Acoustic Build - GS Mini Style

WezV · February 2023

I want to build myself a small acoustic this year. No gimmicks or innovation, just nice and simple.

I'm starting with the Taylor GS mini outline, but increasing sale length to 24 3/4" and likely going with a traditional X brace

I've started drawing up some initial bracing plans

And selected some nice walnut for the back and sides. I actually have 2 sets of this, part of me was also tempted to go with a matching walnut top too

Winny_Pooh · February 2023

That's cool. I love mine. FWIW I actually preferred the short scale on the Mini to that of the newer hybrid models. It feels surprisingly stiff with a set of 12s, esp if you plan to pop Elixirs on (the only guitar I've ever liked them on).

WezV · February 2023

I do actually have a D'Angelico Koa Mini as a cheap beater guitar. It's a similar body size to the Taylor, but with 24 3/4" scale ... so the real plan is to get a nicer sounding version of that, it gets a lot of play at home just for it's comfy size

I'm using the GS Mini for shape and size of body as I randomly picked up a mold for one a couple of years back

PhilKing · February 2023

I could take some pictures of my 1915 Washburn parlor guitar with a ruler on it if you want. I love it, it has a great sound for a small guitar (it's like a Martin O series). It's a 24 1/4" scale, 8 3/4" top bout , 7" waist, 12 1/2" lower bout, 3 5/8" deep.

Winny_Pooh · February 2023

WezV said:

I do actually have a D'Angelico Koa Mini as a cheap beater guitar. It's a similar body size to the Taylor, but with 24 3/4" scale ... so the real plan is to get a nicer sounding version of that, it gets a lot of play at home just for it's comfy size

I'm using the GS Mini for shape and size of body as I randomly picked up a mold for one a couple of years back

Ah yes the mini has a slightly arched backplate IIRC. Let me know if you need any measurements. I really loved the tone with a nubone saddle (I believe its the stock material or similar from tusq) but had to change it to bone and recut it drastically to overhang on the pin side of the bridge as it was intonating sharp on the bass strings.

Roland · February 2023

Would a matching Walnut top deliver the sound you’re looking for, or are you thinking about how it would look?

WezV · February 2023

This is the mold I have, so pretty set on shape, and my initial drawing suggests it will work well with the longer scale

I also have a 15' radius dish for the back arch.

Roland said:

Would a matching Walnut top deliver the sound you’re looking for, or are you thinking about how it would look?

A matching top could be something I liked, but mainly the thought arrived because I have 2 identical sets of wood

PhilKing said:

I could take some pictures of my 1915 Washburn parlor guitar with a ruler on it if you want. I love it, it has a great sound for a small guitar (it's like a Martin O series). It's a 24 1/4" scale, 8 3/4" top bout , 7" waist, 12 1/2" lower bout, 3 5/8" deep.

not this time, but that depth is about what I was thinking. Do you know if it is X or ladder braced from that period?

WezV · February 2023

a bit of work on the sides to get them ready for bending.

First they were Thicknessed to 2mm. I did this by putting them on a backing board and sending through the thicknesser. This is very risky and only works here because its straight grained walnut and cuts well. you can quickly destroy a set of sides trying this with anything figured or more brittle. They will now be scraped down to about 1.8mm. Walnut usually bends really well so, very forgiving at these kind of dimensions.

The back and top will need to be hand planed and scraped to thickness. The thicknesser is too risky for those, and I don't have the luxury of a thickness sander yet

After that I marked them up and cut the rough taper. usually I bend at full width and add the taper after, but i'm trying it the other way round here.

WezV · February 2023

Sides bent. Took less time to bend than heating up the iron

BillDL · February 2023

That's a really beautifully bookmatched set of walnut backs. One thing I've noticed recently with smaller bodied guitars is that makers are either angling the bridge pin holes to parallel the angle of the saddle and keep optimum break angle, or else they are keeping the pin holes in a straight line and "dishing out" a hollow for them behind the saddle like this:

I'm not sure how influential that design feature is on the overall tone of my 579mm (22.8") 3/4 size dreadnought shaped Cort Gold Mini F, but I was very surpised by the fullness of its tone.

WezV · February 2023

I don't think i need any special consideration for the bridge on this, although the bridge recess is probably a sensible idea anyway.

This will be full scale, just a smaller outline on the body. Neck angle geometry will be exactly the same as a full size one

Andyjr1515 · February 2023

Just did a set up for a friend's Guild with identical body size - was amazed how good the tone and projection is, even with the lighter strings he prefers (11's. I think my sister's GS Mini takes 13's?)

Watching with interest, @WezV ;

WezV · February 2023

the back has been glued, rough cut and i've started smoothing it off. I moved position slightly from the initial layout to get more of the curve in the dark grain. Both looked good, I just thought this layout was a little more interesting

The sides have been trimmed to length and i made neck and tail blocks out of some random chunks of mahogany type wood - most likely Sapelle.

I still haven't decided if it will be mortice and tenon, or a dovetail join... so i've gone for a traditional block that will allow either

Jez6345789 · February 2023

A couple of thoughts that might be relevant I do see the laminated sides and more rigid sides being a big part of the reason people like the GS mini the rigidity that offers seems to help with the sound. As you have started by the time I got to this I would definitely recommend going with good solid linings top and bottom as again they add considerable rigidity over kerfing.

I am traveling at the moment so don't have much to hand but with the shorter body at 17" ISTR and the longer neck where does that move the bridge to?

