Making the Guitar Solera

Without a doubt, the more accurate you are making the guitar's solera, the better guitar you will be able to produce. In classical guitar making this is especially true. Its akin to practicing scales as a player, they're not what you would consider music, but nonetheless necessary to becoming a good player.

Here I will try to provide a manual if you will, for completing the solera kit offered here at J.S.Bogdanovich Guitars. You can certainly use this recipe to create your own solera, the governing principles still apply.

If you have the capacity to create and press on the 4mm veneer to cover the base I encourage you to create the base in this way as it will produce a stable work board that will not cup or twist over time. Stability of this work board is very important as the results of any instability will show up in the finished guitar as set up problems. There are not problems you want to have. We will assume the base has been created and we'll start from there.

Preparation of the Solera Base

The first thing that needs to be done is the top and back surfaces of the solera base must be flattened. Take a sharp bench plane and plane at a 45 degree angle to the grain to flatten. Then finish up with a scraper and some sandpaper.

Next, the plantilla must be located and registered. If you have the kit, place the rims in position and put the plantilla template inside the rims on the surface of the base. Mark the center line of the template on the solera at the top and bottom. Then drill the upper and lower registration holes. Take a straight edge and draw the center line on the solera base along its entire length. Make sure to mark the center line on the top and bottom edges of the base in case you plane off the line on top.

If you do not have the kit position the plantilla template on the base centering it as best you can. Mark the center line as above and drill the registration holes. Do not worry if your plantilla isn't exactly in the middle the base should be oversized enough to compensate. To purchase the solera kit click here.

The Lower Bout Patches

The lower bout patch must be jointed and glued to the surface of the solera. If you are using your own patch wood it should be a softwood that will carve easily. The patch will be glued on cross grain, that is its grain lines will be perpendicular to the grain lines of the solera base. The length of the patch therefore needs to be slightly longer than the widest part of the lower bout and the total width needs to be between 11" - 12". The patch should go slightly beyond the outline of the plantilla on the solera base.

Join the two pieces of soft wood for the lower bout patch. After the are dry position them on the solera base. To position this patch properly pin the acetate at the registration holes and make a mark one each side of the lower bout 1" below the lower transverse brace and draw a line across. This is the upper limit of this patch. When positioning this patch make sure it does not creep beyond this. To do this either clamp a stop to the base or use small 1/8" dowels to anchor the patch during gluing. Glue the patch.

Once the patch is dry you can begin to shape it. To save time first ramp the patch down toward the lower transverse brace with a bench plane. The area at the upper edge of this patch should be at, or slightly below the level of the solera base when finished. Now take a large gouge and begin to scoop out the patch starting in the middle and working out to the edges. Remember the back edge is already at the desired height of 4mm so no wood should be removed at the center of the bottom. The dish shape should conform to a 25' radius. The height out at the edge of the patch at the position of the front edge of the saddle is 2mm. Once you have approximately attained the proper shape begin to smooth and final shape with the compass plane. Finish with a scraper and sand paper. The solera should be flat at the lower transverse brace. In essence you will be creating a tilted dish.

The Upper Bout Patch

The purpose of the upper bout patch is to continue the ramp of the neck angle all the way to the edge of the fingerboard just above the rosette. In this way the fingerboard will lay flat along the surface of neck and upper bout of the guitar without the need of relief underneath. This is an elegant solution to the problem of mating these two surfaces.

First mark the bottom most portion of the fingerboard where it touches the rosette. This would be the tip on the bass side. This is the break point of the patch. The patch be its full height at this point (.035") and taper to zero towards the upper limit at the angle of the neck, and taper to zero to the lower limit in the other direction. The lower limit of this patch should be just before the waist. The upper limit is the very top of the body at the 12th fret. At the 12th fret the finished height should be the surface of the solera. The neck can be thought to pivot around on this point. Hence, this point stays untouched. So do not have the patch go beyond it limits on either end as it will just have to be removed.

Glue on the patch using dowels to position. Do not begin to shape this patch until you begin to set the neck angle.

Now trim the patches up to the outline of the plantilla. This way the rims will fit over the outer edges of the patch without being on top of them.

Setting the Neck Angle

This is perhaps the most important aspect of the solera. It is also the most straightforward. Mark a line 2.5mm down from and parallel to the edge of the neck ramp just below the area of the nut. Now begin to taper the neck ramp to this point making sure it is flat all along its length. The neck ramp should be thought of as the distance from the tip of the ramp to the high point of the upper bout patch at the top of the rosette. This should be a flat plane along its entire length. For best results star at either end and work toward the 12th fret from both directions as this point should remain where it is.

Once this is accomplished replace the center line along the neck ramp. Position the fingerboard template using the upper bout pins only and clamp the fingerboard template in place. Now you can drill the registration hole at the to poof the neck.

The only thing left to do is to add a cleat to the bottom of the solera. This will provide a gripping surface for a vice or clamp and provide added stability. Make sure to use quarter sawn wood for the cleat and flatten the surface that meets the bottom of the solera. Position the rims and drill through for the bolts. Add the hardware and you are done.