Travel Guitar Build - Part 1

Documenting building a pair of Trekker travel Guitars from scratch.
Links for the tools, book reference, and guitar plans:
Bench Dog Tools No. 4 and 60-1/2 Hand Planes
amzn.to/3vyRRXs
Making an Archtop Guitar by Robert Benedetto
amzn.to/3rRca02
Gyokucho Razorsaw 9-1/2" Double Edge (Ryoba) for Hardwoods - best saw decision that improved precision:
amzn.to/30I699P
Hibdon Hardwoods
www.hibdonhardwood.com/collec...
Trekker travel guitar plans - the original plan has a 25 1/2 inch scale. I modified it to a 27-inch scale for baritone guitar.
www.harpkit.com/trekker-guita...
Neck Angle Calculator
www.tundraman.com/Guitars/Neck...
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
I'm building these two Trekker Travel guitars with various woods I have around the shop. Mahogany, ash, granadillo, cedar, and walnut. I got the granadillo set from Hibdon Hardwoods.
These are the third and fourth guitars I'm building from scratch. My first was a disaster and didn't survive being finished. My second Travel guitar is a left-handed model. There are a few shots of it in the video. It's quite loud with a banjo-like punchy tone. I found out that slowing down gave me better results. It tunes up ok and stays in tune. Now I need to learn to play left-handed.
I modified my design with a 2-degree neck angle, a 27” scale, a taller bridge, and an arch-top style tailpiece.
Part One of the Travel Guitar build includes the following parts of the process:
preparing the neck
headstock scarf joint
neck angle
tail block
headstock ears
prepping the top plate
cutting out top
So fun, I have ideas to improve the guitar design for builds 5 and 6. The things you learn along the way just make the next project better.
Keep on Rocking and we’ll talk later,
-Ray

[@TheAngryMushroom]

I updated the link to plans from HarpKit
www.harpkit.com/trekker-guitar-plan-download.html

[@marioguzman3650]

esxtupendo trabajo y muchas gracias por compartir eres muy generoso en verdad, saludos desde centroAmerica

[@TheAngryMushroom]

Thank you for watching.

[@TKevinBlanc]

Curious, do you think it would have move volume and tone if it were deeper?

[@TheAngryMushroom]

Yes. It’s very tinny and banjo sounding. The tone could be better with a bigger sound box. It’s a good practice build though. You could adapt the plans for a deeper box. Thanks for the question.

[@heidilynsecor1568]

Where do you find a piece of mahogany for the main guitar frame?

[@TheAngryMushroom]

petermanlumber.com/lumber/hardwoods/imported/
I bought a piece of quarter-sawn African Mahogany at Peterman Lumber. Link above. It was a ten-foot 4"x8. I had them cut it into thirds so it would fit in the van. Just over three feet each. I sealed the ends with wipe-on-poly and let it dry for almost a year before cutting on the table saw and band saw.
Hibdon hardwood has precut 1"x3"x36" neck blanks that can work for the travel guitar.
www.hibdonhardwood.com/collections/figured-mahogany-neck-blanks
Thanks for the question. I thought I was crazy for thinking I could build a guitar out of a big beam of lumber at first. I just kept reading guitar building books and watched more videos. Now it's not so scary or crazy-sounding after doing it.

[@heidilynsecor1568]

Okay thanks so much!!! I’m excited about giving this a try

[@heidilynsecor1568]

It seems like maybe you skipped the step thats listed in the blueprints about using a jointer to remove 1/8” of thickness at one end. Is that correct? Thanks for answering questions!

[@TheAngryMushroom]

@@heidilynsecor1568 Hi, Are we talking about tapering the neck? I did miss the part about a jointer. I don't have one so I do the best I can with block planes and belt sander.

[@danangkenung7791]

Please give me a free pdf plan sir🙏.

[@danangkenung7791]

I really love guitar and I want to learn to make a backpacer guitar like yours, but I don't know the exact size. I hope you will help to give me the pdf plan. because I really don't have the money to buy a pdf plan. may god bless your life

[@TheAngryMushroom]

​@@danangkenung7791I found the plans here at Harpkit. Trekker travel guitar plans - the original plan has a 25 1/2 inch scale. I modified it to a 27-inch scale for baritone guitar.
www.harpkit.com/trekker-guitar-plan-download.html
They have lots of other instruments​ on their site too. Thank you for the kind words.