Building a Crossover guitar

Somebody wanted me to build them a classical guitar. Well, I don't build them, but here's a compromise. Enjoy.
Instagram: @gmrupcycling

[@magnumardent]

you got a clean operation...no fuss, just building. love it...great upload, thanks!

[@aflatminor]

WOWSER!! Fabulous work!! I always hold my breath when I see Luthiers hand shaping the ends of the braces!! 😲😎👍

[@extrazero1593]

It is always a pleasure to watch you work. Thank you for sharing!

[@FDNY8231]

Awesome build ... I love watching you work, and I really love it when you are humming away while doing it. I do believe that means there is harmony in your soul.

[@BewareAudioXperiment]

love your work, and the way you work and I also love that you don't have an intimidating amount of specialist woodworking tools hanging in the background, just a huge collection of Disney dvd's! Keep up the good work!

[@captbuscemi]

Like you I’m not usually a classical guitar person, but this one is stunning! One of your best builds yet, the timbers are stunning - ausgezeichnet!

[@Bogzter9]

this channel needs to grow, jaw dropping build looks simple but now love it.

[@elirivsotier6977]

Beautiful, great work> Love your videos. This is the next style of guitar I have been longing to add.

[@kibibu]

This is breathtaking. Love it.

[@johnstoughton1051]

Lovely work and a nice design. I am impressed!

[@terryjohinke518]

Gabriele, your woodworking skills are marvellous. In particular your work with chisels. I always enjoy your KZbin Videos.

[@steveroberts]

Another fabulous build Gabriele. Well done

[@reggiemurphy1523]

Once again so consistently great!

[@BigB60]

Love it! Your Guitars have such personality!

[@barbroevanderlindquist4128]

Well Gabrielle, it is sow intresting to see build your guitars! And how your building shop is growing! Your instruments is realy art piceis in more then one way! Lucky that you live in a land with alpine wood! Barbro Sweden

[@agn855]

Beeindruckender Bau - zumal, dem Anschein nach, ohne den üblicherweise voll ausgerüsteten "workshop". Respekt :o)

[@rolandjgutierrez7737]

Watching you create is so relaxing. I have 8 stratacaster one Yamaha acoustic only been Playing electric I would some day pickup up another acrostic and start acoustic Playing again the life you put into these instruments has inspired me thank you ....Roland J Gutierrez from Magdalena New Mexico 🇺🇸.

[@stephenpascoe1148]

Amazing footage...inspiring...well done !!

[@johnstitt2615]

And the humming whilst working....nice to see I’m not the only one who does that.

[@williardpacarro7892]

Such an amazing and beautiful build. 🙏🙏.

[@guiruizzz]

It seems so easy when I see you doing it... Congratulations! :)

[@joefrondbanzukiinstruments5079]

I love watching you work and get excited when I see you have some tools the same as mine and do some tasks similar to me. Also I learn some better techniques from you. Thank you.

[@ronniejarvis2679]

Great build. Nice balanced sound

[@andrewbendahan1379]

Beautiful binding!

[@evasanders7327]

I really enjoy watching you work

[@richardcooksey1600]

Excellent work. Well done.

[@ronnie2steps460]

Excellent work, skillful and patience

[@andrewbendahan1379]

I just noticed the rubber bands on the clothespins at 23:45. That is so smart and affordable!

[@falcon8553]

An amazing sound!

[@richardprutz6458]

Great Job Master Builder !

[@DaveDickens]

That’s an intriguing pattern of bracing on the top.

[@DaveDickens]

A another beautiful guitar! Cheers Dave

[@GabiM3112]

Thank you, Dave.

[@johnstitt2615]

Such a joy to watch you turn wood into a guitar. I always giggle when the videos in fast forward. It makes it look like you have super speed powers with the help of coffee. ✌️🎸👌✌️

[@GabiM3112]

Who says that's fast forward? ;-) Must be the tea I drink.

[@zapa1pnt]

@@GabiM3112: This girl is British. She doesn't drink "COFFEE"!!! 🤣😱😱

[@GabiM3112]

@@zapa1pnt Actually, I'm German but you are right about the tea. No coffee for me.

