Making a Top
Our process of gluing up a guitar top! Get some clamps ready!
Select the choiciest pieces
When selecting the pieces for a bass make sure that it’s going to be big enough to cover the entire top plus a little bit extra. There are some decisions to make here like do you use bookmatched pieces? Which side is going look best? Is your design going to look the way you want once it’s cut?
Once you’ve selected your pieces, get all of your setup blocks/clamps/boards ready and put a piece of glue down the middle (with a piece of parchment paper underneath to prevent the glue from sticking to the board underneath).
Start camping!
Once the pieces have glue on the middle seam, gently press them together and then lay down some cauls to keep the seam from bowing up during the clamping process. Lightly clamp the pieces to the support board to help keep them in place as well.
Get comfy with clamps
Start adding more clamps to keep the pieces together and keep the middle seam in line!
Clamps!
Don’t forget to add some more clamps to keep the various cauls in place! Give every clamp a once-over to make sure everything is secure and tight and let it sit.
Once the glue has dried, make sure to remove the clamps in the reverse order in which you added them (ask Kristen why!)