Miniguitar done, Argapa 110

Back home after the vacation Johan and I put a gear in and cracked on with his guitar. In the first pic you can see the back being glued on. This also sets the neck angle by using a shim under the neck as the back locks the geometry in shape. 

Johan shaped the bridge with my Veritas apron plane. We cut the slanted saddle groove first and shaped the bridge around that. 



After making the fretboard and glueing it on, we put the bridge in place. 



And then finishing. The first coat makes a lot of difference, but the twentieth makes the instrument shine. 



Applying shellac also reveals flaws and glue spots that cannot be seen easily before, so we went back and forth with scrapers and steel wool between coats. And took our time. Johan was a natural at French polishing.  



And here we are. We are trying string sets out, and tunings. Or pitch really. Will it be E - e (not very likely), A - a, or B - b? Johan designed the fret position markers from a deck of cards. 



The first Argapa with a pin bridge! Nerve wracking but ultimately successful. 



And the headstock shape that’ll force the stamped marking down to the side of the headstock.