[@johnstitt2615]

@@GabiM3112 coffee, tea, or espresso for me. ✌️🎸

[@terryjohinke8065]

Great wood working skills Gabriele . The sound is fantastic. That is a very thick body for a Classical Guitar but you've made it for steel strings. Well done. ( Terry from Oz).

[@GabiM3112]

Hey Terry, in crossover guitars, you make up for the lower string vibration with bigger bodies, to maintain volume. At least that's what I found out reding about them. So the body is bigger than in a normal nylon strung guitar.

[@howardklein9834]

Love to watch you create beauty.

[@luizbranco1008]

wonderfull...amazing grace...like the music...

[@terryjohinke8065]

P.S Your skills with a chisel are the best I've seen . Well done.

[@dorievillamor6827]

,.i liked all guitar that you make...so beautiful..the sustaine and resonance was so cool...

[@sixstring001]

Beautiful!

[@simondupreelagak2445]

Beautiful building❤

[@rodparker4514]

Nice clean work .

[@garreb7]

Sounds Great!

[@humbertomoralessepulveda2082]

Es un trabajo maravilloso, me encanta!

[@trikermansbike]

Very nice job I can see you enjoy your hobby. 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🙂🙂

[@crankjazz]

Excellent work.

[@stephenhepworth3534]

Hi Gabriele Loved watching your video. You are meticulous and it’s a pleasure to see your work and how you enjoy what you do. I think the bolt on neck makes a lot of sense. Some narrative throughout the video would be appreciated? What do other musicians think of your instruments?

[@Leexrox]

Saudaçoes de Brazil Gabi, muito lindo o seu trabalho, um dia ainda terei um obra sua! Parabéns!

[@jazz558]

Wonderfull JOB! Congratulations! Lovely! Saludos desde la ciudad de México

[@j.xavier2099]

Melhor trabalho que ví até agora em toda minha vida! Bjo tia!

[@ronmarkell4436]

You mean to tell me that you build a beautiful instrument of this caliber on a pool table? Unbelievably.

[@johncronin2929]

Perfection!

[@joemcgraw5529]

very interesting bending method you have ,that may be what I need to do for my first attempt at building a guitar, tools are so expensive and this would cut costs for sure ,all your work is very impressive!!!!

[@GabiM3112]

Hey Joe, it only works with certain woods, though.

[@GabiM3112]

Since you might want to know, here's a list I was successful with: plum, cherry, apple, chestnut, bocote, rosewood, ash, maple, oak, black locust, walnut, satin walnut/red gum. I'll try rain tree next.

[@gabrielbirdsong3120]

Super impressed. Classy lady

[@andrewdarnley4608]

Very nice !

[@wesmatron]

Superb!!

[@jazzblues3762]

You had a great talent behind good job

[@karolskakes388]

The beauty is in the end!! It looks great, it got a great sound, (to me). Your build videos are simple, easy to follow, and have great endings. The one little thing I miss is what wood are you using for each section? Maybe you could add a written description as you build various parts - just curious as I enjoy wood. Thank you for sharing!!!

[@GabiM3112]

It's a cedar top over cherry sides and a plum back.

[@karolskakes388]

@@GabiM3112 Thank You so much. You have some neat combinations - and they all, (the build videos I have viewed so far), sound great to me!!

[@bussottiguitars1998]

It’s fun to experiment. In the US, that’s called a Finger Style guitar. I’ve been building just those for 25+ years.

[@fernandoalmeida7330]

Violão muito lindo parabéns, e um trabalho muito bem feito

[@ariedarmana]

Amazing...

[@ramzes5633]

Спасибо за подробную инструкцию! Очень вдохновляет смотреть на вашу работу!

[@murpsman]

That's easy for you to say.

[@hanskovisser2549]

ja saglasjen

[@markcooper8561]

I really love your work Gabriele, almost as much as your sped up humming. You GGBO2021 build is a mastepiece and I'm definately rooting for you. This looks like another work of art and genius.

[@joemcgraw5529]

If you hit like it helps other people discover her work pass it on I really think shes awesome and deserves it ,only reason I found her I think is because I watch so many luthiers

[@evasanders7327]

Awww what a cute little table saw...