Anyway, its a format I love for smaller acoustics if you are not looking for a conventional acoustic tone then you can get a nice voice out of solidi Walnut back and front.

As always will be following along with much interest

WezV · February 2023

I'm not really chasing the tone of the GS mini and will be sticking with traditional construction for this.

Think of it like a baritone tele with Floyd and humbuckers. We still call it a tele based on body shape, even though by that point it sounds nothing like one

The drawing in the first post shows where the bridge ends up with a 14th fret body join and 24.75" scale. The saddle will be 13.9mm further back due to the extra 31.75mm of scale length.

It's going to push the bridge closer to the center of the lower bout, which should increase responsiveness. If it works, it will get more tone and volume out of the smaller size. If it doesn't, it will likely get a bit muddy when strummed

WezV · February 2023

quick jig needed for the sound hole and rosette. I do have a drill press circle cutter, but hate using it, also done it with bigger routers, but decided i needed something for the dremel as i have some nice little upcut bits perfect for this task. I was looking at buying a pretty version, but decided to make one instead

I only had 3mm perspex here, so laminated 2 bits together and you can see some of the glue between layers. Mounted the dremel router base, and drilled some pin holes at set distances. I think i will enlarge the main hole in the base to prevent it getting clogged.

I just need to be aware of bit size with this, but can drill more pin holes if needed. The 40-50mm holes are for soundholes, 55-65 for rosette.

WezV · February 2023

That worked pretty well.

I now have soundhole cut and two channels for a basic rosette made from offcuts of the back wood and a little black veneer. That will get glued in place, and should look pretty clean once scraped back.

WezV · February 2023

Adding the kerfed lining. I've gone with spruce for low weight

WezV · March 2023

I've not had chance to post for a while, but this is progressing pretty well.

I glued the back on yesterday, top soon. Will get pics at some point.

I also started on the neck. My uncle dropped round some reclaimed mahogany recently that he nearly just burned in his fire.

At the front of the pile was this piece, covered in varnish and no more nails, but a very promising tap tone.

It was only 40mm thick, and had quite a bit of damage down one end from when it was reclaimed with force.. but looks like enough for a 2 piece neck. Not quartersawn, but the grain is nicely mirrored so should work well.

After that I put it through the planer and took away all the damaged edges

It's some really nice wood. But I did discover one flaw when planing. There is a small hole that could have written this off.

But thankfully it is pretty much spot on the final depth of the neck, and only goes half way through that laminate, it should be easily removed in the carve.

The extra tabs will allow me to add some pins when gluing it together. I include them when cutting the laminates individually like this, not so necessary if gluing the block before cutting

WezV · March 2023

That was glued together with a black veneer in-between.

I got a nice surprise when the plane hit it. I suspected there was a little figure from the sides. But not this consistently flamed.. I got lucky with the chevron pattern.

Body is glued together and ready for trimming back

WezV · March 2023

Box all trimmed

WezV · March 2023

I picked up a acoustic neck angle jig from Radius Dish UK. It arrived yesterday.

It does both dovetail and mortice and tenon neck joints, so I fancied trying my first dovetail.

That may have been a mistake as I overshot the body route for it by a mm each side, .. but i was then able to use the jig to recut it wider and make a filler piece. I made the filler piece wider than the original cut to ensure it was strong enough. I was then able to reroute at the correct dimensions. You can see it is the darker mahogany fill either side of the re-routed dovetail here.

Next time I will do the body route first and cut the neck to match. It is easier to do fine adjustments on the neck part of the jig.

I should have practiced with the jig on scrap a bit more first, but I'm quite happy with my save. Everything feels nice and solid

with oversized fretboard blank

The bridge is an aftermarket one, but i quite like it's design

WezV · March 2023

I've been avoiding that rosewood fretboard blank for a few years. It is quite pale, and therefore the back of it had been used as practice for staining paler fretboards

But now I've put it through the planer and added a radius and slots, it's actually not as pale as I thought.

WezV · April 2023

The body has been bound.

Nothing fancy, just simple cream

BigMonka · April 2023

That's looking beautiful.
Your stream of photos from the different stages really hides the effort and craftsmanship that it must take between each step!

Andyjr1515 · April 2023

Looking really good @WezV ;

TTony · April 2023

Had to add a comment rather than just another wow.

The comment is “wow”.

Looks like another great piece of work Wez. Lovely timbers and a great save from the fireplace.

WezV · April 2023

i've not been totally happy with the soundhole decoration on this. The cavity cut fine, but some of the walnut strips were not evenly thicknessed, leaving a gap here and there

but the purchase of a laser cutter brings new opportunities

The first thing to do is a jig to fit he sound hole and allow me to accurately cut a new channel.

so i cut this

the 3 bits on the bottom will be laminated together. The smaller circle will allow the jig to sit straight in the soundhole. i've done two layers of the main template to allow extra thickness

i then designed a simple rosette and cut a load of walnut and cedar from the offcuts of this body

i put some double side tape on one of the jig offcuts and started piecing it together

it's possibly a bit too fancy and i may just go back and cut some new strips... but this new toy is fun!

WezV · April 2023

that got soaked in super glue overnight, giving a solid rosette which fits really nicely in the matching template

still bumpy with glue, but should be nice once levelled off

WezV · April 2023

I went with the rosette, also used a headplate cut from the spare bits of back wood

The neck is rough carved too

WezV · April 2023

fretted, neck glued in, and sealer coats on

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Acoustic Build - GS Mini Style

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