SI210043 3/4 Size Travel Guitar
I have worked on 4 Baby Taylor ¾ guitars and they all suffer from a weak neck to body join and mediocre sound, my challenge was to see if I could improve on the Taylor design. The neck to body on this is a 3 point bolt
I have worked on 4 Baby Taylor ¾ guitars and they all suffer from a weak neck to body join and mediocre sound, my challenge was to see if I could improve on the Taylor design. The neck to body on this is a 3 point bolt on, double mortise and tenon, and yes, they are 10-32 bolts into threaded inserts, not screws. For the sound I made a few changes, first the inside sides are double veneered (2 x .020 veneers) making for a ‘drum effect’, lots of projection. Next I used a 24.9” scale length opposed to the shorter scale of the Taylor to create more string tension, better / bigger sound. This did create a couple challenges as well, in order to stay within 21.5” total neck length (airline overhead maximum) I had to end the fingerboard at the 18th fret so it does not cover the top of the soundhole, meaning the rosette had to be very accurate, can’t cover the joints. Also the bridge is lower on the body so some redesign of the x brace was required. I think I succeeded on sound and reliable neck to body. The cute family picture is appropriately against our family picture wall.The guitar has mahogany sides, sapele back, spruce top, maple bindings, mahogany / maple neck and wenge fingerboard and bridge.
Materials Used
- Mahogany sides
- Sapele back
- Spruce top
- Maple bindings
- Mahogany and maple neck
- Wenge fingerboard and bridge
- Threaded inserts and 10-32 bolts for neck joint
Work Performed
I have worked on 4 Baby Taylor ¾ guitars and they all suffer from a weak neck to body join and mediocre sound, my challenge was to see if I could improve on the Taylor design. The neck to body on this is a 3 point bolt on, double mortise and tenon, and yes, they are 10-32 bolts into threaded inserts, not screws. For the sound I made a few changes, first the inside sides are double veneered (2 x .020 veneers) making for a ‘drum effect’, lots of projection. Next I used a 24.9” scale length opposed to the shorter scale of the Taylor to create more string tension, better / bigger sound. This did create a couple challenges as well, in order to stay within 21.5” total neck length (airline overhead maximum) I had to end the fingerboard at the 18th fret so it does not cover the top of the soundhole, meaning the rosette had to be very accurate, can’t cover the joints. Also the bridge is lower on the body so some redesign of the x brace was required. I think I succeeded on sound and reliable neck to body. The cute family picture is appropriately against our family picture wall.The guitar has mahogany sides, sapele back, spruce top, maple bindings, mahogany / maple neck and wenge fingerboard and bridge.
Final Result
The finished 3/4 Size Travel Guitar stands as an early milestone for Strasdin Instruments, combining hands-on learning with a complete, playable build, especially the use of Mahogany sides, Sapele back, Spruce top, Maple bindings, Mahogany and maple neck, Wenge fingerboard and bridge, and Threaded inserts and 10-32 bolts for neck joint.
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