[@GabiM3112]

Yes, isn't it? I like it very much. :-)

[@chriswalter4887]

nice concept,, a bigger body, a smaller neck, cool

[@cruizzer77]

Hi Gabriele Thanks a lot for sharing this build! I have just discovered your channel and like your videos a lot, the builds as well as the music. Your way of the bolt-on neck inspired me, so far I've seen most people do bolt-ons with an additional mortise and tenon, however this is far simpler and I agree that most likely at least the vast majority will not be able to tell by the sound. I hope you don't mind answering a few questions: - Did you make the neck the same width as on a steel string guitar? What's your standard width? - Do you use normal European style (pva) wood glue or Titebond? - What is the make and model of the small table saw you're using around 8:00? I do have a larger saw but I've considered getting such a small one for fine stuff. Many greetings from about 120 km southwest, Martin

[@GabiM3112]

Hey Martin, for this guitar it was a requested 46 mm at the width, normally I do 43mm. I use both wood glue and titebond, depending on what I'm glueing. This saw is a Stahlwerk. I think it really is something other than other model builder's equipment. www.stahlwerk-schweissgeraete.de/tischkreissaege-ts220st. There are also some reviews on KZbin, which persuaded me of that saw and I am really a bit in love with it.

[@garybarker9139]

Very nice Guitar !!!!!!

[@pollytv4059]

I like how you do this guitar

[@pmcm-ih1ep]

Beautiful deep guitar i bet it sounds great. With most classical guitarists the main thing would be the 52mm nut width and the correct spacing of the strings at the bridge. The rest can be as ‘sreel’ as you like.

[@orbodman]

I am building a similar guitar. Nut is 48mm, fretboard has a 20 "radius. I might even put fret markers on the fretboard top and sides. We can do what WE like.

[@zapa1pnt]

@@orbodman: Isn't 48mm going to be a bit tight, for nylon strings? 😕

[@orbodman]

@@zapa1pnt If you play classical all the time, then yes. I play classical and steel string guitars. I have no difficulty with the 48mm nut which I have on an Ibanez crossover guitar (14 frets to body). Yamaha and Cordoba all make these fusion/crossover guitars and 48mm seems to be what they use for the nut width. They are very nice guitars indeed. I like to get my thumb over onto the 6th string and it is a bit harder with a 52mm nut. I know I'm breaking all sorts of rules in doing so, but Hey, lets just keep that between us.

[@user-mh2to7ey4t]

Excelente trabalho !

[@lambertcarriedo1053]

I see woman building guitars, i'm subscribing and hitting that bell 👌

[@human6.045]

Hi Gabriele, did you have to compromise with the intonation for the saddle distance/angle because of this guitar being a hybrid, or, do you have a swappable saddle? Thank you.

[@GabiM3112]

I compensate the bridge by adding some distance according to the string gauge and to the saddle if needed.

[@human6.045]

@@GabiM3112 Thank you.

[@robertr4193]

On the bracing pieces you are gluing on the top glued to the brace for the bridge or is the notch you cut in the the braces just going over the bridge brace and glued on either end?

[@GabiM3112]

On either end.

[@robertr4193]

Thanks for clarifying it for me. I thought that was the way you were gluing them in but could not tell for sure. I really do like your work, you make some really nice guitars.@@GabiM3112

[@domingocorralhernandez9887]

Preciosa excelente trabajo ❤😘😘

[@walterrider9600]

thank you Gabriele . what woods did you use please ? the back looks great . could not identify the fret board or the sides either . i am new to this stuff so please forgive all the questions .

[@GabiM3112]

The back is made from plum and the sides from cherry because one of the sides was destroyed in the planer when I tried to rough thickness it. That's why I sand them to thickness today.

[@walterrider9600]

@@GabiM3112 thank you .

[@abloke8834]

That's a beautiful guitar. May i ask what wood you used for the back and sides? Thanks. Btw, Its still raining here.

[@GabiM3112]

It's plum and cherry.

[@andrewbendahan1379]

Harley Benton neck block? Haha cool

[@electricwally]

Hi Gabriel, can you please explain why your acoustic tops and backs are not beveled (a.k.a. radiused)? Is that a design choice? Really like the jig for gluing together the bookmatched tops and backs. Thank you. Fantastic video!

