The Charles Fox Guitar-Building Method, Part Three

by Mark French

Originally published in American Lutherie #141, 2020

See also,
A Guitar Is Born: Attending Charles Fox’s Hands-On Guitar Making Course by Mark French
The Charles Fox Guitar-Building Method, Part One by Mark French
The Charles Fox Guitar-Building Method, Part Two by Mark French
The Charles Fox Guitar-Building Method, Part Four by Mark French
The Charles Fox Guitar-Building Method, Part Five by Mark French
The Charles Fox Guitar-Building Method, Part Six by Mark French



With the rim, the soundboard, and the back complete, our first three subassemblies are ready to become a body. The body assembly process takes place on two slightly concave benchtop vacuum fixtures (Photo 1). Their hollow surfaces match the guitar plates’ spherical contours, a 30´ soundboard radius and a 12´ back radius. Vacuum holds each plate in place and in its correct spherical shape during that plate’s final fitting and marriage to the rim. Charles notes that: