Ribs are carefully selected. Grain angle and density affect tone.
Ribs, already glued, are carefully shaped. also shaping tone.
Here the sound board is being tapered. The edges of the board are being made thinner. There is a specific pattern to this, it is not random. This allows for a thicker board which adds to the bass response, while adding flexability to enhance projection, sustain and treble sounds.
With the old cap removed the remaining holes are filled with maple pegs and glue. It is necessary to have a clean hole for the new pin. This insures a firm hold on the bridge pin.
Both bass abd treble bridges are filled this way. There are about 500 holes that have to be pegged.
Bridge caps are glued on. The fixture that is used to clamp to, matches the radius of the bellied sound board. This insures that there is no distortion whan the completed bridges are glued to the sound board.
You can see light between the bass of the bass bridge and the sound board. The Bass Bridge is not conformed to the sound board radius. This unexpected situation must be corrected by adding a radius to the bridge before it can be glued to the sound board.
Here the bridges are being glued to the sound board.
This is the underside of the completed sound board. The 8 dark circles are reinforcements aroud the nose bolt holes. There are a total of 12 nose bolts. All dowells(14), nose bolt holes(12) and buttons(6) have to be patterned separately and have to be accurate.
