my next big project is going to be dismantling and re-building my greek style bouzouki that i'm playing in the pic here. since i will need a back-up instrument in the meantime i considered my options. i had my electric experiment bouzouki which was in no shape to play much less to be seen. the body is a salvaged formica/plywood countertop with two gutted effect pedals built into it. the neck is my "practice" neck i built in luthier school which i converted to a narrow 8 string. i also thought about using a 12 string guitar without the 2 low string pairs, tuned down to CFAD. but it didn't seem to make sense to play a big wide neck when i had one already shaped like a bouzouki neck.
i finally decided to make a small acoustic body for that neck to bolt onto, and it only took three days to build.
day 1:
for the new body i used a small classical junker abandoned many years ago at the shop. it had already been stripped of everything, the neck, bridge, and a pickguard that was actually cool enough to be worth saving
i needed to open it up because a larger neck block had to be glued in. i decided to cut the ribs down to about 2" so i wouldn't need to use really long neck bolts and to make it more comfortable to play.
first i mark my cut line down from the top edge, then follow along the line with my hand saw.
the old neck block gets chiseled out.
for the soundboard i used... another abandoned plywood junker! this time a dreadnaught. i traced the small body outline onto the top, drilled a pilot hole, and went around with a jigsaw.
i removed all the braces from the upper bout, the two beside the soundhole i replaced with nice big redwood braces that join into the new neck block. i had to taper down the X braces to the new outline. i also decided to carve all the bracing down some, top and back, since i had the access. in the pic i'm gluing a spruce patch across the terribly fit notch where the X braces intersect.
meanwhile, i cut some lining from strips of 3/16" plywood and glued it in. the new neck block was a scrap of mahogany, basically already cut to just the right size. i only had to round the face that glued to the sides a bit, and notch out for the back brace. then the block got glued in place and that was it for day one.
day 2:
i didn't take any more building pics, i apologize. the second day i started by flattening the top edge of the sides and neck block. then i notched the lining for the ends of the X braces to join in and at that point i glued the top to the body. while that was clamped up i carved a new rosewood bridge. day two ended with gluing the bridge to the top.
day 3:
the last day i flush routed the top edge to the sides, chiseled out the neck pocket, drilled for neck bolts, ferrules and bridge pins, and routed the saddle slot. that is it for the building, the neck goes on now and it gets strung up. finally a soundhole pickup(not pictured) and a strap button get installed and the backup bouzouki is ready to go.
it sounds surprisingly good considering its a plywood body and the whole upper bout is a solid mass of wood. i actually played a show with it last night after one rehearsal.