[@GabiM3112]

Hi, of course they have a radius. 15'' on the back 40'' on the top. You can see from 9:23 on how I saw the braces to a rough radius and then radius them in the radius dish and later transfer and plane the radius to the sides from 22:48. Cheers.

[@electricwally]

@@GabiM3112 ... Hi Gabriele, yes I now see and understand. I see the radius dish. I missed that initially. Thank you for the clarification. Best wishes!

[@tommckeown6970]

I might have missed it in the video, but do you glue the neck to the body as well as use the bolts? I would think you do but just wanted to check. Great work. I enjoy watching you build instruments.

[@GabiM3112]

52:41 shows how I put the glue for the fretboard on. Cheers.

[@tommckeown6970]

@@GabiM3112 Thank you. I do see the fretboard being glued but does the neck heal also have glue?

[@GabiM3112]

@@tommckeown6970 No, it's a bolt on neck.

[@jeffreydouglas351]

Can you tell me why you countersunk the 2 holes in the body of the guitar where the neck meets the body? Thanks

[@GabiM3112]

It makes for smooth edges and no wood chips are between the neck and the body. It also looks nice.

[@jeffreydouglas351]

@@GabiM3112 Thank you. Like your work.

[@pmcm-ih1ep]

What was that first coating you wiped on the neck to make it go that beautiful deep amber colour? Was that a stain or just oil, accentuating the woods natural colour???

[@GabiM3112]

It's Tru Oil. :-)

[@zapa1pnt]

@@GabiM3112: That Tru Oil makes a beautiful finish. 😍🥰

[@acousticsoundmaker]

What is the make of your small table saw. I have never seen one that small that works as well as your does. I really enjoy your builds. Very nice work.

[@GabiM3112]

Hello Chuck, it's a Stahlwerk, German make. kzbin.info/www/bejne/iGWccnd4aKZ4a7M www.stahlwerk-schweissgeraete.de/tischkreissaege-ts220st Cheers.

[@agn855]

Those kinda saws are mainly used for model-making. A well-known brand for this kinda stuff is Proxxon. www.proxxon.com/en/micromot/table-top-tools-and-accessories.php That Stahlwerk-saw is "Made in Germany"? Well, its specs are looking quite similar (if not identical) to the ones that are sold on eBay but are made in China: www.ebay.de/itm/133711028393 TBH, the "Stahlwerk"-brand looks a bit like a hip(ster) marketing thing to me. Make up your mind.

[@solotralafolla]

Good job.

[@akfisher7138]

Hi I am going to have a go at this, as I have lots of woodworking experience, but zero guitar building experience. Am I right in thinking that so long as there is a centreline, and that the neck block is perpendicilar to fret board, and neck when bolted on/fixed whichever way, is not twisted, again perpendicular, or whatever relative plane angles are appropriate , then in principle I will have a guitar. I can make the rest. The fret board with precise cuts for the frets and precise nut and saddle heights, I feel is a bit daunting. Is this last part tricky, or is it just me and my inexperience?

[@zapa1pnt]

You need to do more research, on setting a neck. It needs to be at the correct angle, to the body, to make sure the strings will be at the correct height, above the fretboard. A lot of math involved. The work is not, especially, easy, either.

[@GabiM3112]

Well, for the beginning you can buy a pre slotted fretboard if you are not comfortable with calculating distances. The neck has to sit correctly in three dimensions: the angle towards the body, horizontally parallel to the top and of course it needs to sit on the center line.

[@akfisher7138]

@@GabiM3112 Thanks. Do you allow for the different string thickness and elasticity variations when working out the intonation distances, or do you just assume a certain string gauge/make?

[@GabiM3112]

@Ak Fisher Well, I prefere .11's. I feel anything thicker adds punchiness and loudness but takes away sonic range. The guitars are plenty loud and I prefer more range than punch. But you can put on .12s if you wanted. The bridge position has added compensation for steel string guitars, so I put the middle of the saddle at scale length + 3,8mm. You might want to do some reading on this topic.

[@jameschristiansson3137]

@@akfisher7138 Look up True Temperment Frets. You can go wild with frets.

