Topic: wanted building plans Kalamazoo kg-14 or Gibson L1

[bluenote]

hello country blues community,

I want to build a parlor (Kalamazoo kg-14 , Gibson L1 or another ladder braced guitar.
I cannot find building plans. so my question, does anybody here made a parlor guitar himself and has the building plans. and can he/she post or email them.
many thx
Joris

[Slack]

Hi Joris,

Guild of American Luthiers has a late 20's Gibson L-O plan, same shape as early L-1's  It has H bracing, but you can brace it however you want.  These early guitars had quite a bit of variation.

http://www.luth.org/plans/instrument_plans.html

You also might try Luthier forums.  Here are some bracing patterns for an L-1 or L-0

http://www.jameseinolf.com/bracing.html

Good luck!

[bluenote]

hi Slack,
thx for your fast reply and the links.
I actually was hoping I could have them for free. momentarily I am pretty broke because I don't have a work-permit here in South-Africa. Home Affairs are letting me hanging and obstruct me already for 3 years with their incompetence. but he that's Africa and it is the blues
so I'd like to put the money rather in the wood than in the plans. but if it's the only way to get them, I will pay for it.
thx Joris

[bluenote]

hi Rivers,
let me know if my PM has arrived.
I'm not sure because it said a couple of times that the typed letters did not match.
groetjes,
Joris

[Rivers]

Yes, got it bluenote, good luck!

[sabocat]

John Thomas (who wrote the Kalamazoo Gals book) did another project where he X-rayed quite a few old Gibsons.  No guarantees because I do not recall which guitars he did or what has shown up on various forums and sites but you might do a search and see if anything pops up.

[bluenote]

hi Sabocat,
thank you very much.
I will certainly do some research there.
sorry for the late reply, was kinda busy
groet Joris

[nobocaster]

Hi Joris,

  I missed this thread until now.  I build an L-1, and other small body guitars, and would be willing to share some info and insights with you.  I don't actually have plans I can send by computer, because I've just traced old guitars and measured insides and drawn up my own.  There is already tons of info out there on the web, and it's easy enough to finds lots of photos of old guitars' bracing, as well as contemporary builders' bracing.  Like Slack mentioned, the bracing on so many of these old guitars was very inconsistent, so you can really brace it however you want.  If you want to do ladder bracing.. well, it's a simple layout and the plans you can buy aren't going to tell you much more than a photo and some common sense already does.  I can understand being broke, and just wanting to jump into a project...  so you're gonna have to be resourceful.  Have you built any instruments?  Do you have woodworking experience?  Do you have tools, clamps, etc..?  You can do it without much.. but you've got to start somewhere.  If you're looking for some specifics on thicknesses and brace widths and such, feel free to PM me with specific questions and I can send you some numbers.

  Cheers,
  Devin