Akouo Guitars

Akouo Guitars Handmade Guitars

01/11/2023

Making some reverse kerfing/lining on a ”fancy” homemade jig. It can be a bit mind numbing at times. However a good podcast, or some good music can help it go along better.

There is the obvious cost savings of making your own, but it is a big time commitment on the other hand.

I still enjoy trying to make as much of the guitar as I can myself, so I’ll be doing it this way.

01/07/2023

Here I am using the LMI side bender to bend the sides of a dreadnought I’m building.

The process is about the same for each species of wood I use in it. It is way faster and more accurate than the homemade hot pipe I used on my first 5 builds.

I don’t show the waist bend which is done first, but I side can be bent on this in 10 minutes or less. Then it is allowed to cool in the mold with the heat off overnight and removed the next day.

01/04/2023

***LOUD AUDIO!!!!***

I am running the drum sander to remove a light amount of material from this back set with each pass.

It takes A LOT of passes, but the end result is great and way easier than doing it with hand planes or sanding blocks. (Which I used to do)

Blessed to have this tool in the shop, but hearing protection is a must!

The wood is Black Limba.

12/27/2022

Gluing this beautiful Adirondack Spruce top together.

This will be paired with the Black Limba back I showed in the glue up yesterday.

I didn’t show the process for prepping the top plates to be glued together. The joint needs to be as perfect as possible and is checked using a method called candling.

Before gluing I hold the plates together and place the joint up against one of my shop lights and check the entire length of the joint. If there is any light that can be seen, then the joint still needs work. If no light can be seen coming through, then it’s time to glue.

At times it can be tricky to get a 20 inch joint to match perfect, but with practice it gets easier every time.

Weights.. Good for building muscles AND holding pressure on the plates you are gluing together. Underneath all of that i...
12/27/2022

Weights.. Good for building muscles AND holding pressure on the plates you are gluing together.

Underneath all of that is some beautiful Black Limba that will be the back for a new custom dreadnought that is underway.

More pics to come in future!

12/16/2022

Final coats of finish are sprayed.

Now to wait a week before wetsanding and buffing to a high gloss.

Here is some wood after the epoxy has been applied to fill the pores of the wood. I really like this part as it makes th...
12/03/2022

Here is some wood after the epoxy has been applied to fill the pores of the wood.

I really like this part as it makes the wood come alive with color and depth.

The back is Koa.

The neck is African Mahogany.

This guitar has the body masked off in preparation for the finishing process. The areas with the tape are where the brid...
12/02/2022

This guitar has the body masked off in preparation for the finishing process.

The areas with the tape are where the bridge and fingerboard will be glued on. Wood glue will not stick to the finish, so the tape is added during the spraying process. After it’s sprayed and buffed, the tape will be removed and the said items will be glued on.

The soundhole is also taped off to prevent finish from spraying inside of the guitar.

Before any finish is sprayed, I will fill the pores. I’ll touch more on that in the next post.

Productive days are nice. Finished this rosette for a Dreadnought I’m building, made a bunch of spruce reinforcement str...
12/01/2022

Productive days are nice.

Finished this rosette for a Dreadnought I’m building, made a bunch of spruce reinforcement strips and braces and was able to get the back braced for the dreadnought as well.

It’s nice to have days like this when you see a lot of productivity happening.

It helped make up for the hours and hours of sanding and prep work for a different guitar that happened the following day. The type of work where it seems like it drags on forever..

Here’s more photos of the most recent guitar I finished. This little beauty packs a good punch for its size. It was made...
11/26/2022

Here’s more photos of the most recent guitar I finished.
This little beauty packs a good punch for its size.

It was made with the following materials.

Back and sides: Katalox aka Mexican Royal Ebony

Top: Englemann Spuce

Neck: African Mahogany

Fingerboard & Bridge: Ebony

Bindings and pickguard- Koa

Bracewood: Adirondack and Engelmann Spruce

Bridge plate: Indian Rosewood

Kerfing/lining: Honduran Mahogany

Neck and Tail Block: African Mahogany

Headstock Veneers: Katalox

Inlay: Mother of Pearl

Fretwire: EvoGold

End pin and strap button: Ebony

Special thanks to Morgan Hill Morgan Hill Photography for taking such great pictures!

One of my many favorite parts of the build is choosing wood for the pick-guard. This piece of Koa is absolutely stunning...
11/10/2022

One of my many favorite parts of the build is choosing wood for the pick-guard.

This piece of Koa is absolutely stunning. The picture isn’t doing it justice.

All of my guitars have wooden pick-guards.

I can’t build something completely out of wood and then slap a piece of plastic on it at the very end, just doesn’t seem right to me.
To each his own.

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Means, KY
40346

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