[@robertbartsch2872]

Nice build... time for a new sweater. Do u put a sound hole in all your tops??

[@GabiM3112]

I can't say I understand the part with the sweater but I do put soundholes in my tops.

[@ecsflash-4603]

Hello, I was inspired by your creations, and I have already started purchasing the necessary tool. But I am tormented by one question: how do you make the shape of the sides? I mean the shape of the contour from the back to the part where the neck is attached, it is not always a straight line. How do you do it?

[@GabiM3112]

Well, I steambend the wood, which means it goes into my steambox for an approriate time for the respective wood (between 20 and 30 min) and then I bend it over the jig by clamping it overnight. You can see that in one of my other videos. kzbin.info/www/bejne/p6CZlqxppqeCm8k (at around 1:11 in that video). Here you see the wood still steaming a bit, when I put it over the jig at 20:18. Steam bending only works with certain kind of woods, though.

[@ecsflash-4603]

@@GabiM3112 Sorry, but that's not what I mean. If you look at these "drawings" ( cdn.instructables.com/ORIG/FQY/PTKU/J80GMWIZ/FQYPTKUJ80GMWIZ.pdf ), you can see that the contour of the shell from the side of the bottom of the guitar is a curved line (at the beginning the shell height is 80mm and at the end it is 99mm). How do you mark out and achieve this outline? I apologize for the vague explanations, because English is not a native language.

[@GabiM3112]

@@ecsflash-4603 Ahh, you mean the radius on the top and the bottom. I have two radius dishes, one at 40' (top) and the other at 15' (back). After I have glued in the neck and heel blocks, I put the sides on the radius dish and use a pencil to transfer the curve of the dish to the sides of the guitar and then I use a small planer to take the wood away to the line I made. You can see that from 22:47 on. I actually use the same plans you have. ;-)

[@ecsflash-4603]

@@GabiM3112 thank you very much!

[@profetghailani6343]

Good job

[@larryhawes8295]

Went through all of the comments and apologize if I missed it but what are the tone woods? Thanks for another stellar video and build. Bridge plate? Thanks

[@GabiM3112]

Hi there, Larry. For this one it's cedar for the top, plum and cherry for back and sides. Bridge plate is mahogany, bridge rosewood. Cheers,

[@larryhawes8295]

@@GabiM3112 Ha, guessed the cedar and the cherry but plum is a new one. Cherry is so sweet to bend and work with don't cha think?

[@GabiM3112]

Yes, I like cherry very much, also its tone.

[@KeenerCustomGuitars]

Hi Gabby my name is Mike I'm from the states,I was just wondering where u got ur small table saw ,I want one , looks awesome for cutting bracing and other small things

[@GabiM3112]

It's a "Stahlwerk" Mini Table saw, but I'm afraid it's not available these days/any longer. But there are comparable products out there by other manufacturers.

[@rootvalue]

33:48 - I thought you always cut the heel starting from the neck side, so that you don’t end up cutting into the neck on the curve?

[@GabiM3112]

Yes, you're right. I normally do that. But with this particular neck, there wasn't enough material on the heel block, which resulted in me having to do a way narrower bend than I normally do. So I cut the first bit from the neck side towards the heel and what you see here is how I go the other way to meet the cutting line that was already there. It's hard to see that here, but you can see how the excess falls off to the side and then I trim away the rest to the initial cut from the other side, which you can't fully see in this video. You can see in the sanding part, though, how narrow the curve is.

[@enriquevillamizar4421]

la verda me isnpiras mucho amiga , quere tener un pequeño taller. de fabricar guitarras... soy Ingeniero mecancio ya casi retirado a pesar de mis59 años en este pais se debe trabajar para poner el pan en la mesa , aqui no es como en otros paises que una carrera universitaria te asegua tu vejes.. por eso estoy proyectando mis ultimos años vivir de la fabricacion de guitarras realmente me gusta muchisimo esa artesania... y quiero comensar con alñgo apenas tengo un cuartico de 3x3mt donde fabrico alguna cositas pequeñas. y hago reparaciones de la casa y algunas herramienta muy pocas , por los momentosw estoy tratando de restauara dos guitarras..

