Construction
As a child I remember the story of the man who built his house on the sand and a storm came and washed it away. Guitars like houses need firm foundations for both construction and life long use. That is why I chose to use the Spanish solera building board to construct my guitars, whether it is a Classical or Steel string guitar. Building on a solera allows the dome of the soundboard to be built into the guitar during construction giving the guitar a graceful curve to its face. The main braces are shaped to the solera before being glued to the soundboard, thus ensuring a stable shape to face of the guitar. The internal bracing in Willis Guitars are made from carefully selected straight-grained Sitka spruce. The classical guitar bracing is in the fan shape style developed by the great Spanish master Torres; while the bracing in the steel string models are based on the traditional X brace. The linings are made from solid strips of the best willow and are shaped and steam bent to fit the ribs. The heal block is made from the same timber as the neck and specially made and shaped to provide strength with lightness.
The very strong neck to body joint is made in the Spanish tradition, although a removable dovetail version is available at an extra charge
The soundboard is selected from tight, straight-grained solid timber and is tuned to maximum response while the thickness is being adjusted.
Back and ribs are selected for appearance and tonal qualities.
In the construction of acoustic guitars there are no screws or nails or other mechanical fixings to fasten parts together so the joints must fit exactly, hence the requirement for top quality tools and the correct use of adhesives. The type of joint dictates the type of adhesive used. Some joints need to be permanent while others need to be non-permanent, for instance the joint between the bridge and the soundboard, the neck and fret board and in the case of the removable neck to body joint all need to be non permanent to enable repair work to be undertaken.
On these types of joints I usually use hide glue as it is extremely strong yet under local heat and moisture the joint can be undone without seriously damaging the wood. On all other structural joints I use Titebond.
I use Cynoacrylate superglue to fix abalone inlay, as it's greatest benefits are its low viscosity and rapid set.
Find out more about adhesives >
Before the finish is applied the whole body of the instrument is hand rubbed with 400 grit wet and dry paper. The standard finish on my guitars is up to eight coats of Morrell's Pre-Cat Nitro cellulose lacquer. Morrells lacquers are specifically formulated for applying to wood. The lacquer is rubbed down starting with 800 grit paper and finishing with 200 grit. Next I sometimes will pull over the surface with a rag wetted with lacquer thinner. Finally the guitar gets a rub down with very fine grit Micro-Mesh prior to buffing on the pedistal buffer. The fret board is left natural with two coats of Organoil interior finish oil hand rubbed on after it has been polished with steel wool.The lemon scent of the oil adds a pleasant fragrance to compliment the aromas of the woods. As an option on the finish on the body of the guitar I offer a French polish finish of blonde de waxed shellac. On steel stringed guitars the bridge is just buffed with wax.
All stages fully illustrated with colour photographs, clear drawings and detailed plans for each part of the instrument.
Copies of my book are also available at all the shows I attend. Please check the news section to find out where I will be next.