braces stock orientated in a vertical plane. In contrast, when building for aviation, the grain is usually orientated in the horizontal plane.

Some have done tests and the wood is pretty much equally strong in either direction. It all gets down to intentions. The wood in airplanes, for example, in stringers, is usually not carved. But, guitar braces cane be both tapered and scalloped.

If the grain for guitar braces were oriented in the horizontal plane, it would tend to split along the grain when scalloped with a chisel. When the grain is oriented in the vertical plane it can be scalloped and tapered without spliting.

When I was building my model airplanes, I always oriented the grain so that the grain was parallel to whatever surface it was closest to.

When I was re-topping Jay's guitar, I bought some wood to use for the brace stock from Aircraft Spruce because I knew the high standards required for wood used in aviation. I was surprised to find the grain oriented 90-degrees to the wood used in the braces. So, I ended up buying brace stock blanks from Stewmac and cut my own braces so the grain orientation matched that of the original braces.

WRT to grain run-out, the Sitka spruce used for aviation has to have a very limited amount of runout because of the stresses placed upon the pieces when flying. If a guitar brace splits, then the guitar may not sound so good. If an airplane stringer or spar splits because of run-out, someone may die. `Nuff said.

Fan braces glued and clamped.

I'll pull the top out of the gobar deck tomorrow, and finish making the bridge-clamping cawl and start prepping the top for gluing to the bowl.

That mainly consists of masking for the bridge and spraying the base coat of polyurethane and sanding it smooth. If all goes well I should have the top glued to the bowl by this weekend.

I made my own version of this to joint the soundboards. Here's the soundboard for my 1617 being glued together. The wooden wedges on the right are clamped to squeeze the two pieces together and the gobars are pushing down on the joint to keep the two pieces even with each other while the glue dries.

Before applying the glue, I clamped the two pieces in the deck, then applied the tape. I remove the top from the deck and the tape acts like a hinge so I can fold the two pieces back and apply the glue to the edges. Then, I flatten the top and put it into the deck.

Fan braces are done. Now it's time to build the bridge-claming cawl.

Lower set from 1/2" medium balsa.

Upper set from 1/2" medium balsa.

Topped with 1/4" marine (birch) ply.

And, here's what it looks like all assembled.

Top is wetted out with naptha to show the grain. The top will have a skunk-stripe all its own.

Bridge masking is in place.

Fretboard masking is in place. All ready to spray the base coats onto the top.

Dan, your work is incredible. What a wonderful contributor to the OFC you are. Keep it up.

+1 

It's difficult to capture the figuring, but these pics show it as well as can be expected.

Well, the glue came in yesterday and I got the top and fretboard extensions glued to the bowl. When tapped, it's got a big ol' hollow voice.

I ground down the excess wood and I'm ready to route the binding/purfling channel. My old bits are probably getting a little dull, so to prevent any tearout I'm going to go buy some new ones.

BTW, Paul. Anytime you want to cruise by to check out the progress, strum a few chords or just shoot the breeze, you're more than welcome to come over. Just give me a call to let me know you're on your way. You're always welcome here.

Dan

They've been keeping me pretty busy at work, so I didn't have as much time to work on the guitar as I would have liked. We were cut some slack this weekend, so I decided to make hay while the sun was shining today.

I routed the binding and purfling channel.

Carved out the ends next to the neck.

And, glued in the binding and purfling. I'll let them dry for a day, then peel the tape off tomorrow to see how they look.

Hi Ken,

Yes, I used the Dremel and 1/4" Dremel router bit and this Binding Router Guide I bought from Stewmac.

I pulled the tape off and scraped down the binding and purfling.

I need to touch up some chipped edges of the bowl today. Then tomorrow, once that's dry I'll mask off the top and start applying the final finish.

Won't be long now, Paul.

The finish on the top is sprayed, sanded and polished.

There are only two jobs left: gluing the bridge and rosette.

Do you have any plans for next weekend, Paul?

Paul,
I know you prefer satin finish on the back of the neck. Would you like me to satinize the back of the neck before I give it back to you?

Bridge masking is cut away, and tape glue residue cleaned with naptha.

Masking applied in preparation for gluing the bridge.

Bridge glued and clamped. I'll pull the clamps tomorrow afternoon, then glue down the rosette.

Bridge is glued down.

As is the rosette. I'll let all this cure until tomorrow, then string it up and check the setup, which may need adjusting.

Paul,
Do you have a preference as to set-up? (high, low, etc.?)

All done. It sure is pretty. I need to fine-tune the setup.

IMO, the strings that are on it help make it bass-strong and treble-weak, which is unbalanced. I'll look at the string diameters and put some different strings with a little larger diameter treble.

Daniel!!!

That top is so rich! Very nice job! It is just an awesome looking O. Once again you have killed it. You should be extremely proud. Paul is probably salivating (more than usual). 

For brighter trebles...you might try Savarez New Crystal Corum's... their trebles have a pretty good rep at being bright.

Thanks for the info, Kevin.

I've got an Ibanez. (A300E VV Ambience) It's a laminated guitar, so it doesn't sound all that great acoustic, but when plugged in, it sounds fantastic and it's got the easiest neck I've ever played --even easier than Ovation's.

I seem to recall reading something about Ibanez releasing a torrefied-top guitar. I found a YouTube video they put out that highlights the features of this series of guitars. (Artwood)

The video shows that they are using torrefied wood for the top and braces and one model (AV10) has torrefied solid mahogany sides and back. The back uses torrefied braces. I'm not real keen on the 'any finish you want as long as it's brown sunburst' of this guitar, but if it sounds good enough I'm sure I could overlook it. (LOL!) Interestingly, my Ibanez also has a vintage violin finish, like the AVD10.

It'll be interesting to see how much they're going to charge for these guitars.

Yes, I'm sure that Ovation will probably release a torrefied top guitar eventually. Most of the players in the guitar game are doing so and I'm sure it's only a matter of time before Ovation jumps in, too.

Here's Ibanez' video.