A newbie here. I need some building advices

eldeivid

Hello! I'm starting to build 2 Maccaferri style guitars, and I already have a question for those who know. The tops are gonna be made of red cedar. I've been reading information everywhere, but I'm not so sure about what's the most common thickness for red cedar tops on Sel-macs. And if they have 3 or 4 internal braces. I guess that depends on the thickness, right?

The Back, Sides and neck (5 pieces laminated w/mahogany) are gonna be walnut, and fretboard and bridge are ebony.

Can anyone help me? Thanks!

Bones

Hi Eldeivid, I cant' help with that info but are you going to put a 'pliage' in it?

Bohemian

Why red cedar ?

eldeivid

Bones wrote: »

Hi Eldeivid, I cant' help with that info but are you going to put a 'pliage' in it?

Hi! Yes I am. I've got a question about that thou. Is the "pliage" al across the top or just a portion of it?

Bohemian wrote: »

Why red cedar ?

Hi! Both of the guitars are for a customer, so he wanted red cedar tops. I'm making one for myself with Sitka top!

jonpowl

It sounds like you may already be an accomplished builder, but here are a couple of links that might help:
http://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/2108/building-a-selmer-maccaferri-guitar-by-michael-collins#latest
http://collinsguitar.com/book/

eldeivid

Hi jonpowl, thanks for the "accomplished builder" thing, but I'm still learning (i guess we all do, right?), and as for manouche guitars it refers, I'm an apprentice!

I know the book, and I was trying to get it, but here in Argentina is really hard to find this kind of stuff. And the time to wait for the shipping from US is really an issue for me right now. Anyway, thanks for the links!

Bohemian

I own the book. I will leave it at that.

Do you have plans and, if so, which plans ?

Bones

Hey Eldeivid I've never done a pliage so FWIW I think that you can put the bend all the way across the top and then when you glue the top down to the sides you end up forcing the edge of the top flat again. Or you can just bend the middle part under the bridge and taper the bend down to nothing at the edge and then you don't have to pull it flat to bond the top to the sides. I think someone on the forum (Craig B.???) does it that way but I'm not sure.

AndrewUlle

I came across an interesting article that gives a few details of the construction of Sel-Mac guitars:
http://ethnomusicologyreview.ucla.edu/journal/volume/18/piece/696