[@andrewbendahan1379]

How do those black rods work?

[@GabiM3112]

Check out "go bar deck". Cheers.

[@murpsman]

Is that red handled saw a fretting saw?

[@GabiM3112]

It's a Japanese dozuki saw with a fine blade.

[@ahorautrera]

Fantástico !

[@rb032682]

cool! Looks good. Sounds good. That is the tiniest table saw I have ever seen.

[@GabiM3112]

Isn't that cute? :-)

[@zapa1pnt]

Those are, mostly, used by model makers.

[@MyMorrocotudo]

muy lindo suena esa guitarra, ¿que maderas empleó?

[@GabiM3112]

Cedar for the top, plum and cherry for the back and sides.

[@micheloderso]

Großes Lob, sehr schönes Video, wieder einmal. Nice done...Das Instrument "Citart" im Moment noch. Vielleicht ist ein Bündchen noch etwas zu hoch. Welchen Radius für den Hals haben Sie verwendet?

[@GabiM3112]

Hallo, ich verstehe den Teil mit dem "Citart" leider nicht. Der Radius fürs Griffbrett sind 16'. Viele Grüße, Gabi

[@micheloderso]

@@GabiM3112 Hallo, also, über Kopfhörer hört sich das Instrument leicht klirrend an. Das kann natürlich an den Mikros hängen oder das Instrument schnarrt ein bißchen. Klingt etwa so wie eine Citar. Vielleicht ist es auch der Trussrod. Also, Mikro, Bündchen, Trussrod. Ansonsten überzeugt mich Ihr Werkzeugpark und Ihre wirklich herausragenden handwerklichen Fertigkeiten, sowie Ihre Videotechnik. Danke für das Hochladen und nochmal, Großes Lob.....

[@GabiM3112]

@@micheloderso Das ist sicherlich die KZbin-Kompression, der Trussrod und die Bünde sind sauber abgerichtet. Wenn dann noch was klirrt, dann liegt es an meinem krüppeligen Spielen. ;-)

[@GabiM3112]

Ich habe noch ein bisschen recherchiert und herausgefunden, dass das mit meiner Konvertierung zusammenhängt, weil ich im Schrumpfprogramm keine guten Audiosettings hatte. Wieder was gelernt.

[@agn855]

​@@GabiM3112 - Sitar (indisches Instrument) wurde AFAIK durch die Beatles/George Harrison bzw. Ravi Shankar im westlichen Kulturkreis bekannt.

[@haapysoxoxo5386]

What are the woods you used?

[@GabiM3112]

Ceader for the top, cherry and plum for sides and back. I called it Spanish Fruit(s)

[@haapysoxoxo5386]

@@GabiM3112 I had a Martin with cherry back/sides, a wonderful tonewood!

[@GabiM3112]

@@haapysoxoxo5386 Yes, I think cherry is great and very underrated. :-)

[@michaelkeegan9115]

Thank you

[@Unschuldslamm-Deluxe-Germany]

❤❤❤❤❤

[@funkyfender1]

Hi Gabriel, I love watching you work and seeing the techniques you use in your builds. However, one little request.... can you attenuate the volume when shooting the power tools... i would assume that you wear hearing protection when using noisy power tools so I’m not sure why you would add that level of noise for your viewers... I had to rip the headphones off!!! Love your work and gentle approach to your craft.... seems a shame to have a jarring power tool noise contrasting the more gentle stuff... humbly yours....

[@GabiM3112]

Hey Stephen, I did lower the volume in the video bits with power tools... When I listen I don't have any trouble, even on headphones, and I do have a good setup with a Scarlett Focusrite 18i20 and different studio headphones. Maybe you want to set the volume levels low anyway because there's not much sound than for the power tools anyway.

[@funkyfender1]

@@GabiM3112 thanks for taking the time to reply... I think it might be that I was using some Bluetooth earbuds and I had the volume up as I was enjoying the gentle sounds of you humming while working and the wonderful sounds of hand tools on wood... I’ll try a lower setting (I’m a sound engineer so I should know better!), every blessing...

[@GabiM3112]

@@funkyfender1 Sometimes less Is more, I guess. :-) Enjyo and take care.